It has been much debated whether God should be represented as the Sovereign or the Father of mankind. It has been but a foolish strife; it has been another case in which both disputants have been right and both wrong. God is the Sovereign of the world, and a great deal more than that; God is the Father of men, and a great deal beside. He is a royal Father, or a fatherly King. The Lord's Prayer might have taught us this: "Our Father... thy kingdom come." God is to us all and much more than all both these human relationships represent, only that one presents him in one aspect and the other in another. Here Christ invites us to think of him as a Sovereign; and we look at -

I. THE KINGDOM OF GOD, of which we may become citizens. "Seek ye [the citizenship of] the kingdom of God." Jesus Christ launched a perfectly new idea when he spoke of this kingdom. In his mind that was nothing less than a universal spiritual empire; a kingdom of peace, righteousness, and joy, wide as the world and lasting as time; a kingdom to be established without forming a regiment, or shaping a sword, or fashioning crown; a kingdom of God, in which all men of every land and tongue should own him as their rightful Sovereign, should cheerfully obey his righteous laws, should dwell together in holiness and in love.

II. THE ALLEGIANCE WHICH IS OUR SACRED DUTY. Christ summons us to citizenship. He says imperatively, "Seek ye the kingdom;" and he bids us seek entrance into it "rather" than pursue any earthly objects, rather than be anxiously concerning ourselves about temporal supplies. He indicates that this is something which has the first claim on our thought and on our endeavor. And so, indeed, it has. For God is that King

(1) without the exercise of whose sovereign power there would be no other kingdom, no subjects, no liberties, no riches, no honors, in fact, no being;

(2) to be disloyal to whom is the lowest depth of ingratitude, is the deliberate abandonment of the most bounden duty, the guilty severance of the most sacred tie. Being what he is to all men, and having done what he has wrought for all men, he rightly demands of us, through Jesus Christ, our fealty, our loyal service. To respond to this summons of the Savior and to become citizens of the kingdom of God, we must offer him something more than the honor of the bended knee, or the tribute of the acclaiming voice, or the service of the dutiful hand; we must bring the homage of the reverent spirit, the affection of the loving heart, the submission of the acquiescent will. And out of this inward and spiritual loyalty will proceed the praises of the tongue and the obedience of the life. Seeking the kingdom means a real returning of soul unto God and a consequent devoting of the rest of our life to his service.

III. CHRIST'S PROMISE OF SUFFICIENCY to all loyal subjects. "All these things shall be added unto you." It is well for the world that there is not attached to the service of Christ any very valuable and attractive treasures which are of this earth. If there were, we should have the Church choked with insincere and worldly minded members, paying as little devotion as they thought necessary for as much enjoyment and prosperity as they could reap. Christ has mercifully saved us from this calamity; but he has not found it needful to leave us without a provision for our need.

1. He has made present happiness an attendant upon virtue, and virtue is an appanage of piety.

2. But he has given us a promise and a pledge in our text. He assures to those who enter his holy kingdom not, indeed, luxury, not a large measure of prosperity and enjoyment on an earthly ground, but sufficiency. They who yield themselves to him and who live in his service may be well assured that they will want "no good thing;" nothing that would really make for their well-being will he withhold. All resources are at his disposal, and he will see that his children are supplied.

(1) Let none be kept out of the kingdom because they dread social or pecuniary evils; God will shield and save them.

(2) Let none who are in the kingdom despond, though circumstances are against them; at the right moment God will appear on their behalf; "goodness and mercy will follow them all the days of their life," and attend them right up to the gates of the heavenly city. - C.

The Lord gives us continually our daily bread, multiplying for this the grain in the field; yet are we contented with it? The reason of our discontentedness is, because we are inclined to make our daily pursuits for a livelihood the main point, and the Kingdom of God a secondary one. Perhaps we go so far even as to separate one from the other, although religion, like the leaven, should penetrate all our works and bring God's blessing upon all we do. This blessing will be given to us if we endeavour to sanctify our solicitude for our daily bread, by performing our employments —

I. IN OBEDIENCE. TO GOD.

1. It is God's will that I work. By this truth we should be induced —

(1)To consider and esteem labour as a sacred duty.

(2)To avoid idleness, which is not only sinful in itself, but also the source of sin and poverty.

2. I work for God's honour. This truth renders labour —

(1)Consoling, though hard.

(2)Meritorious.

II. IN THE SPIRIT OF PENITENCE. I must work, because I am a sinner.

1. This reflection will reconcile you to your work. As the heart is wounded by undeserved punishment, so a generous mind finds satisfaction in a consciousness of justice being done.

2. It ennobles man: imparting to him —

(1)Deep humility.

(2)True wisdom.

III. IN ORDER TO FULFIL, A DUTY TOWARDS OTHERS. Only he that has lost all sense of duty can refuse to work. For —

1. Labour is a duty of justice. God's wrath is challenged by —

(1)Idlers.

(2)Squanderers.

2. Labour is a duty of charity.

(1)You are bound to provide for your family.

(2)And for the poor.

(Bishop Galura.)

Your business — you cannot neglect that. Call to mind the story of the rich English merchant to whom Elizabeth gave some commission of importance, and he demurred to undertake it, saying, "Please your Majesty, if I obey your behest, what will become of these affairs of mine? " And his monarch answered, "Leave those things to me, when you are employed in my service, I will take charge of your business." So will it be with you. Do but surrender yourself to Christ, and He, of His own free will, takes in hand all your affairs.

(C. H. Spurgeon.)

I was once crossing the Atlantic, and had come within three days' sail of the Irish coast. Fog and darkness shut out the sun by day and the stars at night. We had to trust to dead reckoning — that is, to the log, the compass, the chart, and other nice nautical computations. Standing by the captain, I heard him say on the last of these days, "We ought to see Fastnet Light in twelve minutes! "I took out my watch and waited. We saw the welcome light in just eleven!" There, thought I, is a triumph of nautical skill and calculation, to push on so steadily and surely through the darkness day after day to the point aimed at. We justly confide in one who has proved himself trustworthy in human affairs, but the witness of God is greater. Why ever distrust Him? He has not only fixed the movements of the stars and the tides, but His promises of grace are unchangeable.

(R. S. Storrs, D. D.)

"Few things are looked back on by me with less satisfaction than my own conduct in respect to my children, except in one particular, which appears to have been the grand secret; and that is, that I have always sought for them, as well as for myself, in the first place, the Kingdom of God and His righteousness."

(T. Scott.)

Let us press the seeking God's kingdom first on those who are yet in the springtime of their days. And we will just tell you what we believe would constitute a thorough submission to the precept of our text, and what, therefore, entitles a man to depend on the fulfilment of the promise. We will suppose that, from his youth upwards, an individual has proposed to himself the salvation of his soul as the prime object to engage his solicitudes and occupy his strivings. We may suppose that, so soon as he could discern the evil and the good, so soon as the will had the power of making an election, he decided in favour of the paths of righteousness, and set out on the heavenward course; and, ever afterward, we may regard him as holding on in one uniform course of faith and obedience; so that, whatever the other objects which may demand and obtain some share of his attention, he keeps ever uppermost, as the great end of his being, that attainment of God's favour to which he had devoted himself at the outset of life. Of such an individual it may be asserted, in all the extent of which the expression admits — he has "sought first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness." He has sought it first, as having begun with this seeking; he has sought it first, as having never permitted another object to take precedence: and to the doing this is what we would earnestly exhort the younger of our hearers. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness": seek ye first this kingdom — first, before ye seek the wealth of the world, which cannot satisfy you, or the honours of the world, which will only mock you, or the pleasures of the world, which like the Dead Sea fruits, wear a bloom to the eye, but are ashes to the taste — first, before the strength has been impaired, and the spirit has been broken, and the eye has lost its fire, and the hope is sick with disappointment. "First! " Will ye give the bounding pulse, and the soaring thought, and the eager glance, and the rushing purpose, to the slavery of time and created things, and think of bringing the jaded energies, the thin grey hairs, the emaciated limbs, and consecrating them to the service of God? We know that even in old age the kingdom may be sought, the kingdom may be founds; we dare not, therefore, and we thank God that we dare not, regard any individual, be he ever so old, be he ever so hardened, as having outlived the opportunity of being saved. We preach to the man of four-score years; and though, in the expressive language of Solomon — "the daughters of music are brought low, and the grasshopper is a burden, and the silver cord is almost loosed, and the golden bowl broken," we still say to him, "Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation." And yet it is impossible not to feel, that where there has been, for forty, or sixty, or seventy years, a determined resistance to all the proffers of the gospel, the case is growing comparatively hopeless. We may go on with our work; but it is impossible to go on with a very light heart. And never does the minister of Christ seem charged with a commission in which success is so doubtful, as when sent .to the infirm and worn-out sinner, who, having given the strength of life to Satan and the world, has at last only the dregs with which to make an offering to his God. We say, indeed, it is our duty, ay, and it is our privilege, to say, even to the old person who has been hardening for half a century under faithful sermons — It is not too late to " seek"; "seek," therefore; "the Pearl of great price" may even yet be found — even yet, though the last streak of light is fading from the sky, though the film is gathering on the eye, and the cold and rough wind threatens to put out the lamp; we say to him, "Seek!" But now tell me, my brethren, can we do otherwise than feel, that even if he seeks he seeks last. And where is the promise to those who seek last? — last, inasmuch as heaven is not sought until earth is sliding from the grasp? Where is the premise to those that "seek" last "the kingdom of God and his righteousness?" We remember the words which, in the Book of Proverbs, are placed in the mouth of Eternal Wisdom — "I love them that love Me; and those that seek Me early shall find Me." "Those that seek Me early!" Here is an express promise. It is a promise that does not exclude those who seek late, but certainly it does not include them. We have, however, better hopes of the young. We know, indeed, that you feel tempted to delay and put off the giving heed to the solemn things of eternity. And why so? Because you regard religion as a melancholy thing — as circumscribing your pleasures and curtailing your enjoyments; and you feel that it will interfere with many things in which you delight — the gewgawry of fashion, and the revelry of life. There are certain things which you wish to keep a little longer, and which you perceive that true religion will require you to surrender. So you make the calculation — you shall run but little risk in giving a year or two more to the world; you shall have time enough left for the care of the soul. Ah! thus, to speak the unvarnished truth, you are balancing the chances of destruction against another draught of the intoxicating cup; you loiter round the edge of the pit, to pluck flowers which fade in the gathering. And yet all the while the true pleasure is in religion. Yes, that it is — the elevation of soul — the companionship with beings of the invisible world — the filling up with God the immeasured voids of a human spirit — the beatings of a large philanthropy — the sense that, "all things are ours, for we are Christ's, and Christ is God's" — life curtained by lovingkindness — death abolished by the Mediator — eternity studded with the rich and the radiant, — these are ours; we know them, we feel them to be ours. What! then, has religion no pleasures? Nay! "seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness." It is seeking peace; it is seeking comfort; it is seeking happiness. Seek ye this "first," assured that — oh! for the testimony that might be given from above I oh I for the testimony that might be given from beneath! — assured that, though thousands have wept bitter, scalding tears because they sought late, none have ever found that they began too soon.

(H. Melvill, B. D.)

Many years ago, when in my country charge, I returned one afternoon from a funeral, fatigued with the day's work. After a long ride, I had accompanied the mourners to the churchyard. As I neared my stable door, I felt a strange prompting to visit a poor widow who, with her invalid daughter, lived in a lonely cottage in an outlying part of the parish. My natural reluctance to make another visit was overcome by a feeling which I could not resist, and I turned my horse's head towards the cottage. I was thinking only of the poor widow's spiritual needs; but when I reached her little house, I was struck with its look of unwonted bare: hess and poverty. After putting a little money into her hand, I began to inquire into their circumstances, and found that their supplies had been utterly exhausted since the night before. I asked them what they had done. "I just spread it out before the Lord!" Did you not tell your case to any friend?" "Oh no, sir; naebody kens but Himsel' and me! I kent He wadna forget, but I didna ken hoe he wad help me till I saw you come riding ower the brae, and then I said, There's the Lord's answer!" Many a time has the recollection of this incident encouraged me to trust in the loving care of my heavenly Father.

(J. H. Norton.)

Jesus, Peter, SolomonRoad to JerusalemAdded, Addition, Care, Chief, God's, Instead, Kingdom, Object, Pursuit, Rather, Reign, Seek, Yet, Yours1. Jesus preaches to his apostles to avoid hypocrisy
13. and warns against covetousness, by the parable of the man who set up greater barns.
22. We must not worry about earthly things,
31. but seek the kingdom of God;
33. give alms;
35. be ready at a knock to open to our Lord whensoever he comes.
41. Jesus' disciples are to see to their charges,
49. and look for persecution.
54. The people must take this time of grace;
57. because it is a fearful thing to die without reconciliation.

Luke 12:31

     6185   imagination, desires
     8136   knowing God, effects
     8402   claims
     8849   worry

Luke 12:15-31

     5967   thrift

Luke 12:16-31

     5503   rich, the

Luke 12:22-31

     1330   God, the provider
     5766   attitudes, to life

Luke 12:27-31

     4460   grass
     5178   running

Luke 12:29-31

     1330   God, the provider
     8160   seeking God

Luke 12:29-32

     1040   God, fatherhood

Luke 12:30-31

     2363   Christ, preaching and teaching

Luke 12:31-32

     2375   kingdom of God

October 23 Morning
A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.--LUKE 12:15. A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.--Better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith.--Godliness with contentment is great gain. Having food and raiment let us be therewith content. Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

March 29 Morning
Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.--MATT. 25:34. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.--Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?--Heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. The Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

March 26 Morning
The kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods . . . to every man according to his several ability.--MATT. 25:14,15. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey? All these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.--As every man hath received the gift, …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

May 14. "But God" (Luke xii. 20).
"But God" (Luke xii. 20). What else do we really need? What else is He trying to make us understand? The religion of the Bible is wholly supernatural. The one resource of faith has always been the living God, and Him alone. The children of Israel were utterly dependent upon Jehovah as they marched through the wilderness, and the one reason their foes feared them and hastened to submit themselves was that they recognized among them the shout of a King, and the presence of One compared with whom all …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Stillness in Storm
'... Neither be ye of doubtful mind.'--LUKE xii. 29. I think that these words convey no very definite idea to most readers. The thing forbidden is not very sharply defined by the expression which our translators have employed, but the original term is very picturesque and precise. The word originally means 'to be elevated, to be raised as a meteor,' and comes by degrees to mean to be raised in one special way--namely, as a boat is tossed by a tough sea. So there is a picture in this prohibition which …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

The Servant-Lord
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.--LUKE xii. 37. No one would have dared to say that except Jesus Christ. For surely, manifold and wonderful as are the glimpses that we get in the New Testament of the relation of perfect souls in heaven to Him, none of them pierces deeper, rises higher, and speaks more boundless blessing, than such words as these. Well might Christ think it necessary to preface them with the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Fire on Earth
'I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled!'--LUKE xii. 49. We have here one of the rare glimpses which our Lord gives us into His inmost heart, His thought of His mission, and His feelings about it. If familiarity had not weakened the impression, and dulled the edge, of these words, how startling they would seem to us! 'I am come'--then, He was, before He came, and He came by His own voluntary act. A Jewish peasant says that He is going to set the world on fire-and …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

The Rich Fool
'And one of the company said unto Him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. 14. And He said unto him, Man, who made Me a judge or a divider over you? 15. And He said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. 16. And He spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17. And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Anxious About Earth, or Earnest About the Kingdom
'And He said unto His disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. 23. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. 24. Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? 25. And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? 26. If ye then be not able to do that thing …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

The Equipment of the Servants
'Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; 36. And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord.'--Luke xii. 35, 36. These words ought to stir us like the sound of a trumpet. But, by long familiarity, they drop upon dull ears, and scarcely produce any effect. The picture that they suggest, as an emblem of the Christian state, is a striking one. It is midnight, a great house is without its master, the lord of the palace is absent, but expected back, the servants are busy in …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Servants and Stewards Here and Hereafter
'Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord, when He cometh, shall find watching: Verily I shall say unto you, that He shall gird Himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when He cometh, shall find so doing. 44. Of a truth I say unto you, that He will make him ruler over all that he hath. --LUKE xii. 37, 43, and 44. You will, of course, observe that these two passages are strictly parallel in form. Our Lord evidently intends …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

October the Nineteenth Ready!
"Let your loins be girded about." --LUKE xii. 35-40. Loose garments can be very troublesome. An Oriental robe, if left ungirdled, entangles the feet, or is caught by the wind and hinders one's goings. And therefore the wearer binds the loose attire together with a girdle, and makes it firm and compact about his body. And loose principles can be more dangerous than loose garments. Indefinite opinions, caught by the passing wind of popular caprice, are both a peril and a burden. Many people go through …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

True Harvest Joy.
TEXT: LUKE xii. 16-21. TO-DAY the harvest thanksgiving is celebrated through out the land, and it is most fitting that it should be with all of us a day of great and joyful giving of thanks. Although there are but few among the masses of people crowded together in this as in other great cities, who have any direct share in this great business of agriculture, yet we are all aware that it is the prime source of our common prosperity; indeed, I may say, the first condition of the development of our …
Friedrich Schleiermacher—Selected Sermons of Schleiermacher

On the Words of the Gospel, Luke xii. 15, "And He Said unto Them, Take Heed, and Keep Yourselves from all Covetousness. "
1. I doubt not but that ye who fear God, do hear His word with awe, and execute it with cheerfulness; that what He hath promised, ye may at present hope for, hereafter receive. We have just now heard the Lord Christ Jesus, the Son of God, giving us a precept. The Truth, who neither deceiveth, nor is deceived, hath given us a precept; let us hear, fear, beware. What is this precept then: "I say unto you, Beware of all covetousness"? [3392] What is, "of all covetousness"? What is, "of all"? Why did …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On the Words of the Gospel, Luke xii. 35, "Let Your Loins be Girded About, and Your Lamps Burning; and be Ye Yourselves Like," Etc. And
1. Our Lord Jesus Christ both came to men, and went away from men, and is to come to men. And yet He was here when He came, nor did He depart when He went away, and He is to come to them to whom He said, "Lo, I am with you, even unto the end of the world." [3417] According to the "form of a servant" then, which He took for our sakes, was He born at a certain time, and was slain, and rose again, and now "dieth no more, neither shall death have any more dominion over Him;" [3418] but according to His …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On the Words of the Gospel, Luke xii. 56, 58, "Ye Know How to Interpret the Face of the Earth and the Heaven," Etc. ; and Of
1. We have heard the Gospel, and in it the Lord reproving those who knew how to discern the face of the sky, and know not how to discover the time of faith, the kingdom of heaven which is at hand. Now this He said to the Jews; but His words reach even unto us. Now the Lord Jesus Christ Himself began the preaching of His Gospel in this way; "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." [3431] In like manner too John the Baptist and His forerunner began thus; "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On Worldly Folly
"But God said unto him, Thou fool!" Luke 12:20. But one of these fools is commonly wiser in his own eyes "than seven men that can render a reason." If it were possible for a Christian, for one that has the mind which was in Christ, to despise any one, he would cordially despise those who suppose "they are the men, and wisdom shall die with them." You may see one of these, painted to the life, in the verses preceding the text. "The ground of a certain rich man," says our blessed Lord, "brought forth …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

On Divine Providence
"Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered." Luke 12:7. 1. The doctrine of divine providence has been received by wise men in all ages. It was believed by many of the eminent Heathens, not only philosophers, but orators and poets. Innumerable are the testimonies concerning it which are scattered up and down in their writings; agreeable to that well-knowing saying in Cicero, Deorum moderamine cuncta geri: "That all things, all events in this world, are under the management of God." We might …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

The Use of Fear in Religion.
PROVERBS ix. 10.--"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Luke xii. 4, 5.--"And I say unto you, my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him." The place which the feeling of fear ought to hold in the religious experience of mankind is variously assigned. Theories of religion are continually passing …
William G.T. Shedd—Sermons to the Natural Man

Darkness Before the Dawn
"Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether."--SONG OF SOLOMON 2:17. THE SPOUSE SINGS, "Until the day break, and the shadows flee away," so that the beloved of the Lord may be in the dark. It may be night with her who has a place in the heart of the Well-beloved. A child of God, who is a child of light, may be for a while in darkness; first, darkness comparatively, as compared with the light he has some times …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 42: 1896

Hypocrisy
I am sure that every true child of God will stand at times in doubt of himself, and his fear will probably take the shape of a suspicion concerning his own state. He that never doubted of his state, He may--perhaps he may--too late. The Christian, however, does not belong to that class. He will at times begin to be terribly alarmed, lest, after all, his godliness should be but seeming, and his profession an empty vanity. He who is true will sometimes suspect himself of falsehood, while he who is …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859

Our Requests Made Known unto God
OUR REQUESTS MADE KNOWN UNTO GOD ". . . Let your requests be made known unto God." -- Phil. 4:6. Paul, the pattern saint, would have us see the value of revealing our needs to God in prayer. We must not presume that the things required to sustain life will be granted without making our requests known unto God. Our requirements on earth and God's resources in heaven are meant for each other. If we ask, we shall receive. When we fail to ask, we fail to receive. The Word declares, "Ye have not, because …
T. M. Anderson—Prayer Availeth Much

Lii. Concerning Hypocrisy, Worldly Anxiety, Watchfulness, and his Approaching Passion.
(Galilee.) ^C Luke XII. 1-59. ^c 1 In the meantime [that is, while these things were occurring in the Pharisee's house], when the many thousands of the multitude were gathered together, insomuch that they trod one upon another [in their eagerness to get near enough to Jesus to see and hear] , he began to say unto his disciples first of all [that is, as the first or most appropriate lesson], Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. [This admonition is the key to the understanding …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Christianity Misunderstood by Men of Science.
Attitude of Men of Science to Religions in General--What Religion is, and What is its Significance for the Life of Humanity-- Three Conceptions of Life--Christian Religion the Expression of the Divine Conception of Life--Misinterpretation of Christianity by Men of Science, who Study it in its External Manifestations Due to their Criticising it from Standpoint of Social Conception of Life--Opinion, Resulting from this Misinterpretation, that Christ's Moral Teaching is Exaggerated and Cannot be put …
Leo Tolstoy—The Kingdom of God is within you

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