The disciples of the Lord Jesus are urged to seek the kingdom of God with His assurance that all temporal blessings necessary will be added unto them. His exhortation and His promises are so very important that I wish to quote verses 31-34 and pray that the Spirit of God may use these lines in bringing conviction to the heart of every reader: "31 Yet seek ye his kingdom, and these things shall be added unto you. 32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell that which ye have, and give alms; make for yourselves purses which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief draweth near, neither moth destroyeth. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

The disciples of the Lord are exhorted by Jesus Himself to put the spiritual aspects of life ahead of material affairs, for such is the meaning of the expression "seek ye the kingdom of God." At that time the kingdom was only in prospect. John had made preparation for the kingdom; Jesus was still preparing for it. It came in its fullness on Pentecost. The disciples were therefore exhorted to be certain that they entered into it--and into the enjoyment of its blessings and privileges. Jeremiah was speaking about the same thing in the following words: "Thus saith Jehovah, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; 24 but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he hath understanding, and knoweth me, that I am Jehovah who exerciseth loving-kindness, justice, and righteousness, in the earth; for in these things I delight, saith Jehovah" (Jer. 9:23-24). The real thing, after all, is to have understanding and to know God in a personal manner. When a person thus knows Him, he will be in the kingdom. Then the Lord guarantees that all things necessary for his sustenance in life will be added to him.

According to Luke 12:32 the disciples are not to fear; they are the little flock to whom God will give the kingdom. The kingdom here mentioned is not the kingdom which the disciples are urged to seek. On the contrary, the kingdom which it is God's purpose to give to us is the great millennial kingdom, which Christ will establish at His second coming. To the Apostles Jesus said that those who had followed Him during His personal ministry would, in the regeneration, sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Those who seek the kingdom of God now, the spiritual kingdom, enter it, and use their pound to gain other pounds (Luke 19:11-27) will enter that millennial kingdom and will be given authority over cities according to the number of pounds they have gained with their one pound. We are now receiving our training and are being prepared for official government positions in that kingdom. (See I Cor. 6:1-6.)

The exhortation of verse 33 is indeed heart-searching; "Sell that which ye have, and give alms; make for yourselves purses which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief draweth near, neither moth destroyeth." Did Jesus mean what He said in these words? As one of my old professors, the late Dr. A. T. Robertson, used to say, "Whoever takes the Sermon on the Mount seriously will find it very inconvenient!" Is there any reason why we should not take this language literally? If we take His statement to Nicodemus literally, "Except one be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God," and if that language means what it says, why does not Luke 12:33 mean what it says? And why should we not take it literally?

Martha, Mary, and Lazarus owned their own home--at least one would Judge that from the record. Jesus did not require them to sell the roof over their heads. If they had sold that, they would have had to rent. Jesus is not impractical.

What our Lord means here is simply this: If we have surplus property, instead of our holding it in our own names and accumulating great wealth, we should dispose of it and put the proceeds into the Lord's cause. It will be a source of grief to many Christian people throughout all eternity that they have not taken the language of our Lord seriously and have not converted their property into the coin that is current in glory.

The time for people to convert the wealth entrusted to them into the coin of heaven is during their lifetime when they are still entrusted with it. To will it to someone, and thus hold on to it themselves as long as possible, is not to follow the instructions of our Lord.

The nearer Christ drew to the cross as the time for His crucifixion approached, the more He spoke of His coming back to receive His people to Himself.

Having urged the disciples (the "little flock" to whom God will be pleased to give the kingdom) to transmute their wealth into the coin of heaven, Jesus then urged upon them watchfulness and the expectation of His return. "Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and shall come and serve them" (vs. 37).

His disciples are urged to be like men who are looking for the return of their master when he comes from the marriage feast. We are urged to have our loins girded about and our lamps burning, being ready for His return at any time. If we are living thus, we will indeed be in a blessed condition. The Lord Jesus Himself will serve us. We shall sit down in the kingdom of God and eat bread, as He tells us in Luke, chapter 14.

The nights were divided into four watches. The disciples were to be ready at all times. "And if he shall come in the second watch, and if in the third, and find them so, blessed are those servants." The disciples did not know, nor do we today know, when our Lord will come. "Be ye also ready," He warns His disciples, "for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh.

In the last quiet talk which Jesus had with His disciples before His arrest, He promised to come back for His people (John, chap. 14), "In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:2,3). He is preparing a place for us, that where He is, there we may be also. He will come back again to receive us to Himself. Blessed anticipation! This is indeed a glorious hope--to those who are heeding His admonition, and who have their loins girded about and their lamps burning, waiting for His coming.

In verses 41-48 Jesus set forth the two attitudes that may be taken toward His return. One is that of the faithful and wise steward who, realizing that he does not know when his master will return, is found faithfully discharging the duties imposed upon him. When his master does return, he will be honored with rewards and with promotion in his master's service. On the other hand, there is the attitude set forth by the unfaithful steward who assumed that his master would not return for some time. He therefore let down in his performance of his duty and in his attitude toward others. When he was least expecting it, his master returned and dealt with him according to his conduct. Thus it will be when our Lord returns: the faithful will be rewarded; the unfaithful will be punished for their unfaithfulness.

Those who have had the opportunity of knowing to do the Master's will and do it not, shall be beaten with many stripes; but those who have not had an opportunity to know what is His will, and who have not done it, will be beaten with few stripes. Thus the light which people have will determine the rewards and the punishment which will be meted out to them in righteousness and in justice. Having shown the two attitudes--the true and the false--that people can take toward His coming for His saints before the Tribulation, the Lord, in verses 49-53, then spoke of the purpose, for which He came into the world, that is, the ultimate objective that He had in view: the establishment of righteousness and justice in the earth, when the glory of God shall encircle the earth as the waters cover the sea, and when Christ will reign here for a thousand years. In order that this blessed period of glory and righteousness may be ushered in, it will be necessary for Him to "cast fire upon the earth." This statement is indeed an outstanding one. What is meant by His coming to cast fire upon the earth?

There can be but one answer, which is, that He refers to the judgments of the seven years of the Tribulation, a period of unparalleled suffering that will be brought to a conclusion by the casting of fire upon the earth as is set forth in II Peter 3:1-14. The Old Testament prophets constantly spoke of this period of wrath. For example, read Isaiah 2:12ff. and Zephaniah 1:14-18.

The clause following this arresting statement is equally astonishing: "and what do I desire, if it is already kindled?" (12:49). The marginal reading of the Revised Version of this clause is; "How would I that it were already kindled!" Both of these renderings are true and accurate. But each has a special slant upon the actual thought expressed by Jesus. I am rather inclined to favor the marginal reading. What, then, is the significance of this rendering? It is an ejaculation, expressing the idea that He, Jesus, really wished that the time of the Tribulation were then, and that the whole prophetic program could be rapidly brought to a close. The casting of the fire upon the earth is but the purging of the world of all sin and sinners in order that the reign of righteousness might be established upon the earth. Our Lord has an infinite, immeasurable aversion to sin and unholiness. Naturally, He could exclaim that He wished that the time was present to do away with Satan's presence, that of demons, and the existence of sin in the world.

This is in perfect harmony with the forecast of the redemptive career of King Messiah as set forth in Isaiah 42:1-4. An examination of these verses shows that the object of Messiah's coming into the world is to establish justice among the nations. With that objective always in view, He starts out, according to this prophecy, to reach that goal by launching a preaching ministry. He will not be a rabble-rouser, for He will not lift up His voice in public places. Neither will He be a Mussolini or Stalin--a dictator--for a bruised reed will He not break, nor dimly burning flax will He quench. But the ministry launched by Him personally and carried out by His servants after His return to glory, appears to be a failure, a proposition that would discourage any man. But He, the Messiah, is not discouraged by outward appearances. He will continue His program until He shall "bring forth justice in truth" and "set justice in the earth." At that time the isles, that is, the nations of the world, that have been waiting for His law through the centuries, will receive it.

Thus in our Lord's ejaculation--"How would I that it were already kindled!" --He is speaking in terms of His long-range view of His life's work. For the joy that was set before Him of banishing wickedness from the world and of establishing a regime of righteousness and holiness throughout the earth. He looked forward with great anticipation to this marvelous consummation of His redemptive work.

But immediately He draws back His thoughts from this glorious consummation and focuses His heart upon the task that is immediately before Him: "But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!" The thing to which Jesus here refers in this figurative manner is, according to the general consensus of conservative scholarship, the baptism of suffering on the cross. In order that He might eventually thus purge the world of all sin and of the influence of Satan and demons, He must deal with the sin problem--which is the problem of the whole universe, because it affected the entire material cosmos--by making atonement, which could be accomplished only by His sacrificial, vicarious suffering upon the cross. Thus, withdrawing His gaze from the glorious consummation, our Lord said, in substance, "But the cross must come before the crown!"

The cross and the work accomplished there by the Lord Jesus Christ is the basis of the real true peace and joy of the child of God. At the same time, there is the "offense of the cross," which is the occasion of division and disruption, even of families. This occurs when some members of the group accept Christ and become regenerated, whereas, on the other hand, others do not. The cross therefore stands in the midst of divided families and groups. This condition continues on through the entire Christian Dispensation and finds itself in an accentuated form in the Tribulation, as set forth in Micah 7:1-6. The language of Luke 12:53 is undoubtedly borrowed from Micah 7:6. Those who follow our Lord during this period of His rejection, as a rule, must take up their cross and follow Him daily (Luke 14:26; Matt. 10:34; 16:24-28).