12:32 little flock. Christ’s warnings against individual covetousness apply also to church covetousness. His promised blessings are to the “little flock,” such as the church at Philadelphia, which had “little strength,” but had “kept my word” (Revelation 3:8), not to the church at Laodicea, which boasted that she was “rich, and increased with goods” (Revelation 3:17).

12:33 Sell that ye have. Compare Jesus’ advice to the rich young ruler given in Matthew 19:21. However, this must be balanced against a man’s responsibility to “provide…for his own, and especially for those of his own house” (I Timothy 5:8). We are also to “give to him that needeth” (Ephesians 4:28; see also I John 3:17) and to “sow bountifully” as “a cheerful giver” (II Corinthians 9:6-7). All of this implies that, by faithful labor in the vocation God has given us, we have the wherewithal to do such things, as the Lord provides. Ananias and Sapphira were punished not for retaining part of their possessions, but because they lied about it (Acts 5:1-5). The principle is this: all that we have is of the Lord, and thus must be used in ways that He leads and that honor Him. Our personal needs and wants should be kept minimal, so that more can be used in His service and to meet the needs of others.