Turn if you would to Luke chapter
12. The name of the message is, Consider
These Things. Now the Lord Jesus Christ knows
the hearts and the minds of all his people, and he knows the
hearts and the minds of all people upon this world. is left unexposed to Him. And
in the uncertain times like we live in, anxiety is currently
heightened in our lives and in the lives of those in the world.
And even we as believers, fear may grip our hearts, and anxiety
may grip our hearts, just like it would those who are unsaved. And the Lord knows the hearts
of His people. In the passage that we are going
to look at, He knows the hearts of His disciples. He knows their
fears. He knows their anxieties. He
knows everything about them, because He's God incarnate in
the flesh. He's Jehovah in the flesh. And again, God's people, just
like everyone else in this world, can be gripped by fear, can be
gripped by anxiety, and the disciples were no different, beloved. See
we sometimes take these Bible characters and we vault them
to a position that we ought not to vault them to. Because they
were men of like temptations like we are. Of like trials they
went through like we go through. They were persecuted for their
faith just as we who believe are persecuted for our faith.
So they're men of flesh. They're men of flesh. And the
women who the Lord saved. The same men and women of flesh
with fear and anxiety that can come upon us at any time. Any
time. And the Lord knows this. And
so we're no different. We're no different than the unsaved
in that sense, except we're saved. We who believe. We still carry
this body of flesh around. We still struggle with sin. We
still go through trials and tribulations and temptations, just like the
rest of the world. Except the rest of the world
doesn't have a hope. God's people, his elect, his born-again children,
we have a hope, beloved. We have a hope that's in Christ
and Christ alone. You see, there's only two kinds
of sinners in this world. There's only two kinds of sinners
in this world. There's saved sinners and there's
lost sinners. But we're all sinners, aren't
we? And the only thing is I've said many, many times in the
pulpit here, and I know Jim said the same thing when he was here,
the only one who's made us to differ is God. God is the only
one who's made us a saved sinner rather than a lost sinner. It's
nothing in us. We don't even merit that mercy
and grace, do we? So there's two types of sinners,
lost sinners and saved sinners. And it would do us good to remember
that truth. It would do us good as God's
people to remember that we're but flesh, and it's only the
mercy and grace of God that's made us to differ. So our Lord
knew the hearts of his disciples. He knew they were filled with
fears of every description, fears that are verbalized and fears
that are not verbalized, and fears even because of the fewness
of their numbers, fears because of the multitude of their enemies,
Fears because of the many difficulties in their way. Fears because of
their sense of weakness and their sense of unworthiness. So they're
no different than us, beloved. So these words that the Lord
said to his disciples, we who are the people of God, we can
take them to heart too, can't we? See, the scriptures are written
for God's people. They're written for his elect,
for our prophet, beloved. And the Holy Spirit takes the
words of the preacher and he teaches God's people, doesn't
he? He teaches us. He illuminates the scriptures
like the old timers used to say. That just means he brings light
to the scriptures. That's all that means. That's
all that means. A preacher can preach a thousand
words, but unless the Holy Spirit illuminates that for the person
who's listening, they won't hear anything. They won't hear anything. if they just hear the preacher's
words. And that's why we preachers say, I pray that you don't just
hear my words. Oh, I pray you hear the voice
of the shepherd. And that's why we should, each time we hear
the gospel preached or proclaimed, or even when we're reading the
scriptures on our own at home, we should bow our head and say,
Lord, please illuminate the scriptures for me. Oh, may you, Holy Spirit,
illuminate the scriptures and teach me the things of Christ.
Teach me the things of Christ. So our Lord knew that his disciples
were filled with fear of every description. And we're seeing
in our text here, look at Luke chapter 12 verse 32, look at
this, we see that our Lord answers them with this wonderful sentence
here in our text. Now we're going to read a portion
of scripture and we're going to break it down. But look at this wonderful
text here. He answers their many fears with
one golden sentence. One golden sentence, beloved.
Look at this. In Luke, chapter 12, verse 32.
Fear not. That's from God himself. That's
Elohim in the flesh saying this, too. There's not no mere man.
This is God in the flesh saying this to his people, to his disciples.
Fear not. What's he call them? Little flock.
little flock for it is your father's good pleasure now this this will
bless you if you want to God's people look at this and think
of this in light of our salvation for it's your father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom oh my what a wonderful sentence I'll
read it again and it comes from the lips of God incarnate in
the flesh the Lord Jesus Christ fear not little flock for it
is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom to include
you in salvation's plan in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we see here believers in Christ are a little flock. That's
why we're here on earth. Just a little flock, beloved.
And they always have been. Ever since the world began, they
always have been a little flock. Now we know that in every church
there are wheat and tares mixed in. We know that. They're mixed
in together. There's people who profess to
be believers who are not believers. We know that. That's what the
scripture clearly declares. There are some who attend church,
who outwardly may appear very, very faithful, but they may be
a terror. We don't know. I don't know,
and you don't know. It's not for us to judge that,
but we know it's true, don't we? We know it's true, because
the scriptures declare that. And then there's the wheat. The
true, born-again, blood-washed believers. And only God knows
who the wheat are, and only God knows who the tares are. But
all through the ages, beloved, professing Christians have been
many, haven't they? There's been many who said, I'm
a believer. There's many who have said, well,
I've been baptized. There's many. And we know people
in our life who's done that very thing. There's been many who
have attended a church and then just left. There's been many
where the gospel's being preached and they just, out they go. I
remember someone telling me one time, if the gospel can't hold
you, nothing can hold you. That's true. If the preaching
of the gospel can't hold a person, when a God shaped him, there's
nothing that's going to hold him. There's nothing. And it's true.
And a gospel preacher gets up and he faithfully declares the
gospel time and time and time again. But there's been many
people who have attended a church, many people who've been baptized,
who are never truly born again. In verse 32, look at this, brings
forth that God's flock is a little flock. It says here, fear not,
little flock, little flock, for it's your father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom. It's God's good pleasure to give
you the kingdom, to give you eternal life. Boy, that's enough
for me. That's enough for a believer
in Christ, isn't it? We are overwhelmed by that truth. That's an overwhelming
statement. Elohim, Jehovah, the self-existent
one, it's his good pleasure to give to his people the kingdom. And we know who that comes in,
and we know who that comes through, don't we? That's the Lord Jesus
Christ. Because we're chosen in Him before
the foundation of the world. We're redeemed by His precious,
precious blood. We're clothed in His precious
righteousness. And it's His kingdom. It's His
kingdom. It's not ours. It's His kingdom. This church is the Lord's church,
where the gospel is preached and proclaimed. It's His. It's
not ours. We get the blessing of coming
together and rejoicing, don't we? But this is His church. We
people, and remember the church is the ecclesia, the called out
assembly, beloved. They're his people. And this
is speaking of them right here. Fear not, little flock, for it
is your father's good pleasure. Oh my gosh, it's the good pleasure
of Jehovah. It's the good pleasure of Elohim.
What, to what? To give you the kingdom. We could
stop right there, couldn't we? We could stop right there, but
we won't. It's wonderful though. There's enough right there in
that little verse to keep us going for the rest of our lives,
isn't there? Oh my. So we see here, believers in
Christ are a little flock. And again, they always have been,
and they always will be. Listen to this quote from a preacher
of old. He said, baptized people at the
present day are a great company, but true Christians are very
few. Very few. It is foolish to be surprised
at this. It is vain to expect It will
be otherwise until the Lord comes again because he says this, the
Lord in his own words says this, straight is the gate and narrow
is the way that leadeth unto life and there be few that find
it. Well, there's only one way, isn't
there? And it's not through church membership. It's not through
baptism, right? It's not through denominationalism. It's not through decisional regeneration. No, it's through the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is the way, beloved. He is the, there's no other way
but Christ. No other way but Christ. Straight
is the gate and narrow is the way. The, singular it says in
Matthew 7 and 14. Is the way that leadeth unto
life. And few there be that find it.
Well who's the few? Well that little flock, beloved.
That little flock we just saw over there in Luke chapter 12.
That's who find it. And they only find it by the
grace and mercy of God, don't they? Because it's revealed to
them. it's revealed to them. With that
in our minds, let's go back to Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter
12, we're gonna read verses 22 to 34 here. And our Lord again
is talking to his disciples, he's talking to his disciples
here, and he says this to them. And he said unto his disciples,
therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what
you shall eat, neither for the body, what you shall put on. The life is more than meat, and
the body is more than raiment. Consider the ravens, for they
neither sow nor reap, which neither have storehouses nor barn, and
God feedeth them. How much more are ye better than
the fowls, which is the birds? And which of you, with taking
thought, can add to his stature one cubit? If ye then be not
able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for
the rest? Consider the lilies, how they
grow, they toil not, they spin not, and yet I say unto you that
Solomon in all his glory, the one who the Lord gave all wisdom
to, the wisest man, the wisest man other than Christ who is
wisdom, but the wisest man in this world other than our Lord,
and it says here that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed
like one of these. If then God so clothed the grass,
which is today in the field, and them all is cast into the
oven, how much more will He clothe you, O ye of little faith? And seek not ye what ye shall
eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations
of the world seek after. And your Father knoweth that
ye have need of these things. There is, right there is the
sovereignty of our Lord disclosed with him saying these things.
But rather seek ye, now here's what's important, rather seek
ye the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto
you. 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 yourself bags which wax not old,
a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approaches,
neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there
will your heart be also. Now you have heard many times,
you have heard many times in the past, me bring forth and
Brother Jim bring forth that we are to set our minds upon
things above, that we are to set our minds Christ set your
affection on things above not on things on the earth so we
are to set our mind as God's born-again blood-washed people
we are to set our minds on the Lord Jesus Christ in him alone
well we're here on this earth I was talking to a dear preacher
friend this week and we were talking about how the gospel
must be bought forth before our ears time and time and time again
why what why Why, one may ask, why does the gospel have to be
continuously brought before us? Well, I'll give you an answer
from the scriptures. Ephesians chapter 1 declares
this in verses 6 to 13. To the praise of the glory of
his grace, that's God's grace, wherein he hath made us accepted
in the beloved, in whom we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. wherein
he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 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. whom we have obtained an inheritance
being predestinated according to the purpose of him that worketh
or who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will that
we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in
Christ now listen to this this is why it's vital that the Gospels
preached every single time someone's in the pulpit because the scripture
declares this in whom ye also trusted after that she heard
the word of truth after that you heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that you believed
you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." So Paul's
telling the Ephesian saints that a gospel preacher came and preached
the gospel to them, and by the power of the Holy Spirit of God,
the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit of God, they were
born again. They were born again. And this
is why we must preach the gospel every time, every time. Because
God uses the preaching of his word, the preaching of his gospel,
to save his people, to regenerate them by the power of the Holy
Spirit of God. So in these words we see here
before us, in this passage before us, the Lord Jesus Christ tells
us to get our priorities focused. That's what he's telling his
people. That's what he's telling his disciples. to get our priorities
focused. Now remember the context of these
words. Up there in Luke chapter 12,
look at verses 16 to 21. Our Lord had just spoken about
the parable of the rich fool. So this is all part of the context
of these words. Luke chapter 12, verses 16 to
21. And he spake a parable unto them,
saying, the ground of a certain rich man bought forth plentiful.
Oh my, we know that's by the mercy of God, isn't it? We know
that the increase only came from God. And he thought within himself,
saying, what shall I do because I have no room where to bestow
my fruits? Well, he's thinking it's all
of him. And he said, this will I do. I will pull down my barns
and I'll build a greater barn. I'm going to build a barn three
times the size or four times the size of the barns I currently
have. Store all that food of mine, all those fruits. And I'll
bestow, and there will I bestow all my fruits and goods. I'm
going to store them all right there. And I'll say to my soul,
soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. I've got all
this stuff laid up. I'm going to be fine for years,
for years. Brother Neil told me about a
fellow that worked, worked, worked, worked, worked, and kept packing
away money. He said, when I'm 60 and when
I retire, I'm going to do all this. And he was dead at 61.
My oh my. Never got to spend any of that
money he packed up. This fella here though, he's
all full of pride. He says, I'll say to my soul,
soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine
ease. Ah, just take it easy. Eat, drink,
and be merry. God said unto him, thou fool,
thou fool. God, Elohim, the one who holds
the very breath of life. He said, thou fool, this night
thy soul shall be required of thee. Then shall those things
be which thou hast provided. So is he that layeth up treasure
for himself, but is not rich toward God. See, men and women
in this world, they lay up treasure unto themselves and have no care
for their eternal soul. our Lord Jesus Christ tells us
in these words that those who live for the world in verses
16 to 21 those who live for the world and neglect their immortal
souls they are fools and they will perish in their sins and
they will go into a Christless eternity and then he gives us
rich instructive words look at verses 22 and 23 So after he's
spoken that, now look at these rich instructive words that we
who are the people of God can take the heart, beloved. We're
going to look at the verses 22 to 32, but let's first look at
verses 22 and 23 here. And he said unto his disciples,
therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what
you shall eat, neither for the body, what you shall put on.
The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.
Now our Lord, who is God incarnate, Jehovah, in the flesh, brings
forth here before his people some very instructive words.
And these can help every born-again, blood-washed child of God in
any age, beloved. And he brings before us, in these
verses, a fact for us to remember. Beloved of God, there is no satisfaction
of the flesh No satisfaction of the flesh in what he brings
forth here. We are to just trust our father. No satisfaction of the flesh
here. Just trust our father. Now the natural things, natural
men, they seek after food and raiment. They seek after food
and raiment. Oh, what am I going to have?
What can I get? How much can I get? And usually
the more they get, the more they want. The more they want. I know
this. I've met lots of wealthy people
and I have a brother who's very wealthy. And they just keep wanting
more, beloved. They just keep, it's never enough.
It's never enough. Never, never content. Never content. Never content. But the Lord brings
here before us that life is more than meat and the body more than
ring. What does Paul write by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit of God in 1st Timothy 4, verse 8? He tells
us this, Having food and raiment, let us therewith be content.
If you have food and clothes, As God's people, we're to be
content. We're to be content. We have
all we need, don't we? We know that we have a great
God who cares for us. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. That's not like those word of faith folks who say,
do this, do that. No, we go through struggles, we go through tribulations.
But seriously, all we need is provided for us, especially spiritually,
beloved. What do we need? Well, we need
salvation. We need redemption of our eternal
souls. We need the forgiveness of our sins. We need the God's
law and justice to be satisfied in our place. And Christ has
done it all for his people. He's done it all. So all our
spiritual needs are totally taken care of. And the Lord's telling
his disciples here, I'm gonna take care of you while you're
on this earth. I'm going to provide for you. And we can look in our
lives. I know we can. I know every one
of us who's born again, we can look in our lives and we go,
Lord, look what you've done time and time and time again. Oh,
my. We live in these bodies of flesh,
but it's the soul which is eternal, beloved. These bodies are just
tents. Paul says they're just like a
tent that our soul is in. And the Lord's bringing forth
that life True life is our eternal soul. It's not sustained by meat. It's not sustained by meat. Who is the believer sustained
by? Who is our bread of life? Who is our water of life? It's
the Lord Jesus Christ, isn't it? It's Him alone. And I know
we as believers can say, look, look, look, He's provided again
and again and again. And we just marvel at that. And
sometimes I think we get so used to that happening, that we just
don't even notice it after a while. But the Lord Himself, Jehovah
Himself, is bringing these truths before us in these words. Now,
our Lord's going to bring some very practical lessons here before
us of just how in control our great God is, that He is absolutely
sovereign over all things. He's going to teach us some things,
very practical things we're going to see here from nature itself,
which we know He's in control of, And we are going to see him
bring forth some truths that will speak of the absolute sovereignty
of God over all things. And then, if he's sovereign over
all things, well, then he's sovereign over my life, isn't he? And he's
sovereign over your life, right? Oh, my. Sometimes we get a little
fear, a little doubts. No, he's sovereign. And these
words from our king, are going to bring that forth before us. He will bring forth some pictures
of his sovereignty before us. And remember, this is not mere
man speaking here. This is God incarnate in the
flesh who came to save his people from their sins. And he's talking
to his people, those who are his true sheep, because we know
there's one of them that's not, right? But he's talking to his
true sheep, his disciples, and he uses these words. Look at
this. This is wonderful. And we can relate to these pictures,
beloved. Now, Luke 12, 24. Consider the
ravens. Consider the birds. Consider
the birds we see every single day. No matter where you are
on this earth, you're going to see birds flying. Consider the
ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which neither have
storehouse nor barn." They don't have a storehouse and a barn
like that rich man, right? And God feedeth them. How much
more are ye better than the fowls and the birds? Consider the birds,
beloved. Consider the ravens. Consider
the birds which we have before us every single day. You wake
up in the morning and oh, they're singing and they're flying around,
they're eating. And they are continuously. Do
you realize that this very lesson that the Lord's speaking of right
here is continuously before us every single day? You ever thought
of that? This lesson is before you and
I as believers. If you're a believer in Christ,
this lesson every single day is before us. When you hear a
bird chirping, this lesson's right before us. Right before
us, beloved, continuously. In all seasons too, right? We
have some birds that stick around during the wintertime. And who
takes care of them? Well, our Lord takes care of
them, doesn't he? He prompts us to go buy food. We put it
in the feeders. Those birds come along, they
eat the deer, knock it, and they have food too. But it's all through
his provision. It's all through his provision,
beloved. And then there's other food that the trees, I know the
apples on the trees are, they last right up through the winter.
And the birds come, they knock them off. We watch them sometimes.
They knock the apples off and then they go down there and a
whole bunch of them just start eating. All taken care of by
our great king. So this lesson here before us,
consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which neither
have storehouse nor barn, and God feedeth them. How much more
are you better than fowls? This lesson is ever before us,
beloved. Continuously before us. Our great
God, God Almighty, condescends to provide for the needs of a
bird. That's what he's telling us here in the scripture. And
a specific one in this, a raven, but we know he provides for all
the birds, don't he? Right here before us, we see
that our God truly orders the affairs of providence as He is
the King of kings and He is the Lord of lords. And our Almighty
God condescends to give the ravens their daily food. Their daily
food. Now I ask you, who are the born-again,
blood-washed saints of God? Should we even entertain the
thought that He will not take care of us? So we even entertain
that thought? No. Banish the thought, beloved. banish the thought. Our great
God will never fail to provide for the needs of His people. And we know He provides our physical
needs, but praise be to God, He also provides all our spiritual
needs in Christ for His elect. And God, by His almighty power
and strength, provided all the spiritual needs of His chosen
people in and through the Lord Jesus Christ when He came here
to die for His people and to redeem them from all their sins.
So again, is it reasonable for us to ever imagine that he might
fail to provide for us? Fail to provide for his work?
Fail to provide for his people? No, we ought not to fear that.
We trust the Lord. We rest in his providence. So
again, it's not reasonable for us to even imagine, to ever imagine
that he might fail to provide for us. Again, banish the thought,
beloved. Banish the thought. If it ever
enters your mind, banish it. Look it up there, Luke chapter
12, your same chapter, but look at verses 7 or 4 to 7. Look at this. And we see how
intimately our Lord knows his people. We see how intimately
he knows his people. And I say unto you, my friends,
verse 4, be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after
they have no more power that they can do. But I will forewarn
you whom ye shall fear. Fear him, which after he hath
killed both Killed hath power to cast into hell. Yea, I say
unto you, fear him. Fear God. That's who you should
fear. Fear God. Fear the Almighty God. Look at this, though. Are not
five sparrows sold for two farlings, and not one of them is forgotten
before God? He knows. Remember? A sparrow
falls to the ground. He knows, right? He knows. Look at this. But even the very
hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore, ye are of
more value, look at this, than many sparrows. And consider the
words when he told us to consider the ravens. We are of considerable more value
in God's eyes, his people are, than all the birds in this world
whom he provides for. That's why the scripture says,
cast all your care upon him, for believers, because he careth
for you. He cares for you. Nothing, whatever
great, whether small or great, can happen to one of God's elect
without God's decree and direction. There's no such thing as chance
or luck or accident in God's creation or in our journey through
this world. No, beloved, our great sovereign
God is in full control, and He has arranged and appointed all
things in His people's life to work out for His glory and for
our good. That's what our sovereign God
has purposed. And that which He has purposed,
it shall come to pass. Now, let's look at two questions
which come next to us in verses 25 and 26. And again, these two
questions come from the lips of the Master, God incarnate
in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he asks these two
questions here, in which of you, taking thought, can add to his
stature one cubit? So consider these questions asked
of us, too. If ye then be not able to do
that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?
In these two questions, our Lord is now having the disciples,
and we who are reading this text, Consider ourselves. It says here, in which of you
with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? Now, John
Gill brings forth in this verse, that means to his height and
stature in this, and where it also refers to the regard of
an age of a man. Listen to what the Greek word
for stature here, Listen to what the word for stature here means
in the Greek. It means age. See, we think statures are height.
But in the Greek, this means age. This refers to time of life. So our Lord's bringing forth
here that there is no one, not one person, by no means at all
and by no power of man that can add one thing to the height of
our physical frames or to our age, not one, not one person
in this world will live past the time that God has appointed
for them to die. That's how sovereign our Lord
is. See, he's bringing forth in these pictures, do you see?
He's bringing forth in these pictures his absolute sovereignty
over all things. Oh, we are totally dependent,
beloved. upon our Heavenly Father's care.
So why get carried away with temporal things, which we cannot
even add a moment to our life? Men and women in this world get
so worked up about things which are temporal, but they ignore
that which is most important, the things which are eternal.
In verse 26 brings forth the of the truth that you and I cannot
add or make the smallest addition to our stature or that we cannot
add anything, not one moment to our days. And then so he says,
why take ye thought for the rest then? Why are you worried about
fruit and remnant when you can't even add anything, a moment to
your life? Beloved, our days are as a hand
breath, like a vapor. And we're not able to add one
moment to our lives, not one. And if we are not able to add
to the number of our days here on earth, then it is utterly
absurd to spend our time and energy getting worked up about
how we can do so. Verse 26, it says, if ye then
be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought
for the rest? Beloved, we need to be, we who
are the people of God, we need to be like the sweet psalmist
of Israel, don't we? In his words were this, my times
are in thy hands. He said, my times are in your
hands, God. They're in your hands. And we
who are the people of God, we know that our lives are in the
hands of Jehovah. And you know what? We should
rejoice that it's so. We should rejoice that it's so.
That our lives and our times are in the hands of Jehovah,
the absolute sovereign of all. I'm so thankful. our Lord Jesus
Christ God incarnate in the flesh is now going to have the disciples
and we who are reading this consider the lilies in verse 27 look at
this consider the lilies how they grow they toil not they
spin not and yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory
was not arrayed like one of these so he's going back to nature
again now and every year we have this picture before us don't
we every year beloved every year this comes and goes Every year
we see the wonderful truth of this verse brought forth. Every
year I go to Brother Neil's farm in the spring. And he has these
flowers, acres of them, which only bloom in the spring for
about five days. And each year they spring up
and no one cares for them. Neil doesn't do any work to them.
No one cares for them. They grow wild. They don't work
or labor like we do, which is what that verse is saying. Man,
when they're sowing and laboring, man will get, we get, we all
do it, we get flowers, we put them in our garden, and we care
over them, we watch over them, don't we? We water them, we put
Miracle-Gro on them so they grow healthy, don't we? But those
flowers on Neil's property, every year I go there and see them,
this year no exception, I went there and saw them this year.
Beautiful, absolutely beautiful. There's no one who cares for
them. They just grow. They just grow. Our Lord takes
care of them. Oh, my. Now, look at this here, too,
in verse 27. Consider the lilies, how they
grow. They toil not. So they don't labor. They don't
labor at all. They just grow. They spin not. That's talking about when people
go and get wool and spin it up into something. That's what that's
talking about. Still work, right? Our great
God, every year, provides for the lilies. provides for those
flowers in Neal's property every single year. Fresh foliage comes
up, fresh blooms, all according to his good and wise providence. So how foolish it is then for
the child of God to imagine that he might fail to clothe us today
or tomorrow or take care of us today or tomorrow. We have a
constant reminder before us of God's providential care over
his creation And we know over his people. Rain falls on the
just and on the unjust, don't it? Falls on lost sinners and
safe sinners. But oh my, now let's read, let's
read verses 28 to 30. If then God so clothed the grass
which is today in the field and tomorrow is cast into the oven,
how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? And
seek not ye the things what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink,
neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations
of the world seek after, and your Father knoweth that ye have
need of these things." So food and remnant, the world seeks
after all those things. And our Heavenly Father knows
we need these things. He knows. And remember, He's
speaking here again. This is God incarnated in the
flesh. So He's saying if God closed the grass, which He does
every year, if He takes care of the birds, which He does all
the time, If he clothes the grass, which is here today and gone
tomorrow, cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe
you, O ye of little faith? So beloved of God, when we get
anxious about things occurring in our lives, always remember
that God is with us and he's ever going to take care of us.
Don't be like the heathens, beloved. Don't seek after the things of
the world like they do. Just don't do it. Don't do it. Don't get caught up in that.
Know that our great God cares for every one of His sheep. And
if God is our Father and Christ my Savior and the Holy Spirit
my Comforter, then let us cast all our cares upon Him, for He
cares for us. He cares for every single one
of His blood-bought saints, every one of His sheep. saved and those
who are not yet regenerated. He cares for every one of them. You ever think of that? He's
watching over the sheep that haven't been regenerated yet.
He's caring and providing for them and they don't even know
it. That's a great God, isn't it? That's a great and glorious
God. That's our Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And he won't lose one of his
sheep. He won't lose one, not one, for whom he died for. So
always remember. Know that our great God cares
for every one of his sheep, every one. Let us cast our cares upon
him, beloved. Look at verse 30 again and consider
that our Heavenly Father, consider our Heavenly Father and the fact
that he knows what we need. He knows what we need. For all
these things do the nations of the world seek after, and your
Father knoweth that you have need of these things. He knows.
He knows. And he provides for us physically
and spiritually, doesn't he? He's already, as I said, provided
for his people spiritually. All we need is Christ. All we
need is him. We may not have much on this
earth, or some may have, but each believer in Christ is rich
beyond measure. Rich beyond measure. If you have
Christ Jesus the Lord, you are rich beyond measure. And it says
there, your father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
Oh, the fact, we see the fact there in verse 30 that our great
God knows what we need. And this alone should make us
content. This alone should make us rest in the Lord Jesus Christ
and repose in our wonderful savior who purchased us with his own
precious blood. And remember, the one who's speaking
is the one who went to Calvary and died in the place of his
people. So he's speaking not only of their physical needs,
but we know of our spiritual needs, and he's gonna provide
for all our spiritual needs when he goes to that cross, when he
sheds his precious blood before God, before God, the sinless,
spotless Lamb of God dying before God for his people. Let's read
verses 31 and 32, and we see here that our Savior gets to
the heart of the matter right here. But rather seek ye the
kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you.
Fear not, little flock, For it is your father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom. Now our Lord was having us consider
pictures which we saw in the texts of things in nature, things
upon this earth. Then he had us introspect into
our own selves and consider could we add anything to our frame
or anything to our age? Could we add even a moment to
our life that he's ordained? No, not one. And we see here
though, through those many pictures, how our great God controls all
things visible and invisible. May we, by the grace of God,
comfortably go forth in this world. As long as he lets us
breathe breath, breathe air, may we comfortably go forth knowing
that we will face persecution in this world for our faith,
and knowing that we will have trials in this life. But may we go forth knowing that
it is our Lord who sustains us. It is our Lord who sustains us.
It's our Lord who cares for us. And we have seen in these pictures,
in nature, that have been set before us, it's our God who provides
for us. It's our God who provides for
us, beloved. And oh, may God the Holy Spirit
give his people grace to trust and rest in our mighty Savior.
May he teach us through the preaching of the gospel day by day to trust
his infinite wisdom, not trust ourselves. Trust in his infinite
goodness, his infinite grace, his infinite love, his infinite
powers, his infinite promises, his infinite faithfulness, and
his infinite mercy. Teaching us day by day to rest
in his providence. And we see here that our great
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, directs the hearts and minds
of his disciples, and we who are reading this today, to look
heavenward. He tells us of a kingdom to seek,
but rather, seek ye the kingdom of God, and all these things
shall be added unto you. Beloved, our first priority in
this life is to be in the kingdom of God. all for the glory of
our great God. We must not give our hearts to
this world, and we know that it is He who takes us from darkness
and transforms us into the kingdom of His dear Son, all by the power
and mercy of God. And let us always remember that
each of us, saved and lost, have a death to die. Each of us, saved
and lost, we have a death to die. We can't change that appointment
date by one second. And there is a God to meet. when
we leave this world. There's a judgment to face, and
there's an eternity that awaits us. And for those trusted in
Christ, we have an eternity in glory awaiting us with our Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. I was texting back and forth
with Brother Marcus last night, and oh, we were rejoicing in
the fact that one day we'll be in heaven beholding our King
face to face, beloved. Face to face we'll see him. Oh,
what a glorious time that'll be. What a glorious time. We were just rejoicing in that
fact. Makes your heart sing, beloved,
to know what's awaiting us because of the mercy and grace of God.
And the only reason that we're being in glory, the only reason
why we have glory awaiting us, beloved, is because of our Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who purchased our eternal souls on Calvary's
cross, and who shed his own precious blood to redeem our eternal souls. And for those who do not trust
Christ, and who die in their sins, oh my, they have a Christless
eternity awaiting them. Wailing, gnashing of teeth, oh
my, where the justice of God is upon them forever. Some may
ask, when is it, when can it be said that a person is seeking
the kingdom of God? Or one may ask, am I seeking
the kingdom of God? So examine yourself, are you?
Are you? I know this, the kingdom of God
is the only thing worth seeking after, beloved. Because that
kingdom of God is in Christ and Him alone. It's the only thing
worth seeking after. A person is seeking the kingdom
of God when he is living in the pursuit of Christ. Scripture
declares this, fall peace with all men in holiness, without
which no man shall see the Lord. Look at the wonderful promise
contained also in this portion. Look at verse 31. But rather
seek ye the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added
unto you. Wonderful promise from our Lord
Jesus Christ, from the lips of the master, beloved, from God
himself. And this will make us content
in all situations, beloved, but rather seek ye the kingdom of
God, and all these things shall be added unto you. My, oh my. That person who sets his heart
upon Christ in eternity shall never lack anything in this world
that he needs, and he will be content no matter what circumstance
they're in. They'll see themselves as content
no matter what situation they're in. Paul did. Rich or poor, he
said, I'm content. I know how to be abased, and
I know how to be up here. He's content. He's content in
Christ. He's content in Christ, but rather
seek ye the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added
unto you. So again, the person who sets
his heart upon Christ and the attorney shall never lack anything,
and they will be content. You know who they'll be content
with? Christ. They'll be content with Christ. Oh my, and if you
have Christ, you have everything you need to God be the Lord.