Luke chapter 12. Notice verse
31, 32, 33, and 34. We'll read these verses one more
time. Luke chapter 12. But rather,
seek ye the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added
unto you. And then the Lord says to fear
not. He tells us what to do and then what not to do. Seek Him. In Christ is all the salvation.
And then He says, fear not. And I love this word. It's not
a word to diminish anything. I look at it rather as a word
of affection. Little flock. Little flock. Fear not, little flock. For it
is your Father's good pleasure. It's your Father's good pleasure.
That is, it's His will, His purpose. To give you the Kingdom. To give
you all of salvation. And then he says here, you sell
out. Sell out everything else. Give it away. Give alms. Provide
yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure, a treasure,
a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approaches,
no thief steals, where No moth will corrupt, for where your
treasure is, there will your heart be also." It doesn't say,
might be. There will your heart be also. Now, I'm taking the title for
the message from what the Lord says in verse 32. Your Father's
good pleasure. Now we're talking about God who
is God. Talking about God who is Almighty,
Sovereign over all things. It is your Father's good pleasure
to give you the Kingdom of God. We read in Psalm 135, Whatsoever
the Lord pleased, that did He in heaven, earth, seas, and all
deep places. And then in Psalm 115, The heathen
unbelievers came unto the sovereign king, David, and said, David,
where is your God? Remember what David said? Our
God is in the heavens, and he hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. What is then the Father's good
pleasure? Well, he answers this, it is
your Father's good pleasure to give you, to give you the kingdom
of God. Remember the Lord had told us
to seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,
and everything else will be supplied and added, everything else will
be okay, will be freely provided for you. Saving faith always
seeks and finds all spiritual blessings in Christ. That's where they're found. In
the Lord Jesus Christ. Having Him we have all spiritual
blessings are found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now this outline
has two divisions. Here's the first one. The Lord
says to His disciples, He's talking to His disciples, you remember
up in verse 22, He said unto His disciples, He said, Fear
not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure,
His sovereign will, to give you everything you need." I'm a needy
creature. How many times David says throughout
the Psalms, I am poor and needy? Yet, the Lord thinks upon me,
what a soul-cheering promise given by our great and good shepherd,
the good shepherd of the sheep, the great shepherd of the sheep,
being his little flock, under his tender care, under his watchful
eye, we have no need to fear. Fear not, little flock. Fear
not, little flock. David's confidence was, the Lord
is my shepherd. I shall not fear. The Lord is
my shepherd, I shall not want. Fear not, little flock. The Lord
is my light and my salvation, Psalm 27. The Lord is my light
and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is my light
and He's my salvation. Under His care, under His love,
we have no need to fear. You see, we're chosen by His
electing love. The Lord said, you didn't choose
me, I chose you. When did God choose us? Before
the foundation of the world. Chosen by His electing love,
that's what it says, 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13. We are bound to give
thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God has chosen you to salvation before the foundation of the
world. Fear not, He has chosen us unto salvation. Secondly,
fear not, He has redeemed us by His precious blood. He delivered
us, redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse
for us. He redeemed us in the fact with His precious blood
in whom we have redemption, we have the forgiveness of sin according
to the riches of His grace. He redeemed us by His precious
blood. Fear not. Fear not, He put away
our sin, our sin by the sacrifice of Himself. He chose us, He redeemed
us, and then what did He do? He called us. He called us out
of darkness into His marvelous light. He called us out of the
kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son, into
the kingdom of His love, the kingdom of light. He called us. He saved us and called us with
a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace. He called us, translated us out
of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son,
that we should show forth the praises of Him who called you
out of darkness into His marvelous light. You see what He's saying
here in verse 32? Fear not, little flock. Little flock. Now, according
to the Word of God, we have nothing to fear but our God. We do reverence His name, and
because we fear Him, we fear not anything else. Now, if you
want to turn and read this with me, you can, but if you find
Isaiah chapter 43, Isaiah 43, Thus saith the Lord that created
thee, verse 1, He that formed thee..." He's saying the same
thing. "...the Lord that created thee, that formed thee, O Israel,
fear not. I have redeemed thee, I have
called thee by your name." He said, you're mine. We're bought
with the precious blood of Christ. Bought with His blood. He has
redeemed us. Fear not, little flock. Now,
we may be little in number, But we have a big and great Savior,
don't we? We have a Savior who is almighty,
the almighty Savior who cannot fail. He's mighty to save. Fear not, little flock. We have
a big Savior, an almighty Savior. Fear not, little flock. We may
be little in strength. And we are weak, insufficient
in ourselves, but we have a strong Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who has delivered us from the wrath to come. Has He not? Fear not, little flock. We're
little in strength, little in number, but we have a big God,
the Almighty God. He said, I'm God, beside me there
is no other. Fear not, little flock, we may
be little in faith, as he says there in verse 28 of Luke 12,
O ye of little faith! We may be little in faith, but
we have a faithful mediator, a surety of the covenant, who
is all of our righteousness before God. You see, our salvation is
based upon His faithfulness, not ours. Now, I want to be faithful
to the Lord, And God's people are, that's their desire, that's
their want to. But our salvation is not based
upon our obedience or our faithfulness. It's based upon His faithfulness,
His obedience. Let me just read this to you,
Galatians 2 verse 16. Knowing that no man is not justified
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ, that we might be justified by the faith by the faith of
Christ. You see, it's upon His faithfulness,
not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified in His sight. Fear not, little flock. But mainly, and most importantly,
the Lord tells us not to fear, because it is our Heavenly Father's
good pleasure to give you the Kingdom of God. Everything you
need to stand before God Almighty is the free gift of God in Christ
Jesus. Turn to 1 John chapter 3. 1 John
chapter 3. When he talks about the love
of God, Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed
upon us. 1 John chapter 3. Behold what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should
be called sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us
not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we sons of God. It doth not yet appear what we
shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be
like him, for we shall see him as he is. Fear not, little flock. It's your Father's good pleasure
to give you all saving mercies in Christ. The old timers that
I read after, they always have this phrase, and I love it, They
always repeat this phrase, God gives us all grace now and glory
forever. Of His fullness have we all received
grace for grace. In the Lord Jesus Christ dwells
all the fullness of a Godhead bodily and we stand complete
in Him. Now listen carefully. Salvation
is totally and completely the free gift of God by the sovereign
will and pleasure of God. Freely given to us for Christ's
sake by His good and sovereign pleasure, it is given. Salvation is not according to
the will of the sinner. There is no such thing as free
will in salvation. Man has a will, but it's in bondage
to his rotten nature. That's why the Lord prayed in
Matthew 11, verse 25, where He said, I thank Thee, O Father.
I thank Thee, O Father. Lord of heaven and earth, because
you have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and revealed
them unto babes, even so, Father, for so it seemed good in God's
sight. Salvation, as it is taught and
revealed in the Word of God, is totally by the will of God
alone. Man's will, man's merit, man's
work have no place in this salvation that is of the Lord. In John chapter 1, this is John
chapter 1, he says in verse 12, if you want to look there with
me, you can. John chapter 1 verse 12, As many as received him,
to them gave he power, the right or privilege to become sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name which were born.
These were born from above, born of God, not of blood, that is
talking about fleshly inheritance, nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man. These believe on His name, being
born of God by the will of God, not by the will of man, not by
the will of the flesh, but of God. We're born of God. Of His
own will begat He us. Begat He us. with the Word of
Truth. And of course, when we talk about
the sovereignty of God in salvation, and that's what that verse is
talking about, we always have to turn and read Romans 9, don't
we? Turn over there. Romans 9, 13. This is your Father's good pleasure.
Now, salvation is by His good pleasure, right? It's His good
pleasure to give you the Kingdom of God. Romans 9 verse 13, As
it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall
we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. We say it to Moses, I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. So then, Here's a conclusion,
that salvation is not according to him that willeth nor him that
runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. It is your Father's good
pleasure to give you the kingdom of God according to His good
pleasure, not our will. Now let me just read to you from
Ephesians chapter 1, where it says, having predestinated us
unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according
to his good pleasure. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will, to the praise of the glory of his grace,
wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. So when we talk
about salvation, That's the free gift of God that's freely given. We have to talk about the salvation
of God that's revealed by the sovereign revelation of God.
Every believer enjoys right and title to the glorious kingdom
of grace, the whole inheritance of grace and eternal glory in
the Lord Jesus Christ by the sovereign will and good pleasure
of God, man's will and work, has no part in it whatsoever. Now why am I emphasizing that?
Because that fact is denied in most places right now. It's denied. They say salvation
is by what you do. Salvation is by what you give. Salvation is by your work or
your will. But that's totally contrary to
what this book teaches. Salvation is by the good pleasure
of God. First Peter 1, let me read this
to you. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy,
hath begotten us into a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that
fadeth not away, that is reserved in heaven for you. We've been
made heirs of God and joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. It
is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom of God. Now, he says and he addresses
here, he addresses, look back at the text, Luke 12, 32, fear
not little flock, little flock. Now, I want you to consider this,
are you part of that little flock? Are you part of that little flock?
You are if you trust the Lord Jesus Christ for all of salvation. Being one with Him we have the
Father's good pleasure and being one with Him and being found
in Christ we have nothing to fear. Our Lord speaks from heaven
concerning His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer,
our Savior. This is the Good Shepherd of
the sheep who laid down His life for the sheep. The Lord God Almighty,
the God of heaven and earth, speaks from heaven concerning
our Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, and says, This is my
beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. We're reading Isaiah
42, 21. God is well pleased for His righteousness
sake. He will magnify the law. He will
honor the law. God is well pleased with the
Lord Jesus Christ. No doubt about that, right? God
is well pleased with the Lord Jesus Christ. When He died for
our sin according to Scripture, how do we know that God was well
pleased with that sacrifice? He ascended to heaven and He
sat down on the throne of God, a place of love and acceptance
and satisfaction. God is well pleased with the
Lord Jesus Christ and God is well pleased with those in Christ,
in Him. Being found in Him, He receives
us willingly and lovingly. The Father does as He received
the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Let's read that in Scripture.
Turn to John 17. I'm saying what's true of the
head is true of the body. What is true of the Lord Jesus
Christ? is true of those who are in the Lord Jesus Christ.
John 17 in his priestly prayer, John 17 verse 23, he talks about
this union between Christ and His people. Verse 23, John 17,
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one,
that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved
them as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also
whom thou hast given me, that's his elect, be with me where I
am, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me, for
thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. Thou hast loved
them as Thou hast loved me." God is well pleased with His
people in Christ. It is your Father's good pleasure
to give unto you the Kingdom of God. We read in the book of
Jude, Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and
to present you thoughtless before the presence of God's glory with
exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be majesty, dominion,
power, both now and forever. Now, let me read this to you,
don't turn, let me just read this to you, you're familiar
with this verse over in Colossians chapter 1. For it pleased the
Father that in him should all fullness dwell, having made peace
through the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things
unto himself, by him I say, whether they be things in earth or things
in heaven, and you that were sometimes alienated, enemies
in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled in
the body of His flesh through death to present you holy, unblameable,
unreprovable in His sign. God sees us in the Lord Jesus
Christ, holy, unblameable, unreprovable, faultless before His throne,
and He presents us with exceeding joy. If our God is for us, who
can be against us? Our God has given unto us exceeding
great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers
of a divine nature. All the promises of God are in
the Lord Jesus Christ, they're Amen, and they're Yes, and Amen
in Him. Of all that God had promised,
not one word will fail, will it? I'm persuaded like Abraham
of all that God has promised. He's able to perform. All the
promises of God in him are yes, and in him, amen, unto the glory
of God by the Lord Jesus Christ. Fear not, little flock. It's
your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom of God. Salvation is pleasing to God
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now here's the second part of
this message. Verse 33 and verse 34. Christ
being all and in all, and He being our treasure in heaven,
sell what you have, give alms, provide yourselves bags which
wax not old, a treasure, a treasure that's provided. He is the Lord
who will provide. a treasure in the heavens that
faileth not, where no thief dare approach, neither does moth or
rust corrupt this treasure, for where your treasure is, there
will your heart be also." You see, salvation is a matter of
the heart. The matter of the heart. God gives us a new heart,
a new nature. Now where your treasure is, that
is where your heart will be also. The Lord tells us to seek salvation
in Him and then He tells us to sell out. Sell out! Now what does this mean? What
does it mean for us to sell out and to trust Christ? Now, he's
not talking about doing something physically. Now, you can sell
all your goods, sell your house, sell your car, put yourself in
complete poverty, wipe out your bank account, give everything
you have, give it away. Go live in a cave. That will
never bring salvation. He's not talking about doing
something physically. Physically. When he talks about
selling out, he's talking about selling out everything that would
hinder you from coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let loose
of everything that would hinder you from trusting Christ for
all of your salvation and following Him all the days of your life. Sell it out. Be done with it. Count all your righteousness
as filthy rag in God's sight. Now let me give you the best
example of that found in Philippians chapter 3. This is one of my
favorite verses and one of my favorite chapters in all Scripture. The Lord used this portion of
Scripture to teach me the Gospel. Here is a lesson that the Lord
teaches all of His people whom He wisely saved by His good pleasure. Now, we'll begin in Philippians
chapter 3. We'll begin reading at verse
1. Finally, my brethren, rejoice
in the Lord. To write the same thing to you,
to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it's safe. Beware
of dogs. Now he's talking about two-legged
dogs. He's talking about false preachers,
evil workers. Beware of those who would put
you back under the law, the concision. And then he says, verse 3, For
we are the circumcision, that is, the true Israel of God, regenerated
by the Spirit of God, which worship God in the Spirit, that rejoice
in Christ Jesus, and we have no confidence in the flesh. Paul said, I count all things
dung, ruined, that I might win Christ." Now, read on Philippians
chapter 3, look at verse 4. Now, you remember this man was
Saul of Tarsus, when he was a religious lost Pharisee. He was a very
self-righteous, self-centered, self-seeking, religious lost
man. And here he talks about his conversion. Though I might also have confidence
in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that he have whereof
he might trust in the flesh, he said, I would have more. Listen
to what he says. Circumcised the eighth day. that
was considered the most valid circumcision, the eighth day,
of the stock of Israel. He was a full-blooded Jew. He said, I was a tribe of Benjamin. That was Jacob's favorite son.
He said, a Hebrew of Hebrews. My daddy was a Jew. My mama was
a Jew. And then he says, concerning
the law, he said, I was a Pharisee. I was a very strict, moral, religious
person. Concerning zeal? He said, well,
I persecuted the church. And he did, didn't he? He persecuted
believers. Saul of Tarsus did. Touching
the righteousness which is in the law, Saul of Tarsus said,
I'm blameless. And he thought he was until the
law came and it killed him. But what things were gained to
me as religious Saul of Tarsus, those I count all lost for Christ. Lost. Sell out. Sell out. Trust everything, trust the Lord
Jesus Christ, let everything else go. What things I counted
loss for, I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, verse
8, I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of
all things, and do count them but gone, that I may win Christ. That I may win Christ. that I
may win Christ and be found in Him, sell out and trust Him,
count everything else as dung, ruin, loss, and be found in Him,
not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ." Get a hold of that.
The righteousness which is of God. That's the righteousness
we have. given to us freely in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Blessed is that man whom the
Lord imputeth righteousness without works. Let nothing stand in your
way of seeking the Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation that
is found in Him. We read in Matthew 13, The kingdom
of heaven is like unto a treasure hid in a field, to which when
a man hath found He hideth for the joy thereof, and goeth and
sells all that he hath, and he buys that field. He buys that
field because the treasure is in it. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the everlasting heavenly treasure that's given of God for us. He is our treasure, treasurer,
not treasurers. He is our reward, not rewards. We're not trying to get more
rewards in heaven. Christ is all of our reward.
He is all of our treasure that is given of God for us. He's
called in Scripture the pearl of great price. He's the pearl. He's the pearl of great price
given by our great God and Savior. You see, the believer's treasure...
the believer's treasure is a person. He is the treasure of heaven.
He is the gift of heaven. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
He is altogether loveling to you who believe. The Lord Jesus
Christ is precious. We sang a moment ago that song
that we often sing, Be Thou My Vision. One line of that song
goes, High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art. That's why
you chose that Psalm, wasn't it? Christ is our treasure. The
High King of Heaven is our treasure. Salvation is in a person, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is that treasure that
cannot be molested. Look at what it says in the last
part of verse 33. This is the treasure in heaven
that faileth not. Now, by nature, we're all failures. We're sinners, we're guilty,
vile, wretched. The Lord Jesus Christ fails not. He's the treasure that does not
fail. Isaiah 42, 4, one of my favorite
scriptures in all of Isaiah, the Lord Jesus Christ cannot
fail. He is the treasure of heaven
and He's the believer's pearl of great pride that cannot fail.
He cannot fail to honor God. He cannot fail to fulfill all
Scripture. He cannot fail to put away sin,
to fulfill all righteousness. And He is that treasure which
no thief can molest. can distort. No thief approaches
to this treasure. The Lord said, I am the way,
I am the truth, I am the life. No man comes to the Father but
by and through Me, which no thief can take away. He gives us the
treasure of heaven and no man can take that treasure from us.
He says, I give my sheep eternal life and they shall never perish.
We have this treasure that cannot fail, that cannot be diminished,
that can never be taken away from us. And then the third thing
he says there, this treasure does not corrupt. It does not
rust away. It cannot be taken away. The
Lord Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is the eternal incorruptible
God that fadeth not away. This treasure can never be tainted. This treasure is perfect. It's
the blessed righteousness of God we have in the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's the good news, is it not?
He said, I am the Lord, I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob,
you are not not consumed. Now look at verse 34. Luke 12,
34. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Now, let's consider this question
for just a moment. How can I know that Christ is
my treasure and my reward and my salvation? Let me give you
three things. When I know and realize that
in and of myself, I'm nothing. You'll never trust Christ as
the treasure of all your salvation till you know in and of yourself
you are an absolute nothing. Nothing before God. Altogether,
vanity. That is when I know that the
Lord Jesus Christ, He's my all and in all. Do you remember that
conversion story of that man who was converted and they kept
asking him question after question after question? trying to corner
him and buttonhole him down on his theology, and he kept answering
every time they questioned him. He said, I'm a poor sinner and
nothing at all, and Jesus Christ is my all in all. What about
this issue? What about that issue? What about
the other issue? I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all, and Jesus Christ is my all in all. That's my story too.
You see, in the Lord Jesus Christ, we read in Colossians 2, in whom
are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Secondly, how can I know if the
Lord Jesus Christ is all my treasure and is my treasure? How can I
know that Christ is all my treasure before God when by His grace
and through the conviction of God the Holy Spirit, I'm convinced
that I'm a guilty sinner before God? That's when I know that
Christ is my treasure. Christ is the only treasure of
my righteousness. He's the only treasure of righteousness
for a guilty sinner in which to find peace and comfort, is
He not? When we were yet without strength,
Christ died for the ungodly." Do you ever consider yourself
ungodly? This is the faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation, that the Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. Is Christ your treasure? If you're
nothing, He is. If you're a guilty sinner, ungodly
He is. Thirdly, I only know that Christ
is my treasure, my reward, my salvation when I quit and abandon
Every other hope. Every other refuge. You see, we only have a good
hope through grace. Christ is our hope. All of our
hope. Nothing more, nothing less. and nothing else but the Lord
Jesus Christ. Of His fullness have we all received
grace for grace. Where your treasure is, that
is where your heart is. Now think about this. The believer's treasure is already
in heaven, is he not? Christ is our treasure. Where
is the Lord Jesus Christ right now? He's already ascended to
glory, having accomplished our salvation, seated at the right
hand of the throne of God. The believer's treasure is already
in heaven, and that is where we are too, right now, in Him,
seated in the heavenlies. You see, He is our treasure.
He's seated in the heavenlies, and we're seated in Him. That's
what it says. Ephesians chapter 2, If then
you be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. Set your affection
on things above, not on the things of the earth. For you are dead,
and your life is hid with Christ in God. This is Colossians 3,
1 through 3. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then
shall you also appear with Him in glory. Christ is our treasure. He is the gift of God. It is
your Father's good pleasure to give you the Lord Jesus Christ,
who is the treasure of the kingdom of heaven. Now, sell out, forget
everything else, and trust Christ. Trust Christ alone for all salvation.