The Hand of Jesus placing one of our “Eternal Investments” in our own personal safety deposit box in the New Jerusalem...where moths and rust cannot destroy and where thieves cannot break in and steal.
Dear Friends,
This piece just sprang up as kind of an addendum to the end times series we just finished on Revelation 21 & 22, exploring our lives in the New Jerusalem. This piece tries to grasp the importance of making eternal investments in the lives of other human beings in the here and now, but also doing what we do for the right reasons. If we share and give and invest in others with the wrong motives, then what we do is disqualified from being an “eternal investment”, according to biblical rules for investing.
Matthew 6 has the definitions of what qualifies as an investment that will last for eternity compared to temporal investments with temporal rewards...just like the IRS defined what are qualified or non-qualified investment programs (contribution programs) for the here and now (for us the US anyway).
As you will see, Matthew 6 is an interesting and diverse chapter in how Jesus explains eternal investments and rewards. We all grew up with the temporal savings and investments tools of our times. We grew up being taught how important it is to work and save for the future...for our needs, our wants, our goals, for emergencies, for our children and grandchildren, etc. But the real purpose of savings and investments, after meeting the real needs of our families, is to meet the needs of as many others as possible...for the glory of God. This is how we lay up treasures in heaven for ourselves...explained here in verses 19-21.
Matthew 6:19-21: Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
In other words, we can have an eternal safety deposit box in the New Jerusalem, where all of our sacrificial giving down here, results in eternal deposits up there. Every time we make an investment (money or any kind of asset, including time...help & assistance, prayers, etc... that costs us...all the way down to giving up our lives) in the life or lives of someone now...the credit for that sacrificial investment is recorded and placed in our eternal safety deposit box.
The value of that gift or investment, in relation to the amount of the sacrifice involved, gets translated into spiritual dollars and then deposited into our New Jerusalem safety deposit box. Those spiritual dollars will be equated to the rewards given out by Jesus Himself at the Béma...explained in earlier devotions.
 The gift given or the investment made in the life of another. |
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 The value of that gift based the sacrifice involved. |
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 Translated into SPIRITUAL DOLLARS. |
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 Deposited into your heavenly safety box. |
The Béma (βῆμα)
How much will you have saved up in your heavenly deposit box?
Principles Of Eternal Investments
IRS rules for qualified saving and giving activities can partly be found in 26 U.S. Code § 219 for “Retirement savings”. God’s rules for qualified saving and giving activities are found in Matthew 6, but also identified and illustrated in many other Scriptures...what we will call biblical code.
Rule 1 (verse 1 code): Our giving and investing in others must be done in secret, where it is clear that we are not trying to let others know what we are doing to impress them.
Jesus identified this biblical code in Matthew 6:1: Do not practice your righteousness in front of others...to be seen by them, so they are impressed with you. If you do, you just disqualified this act or acts from the time of rewards in heaven at the Béma (βῆμα). The act or acts, no matter how good it was or they were - won’t even be in the Béma record and will not be in your eternal safety deposit box.
Rule 2 (verses 2-4 code): When we give or invest in the real needs of others, do everything we can to not draw any attention to ourselves or what we are doing.
Jesus identified this biblical code in Matthew 6:2-4:
So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
....Don’t announce it anywhere – in the synagogues (churches), on the streets, on-the-job, in the neighborhood, at the grocery store, or anywhere else.
...Don’t promote it, advertise it, or publicize with music (trumpets) or printed materials (fliers, brochures, hand-outs, etc...) or public announcements, or other media venues...Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, etc...
If we fail to honor this biblical code, then once again...the act or acts, no matter how good it was or they were - won’t even be in the Béma record and will not be in your eternal safety deposit box.
Rule 3 (verses 5-15 code): Prayer and fasting are vital ways to give or invest in the real needs of others, and some “needs” can only be accomplished by these means, but again it must be in secret, away from the eyes of anyone who could be impressed with your “demonstrated spirituality”.
Jesus clearly identifies and illustrates this biblical code in Matthew 6:5-15:
And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. This, then, is how you should pray:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Treasures in Heaven
Following the biblical principles for eternal investing identified above results in real and actual treasures being stored up for you in heaven. Jesus went on to further clarify and illustrate the translations of righteous and sacrificial acts down here into spiritual dollars up there...which are secured by God Himself.
Peter affirmed the secure and everlasting inheritance that we can built up for ourselves during this lifetime in 1 Peter 1:3-9. The foundation of this inheritance is always the free gift of salvation that Christ bought for us on the cross and then gave to us when we believed in Him for our salvation and eternal life.
Beyond this free gift of salvation, we can add to our inheritance with good works, that we were called and ordained to do, according to Paul in Ephesians 2:8-10.
Ephesians 2:8-10: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
1 Peter 1:3-9: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen Christ, you love Him; and even though you do not see Christ now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
So...in the remaining verses of Matthew 6 (verses 19-34), Jesus explains how we can do these good works (we were called to do) with the right motives, which will result in treasures in heaven.
We must realize and accept that Jesus Christ earned the right to set these rules (the biblical code) of eternal investing. We don’t get to do things our way, but it is easy to do it His way, when He is the undisputed Lord of our lives. Therefore, let us read the rules and how to apply them to our lives.
Matthew 6:19-34
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air...they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glorious splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the unbelieving pagans run after all these things, but your heavenly Father already knows that you need them.
So seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well (as you need them). Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
God supernaturally packed so much TRUTH into these 15 verses...to help us be successful in our eternal investing...building up our storehouse of rewards in our heavenly safety deposit box in the New Jerusalem. To grasp the power of these investment rules (biblical code), let us list them as principles in numerical order.
Principle 1: Our eyes reveal our motives.
A person with a good eye has a pure eye or single minded eye uses his/her eyes to look for opportunities to give to others in need or to invest in others in need.
He or she is on the look out for chances (opportunities) to help others. This is their single purpose in life. This is what they live for...to do good to others. They live to give! Jesus showed His disciples what it means to live to give in Mark 12:41-44.
Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts of money. But a poor widow came by and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to Him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth, but out of her poverty, she put in everything she had left to live on.”
This poor widow had a good eye. She had a pure eye. She had a single minded eye. She lived to give!
Therefore, if our eyes are spiritually healthy, then:
⇒ Our eyes will look for ways to unconditionally give to others, without any kind of discrimination (based on who or what they are).
⇒ Our eyes will also look for ways to give or share with others in need without trying to impress anyone or even let anyone know what we are doing. Someone may find out what we are doing, but it won’t be because we tried to show off or let others know...we used the SECRET CODE.
Jesus also showed His disciples what it meant to unconditionally give to others, without any kind of discrimination (based on who or what they are). He told the story of what we call the “GOOD SAMARITAN” in Luke 10:25-37. He told this story to illustrate what it means to love your neighbor as yourself, whoever your neighbor might be.
A man (Jewish man) was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan (despised by the Jews), as he traveled, came to where the man was. When he saw the wounded man, he took pity on him (even though he knew, he as a Samaritan was despised by Jews). He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him’...he said and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ Then Jesus asked, “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him”. Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise”.
The eyes of this Samaritan man were spiritually healthy. He had a good eye. He had a pure eye. He had a single minded eye. He used his eyes to look for opportunities to give to others in need or to unconditionally invest in the needs of others.
He was on the lookout for opportunities to help others, rather to run away from someone in need like the priest and the Levite. Those two should have been the first ones in line to help the wounded man (who was a fellow Jew), but they did not have good eyes that were pure and single minded. This Samaritan man’s single purpose in life was to do good to others. This is what he lived for. He lived to give!
Principle 2: Spiritually healthy eyes are full of light.
They are full of light, because they are looking outwardly to others in the world, not inwardly to themselves. When our eyes are looking outwardly, they are taking in light and the light they take in allows them to see real needs in the lives of others.
The moment our eyes turn inwardly, it is like we shut our eyes. What happens when you shut your eyes? Everything goes dark. Any light we were seeing begins to fade into darkness. This darkness is the essence of selfishness.
AND Jesus said if the supposed light that is in you (generosity) is really darkness (secret selfishness, greed, or covetousness), then how great is that darkness. How great is that hypocrisy, when our professed generosity is really greed and covetousness.
A person, even a Christian, with a bad eye (spiritually) or an evil eye (spiritually) uses his/her eyes to look for opportunities to get more for him or herself. He or she is on the lookout for chances to get ahead and increase what they have by any means. The eyes of people like this will turn away and play like they do not see a real need in someone’s life, so they do not have to give.
They close their eyes and experience spiritual darkness. They are intentionally blind to people in need. We saw this in action in the lives of the priest and the Levite above. People with bad eyes (secretly selfish, greedy, and covetous) are out to get, not give...so they can at least keep what they have for themselves. They are full of hypocrisy.
They act like they are out to give, when in reality, they are out to get for themselves, through deception and manipulation. What they do is a spiritual subterfuge. A subterfuge is a deception used to achieve an end (get more for yourself).
Ananias and his wife Sapphira (in Acts 5:1-11) executed a spiritual subterfuge. They wanted all of their fellow Christians in that early church to believe they were just as spiritual and generous and sacrificial as Barnabas had been.
Barnabas had sold his land and gave all of his money to the apostles to be used for the needs of Christians and the mission they were called to...because Barnabas had spiritual eyes full of light and generosity.
When Ananias and Sapphira saw the great respect Barnabas received from all of the church members, they decided they wanted that same kind of respect and admiration. So, they also sold a piece of property they owned and brought the money and gave it to the apostles in front of everybody.
But the two of them had secretly agreed ahead of time to keep back part of the money as a secret nest egg for themselves. But they gave the impression to the apostles and all of the believers present that day, that they were actually giving all of that money from the sale of their land to the church...for the needs of the mission.
This was a spiritual subterfuge and in reality, this couple had greedy eyes that were full of covetousness and darkness. The Holy Spirit saw and knew what they were doing and got mad at their hypocrisy and revealed to Peter what they were doing and told Peter to deal with them publicly.
Peter publicly rebuked them for their duplicity and they died immediately right there in church...in front of everyone. AND man, did the fear of God fall upon the rest of those church members.
Ananias and Sapphira, even as Christians, died prematurely because of their impure motives, while Barnabas went on to be one of the great heroes of the faith in the New Testament Church...because of his pure motives and sincerity and dedication to Jesus Christ.
Barnabas did what Jesus said. He gave all of his money to God as a way of showing God, that he would be totally trusting Him to take care of him from then on.
He did not worry about having a financial nest egg to fall back on or what he would eat or drink or what clothing he would have to wear. He sought first the kingdom of God and the righteousness of Christ, knowing anything he needed along the path of his mission, would be provided for him, as those things were needed. He simply lived by faith, trusting Christ for any and every need that might ever come up.
Barnabas had a good eye and a pure eye and a single minded eye. He had spiritual eyes that were full of light. Therefore, his eyes were always on the lookout for opportunities to give to others in need or to invest in the real needs of others. He lived to give whatever he could, as he preached the gospel far and wide.
As church history moved forward after the end of the first century, many men and women changed the world they lived in with their spiritual eyes that were full of the gospel and full of light.
So, I would like to mention a few of these below to add insights and understanding to how we can store up for ourselves eternal treasures in heaven (where our spiritual safety deposit boxes are), where moths and rust cannot not get to and destroy, and where thieves cannot break into and steal... because wherever our treasure is, there will our hearts be also.
If you are building up your treasures here on earth, then your heart will be here also, focused on and caring about your temporary/worldly investments and assets.
If you are building up your treasures in heaven, then your heart will be there also, focused on and caring about those things you can do now, that will endure and last forever.
John Wesley
In the 1700’s, John Wesley had a saying that he tried to impress upon those he knew and worked with about the use of money. John preached this altruism, he taught it, he shared it, but most importantly he lived it.
John Wesley...1703-1791
Gain all you can (through work),
So you can save all you can,
So you can give all you can.
His work was establishing evangelical churches, missionary work, taking care of orphans, and training young men and women for the ministry. He lived on 28 English pounds a year from 1731 until his death in 1791, and as his income grew from 30 pounds to 1400 he continued to give away everything over that initial 28 pound number. This came out of an experience where he found he wasn't able to be as generous as he wanted.
He had just finished paying for some pictures to decorate his room when one of the chambermaids came to his door. It was a cold winter day, and he noticed that she had nothing to protect her except a thin linen gown. He reached into his pocket to give her some money to buy a coat, but found he didn’t have enough left. Immediately, he was convicted that the Lord wasn’t pleased with the way he had spent his money on the pictures. He asked himself:
Will my Master say, "Well done, good and faithful steward"? Or will He say, “John...You have adorned your walls with the money, which might have protected this poor creature from the cold!” O justice! O mercy! Are not these pictures the blood of this poor maid?
Because of this lesson, John’s charitable nature was always at work from then on, which resulted in John dying poor, but he left behind him...the fruit of so many eternal investments (his heavenly safety deposit box was full). As the result of his life's work there were 135,000 members and 541 itinerant preachers under the name "Methodist". After his death, they always said that "when John Wesley was carried to his grave, he left behind him a good library of books, a well-worn clergyman's gown" and the Methodist Church”.
George Müller
In the 1805, a baby was born in Germany who was destined to grow up and change the world of his time through his faith. This man’s name was George Müller. In the early days of his Christian life, he had a consuming hunger and thirst to know Jesus Christ intimately and to know the Word of God as much as humanely possible. So, he spent hours every day studying the Bible and praying and eventually adding into his regimen the spiritual discipline of secret fasting.
George Müller (1805-1898)
As he continued to do these things, he became sensitive to how the majority of other Christians he came into contact with, did not seem to grasp how great God was. Therefore, he began to look for a way to tangibly show them how great God was and that they could trust Him for any righteous thing.
So, he decided that his life’s purpose would be to learn how to trust God for all of his needs, without ever telling anyone what any particular need was...no matter how small or large...as we studied above about praying in secret.
After he developed this faith, through the Word of God and prayer, he was then able to teach others and demonstrate to others how they could do the same...within their own unique life, environment, and calling.
Keep in mind his early life and background from this short summary from Patsy Stevens, a retired teacher, that you can read online at: http://gardenofpraise.com/ibdmuller.htm
Please remember that in his early pre-Christian life, he had not been an honest person. He had testified that from the age of ten, he began stealing money from his own father. As time went by, he also began stealing from his friends. Eventually, he was arrested and locked up with other thieves and even with murderers.
These dire circumstances caused him to take stock of his life, but it was still not enough to make him change his ways (he needed the grace of God). As he attended the University of Halle, a friend named Beta invited him to a Bible study.
They talked of a loving God, who had provided salvation through Christ. Then they knelt to pray with George. When they did, Müller's heart was touched and he met Jesus Christ in the experience of personal salvation. This was the start of a new life for him...his life as a child of God...a born-again Christian.
As he continued his college studies, he continued to study the Bible and began to preach and he dreamed of becoming a missionary. He was spared from going into military service because of his poor health. So, in 1829 he traveled to London, but became so ill, he was sent to Teignmouth to recuperate.
There he met Henry Craik, who talked with him about people who sold their possessions and gave to the poor (remember Barnabas). Müller was intrigued by the concept. He did visit with a missions board about supporting him in his desire to do missionary work, but decided that he wanted to live by faith and depend on God to provide, as he prayed privately about his needs, and allowed the Lord to direct him.
He wanted to preach where God sent him, not where a mission society sent him. Thus began his incredible life of evangelism, preaching, teaching, and eventually taking care of orphans, all by faith...through secret prayer. He lived to be 96.
In his early ministry he had four objectives.
- To assist Sunday Schools, Day Schools, and Schools For Adults and he also wanted to start new ones.
- To sell Bibles and Testaments to the poor at low prices and even give them away if the person could not pay.
- To aid missionaries in their work.
- To circulate tracts in English and other languages.
- To care for orphans (this became his fifth and foremost objective).
In 1835 there were only a dozen orphan homes in all of England and Wales, but they charged fees to care for the children. Poor children who became orphans had to move in with relatives or were sent to work in the workhouses. Müller began to pray about starting his own orphan house. Money began to come in even though he didn't solicit money from people.
His vision was for the orphan home to be for children who were truly orphaned, having lost both parents. None would be turned away due to poverty or race. The children would be educated and trained for a trade, done all by the money that he would pray in from his great God.
"God will provide", he said. He talked with people about his desire to care for the need of these waifs. Gifts of furniture, money, dishes etc. began to pour in. Müller kept a detailed record of every gift. People showed up offering to teach and work in the orphanage. He found a place to rent and later he prayed in enough money to buy land and build his own facilities, all debt free.
How did God reward this man’s faith here on earth, who just wanted to show others how great the God of the Bible was?
- Müller spent hours every day studying the Bible and praying.
- By the way, he read his Bible from cover to cover 200 times and 100 of these times, he was on his knees, praying over what he was reading. He was full of the Word of God and we know that faith comes from the Word of God. He was full of the Word and he was full of faith.
- During Müller's lifetime he gave away $700,000 that had been given to him for his own personal needs (and remember this was in them 1800’s).
- Müller traveled over 200,000 miles around the world many times, visiting 42 countries...urging people to read their Bibles, pray, and then rely (depend) totally on God.
- In addition to caring for orphans, George Müller also paid for the printing of Bibles and tracts. He gave away more than 250,000 Bibles. He paid the tuition for hundreds of children to go to school.
- During his lifetime, in answer to secret prayer, George raised the equivalent of $129,000,000, which he gave away, and when he died he had only a little money left.
- The trust he set up continues to support missionaries around the world. It also holds the records for most of the nearly 18,000 children cared for during the 150 year life of the orphanage.
When George died The British newspaper The Daily Telegraph wrote that Müller "Had robbed the cruel streets of the thousands of victims, the jails of thousands of felons, and the workhouses of thousands of helpless waifs".
Taken from:
- http://gardenofpraise.com/ibdmuller.htm
- https://www.georgemuller.org/devotional/the-life-of-george-muller
I believe George’s eternal safety deposit box in the New Jerusalem had to be nearly full or maybe even overflowing. Maybe the Lord Jesus had to tell an angel, “Please issue George a second safety deposit box or a larger box!” What an awesome thought.
In reality, we will never fill up our safety deposit boxes. There will always be room for more spiritual dollars to be stored up for us, deposited there from any and all good and righteous works we can do down here, with the right motives.
John D. Rockefeller
John D. Rockefeller...1839-1937
John D. Rockefeller Sr. was a business genius and became the richest person in his time and modern history up till then. Rockefeller was generally viewed as the wealthiest American in history and the country’s first billionaire. Most of his fortune came from his energy company, Standard Oil Company, that he founded in 1870. His company later became ExxonMobil and the Chevron Corporation.
He ran the company until 1897 and remained its largest shareholder. In his retirement, he focused his energy and wealth on philanthropy, especially regarding education, medicine, higher education, and modernizing the Southern United States.
The following summary of his life, his wealth, and his generosity is from the Library Of Congress ChronAm.
His Standard Oil Company grew to dominate the oil industry and become the first great American business trust. Through Standard Oil, Rockefeller controlled ninety percent of all oil in the United States, making him one of the most powerful businessmen in American history. After retiring from daily operations of Standard Oil at age fifty-six, Rockefeller became one of the most respected philanthropists in history.
Rockefeller personal doctrine of stewardship saw the notion of the wealthy man as a mere instrument of God, a temporary trustee of his money, who devoted it to good causes. “It has seemed as if I was favored and got increase because the Lord knew that I was going to turn around and give it back.”
Rockefeller saw the direct equation between moneymaking and money giving. As a teenager, he took palpable pleasure in distributing money for charitable purposes, and he insisted that from an early date he discerned the intimate spiritual link between earning and dispensing money.
“I remember clearly when the financial plan—if I may call it so— of my life was formed. It was out in Ohio, under the ministration of a dear old minister, who preached, ‘Get money: get it honestly and then give it wisely.’ I wrote that down in a little book and devoted myself to practicing this principle. He realized that when he gave all he could, he felt himself growing in the grace of God.
Rockefeller was a devout Christian and an active Baptist.
The graphic below illustrates how his wealth was compared to other world leaders of the time.
A comparison sketch of John Rockefeller's annual income. March 3, 1905. The True Northerner (Paw Paw, MI), Image 2. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.
Rockefeller donated more than half a billion dollars to various educational, religious and scientific causes through the Rockefeller Foundation. Among his activities, he funded the establishment of the University of Chicago and the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (now Rockefeller University).
John D. Rockefeller (left) walking with his son, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., about 1915. Rockefeller, Sr., was an American industrialist and philanthropist and founder of the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust. (Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (cph 3a48646)
His life spanned from the presidency of Martin Van Buren to that of Franklin D. Roosevelt before his death from a heart attack at age 97 on May 23, 1937. When Rockefeller turned 96, his insurance company was required to pay him the $5 million face value of his policy. He had outlived his policy.
The Rockefeller net worth is currently valued at $8.4 billion and is spread out over 170 heirs.
A great overview of his personal life, his business life, and his generosity in life can be found at:
https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/john-d-rockefeller#
Other great references
Rockefeller’s life and work are discussed in Grant Segall, John D. Rockefeller: Anointed with Oil (2001); and Susan E. Hamen, John D. Rockefeller: Entrepreneur & Philanthropist (2011). Other treatments of Rockefeller’s life include Allan Nevins, Study in Power: John D. Rockefeller, Industrialist and Philanthropist, 2 vol. (1953); and David Freeman Hawke, John D.: the Founding Father of the Rockefellers (1980). A multifaceted view of Rockefeller is presented in Ron Chernow, Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. (2013).
https://www.britannica.com/money/John-D-Rockefeller
Mr. Rockefeller learned through the years how important investing in eternity was and seemed to have increased his focus over time on and investment in people and institutions that can help people in need. He was able to do much good with the assets the Lord entrusted him with and I think by the time he died, his safety deposit box in the New Jerusalem was well stocked.
R.G. LeTourneau
R.G. LeTourneau is the last example I would like to use today in relationship to making eternal investments during our life, work, and ministries here on earth.
Born November 30, 1888 – Died June 1, 1969
Robert Gilmour "R. G." LeTourneau ended up being one of the very first creators and inventors of huge earth moving equipment, that literally transformed the international construction business and strategically helped the American efforts in WW2. He also founded LeTourneau Technologies and LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas. The University is completely Christian based and dedicated to training young men and women to serve effectively as Christians, in all kinds of business and corporate roles around the world, and to serve as missionaries who will use their skills to help spread and promote the gospel around the world.
I have to admit that I have very fond feelings of his university, as two of my sons received their college education there, as well as one daughter-in-law.
One son got his degree in Computer Science there and is now the Vice President of Informational Technology at a large national parts distribution corporation.
The other son got his degree in aeronautical engineering there, so he could work as a pilot during his career years. At a very young age, he began flying Boeing 777 jetliners for FedEx that are transformed into cargo planes. He flies international routes and literally flies around the world for two weeks at a time and is off with his family two weeks at a time.
My daughter-in-law got her degree in biology there and currently works as an RN Nurse in a specialized hospital, that care for babies and infants who are born with very serious health complications. Many of the infants never leave the hospital and others spend years there, being cared for. So, I have to say the educational programs at LeTourneau University have served them well.
His factories supplied machinery, which represented nearly 75 percent of the earth-moving equipment used by the Allied forces during World War II. Also, more than half of the 1,500-mile (2,414 km) Alaska Highway in Canada, "Alcan", was built using LeTourneau equipment. Over the course of his life he secured 299 patents, relating to earth-moving equipment, manufacturing processes, and machine tools.
The LeTourneau name became synonymous with earth-moving worldwide. LeTourneau was largely responsible for the invention and development of many types of earth-moving machines now widely used. He designed and built machines using technology that was years, sometimes decades, ahead of its time, and became recognized worldwide as a leader in the development and manufacture of heavy equipment.
LeTourneau is credited with:
- Introduction of land scraper equipment with a single person-operated power control unit, allowing it, in combination, to load, haul, dump, and spread earth.
- Replacing earlier-used "wide steel wheels" that "cut into sandy soil", with large rubber truck tires, and the development of low-pressure, heavy-duty rubber tires.
- Placing diesel-generator powered electric motors (akin to diesel-electric locomotives) on each driving wheel of his scrapers.
- Developing the two-wheeled "Tournapull" tractor unit and numerous other improvements relating to scrapers.
- The concepts related to and used in mobile offshore drilling platforms.
Many of these summary facts about Mr. LeTourneau were taken from the Wikipedia report on him at this link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._G._LeTourneau
At the bottom of their summary, they list many great resources for any of you who want to study this great man’s life. Many of LeTourneau contemporaries in business often said that LeTourneau was "God's businessman". LeTourneau held many respected positions throughout his life as a Christian layman such as:
> A leader in the Christian & Missionary Alliance Church.
> A leader in the Christian Business Men's Connection International (CBMC, which became the Christian Business Men's Committee International).
> A leader in the Gideons International.
> The many leadership positions he held resulted in him flying thousands of miles each week in his private plane to maintain Christian speaking engagements around the United States and overseas for over 30 years.
LeTourneau’s conviction on giving kept maturing over time. He began giving 10 percent of his salary and company profits to Churches, Christian ministries, and many other worthy charitable organizations...the normal and traditional tithe amount. But then as time went on and he kept making more and more money, he and his wife felt like they were keeping too much for themselves and more than they needed.
So, they increased it to 20% and later to 30% and then to 40% and the gradual increases kept growing until they reached the point they were giving away 90 percent and keeping only 10% for their own needs...and they really felt that was still a lot...because they were very frugal and unselfish.
They wanted to be the best Christian stewards they could and make their stewardship count for all of eternity. He would tell people how he would shovel out the money and God would shovel it back – but God had a bigger shovel.
His end conviction went like this: “It is really not about how much you give, but about how much you keep for yourself”. That is the true test of Christian Stewardship.
In March 1969, LeTourneau suffered a severe stroke that he was not able to recover from. So he went home to be with his Lord on June 1, 1969, at the age of eighty. He was survived by his wife, Evelyn, and his five children...Richard, Roy, Ted, Ben, and Louise.
LeTourneau had become known throughout the construction world as, "The Dean of Earthmoving". He is considered to this day to have been the world's greatest inventor of earth-moving and materials handling equipment.
Two years before he died, LeTourneau recorded his thoughts about the future of earth-moving equipment:
Construction machinery will grow bigger and bigger, and more and more powerful. Instead of 'tons' of capacity, they’ll be in 'hundreds of tons' and instead of hundreds of horsepower. They’ll all be rated in 'thousands’ of horse power. 'We’re already seeing it in big hauling units in the mines, and believe me, when the contractor and mining companies start looking for bigger and more profitable hauling units and earthmoving equipment, I’m going to be right there, the firstest with the mostest.
To tie in R. G. LeTourneau’s life with the biblical principles and examples we have seen above, consider these points:
- He had good eyes and pure eyes and single minded eyes that were full of the gospel and full of light and looked for opportunities to give to others in need and to invest in others in need.
- He lived to give.
- He spent his life building up treasures in heaven, by focusing on and caring about those things he could do during his life, that would endure and last forever.
- His safety deposit box in the New Jerusalem had to be near full or full or even overflowing.
So that leaves us with these questions:
...How much eternal investing have you done during your life up to this point?
...How much time do you think you might have left in your life on this earth from this day on?
...What will you do with this precious time?
...How many more spiritual dollars can you store up in your heavenly deposit box between today and the day you die...not just for the sake of saving them up there, but for the good of others now and for the glory of God?
Yours in Christ,
Gene
Yours in Christ,
Gene
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