What Seek Ye?
Clifford Henry Brown
Table of Contents
What Seek Ye? Part 1
Luke 12:31-59
In the chapter we have read, we are reminded by our blessed Lord that we are not always going to stay here. Things are not always going to run on as they are now from day to day. There is a great crisis in the offing. We are going to be taken out of this scene one of these days, and be ushered into new surroundings. We are not there yet. We are on the way.
In this chapter we have certain exhortations and admonitions that are to be for our profit while we are waiting for the translation. This paragraph opens with the words, "Rather seek ye the kingdom of God." Everyone here is a seeker. I take it that I am not speaking to an audience composed of aimless people. A tramp is someone who is going, but he is going nowhere. He leads an aimless life; one place is as good as another, and one day is as good as another; he lives from day to day with no object. Not so with you. You are a seeker. You have an object before you.
Perhaps it would be well to stop and let the Lord ask us a question that He asked those in the 1st chapter of John's Gospel: "What seek ye?" I believe that is a question we need to ask often. Remember, He was the One who asked it. "What seek ye?" The exhortation here is, "Seek ye the kingdom of God." Is that what we are seeking?
We have entered a new year. Yes, the old is in the past. The sands have all run through the glass. Now we are starting over again. What is the object before our souls? Shall we take inventory? What would you like this year to bring forth in your life? "What seek ye?" Those two in the 1st chapter of John's Gospel gave a lovely answer. They said, "Master, where dwellest Thou?" What were they seeking? Companionship with Christ. And He said to them, "Come and see," and they went and saw where He dwelt; and they abode with Him that same hour. Oh, they found the end of the quest, didn't they? They found Christ as the object of their souls, and they dwelt with Him. We are not in heaven yet; we are beset with the perplexities and problems that have to do with the necessities of life. We are fathers and mothers and husbands and wives and children and employers and servants. We have our various relationships here in life. We cannot ignore the fact; but at the same time, what is the overall object that is giving color to all these relationships? What is the gripping motive of the heart? the driving power in the life that is carrying us on through all these various human relationships? The exhortation here is, "Seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you."
That term, "kingdom of God," is a very wide one in Luke's Gospel. I take it that the kingdom of God takes in all those moral questions of every relationship of life, in responsibility to the One who placed us here in this world. You and I came not into this world by any choosing of our own. We did not ask to come here. We find ourselves here, and when we come to years of intelligence, we gain the knowledge of the One who placed us here. (I trust that those to whom I am speaking this afternoon have made the acquaintance of that One, not only as the One that spread the heavens, but as the One that died for sinners—have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, and have become a part of the family of God.) You now have a heavenly relationship, so you start all over again, and you bring every relationship of life to Him, and say, Now, Lord, I am going to be a father, I am going to be a mother, a son, a daughter, a brother, a sister, a child, a master, a servant, in a new way. I am going to seek to be a father that walks before God. I am going to seek to be a mother that has the consciousness all the time that I am responsible to bring up my little family to the glory of my beloved Lord; and if you are a master, you seek in that position of yours to carry the spirit of Christ; and if you are a servant, you are not one with eye-service, as men pleasers, but you realize that solemn word, "Thou God seest me." Every relationship of life assumes a new dignity now. You bring it to Him, and you ask Him to bless it. Ah, what a happy service that is! What a transformation of life that is! Every day becomes a day when you and I can use every relationship of life to the glory of God.
"What seek ye?" What is our object?—and one wonders sometimes if we get our eyes off the true Object. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God." This room is well filled with young people. I have always had a warm spot in my heart for them. I was young once myself. Young folks, what are you seeking? You are laying your plans; what do you have ahead? I trust that you have bowed the knee many a time, as you are making decisions in life, regarding the kind of home you are going to buy, where you are going to locate, the kind of position you are going to accept, and asked the Lord if this is His will. Is it for the glory of God? "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."
We are living in strange days. Man seems to have a sense of insecurity as perhaps he has never had in the history of the world, and there is a desperate effort on the part of those in this world to reach a measure of security. They are seeking, it nationally and internationally, but not only so; the man of the world seeks individually to make himself secure in a temporal way. He takes out insurance against that catastrophe and against this and that possibility, so that the ramifications of insurance have become exceedingly complex—all in an effort to establish a sense of security in this world. What does our verse say? "Seek ye first the kingdom of God... and all these things shall be added unto you." Are you willing to step out on that promise? By way of illustration: In the old "Traveler's Guide," there was a picture of a man standing at the edge of a frozen river and testing the ice with his cane. He wondered if it would hold him, yet in the middle of the river was a huge sled load of logs drawn by a yoke of oxen! How foolish we are! Is not the God who built the sky able to take you and me safely through this journey if we make first things first? "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."
Luke 12:32: "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Here we have one of those sweet and precious "Fear nots" of the Bible. I have never counted them; perhaps you have, but their number is legion. "Fear not, fear not, fear not." Who says it? Oh, it is our God who says it to us. We mentioned a moment ago that we are on the threshold of a new year. Are you apprehensive? Do you tremble? Do you wonder what lies ahead? Do you shrink back? Listen. "Fear not." Who says it? The blessed Lord. "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
"Little flock." We are living in the days of bigness. People love to talk in superlatives, and everything is bigger and better. Sad to say, that spirit has invaded the spiritual realm. It has gotten in among God's people, and they are trying to run competition and keep up with the activity and pace of the world, so we draw our pattern of spiritual progress after the pattern of the great men of this world. Oh, beloved, when our Lord spoke these words, He was addressing a little flock, a precious little flock. They were not numbered by the thousands and tens of thousands. No, they were numbered by the two's and three's.
"Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them." After our Lord had served here for a matter of 3 1/2 years of intense ministry, how many were there in that great city—Jerusalem—waiting in the upper room for the promise? One hundred and twenty. After 3 1/2 years of labor and toil and tears, a little group of 120 waiting in the upper room for the promise. Oh, beloved, when we deal in the things of God, we must remember that we are dealing with what He can own as real. "Little flock." We cannot look out over this world, so apostate from God, and think for a moment that that is the little flock about which He is talking. But in the midst of a great, sinful, apostate world, God marks out here and there a precious soul that is washed in the blood of the Lamb, and numbers them among the little flock.
"Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not." God is not looking for mammoth programs. He is not looking for vast amphitheaters. He is seeking precious souls. He is seeking them where they are to be found, and you and I from day to day can seek grace from Him to speak faithfully of Christ as we have opportunity. I sometimes wonder, as I behold the methods that have become so popular about us today in the proclamation of the gospel, what the dear Apostle Paul would think if he came back into the world. My heart is grieved and burdened as I think that we have reached a place where the servants of God have become too big for the little flock. They must have their thousands and tens of thousands; they can boast in their hundred thousands. Oh, beloved, that is not the language of Scripture. "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
In the verses that follow, we have an exhortation to be, as a dear servant of Christ used to put it, "distributors rather than accumulators." We need to have a bank account up there, so He says here, "Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth." There is some heavenly book-keeping going on, and you and I are making deposits day by day. I wonder how the account stands at the end of this year. If we were to turn to the 16th chapter of Luke, we would find this verse: "Make to yourselves friends with the mammon of unrighteousness, that when it fails ye may be received into the eternal tabernacles" (J.N.D. Trans.). That is the transmutation of the vain mammon of this life into the coin of heaven. You and I have the privilege, as we go through this world, of seeking to use our time, our talents, our strength, our means, our homes, in such a way that by-and-by, when we change worlds, there will be something on the other side. Brethren, sisters, how does the account stand?
We hear a lot about bankruptcy. Well, it is a bad thing to go bankrupt; but oh, heavenly bankruptcy would be a lot worse, would it not? God has given us a means whereby we can send on ahead to meet us in that coming day those things that He has entrusted to us down here. I trust that we know something about stewardship. Let us not confine it to terms of dollars and cents, for I judge that it includes all the powers with which we have been endowed by God—our strength, our means, our gifts, our abilities, whatever it is. Are we using them in view of the coming day?
Luke 12:35: "Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning." Girded loins means that we realize life is serious. That is the opposite of rocking chair Christianity. "Loins girt about with truth"—the Word of Gad guarding and guiding us day by day. Ah, how we need it! There is a lot of loose living among Christians today, sad to say. If we have a piece of work before us, we gird our loins to get ready for it. So the Lord Jesus here is exhorting you and me to gird up those loins. "And your lights burning." That light was not given to be put under the bed. No, that is not the place for it, nor under the bushel. In other words, that light can be darkened either by taking it easy in the pleasures of this life, or by the treacherous bushel—the business that occupies us so thoroughly. The things of this life can obscure that light. But it is to be put on a candlestick, and it gives its light to all in the
house.
What Seek Ye?
Luke 12:36: "And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately."
Fellow-Christian, are you looking for the Lord to come back? Is there a day of your life that passes without your thinking, Perhaps this is the day? I was in a home the other day and saw on the wall a motto: "Perhaps today!" Are you looking for Him? He wants you to. He has promised to come back. Do you believe He is coming?
Let me give a little illustration. About 25 years ago a brother and his wife called at a Christian home. They knocked. They could hear the loud booming of the radio inside the house giving forth anything but what would please the ear of heaven. The wife came to the door, looked through the glass, saw who it was, and called to her husband: "Turn it off; it's the—-s." The thing was so loud that he could not hear what she said, and she had to shout again: "Turn it off; it's the s." Finally, all was silent, the door opened, and they received a welcome. They were ushered into a little room where they hung their wraps. They noticed on the wall in front of them a picture of a prominent movie actress. That is a long time ago now, but I want to tell you those conditions told a story.
"The mills of God grind slowly,
But they grind exceeding small.
With patience He sits watching,
As He grindeth one and all."
The young lady who had the movie actress' picture on her wall long years ago, married and had her little family, but now she has a broken home. The wife who was so fearful about the—-s standing at the door was called home from this scene, a comparatively young woman. Ah, beloved, they were not ready for a visit.
What about the Lord's coming? Oh, to be like unto men that wait for their Lord, that when He comes and knocks, they may open to Him immediately. Beloved, if you knew positively that the Lord was coming this week, would you make some radical changes in your home, in your relationships, in your associations? Is it not a legitimate question to ask in view of this scripture? I believe it is.
It is not only waiting. Luke 12:37: 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 to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them." Did He mean it? indeed He did. Some day, beloved Christian, dear child of God, you and I are going to be ushered into that bright glory above. We are going to be with and like our Lord, and up there we are going to find Him the same faithful Servant that He has been all down through the years. When He was here as a man below, He went about in faithful service from day to day. He healed the sick; He gave sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, raised the dead; His hands spread kindness and mercy wherever He went. Lovely, gracious words proceeded out of His mouth. He was the perfect Servant.
Then the time came when He left this world. He led the disciples out as far as the Mount of Olives, and while He spoke with them, He was parted from them. The cloud received Him out of their sight. An angel said, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." He is coming back, but in the meantime, what is He doing up there? He is the Servant. You and I could not get through a day of our lives down here but for His advocacy and priesthood up there for us. He is the Servant up there, girded for service. Day by day He washes our feet. Day by day He cleanses our ways, and in time of need there comes mercy in abundance from His presence to meet us in our weakness. Oh, He is a faithful Servant.
Is that all? Oh, no. By-and-by He is going to give the shout in the air. He is going to see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied; and He is going to say, Now, sit down. He girds Himself- blessed, heavenly Man-Man out of heaven-He girds Himself, makes us to sit down to meat, and comes forth and serves us. Oh, yes, He is going to serve us by-and-by. Ah, beloved, it is not enough to wait. We want to watch, too, and then the meeting in the air. Then that banquet in the glory when the Lord Himself will again serve us.
In Luke 12:36, they are waiting; in Luke 12:37, they are watching. Now we go to the 41st verse: "Then Peter said unto Him, Lord, speakest Thou this parable unto us, or even to all?" Verse 42: "And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?" Verse 43: "Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing." Waiting, watching, now, doing, but notice the order. If you and I are going to serve Christ acceptably, if there is going to be the right savor in that service, it will proceed from hearts that have been quickened by the hope of His return and by the expectancy of it. Blessed are those servants that shall be found so doing. Are you seeking to help the members of the body of Christ? Is that Christian you are associated with a better Christian because you are with him? That Christian who works in the same office with you, who lives in the same house with you, who sits beside you in school; that neighbor across the fence, is it easier for him to live for Christ because you have tried to drop a word in season? Are you "so doing"? If you are, it is going to have a blessed reward.
Remember, there is not the least thing that you ever do for Christ that is going to be lost sight of in that coming day. If I come to your house and you give me a cup of cold water, it is not much; it did not cost you much; but if you give it to me in the name of a disciple, you will find it on the books up there by-and-by, and you will get a reward for it. Life is not made up of the great, gigantic feats we perform. No. Its web and woof are the daily acts and thoughts and deeds of our lives. It's the little things-a word here and a deed there-that we have done in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that mount up to our account in His glory in that coming day. Blessed are those servants whom He shall find so doing.
Now there is a warning here. There is a servant here who says in his heart-and get this point- says in his heart, "My lord delayeth his coming." He does not put a trumpet to his lips and say, I do not believe the Lord is coming; I think it will be a million years yet. We do not do that, but down in the secret of the heart, does the thought lurk, No, I do not think the Lord is coming now?-no, not until I accomplish my aims in life?-I do not think I have to worry about that in my day? You have not told your brother that, nor your sister. No, you have not made a confidant of anybody, but down in the heart is there the thought, "My lord delayeth his coming"? Notice, he does not say the Lord is not coming. He says, "My lord delayeth his coming." He is not going to be here very soon.
What is the effect? Our Lord tells us the effect. He begins to "beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken"-a twofold result of denying in our heart's affections the nearness of Christ's return. We begin to be careless as to our relationship with our dear brethren. We neglect them. We mistreat them. We perhaps abuse them, and then what is the next step? Eating and drinking with the drunken- worldliness. Now I am quite aware that in its full application this scripture refers to the false servant. This is the one who is not a child of God at all, but the principle is the same for the children of God. The postponement of the Lord's coming into the far distance is going to result in coldness in your heart and mine. The man who has the hope of the Lord's coming daily before him is going to purify himself. That blessed hope is going to have its cleansing, purging effect in his life.
Now we will go on down further in the chapter to the 49th verse: "I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?" Verse 50: "But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!" I will tell you an interesting thing about that 50th verse. Some 20 or 25 years ago, Mr. M-and I made a Scripture Text Index of Mr. Darby's "Synopsis of the Books of the Bible." That way we found out every place in the "Synopsis" where any verse is referred to, and we were rather astonished to find the 50th verse of Luke 12 is referred to more often than any other verse in the Bible in those five volumes of the "Synopsis." "I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished." What does that tell us? That ought to touch our affections. What did Christ mean? In substance He said, "Oh, I cannot tell you all that is in My heart until that work on the cross is finished. I cannot be to you what I want to be to you until that sin question is taken out of the way. I cannot unlock the floodgates of My affection and purposes and counsels for you until that work on the cross is accomplished." That is the baptism that was ahead of Him. Yes, He was straitened in His affections. He longed to have it over with so that He could come out with both hands full and bless us with blessings far beyond the fondest dream of man. Yes, that is what lay ahead of Him. That was the purpose for which He came into this world.
And now another thought. Luke 12:51: "Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on the earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division." Is not that startling? Stop and weigh it. The Lord Jesus Christ came down here, into your life and mind, to give division. Some people shudder at the thought of division. Some shrink, but our Lord said He came to bring division; and, beloved, if you are going to live for Christ in this world, it is going to mean division. Indeed it is. Our brother was calling attention in the readings yesterday to the fact that God hates mixtures. "Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass." "Thou shalt not wear a garment of... woolen and linen." God detests mixtures. He wants loyalty to Himself, and loyalty to Christ brings divisions in this world.
Our Lord Jesus Christ demands pre-eminence in your life and mine, beloved. Is He not worthy? Shall we supplant Him in our heart's affections with any relationship in life, however dear? Oh, you may say, It would break my mother's heart. Far rather break your mother's heart than do violence to the affections of Christ. He demands first place.
I remember a brother whose wife's mother told me that if he left such-and-such religious organization, it would kill her. Well, she kept the pressure on as long as she could. Finally, that dear brother counted the cost and stepped out to Christ alone. He said, The Lord Jesus shall come first. He saw no man save Jesus only. God blessed him for that act, and today that man is an acknowledged and esteemed servant of Christ. Yes, beloved, do not be afraid of making a decision for Christ. Do not think you are going to lose that sweetheart because you decided for Christ. If you make the decision for Christ and lose that sweetheart, the day is coming when you are going to bless God for the loss. You are going to find out you were protected by the Spirit of God, and that it would have brought sorrow into your life. Ah, God has the very best for us, beloved. He wants to give us out of the fullness of His heart.
Our time is up, but I do not want to close this little address without a word to the unsaved. Luke 12:58: "When thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him; lest he hale thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison." Verse 59: "I tell thee, thou shalt not depart thence, till thou hast paid the very last mite."
I shall not touch on the dispensational bearing of that verse, its connection with the Jewish nation, but here is a principle. Christ is offered here today. You know the gospel: You know the way to heaven is through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You may be just a child, but you have never come out and confessed that name. Jesus has been offered in all these meetings. I urge upon you to accept that offer, for the time may be right at hand when you Will nevermore have the opportunity-when the judge will deliver you over, and you will not depart thence until you have paid the last mite. That cannot be done in an eternity.
The other day I spoke at a funeral, and down in the audience sat a young man and his wife and two children. I tried to speak faithfully the gospel. They paid good attention. That night, both of them were corpses in the same funeral home. They were young. Do not count on youth! Get right with God at any cost; and Christian, dear Christian, let us get things right. He is coming. Let us be ready to open to Him immediately. If there are things in our lives that need clearing up, let us get it done; He is coming soon. We can read the signs of the times. We know He is at the very doors. May we wake up. The Lord is coming back again.
This morning a sister handed me this piece of paper-said her husband asked her to hand it to me. I received it as though the Lord Himself had put it in my hands, and lifted up my heart to Him and thanked Him for it right there. In closing I am going to read it. This is our encouragement as we enter this new year:
"The same yesterday, and today, and forever"- this is Jesus, is it not?
What Seek Ye? Part 2: Part 2
Devotedness is a much deeper and, at the same time, a much simpler thing than many suppose. Most think that if they are earnestly engaged in the Lord's work, and looking to Him for guidance and blessing, this is being devoted; but it is much more. It is having Christ Himself as the delight and resource of my heart, and the bent of my mind toward Him. The highest service we can render to the Lord is to serve His heart, and that is a service to which few devote themselves. Occupation with Christ, with a view to becoming more intimately acquainted with His character; studying Him that we may learn what pleases Him, is very rare indeed. Many can be found who are occupied for Christ, like
Martha—few who are occupied with Him, like Mary. When we have reached this, we have reached the foundation stone of true devotedness. This is the Gilgal where the serving one returns to encamp, and whence he issues like the sun to run his course, and like a giant refreshed with new wine. It is because the saints know so little of this Gilgal in the Lord's presence that there is so much unsanctified activity and really profitless work. If there is zeal and ability, without a knowledge of God's mind and when to use it, how can there but be a turning to take counsel from nature; and how can we expect that the results flowing from such a source will be otherwise than profitless?
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