To be in that place where sin
and sense molest no more. To be without sin. That's just what we heard in
that song and my sin is ever before me. One of these days. It won't be. Well, that makes me want to hurry
up and die. It sure does. Luke 12, verse 32. These are
the words of the Lord Jesus. And he says, fear not little
flock. For it is your father's good
pleasure to give you the kingdom. Now Christ says to his disciples,
the church, all of his people, fear not little flock. You know, I reckon anything to
the Lord is little because he's so big. I mean, if there were
millions in this little flock, still compared to him, it's a
little flock. But I believe that it's a reference
to this flock is little in number, always has been. The number of
God's elect upon the earth at any time has always been a comparatively
small number. The Lord said, many go in the
broad way, few go in the straight gate. Those are the words of
our Lord. This flock is little in weakness,
a very weak flock. Don't you know that about yourself?
And this little flock is insignificant in the world's eyes. While we
don't have any power, we don't have any influence, in their
eyes, a weak flock, insignificant. But what an almighty shepherd
this flock possesses. What a great shepherd. Fear not,
little flock. Now, the command, fear not, presupposes that we
do fear, doesn't it? Got any fears? There's nothing much more debilitating
or paralyzing than fear. You think of how negatively the
fear of man has affected you. How many times has the fear of
man made you silent, kept you from saying and confessing what
you should say because you caved in to the fear of man? The fear
of failure keeps you from doing anything. The fear of rejection,
the fear of the economy tanking, and somehow we won't have enough
money in the future. What if Social Security busts
and we have nothing? Don't even have enough to eat.
Not having enough provision. The fear of sickness. The fear of disease. The fear
of mistrust. Isn't it miserable when you have
the fear of mistrust? Not trusting. Not just simply
resting in the Lord. The fear of your sin, the fear
of past sin coming back to haunt you, the fear of future sins
and your inability to stop committing those sins, the fear of punishment,
the fear of the slavish fear of God that is born of unbelief,
fear. Now he says to this little flock,
to this weak flock, to this sinful flock, fear not. And here's the reason we're to
fear not. It is your father's good pleasure. I love the way, I love it when
the Lord says your father, he's your father. Fear not, little flock, it's
your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. And this
could easily read, fear not, little flock, because your father
was pleased to give you the kingdom. It's not something that is out
there, it's something he's already done. There's nothing to fear. It's been your father's good
pleasure to give you the kingdom. Fear not, because your Father,
now remember who your Father is. The almighty, eternal, immutable,
absolutely sovereign, gracious, just, immutable, independent,
with no needs. your father. Oh, what a father
we have. He's gracious. He's merciful. He delights in mercy. That's
who your father is. And don't fear, little flock.
Remember, it's your father's good pleasure to give you the
kingdom. Now, I want to talk for a few
moments about God's good pleasure. In Isaiah chapter 46, verse 10,
God said, I will do all my pleasure. If he's pleased with it, it takes
place. In Psalm 115.3, David said, our
God is in the heavens. He hath done, not he will do,
he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Psalm 135 verse 6 says,
Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven and in
earth, in the sea and in all deep places. The pleasure of
the Lord, whatever he is pleased to do, is what he has always
done. You see, he's got a good pleasure
and he wills it. And whatever he wills becomes
history before it ever took place. Do I understand that? No. Do
I believe it? All together. Whatever he's pleased
is done. It's historical. It's already
taken place before it even happens. Ephesians 1.5 says, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted. Don't you love the
language there? He hath made us accepted in the
beloved. He's made known to us the mystery
of His will according to His good pleasure, Paul said to the
Ephesians. He made known to us the mystery
of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed
in Himself. You see, He worketh all things
after the counsel of His own will. I find such rest and peace
and joy in that. What His will is, is good. And he does not do it because
it's good. It's good because he does it. He doesn't have some kind of
standard he is trying to live up to. He said in Matthew chapter 3 verse
17, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And I love the way he didn't
say, with whom I'm well pleased. Although that would be good,
he is pleased with him. But he said, in whom I'm well pleased. That means if I'm in him, he
is well pleased. with me. He looks at me with
complacency and satisfaction and delight and says, look how
perfect he is. That's how he looks at his son.
And however his son is, that's how we are in this world as he
is. So are we in this world. God has determined that in all
things, Christ is to have the preeminence because the scripture
says, it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. That doesn't mean 99% of it's
in him and 1% of it's in us. In him should all fullness dwell. That's a big word. In Him should
all fullness dwell. Of His fullness, John said, have
we all received. I'm full. I'm full. I can't get any more full than
I am. I'm full of Christ because I'm
in Him. Isaiah chapter 42 verse 21, God
said, I am well pleased for his righteousness sake. Isn't it
great to have his righteousness? God is well pleased. Isaiah chapter 53 verse 10 says,
it pleased the Lord to bruise him. Now that to me is one of the
most mysterious scriptures in all the word of God. It says
it pleased the Lord to bruise him. What's that mean? It means it
pleased the Lord to bruise him. You see, Christ glorified His
Father in what He did. What Christ did in being the
sinner's substitute and bearing the sins of God's elect, it glorified
the Father. It glorified every attribute
and it pleased the Lord to crush Him. And it pleased the Lord
to crush Him because He was pleased to save me. Be pleased, O Lord,
David said, to deliver me. Isn't that a mysterious verse?
I can't speak on it as I ought to, but I feel like to think
I could would be ridiculous. It pleased the Lord. He found
complete satisfaction in bruising his son and crushing his son
and killing his son. All of his law was honored. All
of his justice was satisfied. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. Now, you chew on that a while. Because of this, it's pleased
the Lord to make you his people. We saw this in Samuel this morning.
It pleased the Lord to make you his people. Why did he do it? Because it pleased him. Any other
reason needed? I thank thee, O Father, Lord
of heaven and earth, because you've hid these things from
the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father,
for so it seemed good in thy sight. You know what? If it seems good in his sight,
it's good in my sight too, whatever he does. You see, it's God that
works in us, both to will and to do, his good pleasure. Don't you love that verse? I
plead that verse with the Lord a lot. You said this in your
word, work in me. Cause me to work out my own salvation
with fear and trembling. Because you said in your word,
that it's God that worketh in us both to will and to do his
good pleasure. Work in me to will, work in me
to do thy good pleasure. I'm taking you at your word.
You said this. Work this in me. Listen to this scripture. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. What a verse of Scripture. It pleased God. God was well
pleased with this. It pleased God by the foolishness
of what's going on right now. A fool like me speaking to a
bunch of fools like you. And that's what it is in reality,
isn't it? I mean, I'm just a sinful, weak vessel. You're a bunch of
sinful, weak vessels, but it pleased God by the foolishness
of what we're doing right now to save them that believe. Hence
what our attitude ought to be toward the preaching of the Word.
This is how God saves. This is how God makes Himself
known. This is how God speaks. It's through the preaching of
His Word. I want to come in with a hungry heart. I want to come
in asking the Lord to speak to me. Lord, prepare my heart to
receive your word. I don't want to come in here
just flippantly. I want to come in, Lord, speak, thy servant
heareth. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them but believe. Oh, if you get a bad
attitude, and I know you can because I've done it, if you
get a bad attitude towards the preaching of the word, ask the
Lord to deliver you from that. I've had it, you've had it. Oh,
may God deliver us from that because of the... This is what
fellowship is right now, what we're doing right now. It's around
the preaching of the word. Where we're at right now in the
church, listen to this scripture from 1 Corinthians 12, 18. God
has set the members, every one of them in the body as it has
pleased him. You are right where the Lord
is pleased for you to be. That's a good place to be, isn't
it? Hebrews 13 16 says but to do
good and to communicate forget not for with such sacrifices
God is well pleased now here's the power of the gospel here's
the power of the gospel when I do something in my feeble
way through Christ God is well pleased when I give a gift God is well-pleased. When I do good, when I seek to
be merciful, God is well-pleased. Not with me, with His Son. Because there's sin in all that
I do. He's pleased with His Son and
it's accepted in His Son. Now that's the power of the gospel
when you do something and you think it's pathetic. Do you feel
good about anything you've ever done? I don't. I don't. but God
is well pleased. Now that's the power of the gospel. In Luke chapter 12, verse 32,
our text, the Lord says, fear not, it's your father's good
pleasure to give you the kingdom. And you see the father's good
pleasure puts our fears in perspective, don't they? You see, if God be
for us, who can be against us? Fear not, little flock, the Lord
says, and I love the way he calls us a little flock, a little weak,
certainly small in our own eyes, sinful, fearful, insignificant. Fear not, little flock, for it's
the Father's pleasure, and I love the Father's pleasure, but it's
the Father's pleasure to, what's the next word? Give you. the kingdom. Not just a little
plot in the kingdom. It's the Father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom. Now, I'm awfully interested in
that which God has to give. You see, the way he gives is
different than anybody else. And I am very interested in knowing
what it is that God has to give this sinner, what he has to give
me. Now 2 Timothy 1.9 says, he saved
us and he called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which were
given us. Everything I have that he gives,
I've already got. He hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings and heavenly blesses in Christ Jesus. Now, as I said,
I'm awfully interested in what He has to give. He that spared
not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall
I not also with Him freely give us? Oh, I'm all for taking charity
here. I'm not trying to pay for anything. I don't want to offer
for anything. Lord, give it to me. The only way I'm going to
have it is if you freely give it to me. Whatever it is you
have to give, give me. I love what John chapter 4 verse
14 says. The Lord says to that woman at
the well, who so drinketh of this water shall thirst again.
Whatever it is you're drinking of in this water, this life,
this existence, whatever you drink of, I don't care how much
satisfaction you get, you'll thirst again. You'll thirst again. You won't
find satisfaction in it. But whoso drinketh of the water
that I shall give, shall never thirst. You see, there is a perfect
satisfaction in what he gives. Now, I'm not satisfied with myself.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not satisfied with myself
at all. I'm disappointed in myself. But I'm satisfied with being
saved by grace. You satisfied with that? I'm
satisfied to have His righteousness as my only righteousness before
God, and I'm not looking for anything else. I'm satisfied. You know, in reality, content
with beholding His face, My all to his pleasure reside. No changes
of season or place would make any change in my mind. When blessed
with a sense of his love, a palace, a toy would appear. And prisons
would palaces prove if Jesus would dwell with me there. I'm not looking for anything
else. I'm completely satisfied to be saved by him. I'm completely
satisfied to be a trophy of grace. And I know that when I'm brought
into heaven, it'll be a testimony that salvation really is all
of grace. You know, I love that scripture
in James, he giveth more grace. Don't you love that? Not just
that he giveth grace, but he giveth more grace. And I'm always
in need of more grace. I give unto them eternal life. There's his gift. My peace give I them. And he
said that. He didn't just say, peace I give
them. He said, my peace I give unto them. What is his peace?
Well, it has something to do with not having any sin. and
having perfect communion with the Father, and being altogether
lovely to the Father. And he knows it. And it's not
like he's exalting himself. He's humble, he's lovely, but
he knows he is perfectly beautiful to the Father. And he finds such
peace in that, the peace that God has with him. And the Lord
said, My peace I give unto you. The peace that exists between
the Father and the Son belongs to every believer. My peace I
give unto you. We're given light. For God who
commanded the light to shine out of the darkness has shined
in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. I have light to where I know
how God can be just and justify me. What precious light. The same light of John 8, 12,
where the Lord said, I am the light of the world. After He
said to that woman, take in an adultery. Woman, where are those
thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? She
said, no man, Lord, neither do I condemn thee. I have light
as to how that can actually be. What precious light that is.
The gift of God's grace. Faith is His gift. By grace you
save through faith, and that not of yourselves, it's the gift
of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Now, if you
can't come to Christ with faith, come to Christ for faith. Ask
Him to give you faith. Repentance, a change of mind.
He is exalted, a prince and a savior, for to give repentance to Israel. Isn't it glorious when your mind
is changed? When God changes your mind, you
used to think a certain way. You don't think that way anymore
because He has changed your mind. It's given to you to know the
mysteries of the kingdom. And I love this scripture. A
man can receive nothing except it be given him from above. You
can't even receive anything unless he gives you the grace to receive
it. But isn't that a good place to be? I love that. I love knowing
that I can't do anything. And he does all. John chapter
6 verse 55. No man can come to me except
it were given unto him of my father. Listen to this scripture. There
was given to me a thorn in the flesh. Who gave it to him? Devil? No. God gave him that thorn in
the flesh. And what a blessed gift that
was. It was painful, but it was a blessed gift. Not the thorn
itself. The thorn itself was nothing good about it. But what
that thorn did, it was good. Fear not, little flock, your
father has been pleased to give you the kingdom, the kingdom
of God. the kingdom of his grace, the
kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of Christ, and not a little plot
in the kingdom, but the kingdom itself. It has pleased God to
give you the kingdom. Now, this shows God's power to
give. Now, me and you, we got some
limitations with regard to what we can give. Either we lack resources
or we lack willingness. God lacks neither. It's his good
pleasure to give you all that the kingdom is. And this kingdom has a king,
and the king is the one who rules and reigns. That's what a king
is. He reigns. He's in control. Whatever
he wills is done. We have this king. of this kingdom
who sits upon his throne, and I love to think of the Lord sitting
on a throne. That's how Isaiah saw it. In the year the king
Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord high and lifted up and sitting
on a throne. One thing we can't do too much
of is see him high and lifted up. The higher we see him, the
more close we are. You know how I love that scripture
where it says he covereth himself with light as with a garment.
That's such a glorious thing. He takes light and it covers
him. That's how glorious he is. He
sits on an eternal throne. He sits on a throne of justice
and judgment. Justice and judgment are the
habitation of thy throne. Thank God he sits on a throne
of grace. Don't we all have to think of our king sitting on
a throne ruling and reigning and he's called the king of saints
and this king is You're a king. He's given you the king. I am
my beloved's and my beloved is mine. What is there to fear with such
a king? The fear of man in his sight?
The fear of the future? With him controlling the future?
The fear of the past? Well, he's giving you a new past.
He's giving you a perfect past. There's absolutely nothing to
fear with this king. And he's giving you the king?
The kingdom has subjects. That's every believer. Now, the
sphere of his kingdom is everybody. but he's only truly king to those
who love his kingship. Now, he's everybody's king, whether
they know it or not. You know, when people say, won't you make
Jesus the Lord of your life? That's ridiculous. He is the
Lord of your life, whether you know it or not. He is the Lord of
your life, and you're in his hands, and he can do with you
whatever he's pleased to do, but there are some people who
willingly bow to his kingship. They love his kingship. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. Willing subjects. And John described
them in Revelation 17, 14. He's the king of kings and the
Lord of lords, and they that are with him are called, chosen,
and faithful. What a beautiful description
of a believer called by the invincible, irresistible, effectual grace
of God. chosen by God, chosen in eternal
election and faithful. You see everybody that he calls
and everybody he chooses, they're going to be faithful to him.
They're going to continue in the faith. And you know, we belong
to one another. Think of that because he's given
us the kingdom. We have the subjects of this kingdom. We're all one
in Christ Jesus. I think of the commandments of
his kingdom. Well, let me give you Three commandments. Number one,
you gotta do His will. Not everyone that saith to me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth
the will of my Father, which is in heaven. Now, what does
that mean? Not the one who knows what God's
will is, but the one who actually does His will. the one who actually
keeps His commandment. Not the one who talks about it
and says we ought to, but the one who actually keeps His commandment,
doing His will. Let me tell you this. This isn't
just talking about doing religious stuff. Because He talked to the
people. He said, many shall say to Me
that day, Lord, Lord, have we not preached in Your name? And
in Your name have we not cast out demons? And in Your name
have we not done many wonderful works? Notice their estimation
of their own works. Many and wonderful. And then shall I say unto them,
depart from me. Oh, I can't even stand to think
of hearing that. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. I never knew you. I don't want to be in that crowd.
I want to be in that crowd that does His will, that keeps His
commandment. Now, what commandment do you
actually keep? Turn to 1 John 3. You know, those scriptures used
to terrify me about keeping his commandments because I thought,
well, which one of them do I really keep? But here's the commandment I
do keep. And this, verse 23, and this
is His commandment, that we should believe on the name, that we
should rely on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one
another as He gave us commandment. Now, right now, I am relying
only on the name of Jesus Christ to bring me into heaven. Are
you relying on Him? And I love all those who love
him. I'm keeping that commandment. Here's another commandment of
the kingdom of heaven. Humbling yourself as a little
child. If I don't humble myself, I shall
in no case enter the kingdom of heaven. Now the way up, understand
the way up in the kingdom of heaven is always down. Always. It's not exalting yourself and
bringing yourself up. It's bringing yourself down to
his feet. Humbling yourself as a little
child. Taking the lowest seat. Actually believing that you're
the most sinful person alive and that everybody's better than
you are. Somebody says, well that's a poor self-image. No,
it's the closest place we ever get to the truth. Humble yourself. You know the
Lord was humble. Isn't that amazing? He is humble. He is humble. I think of Him
washing His disciples' feet. If I was doing that, I would
think, look how humble I am. Look how I'm condescending. Look
what all I'm doing. But the Lord didn't look at it
as an act of condescension, because He's humble. And this is the
glorious rule of the Kingdom of Heaven, humbling yourself. submitting yourself to him, submitting
yourself, humbling yourself to one another. Don't ever be somebody
that holds a grudge or holds one of God's children off or
makes them feel uncomfortable because of the way you're...
Don't be that way. You be the one to humble yourself
and take the lowest seat in the house. This is the rule of the
kingdom of heaven. I love it when the disciples,
they were arguing about who's going to be the greatest. And
they asked him, who's going to be greatest? And he said, you
don't even need to worry about being there, except you humble
yourself as a little child. That's who's greatest in the
kingdom of heaven. That's the law of the kingdom.
Humility is such a beautiful thing. Here's the next law. The Lord said, whosoever puts
his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom
of heaven. Now, let me tell you what that
doesn't mean, because that first scripture used to always scare
me. You put your hand to the plow,
and then you look back and remember, before I was a believer, I enjoyed
this pleasure, or I had this much money, or I did this, and
oh, I'm looking, uh-oh. No, that's not what the Lord's
talking about. Here's what it is to look back. To look back
is to look anywhere other than Christ. I'm not to look to my
works, my evidences, my experiences, my anything. I'm to look to Christ
only. Nothing else. And I feel so much
more comfort in doing that, don't you? I love the way Paul described
the kingdom in Romans 14, 17. The kingdom of God is not meat
and drink. It's not all these silly man-made rules and regulations
that people try to live by. Has nothing to do with anything
like that. The Kingdom of Heaven is righteousness. The very righteousness of Christ. And the peace that I have knowing
that His righteousness really is my only righteousness before
God. And the joy we experience from that. Does it make you happy
that his very righteousness, his perfect obedience, his law-keeping
is your righteousness before God? You got nothing else to
look to. Fear not, little flock, for it's
your father's good pleasure to have given you his kingdom. You already have it. Righteousness
and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. If you have perfect righteousness,
and this is what the Kingdom of Heaven has given you. It's
not just talking about a temporal kingdom where we're going to
have material blessings and all that. The thing is, remember
this, what everybody likes is gold. And they paved the streets
in heaven with that stuff. That shows how little of an emphasis
stuff like that has in heaven. That's what they paved the street
with. Look at my concrete in my street. I mean, that's no
big deal. The kingdom of heaven is about righteousness. peace of justification, the peace
of God being on the throne, the peace of your shepherd. And there's nothing to fear but
God, the fear of all and the fear of reverence for his glorious
person. Fear not, little flock. It's
your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Let's pray.