but seek his kingdom, and [all] these things shall be added to you.
Luke 12 has just pointed to ravens that do not sow and lilies that outshine Solomon. The Lord has told His disciples that the nations of the world chase after food and clothing. Now comes the positive command that replaces worry with a pursuit. It raises two questions: whose kingdom is meant, and what does God promise to add?
The wording here is not simply "the kingdom of God." One writer marks a change of language running through the passage. It turns on the difference between being God's creature and being His child.
We do well to notice the change of language here, for it is instructive. Speaking of the ravens and of the lilies, the Lord spoke of God. God feeds. God clothes. He is only in the relation of Creator to them. But speaking to the disciples, He spoke of God as their Father. They were not only creatures of God, but children of God. Now, God cares for His creatures, both the animals and the plants. Will He not provide for those who stand toward Him in the double relation of creatures and children? ... The disciples were to act differently. The reading here is, "Instead, seek His kingdom" — that is, the Father's kingdom — "and these things will be added to you." And that kingdom would be theirs, a free gift from Him.
The verb points to a settled habit, not a single decision. One writer ties that seeking to prayer.
"Seek His kingdom" — that of the Father. The seeking ("keep on seeking," a continuous present) is by prayer, and the response to it may lie in the words of verse 32.
So what is this kingdom made of? And what does God do with our needs while we seek His?
As usual, Luke gives us the moral force of things. "The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking," as the apostle says, "but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 14:17). They were to desire and pursue what God Himself was about to bring in. It shows His power in contrast with man's weakness. And seeking in that way, all other things — everything needed for this life, all the things that man makes so important — would be added to them. God certainly takes care of His own. If we seek His things, He does not forget ours; He could not and would not overlook our need day by day.
The promise of things "added" can become a motive. One writer warns against making the second half of the verse the reason for obeying the first.
We are to make the things of God our great object, and He assures us that He will attend to all our needs. But note this: we are not to seek "the kingdom of God" in order that "all these things may be added." That would be a fatal mistake. If I give myself to the Lord's work so that my everyday needs will be supplied, I shall very soon make shipwreck. But if, on the other hand, I make the Lord's work my highest object, my needs will be perfectly met.
The next sentence in Luke tells the little flock that the Father delights to give them the kingdom. If the greater gift is settled, the smaller one cannot be in doubt.
"Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32) is the next cheering statement. And if He has good pleasure in giving you the kingdom, do you think He would grudge you a loaf of bread? Look at the kingdom. It is all that goes with the glory of Christ, a scene where the Father's love is known and where everything will speak of Christ.
Read in the flow of the chapter, this verse is the last of three cures the Lord applies to the heart.
So fear, covetousness and care are three terrible foxes that spoil the grapes in God's harvest. Each is dealt with: the fear of man, by the fear of God; covetousness, by being rich toward God; and care, by the care of God. So the blessed Lord sets the heart free from earth. The heart can then enter what is heavenly and be taken up with Himself, while it waits for His return.
- Father — Over ravens and lilies the Lord says "God." Over His disciples He says "your Father." The kingdom to seek is the Father's, and children may expect what creatures already receive.
- Seek — The tense is "keep on seeking," a continuous pursuit carried on by prayer, not a one-time choice.
- Substance — The kingdom is not eating and drinking but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. It is God's power shown where man is weak.
- Order — Make His things your object and He will not forget yours. Seek the kingdom to get the extras, and you make shipwreck.
- Guarantee — The Father who delights to give you the kingdom will not grudge you a loaf of bread. Fear, covetousness and care all meet their cure in Him.
Fear not, little flock, for it has been the good pleasure of your Father to give you the kingdom.
Jesus has just told His disciples to stop worrying and to seek the kingdom. Now He tells them what the Father plans to give, and the gift is far larger than the worry it answers.
The Lord repeats this command through Scripture, always to people with a real reason to fear. Here the danger is not a storm or a shipwreck but wolves, and the flock has no defence of its own.
"Fear not," said Jesus to the sinner who throws himself at His feet, rebuked in his conscience in the presence of His mighty grace (Luke 5:10). It is the first word of our history. "Fear not," He said to His disciples when the storm rose up, threatening to swallow them (Matt. 14:27). "Fear not," when shipwreck is certain (Acts 27:24). "Fear not," He says to the little defenceless flock surrounded by wolves who have the power to kill the sheep (Luke 12:32; Matt. 10:28; Rev. 2:10).
Believers have always been outnumbered. That fact says nothing about how the Father regards them.
The word "little" does not necessarily mean that it is insignificant. The Christian testimony has always been small compared with the huge number of people who do not believe. Here the Lord calls them a "little flock" — yet the Father's good pleasure is connected with them.
Some read the promise as a prediction that the flock will grow until it wins the world. The wording points the other way: what changes is not the size of the flock but the arrival of its Lord.
The faithful are called a little flock, and at the Lord's return they will receive the kingdom. This is the character of Christ's people until His return. It does not say, "Fear not, little flock, for the people of the earth will soon be converted to you." It does not say, "Fear not, little flock, for all the wolves around you will soon become sheep."
The previous verse tells them to seek. This one drops the command and states a gift.
There is an exhortation to seek in the previous verse; now it is all grace. He wants to establish the hearts of His people in the grace of the Father. It is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom; that brings in relationship. It is His delight as the Father to do it… The whole force of the scripture lies in that word "give"; it is the grace of the Father.
The name of the Giver carries its own comfort. Knowing the Father takes away the fear of going without:
He says to them, "Fear not, little flock." Why? "It is your Father's good pleasure" to be a Father to you — for that is the meaning of "to give you the kingdom." That is what takes the fear out of one's heart. I am not afraid of want or care. Why? Because I have my Father, and more than that, my Father knows.
If the Father gives the kingdom, no smaller need is in doubt.
Beloved, if He has good pleasure in giving you the kingdom, do you think He would begrudge you a loaf of bread? Look at the kingdom. It is all that goes with the glory of Christ. It is the scene where the Father's love is known, and where everything will speak of Christ. It is all that belongs to the heavenly place Christ now has, and which He shares with His people.
This promise also changes what they do with what they own.
The Lord now takes higher ground for them… So instead they were to get rid of what they had as men. They were to provide the things the Father gives to the heirs of the kingdom. They were to act the part of kings, called to a higher inheritance and possessing it. The heart follows the treasure. Let them provide a treasure in the heavens, and their heart will be there too.
- Fear — He speaks to a flock with no defence of its own, as in every other "Fear not" He gives to people in real danger.
- Little — small in number, never small in value. The flock does not grow into a crowd; it waits for its Lord.
- Father — the Giver is your Father, and that is what takes the fear out of the heart.
- Given — the kingdom comes as grace, not as a wage. If He gives that, He will not begrudge a loaf of bread.
- Kingdom — all that belongs to the glory Christ now has and shares. Heirs of it can let go here and store their treasure in heaven.
Sell what ye possess and give alms; make to yourselves purses which do not grow old, a treasure which does not fail in the heavens, where thief does not draw near nor moth destroy.
Jesus has just called His followers a little flock and promised them the kingdom. Now He tells them what to do with what they own. Is this meant word for word? And how does anyone hold property that lightly?
The command follows a promise. One writer says that order is what makes it possible.
In Luke 12 we find a similar passage. He first brings in God's care for His people: "Your Father knows that you need them." Only when He has won the heart's loyalty for God does He say, "Sell your possessions." For only now can they afford to do so.
Why give at all? Because a believer is meant to display the God he knows.
If I am established in grace, then I have to become a representative of grace to those around me… Unless I am in the truth of grace I cannot express grace. It is a principle in Scripture that the believer in any age is to reveal God as He is known in that age… He is a giving God; "giving" characterises the day of grace, and we are to be givers too, and so express the heart of God in our contact with people as we pass through this world.
Jesus does not forbid saving. He tells them what kind of bag to use — one no thief and no moth can empty.
He told them to sell what they had… Everything that showed love flowing out to the needy suited them. It was their Father's way with them who were once poor indeed, and they were to keep up the family character. They could provide bags, it is true. But the bags had to be ones that do not wear out, the kind heavenly treasure demands… Nothing is forgotten: "God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for His name." And, what matters too, there is no disappointment with the treasure. No thief approaches it on the one hand, no moth corrupts it on the other.
Nobody makes this exchange unless he already has something better.
He becomes in practice a pilgrim and a stranger. He can part with things here, for he has a treasure in heaven… The world's motto is "Slave, and gather." The Lord's instruction to His own is "Sell, and give." What a difference! But the saint will never do this until he has a treasure in heaven — even Jesus Himself… Moth, rust, and thieves sooner or later sweep away everything we set our hearts on here.
But how does a heart already tied to its things let go? Not by effort, one writer says, but by replacement.
If I have treasure on earth, no matter in what form, my heart will be there also, and I shall be a thoroughly worldly man. How shall I most effectively empty my heart of the world? By getting it filled with Christ… The world has its "barns" and its "bags," where it hoards its "goods." But its barns will fall and its bags will wear out. What will become of the treasure then?
Commentators differ on whether to obey this to the letter. One looks back to the earliest days of the church:
The Lord states the principle of it in Luke 12:33… On the day of Pentecost the believers gave up everything and laid it at the apostles' feet, to be shared equally among all. This did not continue in the later times of the church. But the principle surely remains, and so 1 Timothy 6 urges the rich to do good, to be rich in good works, ready to share, willing to give.
Another warns about those who give away everything at once and then live on other people's support:
Instead of distributing their income as the Lord's stewards, and as He might call for it, they have handed it over to others and taken the place of dependence themselves. The first way is certainly much easier than the second. But which is right? To hold property for Christ and His service in this world, and to give it out as a steward according to His mind — that is a Christian service. And it needs much waiting on the Master.
Why sell at all? One writer points to the Lord's return.
The faithful are called a little flock, and at His return the Lord will give them the kingdom… So they were to get rid of all unnecessary treasure and lay it up in heaven. Their path in this present period was that of a stranger and a pilgrim. The disciple was to stay ready and expectant.
- Given first. The Father promises the kingdom and His care before He asks for anything.
- Given through. God gives, so the believer gives too — and shows others what God is like.
- Given upward. Giving is not loss but transfer. It moves treasure into bags that never wear out, where no thief and no moth can reach it, and where God forgets no work of love.
- Given inward. The heart follows its treasure. Fill it with Christ and the world loses its grip.
- Given back. The little flock travels light. Their Lord is coming back to hand them the kingdom.