- Luke 12:1-12: Trust God for protection and provision. Prove your trust by always telling the truth.
- Luke 12 starts with a large crowd gathering after Jesus had a big argument with the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus then warns His disciples against the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. They said one thing before men and another thing when alone. They were afraid of what men might do to them if they told a truth that men did not like. They did not trust God to protect them if they always told the truth. Jesus told us to always tell the truth and trust God to do what is best for us. We are to trust that God will reveal everything that is hidden. Therefore, trusting that we will get away with telling a lie is foolishness.
- In Luke 12:4-10 Jesus teaches fearing God more than fearing man. He reminds us that what happens to us in eternity is more important than what happens in this life. If we can't trust the Lord for this life, how can we trust Him for eternity?
- In this section Jesus uses
fear
because that is the main motivation for people acting wrong. However, we fear man because we do not trust the protection and provision of God. Jesus warns that God can bring greater punishment than any man. He then uses sparrows (Luke 12:6) as an example of God's care. We are to trust God to provide for us and be afraid of losing God's provision if we fear men more than we fear God. - In Luke 12:11-12 Jesus teaches us to trust God to give us the answers we need when others are questioning us about our faith. We are to prepare by learning the Word of God but trust God to tell us what parts we are to use when answering religious challenges.
- Luke 12:13-21: Trust God to provide for your needs in this life.
- Luke 12:13-14 tells about someone wanting Jesus to settle a dispute over an inheritance. This is a lack of trust in God's provision. If we truly trust God for our physical needs then there is no reason to destroy a family relationship over an inheritance. This is what caused the enmity between Jacob and Esau and is the basis of much of the fighting between the Jews and Arabs today. Arabs see the Jews being blessed by God and claim that the Jews stole everything from Arabs and refuse to acknowledge that it is God Who provides for the Jews.
- In Luke 12:15-21 Jesus taught against covetousness. That is a lack of trust in God's provision. If we trust God to provide what we need when we need it then there is no need for us to hoard things against a potential future need. Jesus taught that being concerned with providing for our physical needs keeps us from spending time working for God's kingdom. That is also the message about God's
rest
found in Hebrews 3 and Hebrews 4. Note: Jesus did not teach against having money because many godly men, like Daniel, Abraham and David, had money. Jesus taught against seeking money instead of seeking to serve God and let God decide how much money they could be responsible for. 1Timothy 6:9 has one message forthey that will be rich
and 1Timothy 6:17 has a different message forthem that are rich in this world
. The first is covetous and the second has responsibility to God. - In Luke 12:21 we read:
so is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
Covetousness shows that we are trusting in the things of this world. When we trust in God we don't need to keep the things of this world. Jesus had all of His needs met but never owned anything. When we work for God's kingdom instead of working for things of this world, we invest in eternity. We have a limited amount of time here. We decide what to spend our time on. - Luke 12:22-31: Worrying about things of the physical life is useless and sin. Luke 12:31 summarizes the correct attitude.
- Luke 12:22-23 tells us what should direct our thoughts.
the life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment
. We have more purpose in our life than ravens yet God uses them to teach us that we should not waste our life worrying about things that even ravens don't worry about. We should trust God to provide for us and spend our life on the service to God. - Luke 12:22-23 tells us to stop wasting our time on things which we can't change and spend our time on things which we can change for God's glory.
- Luke 12:29 says:
And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
Jesus equates our seeking the things of this world to doubting God's provision. - Luke 12:30 says:
For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
Jesus tells us when we are doing this we are following the wisdom of this world, which is the opposite of the wisdom of God. - Luke 12:31 says:
But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.
- Luke 12:31-40: How to get God to provide for your needs. Prove your trust in God.
- This section is based upon Luke 12:31 (
But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.
). God always has a test for us to pass before we receive a blessing. Luke 12:31 saidand
because the blessing comes after we prove that we are first seeking the kingdom of God. - Luke 12:32 assures that God wants to bless us. We just need to trust God and pass His test.
- Luke 12:32 tells us the test.
sell that ye have, and give alms
does not tell us to give everything away. Many rich men, such as Job, Abraham, Joseph and David, served God while being rich. However, if God tells you about a need that He wants you to provide money for, you can't do that if your money is tied up in land and other things. It's not wrong to own land and things so long as you have a reserve of cash that is available for God to use however God wants. - Luke 12:32 also tells us to have
a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth
. Anything that you have here can be stolen by someone with governments being some of the worst thieves. However, no one can steal what you put into heaven. When you support a ministry that is actually building the kingdom of God you are puttingtreasure in heaven
. Supporting missionaries with money, prayer and care enough to keep up with their reports does that. - Luke 12:34 is our test. Do you spend more on things of this world or on support for the Lord's work?