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Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 12:32

Fear not, little flock - Or, very little flock, το μικρον ποιμνιον . This is what some term a double diminutive, and, literally translated, is, little little flock. Though this refers solely to the apostles and first believers, of whom it was literally true, yet we may say that the number of genuine believers has been, and is still, small, in comparison of heathens and false Christians. It is your Father's good pleasure - Ευδοκησεν , It hath pleased, etc., though this tense joined... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 12:33

Sell that ye have - Dispose of your goods. Be not like the foolish man already mentioned, who laid up the produce of his fields, without permitting the poor to partake of God's bounty: turn the fruits of your fields (which are beyond what you need for your own support) into money, and give it in alms; and the treasure thus laid out, shall be as laid up for yourselves and families in heaven. This purse shall not grow old, and this treasure shill not decay. Ye shall by and by find both the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 12:34

Where your treasure is - Men fix their hearts on their treasures, and often resort to the place where they have deposited them, to see that all is safe and secure. Let God be the treasure of your soul, and let your heart go frequently to the place where his honor dwelleth. There is a curious parallel passage to this in Plautus, quoted by Bishop Pearce on Matthew 6:21 . Nam ego sum hic; animus domi est, sc. cum argento meo . "I am here; but my heart is at home, i.e. with my money." read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 12:29

Verse 29 Luke 12:29.And be not lifted on high (460) This clause corresponds to the last sentence in the passage taken from Matthew, Be not anxious about tomorrow Our Lord now charges them with another fault. When men wish to make arrangements in their own favor, they would willingly embrace five centuries. (461) The verb μετεωρίζεσθαι , which Luke employs, properly signifies to survey from a lofty situation, or, as we commonly say, to make long discourses: (462) for the intemperate desires of... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 12:32

Verse 32 Luke 12:32.Fear not, little flock By this declaration our Lord strengthens the confidence to which he had exhorted his people: for how would God refuse worthless and perishing food to those whom he has adopted as heirs of his kingdom? And he expressly calls his own people a little flock, to hinder them from thinking that they are of less value in the sight of God, because, on account of their small numbers, they are held in little estimation before the world. The verb εὐδοκεῖν conveys... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 12:1-59

The Lord , after leaving the Pharisee ' s house , speaks at great length to a numerous crowd waiting for him , addressing his words principally to his own disciples. The foregoing scene ( Luke 11:1-54 .), when the Master addressed his bitter reproaches to the learned and cultivated of the great Pharisee party, took place in a private house belonging to an apparently wealthy member of this, the dominant class. The name of the large village or provincial town where all this... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 12:13-31

Worldliness. To the earnest teacher nothing can be more irritating than a half-attentive attitude or a remark which indicates preoccupation of mind with other and inferior things. Think of Christ, towards the close of a day of controversy with the Pharisees, and in the midst of solemn speech as to the duty of a true man, invited on a sudden to decide in a family quarrel, to settle a dispute about some money or some acres of soil. We know nothing about the person who appealed to him ( Luke... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 12:22-30

Anxiety or trustfulness? We read of "care-encumbered men;" and truly we see more than we could wish of them. As we look into the faces of those we meet daily, we are saddened with the thought that a great weight of care rests on our race as a heavy burden. And when we see, as we do, a few faces that wear the look of a sweet serenity born of holy trust in God, we ask—Is it necessary that such an oppressive burden should be borne by the children of men? Jesus Christ answers this question in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 12:22-40

Lessons from the fowls and lilies Our Lord, having related the parable against covetousness, or the selfish use of money, proceeds in the present section to show how foolish the anxious thought is about these temporal things. And here we have to— I. CONSIDER HOW POOR THE LIFE IS . WHICH LAKES EATING AND DRESSING THE CHIEF THOUGHT . ( Luke 12:22 , Luke 12:23 .) A man's life is intended to be much more assuredly than this; and yet are there not some who... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 12:29

And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink . Again, after the moving, touching words we have been commenting on, does the Lord return to the pressing injunction with which he began his lessons to his disciples upon the parable of the "rich fool." Trouble not yourselves about your eating and drinking. This repeated insistence of the Master upon this point in the future lives of his disciples has evidently a deeper significance than a mere injunction to cast all their care on... read more

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