A WARNING
[p. 439] A WARNING
The Lord Jesus warns us against covetousness in Luke 12. A man wished Him to speak to his brother so that he should divide the inheritance with him. The Lord’s reply involved His rejection; to be set for earthly possessions now is covetousness, and this is idolatry. Not apprehending Christ’s rejection, many believers go in for the earth, but they have it without Christ, and this is, in principle, idolatry. The bearing of this teaching is elucidated by comparing Barnabas’s course as recorded in the Acts. He sold his possessions and laid the money at the feet of the apostles. He had regard for the testimony and would support it. Barnabas had falsified his calling in having lands, for he was a Levite, and a Levite should not own such property; but a new and heavenly order of things was in view, and he embraced it. Henceforth he was a true Levite, having a heavenly inheritance.
As to the earth literally, it has to be remembered that it is “the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof”. We thank God for its products, as the means of our bodily sustenance. In this sense a christian may own land as he owns a cow or a sheep, but his heart is not in it; his life is not in such possessions. The spirit of christianity in this respect is to “sell what ye possess and give alms” (verse 33). The Lord goes on to inculcate this; it is to mark a heavenly people on earth. Luke ever leads on to the heavenly position, “A treasure which does not fail in the heavens”. If the treasure is in heaven, the heart will be there also. The great danger is the desire for earthly property while Christ is rejected. The point is that God has been here in Christ, and He has been rejected, and now if you seek possessions here you seek them and have them without God, and this is idolatry. Christ is in [p. 440] glory now. He is rejected here, and we seek the things that are above. It is to be noted that covetousness is more likely to be found among the poor than among the rich. The man referred to in verse 13, wanted the inheritance. But the poor man, because of his poverty, has no treasure, whereas the rich man has a treasure on earth, and the danger is that his heart may be in it. Paul told the Colossians to set their minds on things above where Christ is sitting, and Luke supports this from the Lord’s ministry.
Scripture recognises that a Christian may have means, and it affords special instruction for those who have, saying, “Charge them that are rich in this world ... that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate”, 1 Timothy 6: 17, 18. The future is in view; “Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come”. In Luke 12 it is a treasure in the heavens that faileth not. Wealth is of great value if used in a godly way. The New Testament makes a great deal of it as a means of expressing divine love. And even in working with our hands, it is that we “may have to give to him that needeth”, Ephesians 4: 28. Then those specially engaged in the service of the testimony are to be cared for, and this is of great interest to the Lord. But it must be remembered that money given in this way is not credited to us according to its face value, as in a bank! God values what we give according to the total of our means, as well as the motive in giving it. We read of the Lord beholding how people cast money into the treasury. The rich cast in much, but He said the poor widow, who cast in two mites, cast in more than all. The Lord reckoned according to what each had left, and the widow had nothing left; she cast in all her living.