All right, let's take our Bibles
once again. Turn with me to the book of Luke.
Luke chapter 12. Luke 12. Our Lord has been preaching.
And he makes a statement. for the comfort of God's people. And he says
in verse 32, Luke 12, 32, he says something I need to hear.
I desperately need to hear this. Fear not, little flock, for it
is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Isn't that precious? Fear not. Fear not, little flock. You know, we hear the kingdom,
the kingdom of God, the kingdom of Christ. And when we read or
we consider or we hear of the kingdom, The kingdom of the Lord,
the kingdom of God. What are we talking about? What
does that mean, the kingdom? Well, it's speaking of His people. It's the church. It's the bride
of the Lord Jesus Christ over whom He's the head. A kingdom has a king. He's the
king. A kingdom has subjects, with
subjects. His kingdom. And this, this is a kingdom,
the kingdom of God, that has everlastingly been loved. Jeremiah
31 3. I've loved you with an everlasting
love. I've always loved you. It's a kingdom, hold your place,
turn with me to Ephesians 1.4. Very familiar passage of scripture,
but oh, how blessed to look at it. It's a kingdom, a people,
a church, a bride that was chosen. Look at Ephesians 1.4. How'd she get in Christ? How'd
she get in him? Ephesians 1.4, according as he,
that is the father, That's what scripture says in verse three.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ, colon, according as he has chosen us. In him, before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love. We're not born in Adam that way. We're born in Adam dead in trespasses
and sins. God's gonna do something for
us. His kingdom in Christ. He'll put away our sins by the
shedding of His blood and He's going to robe her in righteousness,
the righteousness of Christ, that she should be holy and without
blame before Him. The kingdom. Fear not, little
flock, for it's your Father's good pleasure to give you the
kingdom. This kingdom How long has the Lord known them? Turn
with me to Revelation 17, 8. Let me show you something. This was a real revelation to
me when the Lord pleased to teach me something here, and I desperately
need to be taught. Before the foundation of the
world, God wrote their names in the
book of life. before the foundation of the
world. Revelation chapter 17, verse 8. Well, I'll read, yeah,
verse 8, I'm sorry. Revelation 17, 8. The beast that
thou sawest was and is not, this beast, looking at it, false religion,
all this ungodly. The beast thou sawest was and
is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, go into perdition,
And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder. Who's gonna wonder about God's
judgment? Who's gonna wonder about that?
Well, those whose names were not written in the book of life
from the foundation of the world. When they behold the beast that
was and is not and yet is. So you're telling me that God
wrote The names of his people, all the names in the book of
life before the foundation of the world, is that what you're
telling me? No, I'm saying that that's what God said. I'm just
repeating it. That's what God said. God said
it. Written in the book of life.
This kingdom. But this kingdom fell in Adam's
transgression. This kingdom was in the loins
of Adam. And they failed. All have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. There's none righteous,
no not one. All dead in trespasses and sins. And therefore this kingdom, this
kingdom was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the
world, Ephesians 1, 4. Whose names were written in the Lamb's
Book of Life, Revelation 17, 8. That kingdom, you talking
about that kingdom fell and was lost? Yeah, yeah. That's what the Lord said. You
call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.
They're lost, they're lost sheep, lost sheep. And the Lord, who
has loved them, has always known them, possessed them, to save
his people from the bondage and the penalty of the law, the curse
of the law, he came into this world made of a woman, made under
the law, and assumed all of her responsibility. What do I owe
to God? I owe obedience to God, but I'm
disobedient. To stand before God, I need to
stand righteous and holy. How can I stand righteous and
holy before God when I am a sinner? I need Christ to pay my debt. Pay my debt. I need my debt paid. And the only payment, as I said
in the first message, the only payment, there's one payment,
there's one payment for disobedience to God's law, one payment. One payment, what was it? Death. The wages, the pay. You work
for somebody, come to the end of the week, they're going to
pay you. What are you going to pay again? Dollars. Money. That's what, what do you want?
Would you rather them give you some pig? No, I don't, I need
the dollars. I'll take the dollars. One payment
for my work. Money. payment salary, one payment
for the broken law, death. Why did Christ die? To redeem
his people from their sin. Now, in time, this kingdom was
given to Christ, names written in the Lamb's Book of Life, before
the foundation of the world, they fell in Adam, they're lost,
Christ comes into this world, And He's going to call them out.
He's going to call them out. Turn over to John 6.37. John 6.37. Are they going to
come? Are they going to come? I'm talking
about all those that were given to the Lord, had their names.
Are they coming? They're coming. How do you know? How do you know? How do you know? God said they're coming. John
6.37. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. They shall come to me. Buddy,
I love that word shall. I'm so glad it didn't say might.
I'm glad it didn't say should. I should. But they shall come
to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast him out. Oh, Lord, have mercy on me. Have mercy on me. So the Lord
back in Luke 12, 32, he says, fear not, little flock. Fear
not, little flock. Oh, the flock of the Lord Jesus. You know, as to my perception,
It's, as the Lord says it is, it's little flock, little flock. But we have nothing to fear.
We have nothing to fear. Turn with me to Matthew 6. Matthew
6. We have nothing to fear in this
life or the life to come. Let me show you about this life.
Now, you know, I'm telling you, I got to thinking about this
about, I'm gonna say 45 years ago. I went through a very, very tough,
tough time. Tough time. It was in the, those
of you old enough to remember about mid-70s, there was a recession
in this country. And I had little business and
I, he got to where I didn't have any work. I didn't have any work.
I had no work. I had to let my employees go.
And Gabe was just born. He was an infant. And I didn't
have anything. And in Matthew chapter 6, this
passage of scripture, I mean, every time somebody mentions
Matthew 6, this is where my mind goes. This is where I found some
great comfort right here, these scriptures. The scripture says,
starting in verse 25. Matthew 6, 25. Therefore, I say
unto you, take no thought for your life. What you shall eat,
what you shall drink, nor yet for your body, what you shall
put on is not the life more than meat and the body than raiment. I mean, I was struggling. Some
of you that's gone through some tough times, I'm telling you,
it was a tough time. Hadn't been married that long,
a couple of years. Had a new son. No work. Bills to pay. And I'm telling
you, nights were long. Nights were long. Woke up in
the middle of the night. Can't go back to sleep. Think
it's always worse at night. This passage of scripture, take
no thought for your life, what you're going to eat, what you're
going to drink. Don't despair for food. I never missed a meal. I remember
that. Maybe I didn't have as much as
I wanted, I thought. Psalm 55, 22, cast thy burden
upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee. He shall not suffer the
righteous to be moved. Be ready. In this world, we're
going to have tribulation. The Lord's going to teach us.
He's going to show us something. You know when a man or woman
will cast themselves upon the mercy of God? When they need
mercy. When they need some help. When
they see no out, that's when they'll do it. Oh, the blessing
of the chastisement of the Lord. David, I quote that all the time.
David said, it's good, it's good for me that I've been afflicted,
that I might learn. Look at verse 26. Behold the fowls of the air,
they sow not, Neither do they reap, nor gather into barns,
yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are you not much better
than they? These wild birds, not parakeets. I used to have a parakeet. I'd
take care of the parakeet, I thought, you know, just a kid thinking.
I'd feed him, put the paper down on the bottom, you know, give
him some water. I'm talking about these wild birds. Behold the
fowls of the air. They don't sow, reap, gather.
Your Heavenly Father, oh, Your Heavenly Father. Here's the Lord
speaking, His people. Your Heavenly Father, Yours by
adoption, Yours by creation, Your Heavenly Father feedeth
them. They don't plant, they don't
harvest, they don't store their food. God feeds them and they
eat when they need to eat. Oh, if I just learned that. Which
of you, verse 27, by taking thought can add one cubit to a stature? You know that, that's talking
about length of life. Do you think stature means length
of life, age? Which of you? The psalmist wrote
in Psalm 39, five, behold, thou hast made my days as a hand breath,
and mine age is as nothing before thee. Verily, every man at his
best state It's altogether vanity. You know, we get so perplexed.
Am I going to make it? You know, by dying, I know I'm
going to die. I get older, I feel the pains. But you know what? It's appointed.
It's appointed. It's appointed. Time to be born, time to die.
If I get sick, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to
the doctor. If the Lord's pleased to heal me, for that I'm thankful. But if he takes me, it was my
time, I know that. Which of you, by taking thought,
by worrying about it, can add, I'm not saying don't, I'm not
saying be irresponsible. Be responsible, do everything
you can. But if God takes one of your own, he's the Lord. He doeth as he
will in the army of heaven among the inhabitants of the earth.
Verse 28, 29, and why take you thought for raiment? Consider
the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither
do they spend. Yet I say unto you that even
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Hold your place right there and
just turn to 1 Kings 10. Solomon in all of his glory.
1 Kings chapter 10, verse four to seven. First Kings 10, four to seven. And when the queen of Sheba had
seen all Solomon's wisdom and the house that he had built and
the meat of his table and the sitting of his servants and the
attendance of his ministers and their apparel and cupbearers
and his assent by which he went up into the house of the Lord,
there was no more spirit in her. And she said to the king, it
was a true report that I heard in my own land of thy acts. and
thy wisdom, how be it, I believe not the words, until I came,
and mine eyes have seen it, and behold, the half was not told
me. Thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth
the fame which I heard." You know, you think about this. The Queen of Sheba, she was taken
back with the wisdom and the grandeur of Solomon. And I can only imagine, because
we've said and considered, eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard,
neither hath entered into the heart of man that which God has
prepared for those that love him. But I can only contemplate. Whenever we stand before God, brought into His presence, behold
the house, she saw them. the house of Solomon. She saw
that place where he was, the temple. We behold, as the kingdom,
the church, robed in the garments of his righteousness, feasting
now, no more by faith, but by sight. She said, I heard in my
kingdom, where I'm from, I heard, you know, my land, but I, boy,
she said, when I came and saw it, she said, The half was not
told me. Can you imagine? I can't either. But just to stand there and to
feast by sight in our hearts upon Him who is the bread of
heaven. And according to the Scriptures,
everyone falling down before the Lamb and worshiping Him forever
and ever. I can't even imagine that. But
that's what the Scripture says. Casting our crowns before Him. Scripture says, and crying, thou
art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for
thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are
and were created. Back in Matthew 6, verse 30. Wherefore, if God so
clothed the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is
cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you O ye
of little faith, therefore take no thought, saying,
what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall
we be clothed? As the Lord promised, he said
back in Luke chapter 12, verse 32, fear not, little flock. or it is your father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom. We have no reason to fear now.
You say, look, God takes care of his own. He's going to take
care of us. He'll provide for us. Yeah, but we're this or the
other. He's not going to leave us. He's
not going to forsake us. Not now or in the day of his
coming. Right now. I'm going to just be honest.
I'll be outwardly honest and you can be honest to yourself. Because of the presence of sin,
fears arise because of the wiles of the devil, that old man that's
in us, that thought, do I know him? Do I know him? Oh, when
I see the waywardness of my old heart when I see these things,
when I contemplate these things, I think. So embarrassed I wouldn't
dare, I wouldn't dare say out loud things that's gone through
my mind since I was standing in this pulpit. Things that I
thought that would be such an embarrassment to me. Can I, can
I deem as old John Newton said, can I deem myself a child? Oh, have I any part in this covenant
of grace, the blessings of His promises? Am I going to persevere to the
end? If He saved me, I will. Because
we're kept by the power of God through faith. Little flock. You that He's given a heart to
believe, that believes Him. What foundation, what do I have? What hope do I have that I'm
his? I believe it. I believe it. I
put no confidence whatsoever in my flesh. I have no confidence
in my flesh. None, none. I'll quit. You leave it to me, I'll leave.
I'll be gone. But if God keeps me, if God's
given me a heart to believe, he that believeth on the Son
hath life. He that believeth not the Son
hath not life. Wrath of God abideth on him. Fear not, little flock, for it
is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Give you the kingdom. Oh, I think about that glorious
promise. The glorious state that we now
possess in this world. To be found by the grace of God,
through faith, to know it by faith, that I'm His. That I'm one of His own. I have
that now. That state of being that was
obtained, again, not by my works, but according to His mercy. Remember
what old Moses asked the Lord? Show me your glory. Here's my
glory. Exodus 33, 19, I will have mercy
on whom I'll have mercy, and I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. So according to His word of promise,
That which shall be possessed only by faith now and sight then is the kingdom. The kingdom,
heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ. I think about this, I
think it's Matthew 25. I'll read this and I'm gonna
close. Matthew 25. And we'll all stand before God
in that day. Matthew 25, verse 31, When the
Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels
with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory. And
before Him shall be gathered all nations. He shall separate
them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats,
and shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on
the left. Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand,
His kingdom. Those he chose in Christ according
to Ephesians 1-4 before the foundation of the world. Those he wrote
their names in the book of life before the foundation of the
world. Those he's called by grace. Then shall the king say unto
them on his right hand, come ye blessed of my father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you. From the foundation of the world.
Can I have any part of that? What's the assurance of my hope
that I know Him? I believe Him. I believe Him.
Abraham believed God. Abraham believed God. And it
was counted unto him for righteousness. Lord, I believe. Help mine unbelief. Amen. All right, Gary.