I invite you to turn with me
to Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12. The lesson this morning is the
leading statement given by our Lord to His disciples, knowing
what would soon come upon them. And to them He says, fear not,
little flock. So let's read these verses together.
Luke chapter 12, verse 32. Fear not, little flock, for it
is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that you have, and give
alms, provide yourselves bags which was 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." There's not a more endearing
phrase to a believer than fear not. Fear not. We have so much in this world
that brings to this flesh fear. Fear. The chief of those things,
I suppose, is death. But disease, we fear so much. And over and over and over, the
apostles and our Lord tells us to fear and fear not. Fear not. Believers are people who've been
given a spiritual vision. We're not left like we were to
our imaginations. We're not left to think in the
vanity of our minds. We've had a spiritual vision,
eyes to see. Blessed are your eyes, even with
all their unbelief. Our Lord looked at his disciples
and said, blessed are your eyes for they see. We don't see everything,
but we see. Blind Bartimaeus couldn't see
anything until God gave him eyes to see. And then he didn't see
everything, but he just saw what was in front of him. And that's
the way it is with us. Eyes to see. Blessed are these
eyes of understanding. It's given unto you, he said,
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. And as the
natural eye takes in the glory of creation, even so the spiritual
eyes perceives the glory of Christ and his kingdom. We see what
others don't see. Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man the things that
God hath prepared for them that love him. But he hath revealed
them unto us by his Spirit. What do we see? We see the dangers
of sin. We see sin for what it is. I knew sin was wrong, but I didn't
know the depth of sin. I didn't know the plague of sin. I didn't really know what sin
was. We know the dangers of sin. We
know the dangers of false religion. I thought religion, all religions
had some good in them. I didn't realize that religion
was a plague. We know the dangers of sin and
false religion and ungodly government. We can see that. And depraved men are just overwhelming
in this world. None righteous. Think about that. None righteous. Well, he's a
pretty good guy. No, he's not. They're none good. None righteous. All gone out
of the way. Together become unprofitable.
Destruction and misery is in their ways. I've often told you,
if the Lord leaves you to yourself, you're going to self-destruct. And even worse is our own hearts. The heart, deceitful above all
things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? And all the
dangers and utter impossibility of surviving this fallen nature
in this world being corrupted as it is apart from God. That rich young ruler walked
away and he had the most potential. Those disciples looked at him
and to them he had the height of potential. And now they're
looking at him and he's walking away? And they turned and looked
at each other and said, who then can be saved? What did our Lord
tell them? With man it is what? Impossible. Not unlikely, it's
impossible. Scripture said, by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned. And this world is not the paradise
people perceive it to be. It's a wilderness of sin and
corruption. He pictures that when he takes
the Israel through the wilderness. Blessed eyes of faith, they see
the reality of things. They see the serpent and his
slime on everything in this world. And oh, how depressed we'd be. If we couldn't hear our Savior
and our Lord whisper in our ear, fear not. What a horrifying thing it must
have been to stand shut up to the sea, mountains on either
side, and you're hearing the chariots of Pharaoh's army closing
in. It's like thunder. The Scripture
describes it like the thunder of the horses. You could hear
them coming. But in the midst of that terror
came a voice. Stand still and what? See. Perceive the salvation of
the Lord. I'm going to show you what salvation
is. See the power of God. Divide
the sea and make a way to the other side. And see that water
stand up in heaps on either side and the wind dry it out. They
had no mud on their shoes when they walked to the other side. and see the great enemies of
your soul as God buries them in the sea. Fear not, little
flock, fear not. God's flock has always been a
little flock, just a little flock. If it had a thousand people,
it'd just be a little flock, wouldn't it? Pharaoh was little impressed
as Moses approached his throne in his shepherd's clothes. But
oh, how he squirmed as the hand of God brought those plagues
upon Egypt. Fear not, little flock. And if
Deity sets his eyes upon his loved ones, who can touch you? What can touch you? Nothing. Nothing. God's people are immortal
until God takes them home. Fear not. Now listen to this. He said, for, here's why you
don't want to fear, for it is your father's good pleasure to
give you the kingdom. This is your father's good pleasure. having predestinated you unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to
the good pleasure of his will." It's your father's good pleasure.
Is God our father? I tell you, if you've never asked
yourself that, you need to. Is God our father? Our Lord said
to the false professors of Christ, if God were your... They said,
we'd be not born of fornication. We have one Father, even God.
And our Lord said, if God were your Father, you'd love me, for
I proceeded forth and came from God. You're looking at God. Is God our Father? He is if we
come to Christ. All that the Father has given
me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
know, wise kids, that will come to Christ. Is God my father? He is if I'm taught of God. What happens when God teaches
a man something? He's taught. He's taught. There's no ifs, ands, and buts
about it. He might not can explain it, but he know it so. He knows
it so. He said, they shall all be taught
of God, and every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned
of the Father comes to me. That's what Christ said. Did
you come to Him? Why? You did because God taught
you. Is God my Father? He is if I'm
led of the Spirit. As many as are led by the Spirit
of God, they are the sons of God. Is God my Father? He is, if I can cry from my heart,
Abba, Father. Is God my Father? He is if I'm the recipient of
heavenly blessings and gifts. Every good gift, every perfect
gift coming down from the what? Father of lights. God's people
are all recipients of His heavenly grace and provision. They all
come from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning. Fear not. And it's your Father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom. God has a kingdom. A kingdom
over which His Son is King. Absolute King, Ruler, Lord, whatever
term you want to use. He reigns there in power and
love and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. It's a spiritual kingdom. It's
not of this world. Our Lord said to Pilate, if my
kingdom was of this world, then would my servants fight that
I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now my kingdom's
not from this. from this world. So what is this
kingdom? Well, the kingdom of God is that
blessed church state, that heavenly citizenship, that holy nation,
that peculiar people. That's God's kingdom. The kingdom of God is within
you, he says. It is the gracious rule of Christ
in your heart. It's the willing submission to
such a rule and the rejection of all other earthly influences. That's the kingdom. The kingdom
of God is entered by way of spiritual birth. Somebody said, well, I
read all about the kingdom. Except you be born again, you
cannot perceive the kingdom of God. Read all you want to. Daniel, looking through the eyes
of the Spirit, he interprets Nebuchadnezzar's dream, and he
tells him, in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven
set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. It'll break
those nations in pieces and utterly consume all those kingdoms, and
it'll stand forever, the kingdom of God. In the end, nothing will be left
but this heavenly kingdom. For He must reign till He hath
put all enemies under His feet. And the very heart of all prayer
is, Thy kingdom come. Isn't that what He tells us?
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. In the light of this glorious
truth, our Lord tells His beloved, verse 33, Sell that you have, and give
alms, and provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure
in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approaches, neither
moth corrupteth." I know some interpret this differently,
but this is not telling us to liquidate all of our assets and
give it all away. He never gives such a command
to his church, not ever. And there's nothing that I've
ever read in the New Testament Gospels or Epistles that even
suggests that a believer is to impoverish themselves in this
world. On the contrary, we're commanded
to work with our hands that we may
have to give to him that needeth. Ephesians 4, 28. In 1 Timothy 5.8 he says, But
if any provide not for his own, especially for those of his own
house, he hath denied the faith, and he is worse than an infidel.
What this verse is teaching is a giving up of everything and
everything that stands between us and Christ. What must I do
to inherit eternal life? What did our Lord tell him? Keep
the law. Oh, he said, all that I've done
from my youth up. Okay? Sell everything you have. Take up your cross and follow
me. Give it to the poor. Take up your cross and follow
me. A giving up of all things is
to be used when called upon for the furtherance of God's kingdom.
And a believer will willingly do it. If something comes along
in the providence of God and there we stand and we could do
something about it and we don't, you see what this verse is dealing
with? Anything that stands between you and Him. Be it house, relatives,
whatever it is. This is talking about selling
out to Christ and His kingdom. Somebody once said there's eight
things that we need to learn about giving. All our giving
must be motivated by love. All of it. If it's not, it's
a waste of time. Must be motivated by love. God's
unspeakable gift of his son was a manifestation of his love.
And that's how we're to give. Secondly, all our gifts must
be given from a willing heart. I would never try to put you
on the spot to give anything. God said if I was hungry, I wouldn't
tell you. That's what he said. Has to be
given from a willing heart. Thirdly, our giving should be
in proportion to what God has given us, be it great or small. You can read about that in 1
Corinthians 16 too. And then fourthly, all of God's
people should give. We're all to give. Nobody's exempt
from giving. The widow had one mite. That's
all she had. All of our gifts should be both
liberal and sacrificial. 2 Corinthians 9, 5-7. All giving must be voluntary. God doesn't need anything we
have. Anything that he requires us
in his providence to give is for our good. It's to teach us. He doesn't need us. Think about
it, we weren't even around, he spoke the creation into existence. And all these things, it's about
his work in us and the fruit of that work which glorifies
him. Number seven, we should always
give as unto the Lord. What's he talking about? Suppose
the Lord was sitting right there. Would that change the way you
give? You bet it would. You bet it would. When we give,
we're to give just like he was sitting right there, because
he is. He is. You know, we were talking about
responsibilities, all these things about marriage, you know, and
we're talking about them. And the Lord tells the woman
with an unbelieving husband to obey him, how? As unto the Lord. That's what this marriage is
all about. It's a union picturing Christ in his church. You don't obey somebody because
they deserve it. Most of the time they don't.
And neither do you. Or me. were to give as unto the Lord.
Give as though you were putting that gift in his hand. He said,
as oft as you do this unto the least of my brethren. You've done it unto me. And then lastly, we're told that
this kind of giving is well-pleasing to God. Philippians 4, 18. Well-pleasing to God. And then
thirdly, think about this. He says, 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. What's our treasure? Christ. In him are hid all the knowledge
All the treasures, wisdom and knowledge, they're all in Him.
He's our treasure. And believers like Abraham, they
look for a city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
They're looking for His kingdom, His city, His holy Jerusalem. And their treasure is secured
in Christ, who has obtained eternal redemption for us. We're not
trying to obtain eternal redemption. Eternal redemption is in His
hand. The question is, am I in Him? If I'm in Him, I have it. Whose very presence at the right
hand of God demands our preservation. were secured in him. Fear not,
little flock. It's your father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom. It's according to the good pleasure
of his will, according to his eternal purpose of grace, according
to the good pleasure of his will, according to the riches of his
grace, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed
in himself, And according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will, and according
to the working of his mighty power. That's what he's telling
us. Where's my treasure? Here? I don't care what I have. This is not where your treasure
is. Not if you're a believer, your
treasure's there. It's in the heavens with God.
Where your treasure is, that's where your heart will be. Where's
your heart? Where's your heart? It's where your treasure is.
Where's your treasure? It's seated at the right hand
of God. You see what Paul's saying? Our
Lord said, I don't mean Paul, I mean our Lord. We've been talking
about all these false prophets and anti-Christ religion and
all of these things and our Lord's addressing them. talking to them
about unpardonable sin and all these things. And then he turns
to his disciples, who no doubt their mouths were open, never
heard such things. And he looks at them and he said,
but fear not, little flock, fear not, fear not. Oh, what a word.