I often have young fathers to
ask me advice about raising and training children, and I always
tell them I don't qualify to give counsel in that regard.
I can't really consider myself qualified, because I only had
one child, and he was a girl. So I don't know anything about
what most folks go through raising children. But when Faith was
a child, Shelby and I tried constantly from her earliest youth to teach
her to look beyond the end of her nose. Even as a small child, we tried
to get her to focus her attention on things that really mattered.
Now, that didn't mean she wasn't allowed to play games and have
fun and enjoy the various stages of her life. What it does mean
is we tried desperately not to allow her to live for fun and
games. It's sad to see so many adults
who seem to live just to have fun, and they're constantly frustrated. Live just to get more and enjoy
more, to gratify their pleasures that are only gratified for a
brief, brief puff of air. It doesn't take long for every
new babble to get to looking pretty dull. And we tried desperately
to get her not to do that. You see, a child who grows up
without learning responsibility, I am convinced, is most likely
to live that way for the rest of his or her life. Such a child
grows up to be a miserable, self-centered, whining, irresponsible adult
and never assumes responsibility for anything. We didn't want our daughter to
grow up like that any more than you do. So we constantly tried
to keep her priorities focused, to keep her mind focused on things
that really matter. Why is that so necessary? Why
is it necessary to constantly remind the children of the importance
of such things. The sad fact is, unless we are
continually reminded that some things are just unimportant, most things are really just insignificant. In the long term, they just don't
matter. They just don't matter. Other
things are slightly important. Some things are very important.
A few things are most important. But if we're not constantly reminded
of that fact, we'll spend our lives pursuing and worrying about
and crying over things that are utterly insignificant while we
neglect those few things that are vital, those few things that
are extremely important. So tonight, I want to do with
you. what I tried to teach our daughter
in her youth. We consider it always important
to have our priorities fixed properly so that we see first
things first, as they ought to be. Our text will be taken from
Luke chapter 12, verses 22 through 31. Now, while you're turning,
remember the context. Our Lord has just given a parable
concerning a man. It is one of the best known,
as far as the historic wording of the parable, one of the best
known parables given by our Lord, one of the least understood.
It was the parable of a rich man. A rich man. I mean, this fellow had a pocket
full of money and a bank full. And our Lord said he was a fool. of food, because this man, who
had an immortal soul, lived and died like a dog, groveling after
what he could find on the ground. In that context, our Lord gives
this word of instruction. Luke 12, verse 22, He said to
His disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for
your life. That doesn't mean don't think
about what you're fixing to put in your mouth. That means don't
worry about it. Don't fret about it. Take no
anxious thought. The word would better be translated,
stop fretting. Stop worrying. Stop pacing the
floor about your life. What you shall eat, neither for
the body what you should put on, for the life is more than
meat and the body more than raiment, more than clothing. He goes on to say, consider the
ravens, for they sow not. They neither sow nor reap, which
neither have storehouse nor bar. That rich fool said, I'll tear
down my barns and build a bigger barn. And I'll put all my goods
there. And I'll say to my soul, eat,
drink, and be merry. And he's in hell. Now, look at
the old black bird out there, the raven of all birds, the raven,
that carnivorous, dirty animal. Consider the ravens. They don't
sow, neither do they reap. They don't have storehouses or
barns. And God feedeth them. How much more are you better
than the fowls? And which of you by taking thought
can add to his stature one cubit? If you then be not able to do
the 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 was not arrayed like one of these. If then God
so clothed the grass which today is 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 what you shall eat
or what you shall drink, neither be of a doubtful mind. For all
these things do the nations of the world seek after. And your
father knoweth that you have need of these things. But rather,
rather, rather, seek ye the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things shall be added unto you. Now let me tell
you something. Let me tell you something. Write
it down and remember it. It might sink in after a while. We'll have that upon which we
set our hearts. We will have that upon which
we set our hearts. If we set our hearts on vanity,
we will have vanity. If we set our hearts on Christ,
we will have Christ. Now, let me show you five things
in these verses we've read. First, here's a fact to remember. The Lord says, the life is more
than meat, and the body more than raiment or clothing. Now,
I won't labor this point. It doesn't need laboring. But
it does need to be often mentioned and constantly remembered. There
is more to life. I wonder if an old man will ever
learn this. I wonder if our children will
ever learn it. There is more to life than the gratification
of animal cravings. More to life than the gratification
of our physical, natural lust. There's more to life than the
adornment of the body. And yet, these are the things
about which most everybody spends all their time, all their energy,
and all their thought. I recall being in the company
of a young couple some years ago, and I hadn't noticed this
particular girl, lady, woman. She talked a good bit about these
things. And she said to me in her husband's presence, said,
He just won't talk to me. And he responded by saying, there's
just not so much I can say about the color of your hair. But this is all you talk about,
all that's concerned. This is the very thing Paul was
talking about when he says, having food and raiment. Having food for your stomach. and clothes on your back. Let
us be there with content." You see, we only live in this decaying
tent. That's the wrong choice of word.
Bobby, we don't live in it. We're just here for a little
while. That's all. We're just carrying this tent
around. It's just a medium of existence
in this world. That's all. That's all. This
body, this body, this body that gets so much attention, causes
so much pain, so much weariness, this body is just a decaying
tabernacle of clay. I say that and I wonder if I
really understand what I've just said. It's just a decaying tabernacle
of clay. Life is not the body. Life is
what's inside. Life is that immortal soul that
temporarily resides in this body. We live in a body, but you are
an immortal soul. You and I live in this body,
but our soul, that's life. Life is not sustained by meat
or protected by clothes. It's sustained by grace, protected
by God. Beauty is not something you can
buy in a clothing store. Or in these days, in a plastic
surgeon's office. It's not that. I sit and watch
these commercials on TV, and I see folks, you ladies, excuse
me, but men, I see men doing all the nonsense that, for men,
nonsense, doing all the nonsense women do, you know, I want to
look young, I can't stand to have another hair fall out. What silliness. We're dying. We're dying. These bodies are going to the
grave. And we ought not live as though
these things really matter. They just don't. They just don't. Beauty is the hidden man of the
heart, Christ the Lord. Hold your hands here and turn
to 1 Peter 3. 1 Peter 3. Listen to Peter's instruction
here. Likewise, you wives, be in subjection
to your own husbands, that if any obey not the word, they also
may without the word be won by the conversation. Now, that word
conversation, as is common in the New Testament, means the
life, the manner of life, not the words that come out of your
mouth, though that's included, but rather the manner of life,
by the life of the wise. While they behold your chaste
conversation, your chaste life, coupled with fear, whose adorning,
let it not be the outward adorning of plaiting the hair and of wearing
gold or putting on apparel. Now, I have to caution because
of religious nonsense and idiocy with which people approach the
scriptures. Peter is not saying here, women, don't plait your
hair. That's a sinful thing. Don't wear a gold ring. That's
a sinful thing. He's not saying here that you
ought not put on apparel. That is not what he's saying.
What he's saying is the plaiting of your hair, the jewelry you
wear or don't wear, the clothes you wear don't really make you
beautiful. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. I'm so very thankful for my wife's
physical appearance. I hope she knows that when the
time comes that God takes that away, it won't matter one whit. How come? Because that's not
her. That's not her. That's not her. Read on. The adorning is not the outward
adorning, verse 4, but let it be the hidden man of the heart. in that which is not corruptible,
even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the
sight of God of great price. For after this manner, in the
old time, the holy women also who trusted God, that's what
holy women are, women who trust God, adorned themselves in this
chaste conversation. being in subjection unto their
own husbands, even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose
daughters you are, as long as you do well and are not afraid
with any amazement." Now this is what our Lord is telling us,
back here in Luke chapter 12. Life is not physical. Life is not temporal. Life is not the body. Life is your soul. Life is your soul. Here's the
second thing. Verses 24-27. Here are some things
to consider. Our Savior is calling us now
away from the care of the world. He's calling us to faith. Calling
us to honor God by believing Him. He does so by pointing out
some things that ought to be as obvious as the nose on your
face. There are things that any kindergarten child, if you just
point it out one time, yeah, I understand that. Well, where does the raven get
its food? God provides it. How does that
raven soar through the air? God fixed it that way. Oh, okay. Us big folks, we're too smart
for that. We can't grasp that. These things may seem trivial,
they may seem insignificant, but I'm going to tell you something.
As I was preparing this message, I sat back in my chair late last
night as I was writing out these notes, and I thought to myself,
I have read hundreds of volumes of theology. Hundreds of volumes. I've studied this book every
day for 35 years. And I find the things mentioned
in this passage to be matters of deepest importance. The more
I ponder them, the more weighty they appear. These are matters
of tremendous significance. Tremendous significance. Our
Lord says, consider the ravens. And this is what I want you to
consider. If God Almighty, God, who sits on his lofty throne
over the heavens, if God Almighty condescends to meet the needs
of a dirty, unclean, black raven. Anybody want one? Anybody? I've seen some in zoos. I didn't
even want to get close to them then. But if God Almighty condescends
every day to provide for the needs of a raven, to see to it
that the raven is fed every day. If God Almighty, wisely and sovereignly
arranged from eternity and governs in time all the affairs of providence
so that that raven, wherever he is, has exactly what he needs
in his environment. But those are just laws of nature.
Read the book again and stop and think about what scientists
call laws of nature. Laws of nature, as far as scientists
are concerned, are about as fickle as we are. God's law is not. God's word doesn't vary. The
raven is in the place he is and fed with the food he has, having
exactly what he needs because God Almighty, in wise providence,
brings it to pass. How unreasonable it is then for
you and I to ever imagine that he might forget to provide for
us in our youth, in our adulthood,
or in our old age. And then our Lord says in verse
25, consider yourself. Which of you by taking thought
can add to his stature one cubit? Now look at this word stature
a little bit. The word that's translated stature is commonly
translated something else. Over in John 9, you remember
the blind man the Lord healed? And they were fixing to throw
his pants out of the synagogue. And they said, well, he's of
age. Ask him. That's the word, age. Translated that way twice
in John 9, translated the same way in Hebrews chapter 11, the
very same word. So our Lord is not here really saying which
of you by thinking about it, can get to be 6 feet 2 instead
of 6 feet 1. Which of you can add 18 inches,
which is about what a cubit is, 18 inches, instead of being 5
feet tall, 6 feet? That's not what he's saying.
No, no. Really, what our Lord is saying is this. Which of you,
by your thought, can add one speck? to your maturity, to your
age, to the span of your life. Our days are as a hand's breadth. That's considerably less than
a cubit. How are you going to add anything to it? This is what
the Lord said. If we are not able to add anything
by the number of our days on this earth, It's utterly absurd
to spend our time and energy fretting about how we can do
so. Oh, far better to live in this
world, exercising reasonable responsibility, with your heart
set upon God and say with David, my times are in thy hands. My times are in God's hands.
In God's hands. I have good doctor, Dr. Hendrickson, good doctor. I'm
thankful for him. But his wisdom and skill can't
stretch the days by so much as a breath. And all that I do can't stretch
the days by so much as a breath. At the day appointed, I'm going
to take my last breath, and it ain't going to be long. It ain't
going to be just a hand spread. Then our Lord says, consider
the lilies, verses 27, 28. He says, if God, every year,
every year, without fail, every year, if God provides the lilies,
those lilies. He provides them with fresh,
new living foliage every year. Doesn't stand to reason. They
look to me like they're dead, but every year they pop up out
of the ground, fresh green foliage and fresh new flowers every year
so that they bloom in their beauty every year. God does that for
the lilies. How foolish it is for us to imagine
that he might fail to clothe us today or tomorrow. And then he says in verse 30,
consider the heathen. For all these things do the nations
of the world seek after. Children of God, Don't ever envy
the prosperity of the wicked. Don't do it. That's all they got. That's all they got. That's all
they got. That's it. That's it. David said,
he said, I was envious at that pagan's prosperity. until I went
in the house of God and I saw his end. And I understood that
God set his heart in the world and set the world in his heart,
fattening up like a stalled calf for the slaughter. I keep praying, God, don't set
the world in my heart. Don't let me set my heart on
this world. Don't do it. What a shame it is for God's
people to grovel like the heathen of this world after the things
of the world. If God is my Father and Christ
is my Savior and the Holy Spirit is my Comforter, if heaven is
my home and eternity is the span of my life, I ought not find
it difficult to live above the cares, anxieties, and fears which
plague the heathen while they live in this world worshiping
their bellies." I didn't say I don't find it
difficult. I said I ought not find it difficult. God forgive me. And our God ought to make our
hearts light. Ought to make our hearts as light
as a feather. Faith in Christ ought to free
us from fear. The light of eternity ought to
make the things of this world grow dim. Heavenly glory ought
to make the bubbles of the earth insignificant. And then our Lord
says in verse 30, now consider your father. Watch this. Your father knoweth that you
have need of these things. That fact alone ought to make
us perfectly content. All our needs in this world are
perfectly known to God our Father, who is the Lord of heaven and
earth, who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and all the
treasures of the deep mine are His. That means He who is our
Father can relieve our needs, whatever they are, be they physical
or emotional. He can relieve our needs whenever
He sees fit. But more than that. Rex, he's
our father. That means he will relieve our
needs when he sees that it's best that they be relieved. That's what you expect from a
father, isn't it? So it's reasonable. Just reasonable. It's most reasonable,
David, that your children look to you and expect you to take
care of their needs, whether they understand it or not. That's
just reasonable. But shoot, he's just a little
old bitty man. God's our Father. God's our Father. He can relieve
our needs. And He will relieve our needs. Let us consider these facts.
May God the Holy Spirit write them on our hearts with the finger
of His grace and cause us to learn them. and make them bring
forth fruit. Nothing is more common to men
than worrying and fretting over things about which they have
absolutely no control. Let me ask you something. Which of you has ever, has ever
one time bitten a fingernail worrying about something you
could control? Anybody? Well, I know if I can
control it, nobody's afraid about it. We're very afraid about things
we can't do anything about. Driving home in that horrible
rainstorm from out in Mississippi the other day, Shelby sat for
four hours. And I couldn't really look over
there. I had to focus on the road all the time. She sat there.
I didn't know what was going on. I looked over there. She
had scraped every bit of polish off her fingernails. And painted
them again, scraped off some more. How come? Because there's nothing she could
do except scrape her fingernails. That's all, just scrape her fingernails.
She had no control of what was going on. None. Our father. does have control
over what's going on, absolute control. Nothing is more contradictory
to our professed faith in the living God than worrying about
the things of this world and our lives in this world. And nothing so honors our God
as confidently trusting Him. who gave his darling son to redeem
us. The Lord is my shepherd. Now I wonder what the reasonable,
reasonable, the reasonable, I mean absolutely reasonable conclusion
to that is. Anybody know? I shall not I shall not. Is that reasonable? I shall not walk. He's my shepherd. And here's a call to faith. Our
Lord, in verse 28, says if this is the way it is with God, He
so clothes the grass, O ye of little faith, how much more will
He clothe you? Verse 29, neither be ye of a
doubtful mind. Your Father knows you have need
of these things. What he's saying is this. Children of God, trust
God's goodness. Trust God's wisdom. Trust His
power. Trust His grace. Trust His promise. Trust His providence. Trust His
faithfulness. Driving down the road the other
day, if I hadn't had to have both hands on the wheel, I'd
have bitten my fingernails off. I'm ashamed. Ought not be. But you're responsible. That's another story. I'm responsible
to do the best I can. But I can't control anything. My Father does. Number four, in verse 31, our
Lord directs our hearts heavenward and tells us of a kingdom to
seek, but rather. But rather. I'm so thankful that
in this place, when our Lord is giving us these points, when
He gave us some similar points in the Sermon on the Mount in
Matthew 6, He said, seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Here, He chose another word. He said, rather than seeking
these things. So we'd be sure we understood
what he's talking about. Rather than setting your hearts
on these things, rather seek ye the kingdom of God. Now, we all know that our first
priority in life ought to be the kingdom and glory of our
God. We must not give our hearts to this world. Let us not live
as though we were animals without immortal souls, animals that
just die and that's it. May God give us grace to live
as men and women who are constantly aware that our lives in this
world are but a very brief prelude to another world, as men and
women with immortal souls. to be saved or lost in this little
span of time. You and I have an appointment with death, and we're going to die. And when we die, Meryl Hart,
we're going to meet God, Almighty, face to face. And we're going to meet Him in
judgment. And we're going to spend eternity
somewhere where what this material is made
out of or what labels in it, I tore the label out of that
one, somewhere where it doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. We're going to
spend eternity in a place in which it doesn't matter whether
you lived on the highest hill in the biggest house in town
or whether you lived in a cardboard shanty box outside Kingston,
Jamaica. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. Just doesn't
matter. Just doesn't matter. We're going
to spend eternity, Bob, either in hell or in heaven. Now that
matters. That matters. So I have a question. When can it be said that a person
is seeking the kingdom of God? That's the matter of issue. And
I want to answer that. I want to answer it clearly.
Am I seeking the kingdom of God? Are you? I know this, the kingdom
of God is the only thing there is worth seeking. The absolute
only thing worth seeking. There's nothing else worth seeking.
Nothing. Nothing. I know this too, a person is
seeking the kingdom of God when he's living in the pursuit of
Christ. Almost everybody I know in religion has got this thing sewed up. They've made a profession of
faith. They've repeated words after a man. They've gotten a
baptismal pool. They've signed a decision card.
They went to a confession of whatever it is, whatever their
little religious thing is, whatever it is. That took care of it. Oh, I know I saved. I remember
back yonder when I was seven years old. I know what happened.
Yeah, I was there. I know that. Everything is alright
with me. Our God says, follow peace with
all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.
Pursue Christ. Pursue Him. Pursue Him. Like one of your hounds, Bobby,
hits the trail of a rabbit, just keep running after it until you
catch it. That's what the Word is. Turn to Philippians chapter
3. I'll show you what I'm talking
about. Here is a man fixing to go to
glory. He's in prison. He's about to
be put to death for the gospel sake, and he knows it. And he
says in verse 7, What things were gained to me,
those I counted lost for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count. Now he's talking about something
going on right now. All things but lost for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered
the loss of all things and do count them but dung. What's he
talking about there? The whole past history of his
life. If Paul had been of a mind to
do so, and he were living in our day, when you saw his name
on a piece of paper, he'd have a string of degrees just run
right off the end of the paper. Brilliant, well-educated man.
Well-educated. High-ranking Pharisee. Apparently
a man of means. He said, I count it all. Just manure to get off my boots
before I go inside. That's all. You mean that's all this stuff
is? That's all it is. That's all it is. Read on. Verse
9, "...and be found in Him." Oh my God, when I throw my last
breath, let me be found in Christ. Not having one speck of righteousness
of my own. which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness of
God, which is of God by faith, that I may know Him. That I may know Him in the power
of His resurrection, knowing what He accomplished by His death,
knowing the power by which He was raised from the dead, experimentally
in my soul being raised from the dead, in the fellowship of
His sufferings. Knowing that I am one with Him,
being made conformable unto Him under His death, submissive to
Him in all things. Now watch this. If by any means
I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead, not as though I
had already attained, I hadn't got this thing sewed up. Either
we're already perfect, but I follow after. if that I may apprehend
that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I
count not myself to have apprehended. I haven't arrived yet. I haven't
finished this thing yet. But this one thing I do, forgetting
those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those
things which are before, I press. I press. I've got my heart set. I've got my mind set. I press. I press toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. I'm still
pursuing Him. Still pursuing Him. Pastor, how
can it be true both that we are saved by God's grace and that
we have Christ, but we must pursue Christ? I've had this lady's heart for
35 years. I remember some time back, we
were sitting down watching Andy Griffith, and some of you saw
the episode, I'm sure, where Gomer took Thelma Lou over to
Mount Pilate. While he was gone, he had a talk
with Thelma Lou, and he came back, and he told Thelma Lou,
he said, Barney, he said, he got you in his hip pocket and
caused trouble. I've had her in my hip pocket
for 35 years. In my hip pocket. But I'm still
pursuing her. I'm still pursuing her. She's
mine, but I'm still pursuing her. I've had the Son of God to be
mine. Mine. All these 35. No, I want to know Him, and be
found in Him, and be conformed to Him, pursuing Him. Now, here's one last thing. Here's
a promise from Christ that ought to content our hearts. Look at
verse 31. All these things. All these things. What things? All these things
for which the heathen live. Fame and fortune. Praise and
honor. Enjoyment. Pleasure. Delight. All these things, my
bestest. Shall, isn't that a great word? Shall be added unto you. I hath not seen, nor hath he
or her, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, the things
which God has prepared for them that love him. You remember what
Peter said? He said, Lord, we've forsaken
all and followed you. We get feeling like that sometimes,
don't we? Oh, look what I gave up. Look what I could have been.
Look what I didn't do. So I could follow the Lord Jesus
and serve God. Oh, look what I gave up to do
that. And our Lord turned to Peter, and he looked at Peter,
and he said, Peter, Lacked ye anything? Lacked ye anything? Anything. Well, no. Not a thing. Not a thing. I have been young,
and now I am old. Yet have I not seen the righteous
forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. For the Lord God is a
Son, and to shield. The Lord will give grace and
glory." Now listen, no good thing will he withhold from them that
walk upright. No wonder he said, say ye to
the righteous that it shall be well with him. He shall dwell on high. His place of defense shall be
the munitions of the rocks. Bread shall be given him, and
his waters shall be sure. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want anything ever
forever. God teach us to trust you. Amen. Then you let's sing that
when you started to sing, the Lord is my shepherd, whatever
that number is.