The principles of truth laid down in Luke 12 are of the most solemn and searching character.
Their practical bearing is such as to render them of the deepest importance. Worldly-mindedness
and carnality cannot live in the light of the truth here set forth. This section of the Scriptures might
be entitled "Time in the Light of Eternity." The Lord evidently wanted to set His disciples in the
light of that world where everything is the opposite of this present world_to bring their hearts
under the influence of unseen things, and their lives under the power and authority of heavenly
principles.

While the Lord Jesus was in the act of showing forth these heavenly principles, a true child of
earth intruded upon Him with a question about property. "And one of the company said unto Him,
Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me" (Luke 12:13). How little did
he know of the true character of that heavenly Man who stood before him! He knew nothing of
the profound mystery of His being or the object of His heavenly mission. He certainly had not
come from the bosom of the Father to settle lawsuits or to arbitrate between two covetous men.
It was not a question of who was right or who was wrong as to the property. According to Christ’s
pure and heavenly doctrine they were both wrong.

In the light of eternity a few acres of land were of little worth; and as to Christ Himself, He was
not only teaching principles entirely hostile to all questions of earthly possession, but in His own
Person and character He set an example of the very opposite. He did not go to law about the
inheritance. He was "Heir of all things" (Heb. 1:2). The land of Israel, the throne of David, and
all creation belonged to Him, but man would not own Him or give Him the inheritance. To this
the Heir submitted in perfect patience, but by submitting unto death He crushed the enemy’s
power and brought "many sons unto glory" (Heb. 2:10).

Thus we see in the doctrine and practice of the Heavenly Man the true exhibition of the principles
of the kingdom of God. He would not arbitrate, but He taught truth which would entirely do away
with the need of arbitration. If the principles of the kingdom of God were dominant, there would
be no need for courts of law; for inasmuch as people would not be wronged of their rights, they
would have no wrongs to be righted. This would be admitted by all. But then the Christian, being
in the kingdom, is bound to be governed by the principles of the kingdom and to carry them out
at all cost. In the exact proportion that he fails to exhibit these principles, he is robbing his own
soul of blessing and marring his testimony.

Hence, a person going to law is not governed by the principles of the kingdom of God, but by the
principles of the kingdom of Satan, who is the prince of this world. It is not a question as to his
being a Christian, but simply a question as to the principle by which he is governed in the act of
going to law under any circumstances. I say nothing of the moral instincts of the divine nature
which would surely lead one to apprehend the gross inconsistency of a man who professes to be
saved by grace going to law with a fellow-man. Do we not realize that if we had our right_what
we deserve_from the hand of God, we would be burning in the lake of fire? How then can we
insist upon exacting our rights from our fellow-man?

If it be true that in the kingdom of God there is no need for courts of law, then I press it solemnly
upon my reader’s conscience that he, as a subject of that kingdom, is totally wrong in going to
law. True, it will lead to loss and suffering; but who is "worthy of the kingdom of God" who is
not pre-pared to "suffer for it"? Let those who are governed by the things of time go to law; but
the Christian is, or ought to be, governed by the things of eternity. People go to law now, but it
will not be so then; and the Christian is to act now as if it were then. He belongs to the kingdom;
and it is just because the kingdom of God is not dominant, but the King rejected, that the subjects
of the kingdom are called to suffer. Righteousness "suffers" now; it will "reign" in the
millennium; and it will "dwell" in the new heavens and the new earth. Now in going to law, the
Christian anticipates the millennial age. He is preceding his Master in the assertion of his rights.
But the Christian is called to suffer patiently all sorts of wrongs and injuries and injustices. To
resent them is to deny the truth of that kingdom to which he professes to belong. Let this truth
have its full weight upon the reader’s conscience. There is nothing which tends so to hinder the
freshness and power, growth and prosperity, of the kingdom of God in the heart as the refusal to
carry out the principles of that kingdom in the conduct.

It is not so much principles we want, as the grace, the energy, the holy decision, that will carry
them out, cost what it may. We admit the truth of principles which most plainly cut at the very
things which we ourselves are either directly or indirectly doing. We admit the principle of grace,
and yet we live by the strict maintenance of righteousness. Thus at the present day, eloquent
sermons and lectures are delivered and elaborate treatises are written about the principles of grace,
and yet the courts of law are frequented and lawyers are called upon to act in order to assert our
rights. Need we wonder, therefore, that true practical Christianity is at a low ebb among us? What
else could be expected when the principles of the kingdom of God are openly violated?

But is it unrighteous to seek to get our own, and to make use of the means within our reach in
order to do so? Surely not. What is here maintained is that no matter how well defined and clearly
established the right may be, the assertion of that right is diametrically opposed to the kingdom
of God.

FRAGMENT
"Take heed, and beware of covetousness" (Luke 12:15). If love of the world or covetousness slips
into the heart, it checks the power of Christ over the soul and conscience and eats out the practical
life of the Christian so that the soul is withered. This covetous care about earthly things is so
subtle that while there is nothing on which to lay the hand, the practical power of Christian life
in the soul is gone.