READING IN LUKE 12
READING IN LUKE 12
In chapter 11 two generations are indicated: there is the “wicked generation”, and the generation formed after Christ; those “who hear the word of God and keep it”. Both were to continue, but outward authority should be on the side of the former, and hence the latter should suffer. Chapter 12 contemplates these conditions, and affords guidance for the disciples accordingly. The Lord in terrible severity had exposed the generation that had refused His wonderful testimony; its end had come morally, and the accumulated guilt of centuries would be required of it. The blood of all the prophets from Abel to Zacharias would be required of it. No wickedness committed against God’s people can be forgotten; and the Lord here says; “the very hairs of your head are all numbered”.
The Lord begins His instruction in chapter 12 by warning His disciples to beware of the leaven of the [p. 61] Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. One great point in Christianity is transparency; “there is nothing covered up which shall not be revealed, nor secret which shall not be known”. In view of the great responsibility devolving on the disciples there was need for this exhortation, for if hypocrisy is at all allowed there is sure to be a breakdown. The disciples were to be entrusted with the testimony. The apostle was exercised that he might be manifest to the consciences of the saints, 2 Corinthians 5:11. It is a great thing to be simple; “when thine eye is simple, thy whole body also is light”. It was a very important principle to instil into the disciples; that there should be absence of hypocrisy. The Lord contemplated the danger in which they stood; the fear of men leads to hypocrisy. The Pharisees loved “the praise of men”. As to verse 2, if we recognised that nothing is covered which shall not be revealed, a good many things that are said in private would be left unsaid. Wisdom demands secrecy in regard of many things, but still we should never speak anything in the ear in closets that we would not be prepared to stand by if proclaimed upon the house-tops.
We cannot say when things may be proclaimed on the house-tops. In His government God may allow things to remain covered for a long time, but they surely come to light. The presence of Christ on earth laid bare the hidden springs that moved the world, and the presence of the Holy Spirit has the same effect now. The light of God is here, and that which makes manifest is light. There is really no means of hiding evil where the Spirit of God is allowed His place. Tracing things historically, it is remarkable how the hidden working of evil against the truth from time to time has been exposed.
Outward authority would be on the side of evil, and the righteous should suffer, but they were not [p. 62] to fear those who killed the body; they were to fear Him who after He has killed has power to cast into hell. But the disciples were not to fear any adverse circumstances in this world, for God would care for them; one sparrow was not forgotten before Him, and they were of more value than many sparrows. Their testimony would be before men; these, armed with outward authority, would be against them, but the Holy Spirit would be on their side. A word spoken against the Son of man should be forgiven, but a word spoken against the Spirit should not be forgiven. The testimony of the Holy Spirit was the limit of grace, and opposition to it is unpardonable. The position of the apostles was enhanced by this fact, for they were to be the instruments of His ministry. Opposition to them should be more serious than opposition to the Lord Himself!
In the next paragraph the Lord warns against covetousness. A man wished Him to speak to his brother so that he should divide the inheritance with him. The Lord’s reply involves 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 the teaching here 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 [p. 63] 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 here; it is the mark of 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 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. This man 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 sitteth, 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. The future is in view; “Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come”. Here 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 who are specially engaged in the service of the testimony are to be cared for, and this is of great interest to the Lord. As working with our hands in “the thing which is good” God will prosper us as our souls prosper; but the danger is, that we then become selfish and attach importance to ourselves on account of the temporal prosperity, instead of simply regarding it as a means of promoting the Lord’s interests. In giving to the Lord’s servants we provide “wagons” for the Levites; see Numbers 7. 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. Mark 12: 41. 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.