financial investment and investing for future retirement is quite a process. Isn't it? Thinking it through? I'm 53 now, so I'm thinking about these things a little bit. Traditional 401ks, Roth IRAs, Do you put it all in real estate? How do you divide it up? How does this all work? Is it really going to be safe? Is it really going to be wise to put it here or to put it there? Financial investing for future retirement is Quite a deal. Certainly, I think that there is wisdom in thinking these things through. But I get to play financial advisor today. I want to present to you from God's word a sure thing investment strategy for the future. Take your Bibles. and turn to Luke chapter 12. Our text this morning will be verses 33 and 34 of Luke chapter 12. And we're going to start reading in verse 32. And we've got the full context in our minds from our Scripture reading this morning. Let's pick it up in verse 32 from last week. And then our text will be 33 and 34. Verse 32, Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to charity. Make yourselves money belts which do not wear out. an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." This is certainly a difficult passage. If you have difficult passage commentaries, difficult sayings of Jesus, series, you'll find this verse in that passage. It's difficult. It's counter-cultural. We know what this doesn't mean a whole lot more than we know what this does mean in our study of God's Word. Now, there are three commands in these two verses. There are three commands. I want you to see them. First, sell your possessions. Second, give to charity or literally to give alms. So, that would be giving to the needy. Giving to the needy is under the underlying meaning of giving alms. And then there's a third command, that seems separate, the third command is make yourself money belts or make yourself money bags. Make yourself money belts which do not wear out. That's the third command. Now the first two, sell your possessions and give alms, I think it could be translated sell your possessions and give alms, That is, let me tell you what I'm saying, that is, so the third command to make yourself money belts is a restatement command of the first two. Okay? So it's not three separate commands, it's two commands and then one, another way, colorful way of saying it. Make yourself money belts that do not wear out. So sell your possessions, give to the needy. That is making yourself money belts that don't wear out. Now, my kids make fun of me when I go to the airport and I wear a fanny pack. But I don't want to lose my driver's license in the airport again. So I have to have that, and the money, and the passport, and it's all right there. So get the idea, ladies, if you like, of the purse that's, you know, the ones that are slung across. Okay? Think about the command is this. Make yourself one of those. Stuff it full. Sew on another fanny pack and another one all around that belt. Make yourself money belts, money bags, plural. Could be translated purse. Make yourself those things. So, the command here is to have more money bags. Money belts. It's a rare word. It's used only in Luke's gospel. Here's the next time it's used. Luke 22, 35. Jesus is speaking. to his disciples and the 70 that went out, I sent you out without money belt and bag and sandals. You did not lack anything, did you? And they said, no, nothing. So what does this command mean? Well, what this command means First of all is this, sell your possessions and give to the needy. Let's sink in for a second. Sell your possessions and give to the needy. So this must mean what it says. That's how the Bible works. Okay? So before you say, I've got a hundred verses to tell you what this doesn't mean, here's what it does mean. It means, sell your possessions and give alms. Give to the needy. Which is, when you're doing that, making for yourselves money belts. Plural. Adding something. We've got to start there, and then we need to then figure this out, because the questions come. Now, how the Bible works is you don't get to have your chair passages that run over other passages and reinterpret them, which is the worst, actually put meaning into them, or cancel meaning. That's not how the Bible works. The Bible works by authorial intent. And so Christ means something by sell your possessions and give to the need. Does he not? And so this must then not be trumped by other chair passages. But, but, but, but. But it must fit together neatly. Scripture interprets Scripture. Scripture doesn't reinterpret Scripture. So many heresies are born out of a chair passage. This is my passage. I'm going to interpret every other passage by this passage. It's not how the Bible works. All scripture is inspired of God. So that's kind of what we're going to do now to discern what this means after we let that sink in. We're going to look at the text, the near context, the far context, and some cross-references to tell what this means. And then we're going to give some motivation. And I better get going. In this text, Jesus is speaking to his little flock. He's speaking to his disciples, to his friends, to his little flock. Because he just said it, verse 32, little flock. So in the context, there's a large gathered crowd, but he's speaking to his little flock in that crowd. This is a unique historical audience of the disciples. And understand that many of them have said, check, done that, what's next? Let me say that again. Many of them said, check, that's done, what's next? For a guy like Matthew kind of left his whole deal, his whole business at the door and went out and followed Jesus. So we got to keep that in mind that this is not as shocking to them as it would be to us in that context. Now further, the text itself does not say sell all your possessions. It just doesn't. We import that word in and then ignore this command altogether. Let me say that again. We import the word all in and then ignore this altogether. We cannot do that. First thing it does mean is sell your possessions and give all, but it doesn't say all here. It doesn't say give every cent that you have to the needy among you. It doesn't say give entirely everything you have as alms. Certainly Jesus in the context is not looking for some external performance so that if we give and give and give enough to the kingdom, maybe eventually he'll be our king, eventually he'll be our shepherd, eventually he'll be our father. As a point of fact, whatever this is, it comes from the heart. Right? As a child, as a citizen, praise God, that I have King Jesus today, as one of the flock. I then, yes, I've got an inheritance. Yes, this is who he is. Therefore, something follows. So this is what the text says. Certainly isn't a way to earn the kingdom. So as we move then to the near context, as we want to figure out what this means, we can't forget what Jeremy read, the rich farmer. The rich farmer did really well. God blessed him with a great crop. It was wonderful. He did some planting. Nothing wrong with that. He built some other barns. Nothing wrong with that. But Jesus at the beginning of that says, look, your possessions are not what life is all about, even in your abundance of your possessions. That's not what life is indeed. So this man, though, when he talks, he's all about, take a look at it in the last page there. He's all about what I will do, and I will do this, and my, and I, and my. It's like 40% of the words there, all I, my, my, my, my. And here's my end goal. I want to do all of this so that I, who knows my own future and controls my own future, can Be at ease, verse 19, eat, drink, and be merry. I can do it. It's all about now. It's all about me and my comfort and my security. And Jesus says that is not real life. Life is more. Life is more than the clothing. Life is more than this. Consider the ravens. Consider the lilies. Real life is much more than the abundance of our possessions. So this rich man is full of selfishness. His heart is full of self-indulgence. His heart is controlled by greed, a lack of contentment, a short-sightedness, a presumption, a lack of gratitude. And this is not the heart of someone who is part of the little flock. And God says to him in verse 20, you fool, this night your soul will be required of you. now who will own what you have prepared." In verse 21, so is the man, and this is important, who stores up treasure for himself, and here's the contrast, and is not rich towards God. Treasures for himself and is not rich towards God. And so storing up treasures in heaven is then therefore a thought for others, a thought for advancing the kingdom, it's being rich towards God, it's being content, it's not focused on self, it's focused on others, and what God has given, it's a thankful heart, a stewardship, a gratitude, meeting the needs of others, with an eternal perspective, not a short perspective, an eternal perspective that's being rich towards God that says life is much more. And either we don't have this heart at all and are not a part of the little flock in the context, and I don't think that's primarily the point, but you can apply that. Or, we're part of the little flock, and we're not being who we are, we're lacking faith, and we're scared of so many things. So many people, public shame and public pressure, we're scared of losing everything. We're filled with so many forms of fear. And what we need to do is remember that God who gives the abundant life, to remember the God who cares for you, to remember the God who's the one working for you, that we're inept and we can't do anything. We need to remember the God who is our Father, our Shepherd, and our King. We need to not be afraid, little fly. For your father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. Your inheritance is set forever. Your purpose is clear. Your identity is incredible. You don't have to grip the here and now. You're meant for more. Life is four. And then we read, sell your possessions and give alms. Then we read that. And we read something incredible then. that as we're selling our possessions and giving alms, giving to the needy, we're making for ourselves money belts. So I think that is what this passage means. It doesn't mean all. Let me give you some references. Just write the references down. I'm not going to read all of these. Luke 19, Zacchaeus, the tax collector, was saved. And he was commended for giving away half his riches. Not all, half. In Acts chapter 4, in the days of the early church, Barnabas sold off one of his fields. I mean, there's all kinds of principles that Jesus taught in the Gospels. So that the teaching of Christ that we're not ready to receive in fullness is made even more clear to us as we come to the epistles. So write down some references if you want to do a little biblical theology of money to see how this works. In 1 Corinthians 16, 1 through 3, don't have time to turn, but 1 Corinthians 16, 1 through 3, now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also. on the first day of every week, each one of you is to put aside and save as he may prosper so that no collections be made when I come." And so there's a principle that financial prospering leads to more giving. And then Paul writes, and write this down, in 2 Corinthians 8, 1 through 9, He speaks, he testifies that the Corinthians were, that I testify, according to their ability, verse 3, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord. Begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints. Saints who needed support. And they gave, and they gave to the hurt. They gave according to their ability and even beyond their ability. There was generous giving. They were stretching their faith. Even going beyond their resources in some cases to meet the needs of those in the household of God. And you go to Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4, 11 and 12. 1 Thessalonians 4, 11 and 12 and Paul says, make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands just as we commanded you so that you would behave properly towards outsiders and not be in any need. And so He's not commending us all, right, to give all of our money away so all of us are in abject poverty and in need. But we're actually commended in the Scriptures, too, to work hard so that we may not have any need. To pay your bills so you'll not be in need. Which wouldn't make sense if we gave everything completely away. Ephesians 4.28 Ephesians 4.28, He who steals must steal no longer, but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Very consistent with the teaching of Christ. To give alms, to share with someone who has need. And that brings us to 1 Timothy 5.8, which I think we'll get to. Not the next sermon, but perhaps the one after that. Or soon, Pastor Jim and Bobby will be continuing to preach through 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy 5, verse 8. It even goes further. If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. So, it is godly to provide for your family. If you sell everything you have, you have no house, you have no food, you have no clothing, you have no money, how can you fulfill these passages? So, you work hard to have your needs met, you're paying your bills, you work hard, and so that you can have even more to give those in need, as Jesus calls it, you can give alms to the needy. And those of us within the church, We like this verse, Galatians 6 verse 6, those who are taught the word, that's you, are to share all good things with the one who teaches him. Galatians 6, and then there's all kinds of explanation and there's a principle of sowing and reaping. And in that context of a principle in sowing and reaping, there's eschatological benefits that are even built in to that Galatians 6 passage. It means something for the future. And, really the last command of Galatians then, so then in verse 10, while we have the opportunity, let us do good to all people, which isn't just doing good by your talents, it's your treasures, in that context, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. So you've got the household of faith as first priority, your own family, the household of faith, and then beyond these walls. And in Galatians, that's all what it means. When faith works itself out in love, it fulfills these commands. And then in 1 Timothy 6, verse 17, Paul writes this, instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share. Storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of that which is life. Indeed, again, there's a feel of future here. There's an eschatological impact. There's some sort of end impact to this. And so God, we work hard. God provide. We provide for our family. We give more. And that excess goes to the needs of the saints first, Firstly, and then it goes to those outside. And those rich in good works and generous and ready to share does something for the future. It's the clear teaching of Christ, the clear teaching of the apostles as we go. That's what it means to be rich towards God. So, let's go back then to our passage Get this full circle. Okay? What does this mean? Luke 12, 33. All of your money, all of your possessions, coming from your Father. He will provide what you need. You're not going to sit around. You're going to work hard. But you've got to stop worrying. Got to stop focusing on your own comfort and look to life being more. Look to love others. Look to support the spread of the gospel in this world. We shouldn't be thinking, what percentage? Do I go to the old test of percentage? Certainly not. Let's go with 10% and that's going to be on this. And we're just trying to say, this is my money. This is not your money. This is not my money. It's not my talents. It's not my treasure. It's not my time. I'm a steward. It's God's. And he's got a plan. And I'm part of his little flock. That's what he's trying to teach us. We don't say, what percentage of my stuff do I get to get rid of? It's all God's. Every bit of money that I have. Lord, how do I use every cent in a way that pleases you? Every moment of my time in a way that furthers your kingdom? As one has said, a kingdom advancing way so that every penny can magnify Christ. For life is more. It's more. than what we eat, what we drink, our comfort and our ease in what we can see right now. So we work hard to make a living. We want to meet our needs. We don't want to hold on to self-indulgent excess. Our whole life is ministry. Faith works itself out in love for others and love for God. Meeting needs. Seeking the advancement of the gospel. And all of that because we believe. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you The kingdom, our future inheritance that is secure in Christ, leads to open hands and generosity with others right now. And I'm telling you, this church excels in this passage. Excels. Are we called to excel all the more? Certainly. But when I reflected on this passage, I saw it being fulfilled, even the day that I wrote this. It's my whole life. Two of the vans that I have worn out, I didn't pay for. Saints have been so generous to my family over the years. My big family, nine kids, trying to make a go of it in ministry. So generous. I was just talking to a dear sister lately in Christ who wants to see the gospel go to her home country. And you know what? She invests in that mission. Wants to see her family cared for. And many of you have, at great cost to yourself, have taken on children into your own family through adoption, even, which is meeting the needs of others. Some would say, I'll tell you what, it's not, according to this world's wisdom, that is foolish. Foolish. I'm telling you, that woman I'm thinking of is investing well. Invest your money in loving others, not in loving yourself. Why? The balance of our time, I'm going to give you two reasons. Because this is just a bare command if we don't have reasons. Now, I want you to listen carefully. These might be a little bit new, but it's from the text. There are two reasons given by Jesus. Why invest your money in loving others and not yourself? Two reasons. Number one, because this increases your treasure. Because this increases your treasure. Follow the logic. By right now on this earth, obeying the command to sell your possessions and to give to the needs of others, in so doing, you're fulfilling the third command. That is, you're making yourselves money belts or money bags. There are more purses, there are more money bags, there are more money belts than there were before. Did you catch that? So by investing in others now for the sake of Christ, we are investing in moneybags for then, for the future. This is reality. Now, it's helpful to quote Matthew 6 verse 19, because it's somehow easier to swallow in that passage. I don't know why. It's just easier. Same teaching. Matthew 6.19, do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. And here it is, but store up for yourselves treasure in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So do you want a retirement investing strategy for a future that will never end? Do you want it? I'm about to give it to you. It's free. It's God's Word. Sell your possessions and give alms. That is, and we now know what that means in its text context and far context, balanced view. Sell your possessions and give alms. Give to the needy because this is increasing money bags, money belts in heaven. Treasure in heaven. Now, one of the reasons this passage doesn't have any impact on us is we have no idea how good and how important that is. We have zero idea. We don't think about it. We're too busy worrying about people, public shame, and our pocketbook, and afraid of too many things to have time to think about it. We don't understand heaven. We don't understand treasure in heaven. We don't understand fanny packs in heaven. We think heaven is that eventually we're going to be a disembodied, you know, shining light spirit playing on a cirrus cloud, a violin and an instrument that you're not really interested. I love violin, but I don't know how to play it. Singing a praise song a billion times forever that I've never learned. And we think that's heaven. And the other thing that we don't understand is the idea of reward in heaven. And treasure in heaven. And increasing money bags in heaven. We don't. We don't have a concept of that. It doesn't seem gospel enough for us. It seems two works. I think we're robbing ourselves. Pun intended. 1 Corinthians 3 verse 12, speaking of gospel ministry. 1 Corinthians 3 verse 12, Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident. For the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire. And the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward." I don't think we understand rewards in heaven. We don't understand principles of sowing and reaping because we think that it betrays the gospel of grace. No way! If faith works itself out in love, If we're already part of the little flock, if we already have the gift of the inheritance, if we're already adopted into the family, if we're already part of the citizenship, let's get with it. Be who you are. The kingdom is a gift, and so we seek the kingdom. It's just really wise investing to seek and to think of eternity. Some in heaven will receive a higher status, more responsibility, larger roles, more authority. If you're not certain about that, think about there being a man in heaven right now. His name is Jesus. The God-man. Will He be greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Come on, let's get our theology good here. Yes. Any debate there? So our treasure can be increased. Some passages call this reward. And so we need to think about heaven. Melanie, I want you to put Michael Vlach, V-L-A-C-H, the new creation model in the bookstore. It's no longer a table. It looks beautiful. And there's some good references there for you to purchase. There's a really good one on baptism you might want to check out if you're considering baptism. Put that on the book table. I think his work, Randy Alcorn's written on this, Wayne Grudem, others. To set our eyes on treasure in heaven. Now, let's work Jesus' first reason over. First, you will have a new body, resurrection body. Your body will be raised immortal. You will still eat. You will still move. Apparently, you'll be able to be transported. You'll never grow old. You'll never become weak. You'll never become ill. No more tears. No more pain. Plenty of strength to serve and for all the activities in the new heaven and the new earth. For now, the third heaven has not yet come down and to the new heavens and the new earth and connected. Yeah, that is yet future in the new heavens and the new earth. And I'm telling you, heaven is a place, and there's coming a time when somehow the new earth and then heaven will come together, and there's a physicality in it, and it will be very good in God's sight, and once again, man will have dominion over the earth, and fully and finally, he will be king over the earth, and he will cultivate, and he will build, and he will explore with creativity and discovery, and you'll really eat and drink, in the marriage supper of the Lamb. And there really will be a tree of life and a heavenly city. And there will be physical activities. There's going to be time. There's going to be motion. There's going to be culture. There's going to be social activities and friendships and political. Food. Celebration. Learning. Sight. Smell. Taste. Hearing. Houses. Farms. Animals. It's a new creation model and we are too busy thinking of playing an instrument we don't know, singing a song we never learned, on a cloud and we're missing the glory of what's revealed about the new heavens and the new earth. And so we're going to get it now. We're going to get the tangible of the tangible now. We're doing everything now, now, now. Guys, what you do now matters then. It matters then. There's a physicality to it. You will eat. You will drink. You will work. You will worship. You will learn. You will travel. You will experience many of the things we do now. People, actual places, real bodies, brains that will be renewed, full of wisdom, clarity, energy, finally working 100%. reigning with Christ over the new earth. Heaven will never get boring. It's time and it moves. And it will always move better. And there will be, and here's the blessed hope, there will be no more sin and struggle with sin. No more shame. No more disappointment. And the beauty of this earth. I just was up on the North Shore the last couple of days. This earth is cursed. And it blows me out of the water. Can you imagine the new heavens and the new earth when the curse is completely lifted, the beauty of it. But then imagine that the Lord Himself, the God-Man, the visible representation of the triune God will be among us and we will see Him as He is. We will see our Lord Jesus Christ. We will see Him face to face. Revelation 22, verse 4, and He will look at us not as He looked at Peter when he messed up. Even that was a look of love. But He will look at us with infinite joy and infinite love and infinite welcome because Psalm 1611 says, in your presence there is fullness of joy. At your right hand there are pleasures forevermore. There will be the joy of genuine worship of God. Enjoy fellowship with other saints. With God's people from all the nations and all periods of history. And Brian finally can meet Spurgeon. And we will be judging the angels, and we will be reigning over God's kingdom and having dominion. According to Revelation 3, verse 4, Behold, the dwelling of God is with man, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Think about this, dear brothers and sisters. Believe this. Brothers and sisters, and let me tell you carefully, you say, what is treasure in heaven? Pastor Jeff, someone give me something. Treasure in heaven is more of that and for all eternity. And apparently, the investments I make now increases the money bags then. I was just talking to a brother. Some sad conversations I've had lately. Because let me tell you something about your money. She gone. There are a million, billion ways that your money will be taken. Your money is not secure. Sorry to rain on the bad news. I'll tell you, they're predators. In fact, we just had a situation where an older individual lost their spouse, predators find obituaries because they know they're old and now they're grieving and not in their right mind and so the perfect opportunity to scam and they go after their money and that's happened even within this fellowship. Predators going after people's wealth at the very end. Victimized. All of your investment strategies, nothing is sure in this life. except that you will leave it behind and leave it all behind. And there is passages of scripture that says it's good to work hard and to leave an inheritance for one's children's children. In fact, I'm going to do, I have a retirement meeting tomorrow with Envoy. Good timing. And we're trying to do some things. It's not necessarily very fun because here's what I find out. You know what? If you don't do this and this, by the time you're 68, it'll all run out. Great! Got any better news for me? Can I get it up to 70, at least, before it runs out? Oh, how sure is the investment in the heavenly treasure? How sure is the treasure? Look at the text. There's four words that prove that investing in moneybags in heaven is the smartest and safest investment you could ever make. Look at the text again. Look at it. Make yourselves money belts which do not wear out. What does that mean? It means that treasure in heaven is increasing and unaging. It doesn't wear out. It doesn't go out of style. It doesn't fall apart. It doesn't become boring and uninteresting. And that's why it's called in the text, secondly, an unfailing treasure in heaven. It's not going to fail. It's not going to become worthless because some company goes bankrupt and your money is worth nothing. It will not fail. This investment in this passage will not fail according to God's Word. Keep reading. No thief comes near, so your treasure in heaven Your money bags in heaven are increasing and they're untouchable. No email phishing scheme to rob you. Go check your email. They're there right now to rob you blind. No predators going after the grieving aged. No moth destroys. Therefore, it's untarnished. It's a perfect treasure. It increases in value over eternity, much better than real estate. What if I told you there's an investment strategy that is unaging, unfailing, untouchable, and untarnished? What would you say to that? Jesus is telling us. The smartest investment strategy for the future is to invest in the kingdom now, which is to say, to give to the needs of others and support the work of the physical needy among us, and even outside of us, and the spiritual needy through the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why do we do this? Because this increases your treasure in heaven. But there's more, and we'll end with this. Why do we invest our treasures now in other-centered kingdom work instead of hoarding it for ourselves so that we could be merry and eat, drink, and comfortable with no sight of the future? It's all in the context. Why? Why are we rich towards God and not ourselves? Here's why. Are you ready? Because we want to. Number two, because you desire to help. Because you desire to help. Four, in the text here, it's an interesting, after he gets done describing this treasure, it's increasing. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Life is a vapor we're just passing through. This is the title and cover page, chapter one hasn't begun yet. The glorious future comes. After the second coming of Christ, this is treasures in heaven. He'll get to the second coming in the next passage. He's gonna increase our hope. Tell us when. If your heart is in heaven, listen, if your heart is in heaven, and has this view in mind, this investment strategy in mind, and knows kind of what's at stake with your vapor now, with that truth, then you're going to be much more earthly good. It is an absolute lie to say, you're so heavenly minded, you're of no earthly good. Garbage, according to this passage. The more heavenly minded you are, the greater hope you have, the more you're going to invest now. Because your hearts are in heaven. Because your hearts are in heaven, you have a great desire to help on earth. We want to see more people in heaven. We want to see them there. I just talked to a woman, she said, how'd you like the last sermon of Little Flex? I want her to be encouraged, because sometimes she's discouraged. She said, you know what? You know what was discouraging? My whole family that I know of isn't going there. That's what I got out of the passage. So, so what we do is we invest in the spread of the gospel now, don't we? People are loyal to the things they value most. That's what Bach said. We help on earth because our heart has been changed to desire more of heaven. We have a new heart. True, secure wealth frees us to serve others. So that's the question. Don't worry about saved or unsaved. If this means nothing to you, and you have no heart for this at all, okay, maybe you need to come to the Lord. But I'm telling you, in the context, He's telling scared Christians to put their eyes on the truth, to stop being afraid of these things, and start investing in the right things. So we love His children. We love His people. They need our help. We don't want to be warm, be fed. There's such joy. No wonder the Word says it's much better to give than to receive. If your heart is in the right place, if God has given you a heart, God will be working on you to put your treasure in the right place too. So God is calling the little flock to stop being afraid. The alternative to stop being afraid is to sell your possessions and to give alms, making yourself treasures in heaven. Listen, I'm going to say it again. Jesus is calling us to stop being afraid, to remember who we are, who God is. He's calling us to believe that our true inheritance is secure, and growing and increasing as we invest our resources in others now. He's asking us to believe this and then to act on it. We can use life's possessions to spread the gospel, which is helping others who are spiritually needy. Because we know the Father gives a kingdom and a treasure that cannot be taken away. cannot decay. And so we give. Help us to take this passage seriously. May the little flock not be preoccupied in this life with possessions for self, but be filled with a heart of love that leads to faith and future glory. And that faith and future glory leads to great generosity towards others right now. Why do we invest in others now, in kingdom work now? Because it increases our treasure then. And because God's glory, the salvation of sinners, helping others to be like Jesus, helping the needy around us, has become, by God's grace, the greatest desire of our hearts. So we're doing what we have been born again to do. I have a meeting with Envoy tomorrow about retirement. I haven't started preparing yet. Well, Jesus has an eternal investment strategy for us. Sell your possessions and give to charity. Make yourselves money belts which you'd not wear out. The unfailing treasure in heaven where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Jim Elliot, a young man, gave it all. to go to a cannibalistic tribe in Ecuador who had yet to hear the gospel. He was considered a fool by his friends and some of his family for giving up all at such a young age. Well, those Aka Indians speared him down and his friends on that beach. Jim Elliot said when questioned about the wisdom of selling his possessions, in giving his life for the poor in spirit, as he said, quotes, he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. When you see Jim Elliot in glory, you ask him if it was worth it.