Luke 12:11

9 But he who ^adenies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

10 “And ^aanyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.

11 ^a“Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say.

12 For the Holy Spirit will ^ateach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

The Parable of the Rich Fool

13 Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

14 But He said to him, ^a“Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?”

15 And He said to them, ^a“Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.

17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’

18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.

19 And I will say to my soul, ^a“Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; ^beat, drink, and be merry.” ’

20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night ^ayour soul will be required of you; ^bthen whose will those things be which you have provided?’

21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, ^aand is not rich toward God.”

Do Not Worry

22 Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, ^ado not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on.

23 Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
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What Does Luke 12:11 Mean?

Luke 12:8-12

The remedy for hypocrisy is reverent fear of God, the fear that conquers all other fears, because the person who truly fears God fears nothing else. The apostle John teaches that the love of God casts out fear (I John 4:18, 19). Thus, we can ignore the negative things people say and do. With God standing by us, why should we fear the criticism of others (Hebrews 13:6)? They can do no more than kill the body, but God can destroy both life and body (Matthew 10:28). Since Christ is the ultimate and eternal Judge, it is logical to put the fear of God ahead of everything else.

Fearing man often results in denying Christ, bringing severe consequences (Matthew 10:32-33). A Christian can avoid persecution by denying that he is Jesus' disciple, but the eternal cost of doing so is far worse than the persecution that he sought to avoid. The opposite of denying Christ is to confess Him before others, that is, to be a true witness for Him by living God's way. A Christian living any other way is a hypocrite.

There is no shame in suffering for being a Christian. If we suffer for righteousness, we should keep on doing what is right, trusting our lives to our Creator, because He will never fail us (I Peter 4:16-19).

Martin G. Collins
Beware of Hypocrisy

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