“Your Father’s Good Pleasure”

    “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 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. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; 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. 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. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not” (Luke 12:32-40).

    What tremendous words of consolation, instruction, and hope we have before us in this passage. How well our Master knows our hearts! How quick he is to condescend to our low estate and meet our needs!

    The first thing I see in our text is a soul-cheering assurance. “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (v. 32). Our Lord Jesus knew that these disciples were filled with many fears, and that we would often be tossed about with the same. They were few in number. Their adversaries were many and great. They had to face great difficulties. They were but weak, sinful men. They had a great work to do. And they knew themselves unworthy and altogether insufficient for the work. Being aware of all these fears that these disciples faced, all the fears that we must face, our ever gracious Redeemer speaks this word of grace: “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” In that one, golden sentence, he gives us great assurances to comfort our hearts and cheer our souls.

    God’s church in this world is a “little flock”. The word might be better translated “very little flock”. The fact is, God’s people in this world are now, always have been, and always shall be but a very little flock. There are multitudes who wear the name of Christ, multitudes who meet regularly in houses of worship, multitudes who have a profession of faith; but true believers are always but a very little flock in this world. We ought never to be surprised by this fact. It is vain to expect it to be otherwise, “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14).

    There shall always be a remnant according to the election of grace; but God’s elect shall always be but a remnant, until our Lord comes again. Yes, God’s people are but a very little flock; but we are his little flock! Christ is our Shepherd. He chose us to be his sheep. He bought us with his blood. He sought us out and found us. He is carrying us home. He will never let us go. We are constantly under his tender care.

    This passage also assures us that we have a great and gracious Father. You and I are tenderly loved by God the Father, who has made himself our Father. What a privilege! The God of Glory is our heavenly Father. He adopted us as his dear children. He rejoices over us as the objects of his love. He sees no spot in us. He delights in us as he delights in Christ. He receives us graciously. He is well-pleased with us in Christ, even as he is well-pleased with Christ.

    Even now, when the holy Lord God looks down upon us from heaven, with all our fears and infirmities, he sees us in Christ and smiles with approval, just as fully as he shall when he presents us before his glory and welcomes us into his kingdom (Jude 24, 25). Because our heavenly Father is well-pleased with his chosen in Christ, as one with Christ, it is our Father’s good pleasure to give us his kingdom. “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

    There is a glorious, eternal kingdom awaiting us, a kingdom of our Father’s pleasure which he delights to give us. Here we are troubled, tried, and tempted. We are mocked, ridiculed, and despised. We are counted the off-scouring of the earth. But that will not be the case for long (Romans 8:18; Colossians 3:4; Revelation 19:1-9). It is our Father’s good pleasure to give us his kingdom, all of it; and that which God is pleased to do, God will do.

    Are you a part of God’s little flock? If we are a part of this flock, we have nothing to fear. Our God has given us exceeding great and precious promises (2 Peter 1:4), and they are all yea and amen in Christ Jesus. God is ours. Christ is ours. Eternity is ours. All things are ours. The world, the flesh and the devil may oppose us; but God is for us. And, “if God be for us, who can be against us?”

    Next, in verses 33 and 34 I see a heart searching fact. “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Our Saviour’s exhortations are plain and demanding, but plain and unmistakable. “Sell that ye have.” He says, “Give alms.” His requirement is, “provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.” Then, he adds this heart-searching fact: “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

    We are to sell what we have. Without question this is a figurative thing, not to be taken literally. There is nothing in the New Testament that suggests that a person is to impoverish himself, or sell off his property to be a follower of Christ. On the contrary, we are required to faithfully and diligently provide for our families (1 Timothy 5:8).

    What, then, is the meaning of this exhortation? It is just this: We are to sell, or give up anything and everything that stands between us and Christ. This is an exhortation to self-denial. Faith in Christ involves the giving of our lives, of all that we are and have to the dominion and disposal of our Lord.

    Next, the Lord Jesus teaches us that we are to give. The giving of alms speaks of charity and kindness to those in need. We are to be more ready to use what God has trusted to our hands for the benefit of others, particularly for the benefit of his kingdom and the furtherance of the gospel, than to hoard it up for ourselves and to gratify our carnal lust for earthly things.

    The New Testament teaches nothing about tithing; but it teaches us much about giving. All of 1 Corinthians 9, 2 Corinthians 8, and 2 Corinthians 9 are taken up with this subject. But there are no commands to the people of God anywhere in the New Testament about how much we are to give, when we are to give, or where we are to give. Tithing and all systems like it are things altogether foreign to the New Testament. Like all other acts of worship, giving is an act of grace. It must be free and voluntary. Yet, there are some plain, simple guidelines laid down in the New Testament for us to follow.

    Christian giving must be motivated by love and gratitude for Christ (2 Corinthians 8:8, 9). Love needs no law. It is a law unto itself. It is the most powerful and most generous of all motives.

    Our gifts must arise from willing hearts (2 Corinthians 8:12). If that which we give arises from a willing heart, if it is given freely and cheerfully, it is accepted of God. The Lord is not concerned with the amount of our gift, be it great or small. He looks to the motive behind it.

    We should give to the work of the gospel in proportion to our blessings from the Lord (1 Corinthians 16:2). We are expected to give generously in accordance with our own ability.

    All of God’s people should give; “everyone” (1 Corinthians 16:2); “every man” (2 Corinthians 9:7). Men and women, rich and poor, old and young, all who are saved by the grace of God are expected to give for the support of God’s church and kingdom.

    We should be both liberal and sacrificial in our giving (2 Corinthians 9:5, 6). We have not really given anything until we have taken that which we need, want and have use for and given it to the Lord (Mark 12:41-44). Our gifts must be voluntary (2 Corinthians 9:7).

    We are to give as unto the Lord (Matthew 6:1-5). We give, not to be seen of men, but for the honour of Christ, hoping for nothing in return. This kind of giving is well-pleasing to God (Philippians 4:18; Hebrews 13:16).

    Then our Lord here tells us to provide ourselves treasure in the heavens. That is to say, we are to make our calling and election sure, to lay hold of eternal life, to make certain that Christ is ours. This is true wisdom. This is true prudence. As J. C. Ryle put it …

    “The man who does well for himself is the man who gives up everything for Christ’s sake. He makes the best of bargains. He carries the cross for a few years in this world, and in the world to come has everlasting life. He obtains the best of possessions. He carries his riches with him beyond the grave. He is rich in grace here and rich in glory hereafter. And, best of all, what he obtains by faith in Christ he never loses. It is that good part which is never taken away.”

    “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Where is your treasure? If we will be honest, that question will be easily answered. What do we love? What occupies our hearts and minds? Upon what is our affection set? It matters nothing what we say, what we profess to believe, how orthodox our creed is, or how highly respected we are by others. Where is our treasure? That is where our heart is. If our treasure is here, our hearts are here. If our treasure is in heaven, our hearts are in heaven.

    Third, our Lord shows us what it is to be ready for his glorious second advent.

    “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; 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. 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. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not” (vv 35-40).

    We have here a picture of what we ought to be at all times. We ought to be a people watching for Christ’s return, always living upon the tiptoe of faith and expectation (Titus 2:11-14). If we would live in the relentless anticipation of Christ’s return, we must gird up our loins, ready always to do our Master’s bidding. We must ever have our lights burning, watching for and welcoming our Lord.

    Luke 12:37 is one of the most remarkable passages to be found in all the volume of holy scripture. “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.” Christ is coming again. He is coming now (Revelation 1:7). When he comes, he will gird himself, make us sit down at his table, and serve us! What can that mean?

    We have a hint of this in Luke 22:18. “For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.” There is reference to this back in Isaiah 25:6. “And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.” The meaning of this promise is indescribably beyond the scope of my comprehension; but of this I am sure: there is no degree of honour, glory, happiness, and bliss that the Lord Jesus Christ will withhold from those who love his appearing (John 14:1-3; Revelation 1:7; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Timothy 4:8). “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom”!

    Fear not, O little flock, the foe

    Who madly seeks your overthrow;

    Dread not his rage and power;

    What though your courage sometimes faints,

    His seeming triumph o’er God’s saints

    Lasts but a little hour.

    Be of good cheer; your cause belongs

    To Him who can avenge your wrongs;

    Leave it to Him our Lord.

    Though hidden yet from all our eyes,

    He sees the Gideon who shall rise;

    To save us, and His word.

    As true as God’s own word is true,

    Not earth nor hell with all their crew

    Against us shall prevail.

    A jest and by-word are they grown;

    God is with us, we are His own,

    Our victory cannot fail.

    Amen, Lord Jesus, grant our prayer!

    Great Captain, now Thine arm make bare;

    Fight for us once again.

    So shall thy saints and martyrs raise

    A mighty chorus to Thy praise,

    World without end.

    Jacob Fabricius