Let's turn to Luke 12. Luke chapter
12. This passage, it opens with a
word of encouragement from our Savior. These are encouraging
words. They are meant to comfort and
to cheer the saints. It's meant to give us comfort
and peace in Him to know the will and purpose of our God for
us in Christ. Whatever difficulties or sorrows,
whatever our struggles, whatever afflictions or sacrifices that
we are called to endure in defense and confirmation of the Gospel,
Our Lord cheers us with these words in verse 32. Fear not,
little flock. Fear not, little flock, for it
is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Fear not, little flock, it is
your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. And you think about those words
juxtaposed or with the backdrop of what we are called to face
in this life, what we are called to endure, holding fast to the
hope that we have in the gospel. Our Lord speaks of those that
would kill the body. And he says, don't be afraid
of them. speaks of the believers who were
made a gazing stock and endured reproaches and afflictions and
the spoiling of their goods for the hope that they had in the
gospel. We're told that this world hates
us, hates us, and despitefully uses us. and thinks of us as
the off-scouring of the world. This world persecutes us for
Christ's sake. But this is our stay and our
comfort, which he says to us, fear not, little flock, it is
the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Give you the kingdom. And so
he says this to his little flock. He sees us. He knows how small
we are. We are the elect remnant. There's
always been a remnant, meaning a small piece, a small fraction
of the whole. And if you ladies have ever worked
with cloth or some pattern or something, and you get a remnant
of it, it's usually just a small square out of the whole thing.
just a small piece, a little remnant, and yet he loves us,
and he cares for us, and he's assembled us together, gathering
us together to hear his word, and he pours out his spirit upon
us. And in the giving of his kingdom,
and it's not, he gives it freely, not because we've earned it by
merit. It's not because we've purchased
it with our merit. Rather, it is freely given by
him as it pleases him to his little flock, his little flock. The kingdom is a term that speaks
to our eternal inheritance, both that which is to come and what
we are made partakers of now, what we have tasted now, in the
giving of the earnest of His Holy Spirit as a down payment,
testifying that His Word is good, that He's made unto us. I've
given this to you. Here's a taste. Taste and see. This is what I've given to you,
which is in His Spirit. And so it's God's good pleasure,
it says, good pleasure to do this for us. This language is
used also by the Apostle Paul when describing what our Lord
has done for us, both in that which is to come and now, right
now. Ephesians 1 verse 5, we're told
that He predestinated us unto the adoption of children, meaning
He's brought us into the family of God by Jesus Christ to Himself
according to the good pleasure of His will. It's His good pleasure. It pleases Him to do it. Then
in Ephesians 1 verse 9, having made known unto us the mystery
of his will according to his good pleasure, which he hath
purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness
of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him,
in whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will. It is good pleasure. It pleases him to do it. And so these scriptures are speaking
of that which is to come and that which we presently experience
and enjoy right now. And so he's able. He's able,
brethren. It means that he's able to bring
to pass, to bring to pass that which he's purposed for us in
us, to work this in us, to reveal his grace and power, to manifest
what he has done, who he is, who he says he is, and what he
tells us he wills to do, what he purposes to do, because he
brings it to pass. He brings it to pass. And he
makes us to taste of these things so that we're willing to forego
feasting on the fatness of the earth, feasting on the momentary
pleasures of this world that is passing away. He makes us
willing to forsake these things, to turn from these things as
Moses turned from all the momentary pleasures in Egypt to be identified
with that little remnant, that little flock that is the Lord's. He makes us willing in the day
of his power. Paul saw it and said, I reckon
that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Because he tasted
it, he saw it. He was given the down payment,
the Holy Spirit. Colossians 3, 4, and 5 says,
when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also
appear with him in glory. all the things that trouble you
now, all the things that worry you and cause you to fear and
doubt and tremble, you're going to appear with Christ in glory. This is but a momentary time,
a small time that we have here. And so with that being our great
confidence, let that just keep driving a wedge between you and
this world. It's meant to drive a wedge between
you and this world because of what we are by nature, because
of what he's delivered us from by his glory. Mortified, Paul
says, therefore, mortified therefore your members which are upon the
earth fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence,
and covetousness, which is idolatry. Why? Because we have a more sure
hope in Christ. We are convinced and are sure
of it that Christ is the promise of God made unto us, and he promises
to return and to take us to be with him where he is. It's your father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom. Fear not, little flock. Fear
not. And what God wills, that's what
he does. So next, these next words here,
that our Lord speaks, they serve to search our hearts. All right,
just bear with me for a moment. They search our hearts. He says
in verse 33 and 34 now, 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." Now, the first thing these words do
is they expose the heart. They show us what we are in the
flesh. Is God asking me to impoverish
myself, to just take everything I have, to sell it, and to just
give it away? Is that what I'm being called
to do? Is that what he's calling all his saints to do? To hear
that word in that manner? To hear it like that? Paul said
to Timothy in 1 Timothy 5.8, He said, if any provide not for
his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied
the faith and is worse than an infidel. So how can we all be
called to sell every possession that we have and give it for
alms? Some of us are husbands and wives,
fathers and mothers, and we have children and things that we have
to take care of. There may be some that are called
in the kingdom to that very thing, that literal thing. Paul was
one, right? But he had no wife and he had
no children. And he did that on purpose. He
remained that way that he might be made useful in the kingdom
in that manner, in that particular manner. But there is an understanding
of this word in which every child of God enters into. in which we all hear this word
and what our Lord is speaking of here. These are our spiritual
words. God is a spirit and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. In another
place, in John 6 at the end there, he said it's the spirit that
quickeneth The flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak
unto you, they are spirit and they are life. And so he makes
us to know, Lord, What are you saying here? What are you declaring
to us here? Because we know you have the
words of eternal life. We may not understand this. We
may struggle to enter into this, Lord, but we know that you speak
the truth. And we know that you give your
spirit. These words are spiritual. Lord, teach me these words. Show
us these words. What the Lord is showing us is
that we need a complete salvation. Because we're so fixated on the
flesh, we're so fixated on this world, we're so, just our eyes
are so darkened and so dim. he's showing us you need a complete
salvation an entire salvation wanting nothing and this is what
Christ provides for us when he says sell that ye have and it
speaks to all our vain, idolatrous trappings of this flesh that
we hold on to, that we have confidence in, that we think, this is my
life, this is my salvation, and he's saying, no, let that stuff
go. This has no bearing on your eternal salvation. Whether you're
trusting in wealth and influence in this world, whether your confidence
is in the pride of man or your confidence is in works religion,
vain, dead, works religion, sell it you have. Put it on the dung
heap. Put it out there because it isn't
doing anything for you. It's not giving you what you
think it is. Paul was wealthy. He was rich in works. He was
a Hebrew of the Hebrews. He was born of the tribe of Benjamin,
circumcised on the eighth day. He had many works, many things
to trust in according to the flesh. And the Lord said to him,
sell it. Sell it. Let it go. Get rid of
it. Throw it. It's dumb. It stinks. It does you no good in the kingdom
of God. Sell all that stands between
you and Christ. Whatever that riches is, whatever
it is that hope that you have of what you've done that stands
between you and Christ, sell it. Fire sale it. Just get rid
of it. Let it go. Let it go. The prophet Isaiah
Well, the Lord, by the prophet Isaiah, asked, wherefore, why
do you spend money for that which is not bread? All your laboring,
all those riches that you have, and you're spending it, it's
not bread. It doesn't give you life. And
your labor for that which satisfieth not, hearken diligently unto
me, listen closely, and eat ye that which is good. He's saying,
hear my words, feed on that. This is good for you. This is
for your salvation, for your nourishment in the new man. And
let your soul delight itself in fatness. In fatness. And typically that fatness speaks
to the fatness of the earth. But the Lord is always lifting
our eyes up to Christ, where Christ sitteth in heavenly places,
where he's seated right now on the right hand of the throne
of God. This is the place that's spoken
of in Isaiah 25, in verse 6 and 7, that in this mountain, in
Zion, where the Lord sitteth. In heavenly Zion shall the Lord
of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast
of wines on the lees. And lees are those great bits
that settle down in the ferment of the wine there. A fat things
full of marrow, of wines on the lees, well refined, And he will
destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over
all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations."
This is that work which Christ has come, was sent to do, to
destroy the works of the devil. To circumcise the heart, to remove
the veil of flesh that blinds our eyes, and keeps us from seeing
Christ. And it's our righteousness. It's our filthy, rag righteousness
that keeps us from trusting the Lord, from thinking, well, I've
dealt with my sin. I've got that covered now. That's
all good now. I don't have to worry about that
no more, because I've taken care of that. Now I can worship God.
in spirit and in truth, or freely. No, you can't. We need Christ's
blood. It's his blood that washes us
from all sins. It's not our works. It's Christ
who cleanses us, who cleanses the heart and gives us life in
himself. And in Christ, we worship God
in spirit and in truth. That's how we worship God and
come before him. He's the one that removes the
veil of flesh from us. In Christ, all spiritual blessings
are secured and given to us. He did it. He sacrificed himself
because there is no law that can save us. He shed his blood
because there is nothing we can do to wash us of our sins. He
settled the debt with his own death, with his payment of blood,
because there's nothing we can do to settle that debt ourselves. He did it all, brethren. And
now he gives us a glorious foretaste of this hope in us by his spirit,
so that we see these things I'm trusting in, in the world, in
this flesh, it's garbage. Compared to what's to come, this
is nothing. And he makes us to see that what
I'm hoping in in this world doesn't even compare to the Lord. So
that whatever he does call us to do, we're made willing by
his power. Because we see that it doesn't
have anything on him, but he gives the grace for it. So it
may be a literal getting rid of all your things and going
and serving him, but it really comes down to it's spiritual.
Whatever you're trusting in, sell it. Whatever you're trusting
that's not Christ, sell it. Let it go. And give alms. Go out and preach the gospel.
Go out and declare to others what good things God has done
for you. You may not be able to explain
in detail all the doctrines, but you know what Christ has
done for you. You know the mercy he's had on your sinful soul.
You know how he's put away your wicked works and sees them no
more and gives you grace and forgiveness and healing your
broken heart and gives you peace in him. You can go and give those
alms. And you can go and comfort others
where with the comfort you yourselves have been comforted. And you
can be kind, and you can be patient, and you can be gentle, and you
can show love to people that don't deserve it. because that's
the alms which he's given to you. So you can do those things
for others. And justify, it's not of me,
it's of him who loved me and gave himself for me. Give him
the glory. And so we give it all to him.
So he's the bread of heaven. He's the one who cannot be bought
with silver or price. It's given freely, and it must
be received freely. by his people. Ho, everyone that
thirsteth, come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, come
ye, buy and eat. Yea, come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price. And so his word to us here is,
seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and
all these other things will be added unto you. You trust him. You just keep looking to Christ.
You keep pressing toward Christ. You keep forgetting those things
which are behind. and keep looking forward to Christ
and calling out to him, Lord, have mercy on me. Save me. Learn of him, and he'll give
you all that you need. And if he's calling you to something,
he's going to give you a heart. And if you don't have a good
heart about it, don't do it. Just confess it to him. And if
you think he's moving you somewhere to do something in some manner,
and you don't have a heart for it, just keep praying and wait
on him to give you the heart, because he's able to turn the
heart and give grace and to give a willing heart to do what needs
to be done. And so this does speak to supporting
the gospel. We are called, all of us are
called to support the gospel as we're able, either in service
or in giving, but he gives us what we need. And if you do give,
give with a cheerful heart, because the Lord loveth a cheerful giver.
So if you don't have a heart, don't give. Or just give what
he gives you, the heart, and pray, Lord, help me. Help me
in all these things. And he does it. Now, the next
words our Lord says here in Luke 12, They're typically, I think,
only taken to mean the Lord's second coming. I think that's
typically how we read these words, as though it's yet to come. But I think it speaks also of
what our Lord does for us here and now in our midst. I believe this speaks to what
he does for us right now. in revealing himself to us. So these aren't just instructions
for far off, these are instructions for now. He says, verse 35, 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. So this is with the hope of his
grace and leaning upon the Lord, trusting his power. We're trusting
him to visit me now, Lord. I need you now. Return now, Lord. I'm looking for you, waiting
upon him, calling upon him. Lord, save me now. Help me now. Strengthen me now. Feed me now,
Lord. Keep me now. We look for that
day when he comes, but Lord, please would you come and visit
us today, today. And in the night season, Lord,
would you visit me tonight? Would you keep me, Lord? Would
you stay near me? Would you help me, Lord? All
right, we need him, his presence now. And in looking to him now,
you'll not miss when he comes in the clouds. You'll not miss
him. You'll be looking for him already
because you're looking for him right now. We need him today. We need his salvation. Now, we're
speaking of things here that requires his grace. We can't
just turn on the switch. We would if we could, but we
can't. Usually when we think we're going to have a glorious
time, a lot of times we're just down and cold and hard and difficult
and indifferent in many ways. And then those times when we
think I ain't going to get nothing. Those are the times where he
sweetly comes and influences your heart, and softens you,
and helps you, and gives you a word, a timely word in the
season. And he draws us to himself by
stirring us up, by making us to know, I'm such a wretch. I'm
such a wicked man. I'm so stupid, so ignorant. So foolish. But in that, that's
where he causes us to humbly come to him and seek him and
say, Lord, I've been a fool. I've been a fool again. Forgive
me, Lord. Would you draw near to me, Lord?
Would you visit me? I need your presence again, Lord. Help me. Pass me not, O gentle
Savior. Hear my humble cry. While on
others thou art calling, do not pass me by. He gives that heart. He's the one that softens us
and makes us to see our need of Him. And so this salvation
and the hope of Christ's return, it's made present for us. We
want Him now. Lord, I need you now. I need
you to visit me and help me right now. And we look for him walking
by faith and looking for his presence to come. I don't want
to miss it when you do draw near to your people, Lord. Let me
be one that you come and visit. And you draw near to. And you
draw me near to you, Lord. And so we see this. This spirit
worked in his people. There was a time when Isaiah
was made, when he said, finally, he was broken and hurt. Here
am I, Lord, send me. The Lord did that for Isaiah.
We see it in Paul's exhortation beseeching us in Romans 12, verse
1 and 2, when he said, by the mercies of God that you present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which
is our reasonable service. to not be conformed to this world,
but being transformed by the renewing of our mind, that we
may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of
God. We just want to be near him, knowing that there's a time
when he's going to come. I don't want to be far away.
When you draw near, Lord, I want to be right there with my loins
girded about, looking for you, Lord. But he's got to give that
heart. If he don't give that heart, then we don't care. until
we're softened by his humbling grace and by his work, he brings
us to that point. Listen to what Paul wrote to
Titus in Titus 2, verse 11 through 14. He said, for the grace of
God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching
us. That's what the Lord is doing.
He's teaching us. This is a very instructive chapter. He's teaching
us. that denying ungodliness and
worldly lusts which we know all too well, the Philistines are
yet in the land, doing what they do, we're very
mindful of them, that we should live soberly, righteously, and
godly in this present world, not being constrained by the
law of Moses or dead-letter religion, but Lord, with a soft heart,
keep me looking to you and trusting you, casting my care upon you,
looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of
the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself
for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify
unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Is that
just for some day out in the future that we may or may not
be alive in? No, that's right now, today.
looking for that hope, our great God and Savior, to draw near,
to keep me, to help me, to strengthen me, to nourish me, to turn me
from wicked works, to turn me from death, and to keep looking
to Him, that we would have a zealous heart, that what He tells us
and seeks among His people, that we feel it, that we know it,
that we see it, what He does for us in His grace. So our Lord
then, related to this, I believe related to this, says something
amazing in verse 37, Luke 12, 37. 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 meet and will come forth and serve them. Now that's a
good meditation to think about, but I really don't know what
that looks like in eternity. I confess, I don't know exactly
what that looks like or understand what that means or how that translates
in eternal things, but I do know something of what that looks
like this side of eternity. I do know something of that,
of the grace of God by the Lord Jesus Christ to minister sweetly
his grace and his power to his little flock, whom he says it
pleases the Father to give you the kingdom. If it was just one
drop, and then off you go, we would be turned out of the way
very quickly. We would be fallen off and gone
forever into a black hole. But because it pleases the father
to give you the kingdom, he doesn't just drop it in once and leave
you on your own. No, he sweetly comes and ministers
his grace, his gospel, his word, what you need to strengthen you,
to nourish you, to turn you out of the wrong way that we always
go, and to turn us back into the way, into his way. And he does it. by his grace
in various humblings, various teachings, various struggles
and difficulties that bring us, make us weaken ourselves and
take that haughty, cocky, arrogant spirit and make us to come before
him seeking his grace and mercy. And through that infirmity in
those trying times, we're made to see our need of him. Our hard
hearts are softened. Our cold hearts are warmed. And
we desire him. And we ask him. Now, he's doing
that. That desire that calls out to
him is his work in us. It's him ministering. He's girding
himself. And he's coming and serving us
what we need to make us to sit down And to set us down and to
come and just break the fish, break the bread to each one,
is giving his people what they need to help us again. Because it pleases the Father
to give us the kingdom, to give it to us. And so all of his grace
is moving us along to stir our hearts to cry, Abba, Father,
I need you. I need you. I've done it again.
I've sinned again. I've gone off. My eyes are looking
to the world of a father. And that's the spirit of adoption
that cries that. That's the spirit of adoption
that he gave you, according to his good pleasure, that cries
out, Daddy, Father, save me. Remember me, Lord. Draw near
to me. Paul says, In Romans 8, that
we having the firstfruits of the Spirit, which is the earnest
that is given to us, even we ourselves grown within ourselves
waiting for the adoption to wit, the redemption of our body. For
we are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope for
what a man seeth. Why doth he yet hope for?" Right? We're waiting for our Lord to
draw near to us, and we're now in hope. Lord, save me. But if
we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait
for it. We're patiently waiting. Likewise,
the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should
pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession
for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth
the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he
maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Is that not a sense? Do you not
see how the Lord girds himself there and serves his people,
comes and ministers to his people what we have need of there? He's keeping us. We're the servants,
right? We should be serving him in all
things. But how often is he the one that
comes to us to give us, to help us, and to strengthen us in all
that we need here? And so we need him this hour. We need, Lord, come. We're waiting
for you. We're looking for you to come. And so through those things,
we learn his tender grace. And we learn his kindness and
gentleness toward us. Verse 38, and if he shall come,
in the second watch, or come in the third watch and find them
so, blessed are those servants." Wait for him. Watch for him in
prayer. Trust him. That's what he's saying. He's saying, put off all these
things that you're trusting in and look for your Lord. Watch
for your Lord. Pray for your Lord's return.
Be ready. Be ready. Because he comes and
he ministers this to you. Trust him in it. Believe him
in it. And this, know that if the good
men 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 thinketh not." That's true in that day. And I suppose there's a sense
in which the way he works in us is preparing us for that,
preparing us for that, to keep watching. But he does it right
now, ministering that word, helping us, strengthening us, because
all salvation is him. So fear not, little flock. For
please, it's the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Amen.