Luke 12:33
Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide yourselves with purses that will not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.
Sell your possessions
This phrase calls believers to a radical reorientation of their priorities. The Greek word for "sell" (πωλέω, pōleō) implies a deliberate action, suggesting that this is not a casual or impulsive decision but a thoughtful commitment to divest oneself of material wealth. Historically, this reflects the early Christian community's practice of sharing resources (Acts 2:44-45). The call to sell possessions is not merely about financial transactions but about freeing oneself from the bondage of materialism, emphasizing trust in God's provision.

and give to the poor
The directive to "give to the poor" underscores the biblical principle of charity and justice. The Greek word for "give" (δίδωμι, didōmi) conveys a sense of generosity and selflessness. This act of giving is not just a social duty but a spiritual discipline that reflects God's heart for the marginalized. Throughout Scripture, God consistently commands His people to care for the poor, as seen in Deuteronomy 15:11 and Proverbs 19:17. This phrase challenges believers to reflect God's compassion and to be stewards of His grace.

Provide yourselves with purses
The term "purses" (βαλλάντιον, ballantion) in the ancient context refers to money bags or wallets. However, Jesus is speaking metaphorically about spiritual investments. The idea is to focus on eternal treasures rather than earthly wealth. This aligns with the broader biblical teaching that true security and value are found in heavenly, not earthly, possessions (Matthew 6:19-21).

that will not wear out
This phrase emphasizes the eternal nature of the treasures in heaven. The Greek word for "wear out" (παλαιόω, palaioō) means to become obsolete or decay. In contrast to earthly possessions that deteriorate over time, heavenly treasures are imperishable. This reflects the biblical theme of the eternal versus the temporal, encouraging believers to invest in what is everlasting.

an inexhaustible treasure in heaven
The concept of "inexhaustible treasure" (ἀνέκλειπτος, anekleiptos) highlights the limitless and enduring nature of heavenly rewards. This treasure is not subject to theft or decay, unlike earthly wealth. The Bible frequently contrasts the fleeting nature of worldly riches with the enduring value of spiritual wealth (1 Peter 1:4). This phrase invites believers to focus on spiritual growth and godly character, which have eternal significance.

where no thief approaches
The imagery of a "thief" (κλέπτης, kleptēs) serves as a metaphor for the insecurity of earthly possessions. In the ancient world, theft was a common threat, and this phrase reassures believers that heavenly treasures are secure from such dangers. This reflects the biblical promise of God's protection over what is entrusted to Him (John 10:28-29).

nor moth destroys
The mention of a "moth" (σής, sēs) symbolizes the natural decay that affects material goods. In biblical times, moths were known to ruin valuable clothing, a significant form of wealth. This phrase reinforces the idea that earthly possessions are vulnerable to decay, while heavenly treasures are imperishable. It echoes the teaching in Matthew 6:19-20, urging believers to prioritize spiritual over material wealth.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jesus Christ
The speaker of this passage, offering teachings on the kingdom of God and the priorities of His followers.

2. Disciples
The primary audience of Jesus' teachings, representing all believers who seek to follow Christ's instructions.

3. The Poor
Those in need, whom Jesus instructs His followers to support through acts of charity and generosity.
Teaching Points
Eternal Perspective
Jesus calls us to focus on eternal treasures rather than temporary earthly possessions. This requires a shift in values and priorities.

Generosity as Worship
Giving to the poor is not just a social duty but an act of worship and obedience to God.

Trust in God's Provision
By selling possessions and giving to the poor, believers demonstrate trust in God's provision and care.

Security in Heaven
True security is found in the treasures we store in heaven, which are imperishable and protected by God.

Practical Faith
Our faith should manifest in tangible actions, such as generosity and care for the needy, reflecting the love of Christ.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Jesus' instruction to "sell your possessions and give to the poor" challenge your current lifestyle and priorities?

2. In what ways can you actively store up "treasures in heaven" in your daily life?

3. How does the early church's practice of sharing possessions (Acts 2:44-45) inspire you to live out Jesus' teachings in your community?

4. Reflect on a time when you trusted God for provision. How did that experience strengthen your faith?

5. How can you incorporate the principle of generosity into your financial planning and decision-making?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Matthew 6:19-21
This passage parallels Luke 12:33, emphasizing storing treasures in heaven rather than on earth.

Acts 2:44-45
The early church practiced communal living and shared possessions, reflecting the principles Jesus taught.

1 Timothy 6:17-19
Paul advises the wealthy to be generous and to store up treasures for the future, aligning with Jesus' teachings.

Proverbs 19:17
Highlights the blessing of giving to the poor, which is akin to lending to the Lord.

James 2:14-17
Discusses the importance of faith being accompanied by action, particularly in caring for those in need.
Noble Self-SacrificeLuke 12:33
Sell AllVan Doren.Luke 12:33
Lessons from the Fowls and LiliesR.M. Edgar Luke 12:22-40
People
Jesus, Peter, Solomon
Places
Road to Jerusalem
Topics
Alms, Approaches, Approacheth, Bags, Belts, Charity, Consume, Corrupteth, Destroy, Destroyeth, Destroys, Destruction, Doesn't, Draw, Draweth, Exchange, Exhausted, Fail, Faileth, Gifts, Goods, Grow, Heaven, Heavens, Inexhaustible, Money, Money-bags, Moth, Needy, Poor, Possess, Possessions, Property, Provide, Purses, Sell, Stored, Thief, Thieves, Treasure, Unfailing, Wax, Wealth, Wear, Worms, Yours, Yourselves
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Luke 12:33

     4660   insects
     5230   beggars
     5398   loss
     5414   money, stewardship
     6142   decay
     8243   ethics, social
     8422   equipping, spiritual
     8436   giving, of possessions
     8481   self-sacrifice
     8701   affluence
     8809   riches
     8813   riches, spiritual

Luke 12:32-33

     2357   Christ, parables
     9413   heaven, inheritance

Luke 12:33-34

     5503   rich, the
     5558   storing
     5591   treasure
     8811   riches, attitudes to

Library
October 23 Morning
A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.--LUKE 12:15. A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.--Better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith.--Godliness with contentment is great gain. Having food and raiment let us be therewith content. Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor,
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

March 29 Morning
Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.--MATT. 25:34. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.--Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?--Heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. The Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

March 26 Morning
The kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods . . . to every man according to his several ability.--MATT. 25:14,15. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey? All these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.--As every man hath received the gift,
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

May 14. "But God" (Luke xii. 20).
"But God" (Luke xii. 20). What else do we really need? What else is He trying to make us understand? The religion of the Bible is wholly supernatural. The one resource of faith has always been the living God, and Him alone. The children of Israel were utterly dependent upon Jehovah as they marched through the wilderness, and the one reason their foes feared them and hastened to submit themselves was that they recognized among them the shout of a King, and the presence of One compared with whom all
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Stillness in Storm
'... Neither be ye of doubtful mind.'--LUKE xii. 29. I think that these words convey no very definite idea to most readers. The thing forbidden is not very sharply defined by the expression which our translators have employed, but the original term is very picturesque and precise. The word originally means 'to be elevated, to be raised as a meteor,' and comes by degrees to mean to be raised in one special way--namely, as a boat is tossed by a tough sea. So there is a picture in this prohibition which
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

The Servant-Lord
Verily I say unto you, that He shall gird Himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth, and serve them.--LUKE xii. 37. No one would have dared to say that except Jesus Christ. For surely, manifold and wonderful as are the glimpses that we get in the New Testament of the relation of perfect souls in heaven to Him, none of them pierces deeper, rises higher, and speaks more boundless blessing, than such words as these. Well might Christ think it necessary to preface them with the
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Fire on Earth
'I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled!'--LUKE xii. 49. We have here one of the rare glimpses which our Lord gives us into His inmost heart, His thought of His mission, and His feelings about it. If familiarity had not weakened the impression, and dulled the edge, of these words, how startling they would seem to us! 'I am come'--then, He was, before He came, and He came by His own voluntary act. A Jewish peasant says that He is going to set the world on fire-and
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

The Rich Fool
'And one of the company said unto Him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. 14. And He said unto him, Man, who made Me a judge or a divider over you? 15. And He said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. 16. And He spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17. And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Anxious About Earth, or Earnest About the Kingdom
'And He said unto His disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. 23. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. 24. Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? 25. And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? 26. If ye then be not able to do that thing
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

The Equipment of the Servants
'Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; 36. And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord.'--Luke xii. 35, 36. These words ought to stir us like the sound of a trumpet. But, by long familiarity, they drop upon dull ears, and scarcely produce any effect. The picture that they suggest, as an emblem of the Christian state, is a striking one. It is midnight, a great house is without its master, the lord of the palace is absent, but expected back, the servants are busy in
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Servants and Stewards Here and Hereafter
'Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord, when He cometh, shall find watching: Verily I shall say unto you, that He shall gird Himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when He cometh, shall find so doing. 44. Of a truth I say unto you, that He will make him ruler over all that he hath. --LUKE xii. 37, 43, and 44. You will, of course, observe that these two passages are strictly parallel in form. Our Lord evidently intends
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

October the Nineteenth Ready!
"Let your loins be girded about." --LUKE xii. 35-40. Loose garments can be very troublesome. An Oriental robe, if left ungirdled, entangles the feet, or is caught by the wind and hinders one's goings. And therefore the wearer binds the loose attire together with a girdle, and makes it firm and compact about his body. And loose principles can be more dangerous than loose garments. Indefinite opinions, caught by the passing wind of popular caprice, are both a peril and a burden. Many people go through
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

True Harvest Joy.
TEXT: LUKE xii. 16-21. TO-DAY the harvest thanksgiving is celebrated through out the land, and it is most fitting that it should be with all of us a day of great and joyful giving of thanks. Although there are but few among the masses of people crowded together in this as in other great cities, who have any direct share in this great business of agriculture, yet we are all aware that it is the prime source of our common prosperity; indeed, I may say, the first condition of the development of our
Friedrich Schleiermacher—Selected Sermons of Schleiermacher

On the Words of the Gospel, Luke xii. 15, "And He Said unto Them, Take Heed, and Keep Yourselves from all Covetousness. "
1. I doubt not but that ye who fear God, do hear His word with awe, and execute it with cheerfulness; that what He hath promised, ye may at present hope for, hereafter receive. We have just now heard the Lord Christ Jesus, the Son of God, giving us a precept. The Truth, who neither deceiveth, nor is deceived, hath given us a precept; let us hear, fear, beware. What is this precept then: "I say unto you, Beware of all covetousness"? [3392] What is, "of all covetousness"? What is, "of all"? Why did
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On the Words of the Gospel, Luke xii. 35, "Let Your Loins be Girded About, and Your Lamps Burning; and be Ye Yourselves Like," Etc. And
1. Our Lord Jesus Christ both came to men, and went away from men, and is to come to men. And yet He was here when He came, nor did He depart when He went away, and He is to come to them to whom He said, "Lo, I am with you, even unto the end of the world." [3417] According to the "form of a servant" then, which He took for our sakes, was He born at a certain time, and was slain, and rose again, and now "dieth no more, neither shall death have any more dominion over Him;" [3418] but according to His
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On the Words of the Gospel, Luke xii. 56, 58, "Ye Know How to Interpret the Face of the Earth and the Heaven," Etc. ; and Of
1. We have heard the Gospel, and in it the Lord reproving those who knew how to discern the face of the sky, and know not how to discover the time of faith, the kingdom of heaven which is at hand. Now this He said to the Jews; but His words reach even unto us. Now the Lord Jesus Christ Himself began the preaching of His Gospel in this way; "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." [3431] In like manner too John the Baptist and His forerunner began thus; "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On Worldly Folly
"But God said unto him, Thou fool!" Luke 12:20. But one of these fools is commonly wiser in his own eyes "than seven men that can render a reason." If it were possible for a Christian, for one that has the mind which was in Christ, to despise any one, he would cordially despise those who suppose "they are the men, and wisdom shall die with them." You may see one of these, painted to the life, in the verses preceding the text. "The ground of a certain rich man," says our blessed Lord, "brought forth
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

On Divine Providence
"Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered." Luke 12:7. 1. The doctrine of divine providence has been received by wise men in all ages. It was believed by many of the eminent Heathens, not only philosophers, but orators and poets. Innumerable are the testimonies concerning it which are scattered up and down in their writings; agreeable to that well-knowing saying in Cicero, Deorum moderamine cuncta geri: "That all things, all events in this world, are under the management of God." We might
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

The Use of Fear in Religion.
PROVERBS ix. 10.--"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Luke xii. 4, 5.--"And I say unto you, my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him." The place which the feeling of fear ought to hold in the religious experience of mankind is variously assigned. Theories of religion are continually passing
William G.T. Shedd—Sermons to the Natural Man

Darkness Before the Dawn
"Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether."--SONG OF SOLOMON 2:17. THE SPOUSE SINGS, "Until the day break, and the shadows flee away," so that the beloved of the Lord may be in the dark. It may be night with her who has a place in the heart of the Well-beloved. A child of God, who is a child of light, may be for a while in darkness; first, darkness comparatively, as compared with the light he has some times
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 42: 1896

Hypocrisy
I am sure that every true child of God will stand at times in doubt of himself, and his fear will probably take the shape of a suspicion concerning his own state. He that never doubted of his state, He may--perhaps he may--too late. The Christian, however, does not belong to that class. He will at times begin to be terribly alarmed, lest, after all, his godliness should be but seeming, and his profession an empty vanity. He who is true will sometimes suspect himself of falsehood, while he who is
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859

Our Requests Made Known unto God
OUR REQUESTS MADE KNOWN UNTO GOD ". . . Let your requests be made known unto God." -- Phil. 4:6. Paul, the pattern saint, would have us see the value of revealing our needs to God in prayer. We must not presume that the things required to sustain life will be granted without making our requests known unto God. Our requirements on earth and God's resources in heaven are meant for each other. If we ask, we shall receive. When we fail to ask, we fail to receive. The Word declares, "Ye have not, because
T. M. Anderson—Prayer Availeth Much

Lii. Concerning Hypocrisy, Worldly Anxiety, Watchfulness, and his Approaching Passion.
(Galilee.) ^C Luke XII. 1-59. ^c 1 In the meantime [that is, while these things were occurring in the Pharisee's house], when the many thousands of the multitude were gathered together, insomuch that they trod one upon another [in their eagerness to get near enough to Jesus to see and hear] , he began to say unto his disciples first of all [that is, as the first or most appropriate lesson], Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. [This admonition is the key to the understanding
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Christianity Misunderstood by Men of Science.
Attitude of Men of Science to Religions in General--What Religion is, and What is its Significance for the Life of Humanity-- Three Conceptions of Life--Christian Religion the Expression of the Divine Conception of Life--Misinterpretation of Christianity by Men of Science, who Study it in its External Manifestations Due to their Criticising it from Standpoint of Social Conception of Life--Opinion, Resulting from this Misinterpretation, that Christ's Moral Teaching is Exaggerated and Cannot be put
Leo Tolstoy—The Kingdom of God is within you

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