One more time, Luke chapter 12.
Luke chapter 12, I'm going to try to bring the message from
verse 22 down to verse 32 of Luke chapter 12. I'm entitling
the message from the subject that the Lord Jesus Christ is
teaching from these verses. I want to be a student this morning,
sitting at His feet, listening to God Almighty in the flesh,
preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The title of the
message is what the Lord is talking about here, found in verse 28
and verse 29. He says, O ye of little faith,
seek not ye what ye shall eat, For what ye shall drink, neither
be ye of a doubtful mind." So the title will be, Be Not Doubtful,
But Believing. Be Not Doubtful, But Believing. Now, there is nothing more common
to our sinful flesh than worry and fretting. None of you have
problems with worrying and fretting over most of the time it's needless
things. All of us have problems with
worrying and fretting anxiety even over things that we have
absolutely no control about. The best cure for fretting And
anxiety and anxious worry is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The best cure for fretting. Next
time you find yourself just having one of those nights where you
just roll this way and roll that way and can't sleep and you fret
and worry and you're anxious and you're upset. The best cure
for fretting and anxiety is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. There
is nothing in this world that is not under the absolute dominion
and sovereign control of our blessed God and Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the absolute sovereign
in heaven, right? He does according to His will
in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.
None can stay His hand. None can say unto Him, Lord God
Almighty, what doest Thou? He's the absolute ruler in all
wisdom, in all power, and everything He does is right. Shall not the
God of all the earth do right? Therefore, every believer should
find and does, should find complete confidence and abundant comfort
that our Heavenly Father knows what is best for us." We don't
know. He does. He knows what is best
for us. And that our light afflictions
are working for us, not against us. The trials that the Lord
sends in our lives are trials that must, needs be. He sends them for our good. And
we know that all things work together for good to them who
love God, to them who are called according to His purpose. Try
as we may, we cannot alter God's providential arrangement of all
things in this world. You can worry about it all you
want. You will not change the absolute providential rule of
God and the arrangement of all things that He has made. Would
it not be better to alter our thinking, to alter our minds,
and to submit and bow to the sovereign will of God Almighty? His divine will is perfect. What
He does is absolutely right when He does it, where He does it,
with whom He does it. He never makes mistakes. He's
too wise. He's too almighty in all that
He does. Now, having said that introduction,
look at verse 22. Luke 12, verse 22. And He said
unto His disciples, now these were people who professed to
believe Him, who professed to follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
No doubt many gave up much to follow Him, had forsaken family,
farms, people to follow the Lord. And He said, therefore I say
unto you, take no thought for your life, what you shall eat,
neither for the body what you shall put on, the life, your
life is more than meat, is it not? Is not your soul, your life
more than meat, more than drink? And the body, isn't your body
worth more than any kind of clothing you might put on it? Sure it
is. The Lord had just finished a
parable, giving of the parable of the rich fool, And the Lord
says of that man who only took concern and care for his fleshly
needs and neglected his own soul, and the Lord says that he was
not rich toward God. He called that man a fool that
just was living for food and clothing and drink, and he was
not rich toward God. Then the Lord addresses the disciples
who were following Him, who probably had forsaken all, family, for
the privilege of following the Lord Jesus Christ, for the privilege
of confessing Him as God and Savior. The Lord assures those
disciples and promises them and us that He will provide for us
abundantly. And He does. He provides for
us abundantly. For every believer, as I said
last week, every believer is rich toward God or rich in God. We've been made heirs of God
and joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. His people are
blessed with all spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Remember the verse I used from
last week, 2 Corinthians 8, 9, where it says, For ye know the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet
for your sake he became poor, that you through his poverty
might be made rich. The Lord impoverished Himself
with our humanity and with our sin. He was wounded for our transgression. He was bruised for our iniquity. And with His stripes, we are
healed. We are made whole. He's blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Therefore, He says to His disciples,
take no thought for your life. He's not telling us here to live
carelessly. He's telling us to live here
looking to Him. He's telling us to live here
trusting Him to provide all things for us. Take no thought, that
is no unnecessary, needless, and anxious care, thoughts over
food and clothing. The Lord feeds the birds. And
the Lord closed the fields with His beautiful flower. What shall
we eat, or what shall we wear? I often think how the Lord of
glory supplied those children of Israel. Remember when they
were delivered from Egyptian bondage? How many years were
they down there? 400 years? And the Lord delivered
them by His power. Through the Red Sea they went.
The Lord opened the sea. And the Lord destroyed Pharaoh
and the army that was after them. And they went out in the wilderness
for forty years. Some think 2 or 3 million people,
40 years they wandered in the wilderness, and the Lord always
provided for them those 40 years. Now, you think what it would
take to supply these 2 or 3 million people out in the desert? out
in the desert land. I mean, there's no water there,
there's no rain, there's no food, there's no livestock, there's
no quail to hunt, there's no birds, there may be a few snakes
and spiders, but that's not going to provide for two or three million
people, is it? How did the Lord sustain them
those forty years? He rained down manna from heaven
six days a week for 40 years. All they did was went out and
picked up that coriander seed, that little sweet morsel of bread. It's like fresh bread from the
oven, covered with honey and butter, and the Lord provided
that for them every day for 40 years. He had not changed, has
He? He also made it so that those
40 years in the wilderness, their clothes and shoes did not wear
out. Now you think about that. You
see how the Lord sustained them? He abundantly sustained them
and cared for them, providing miracle after miracle. When there
was no water, He told Moses, see that rock over there? Go
over there and hit it. And water came out of that rock,
and that water followed them in the wilderness for 40 years.
It followed them. Wherever they went, that water
was there. You see, He sustained them and
blessed them. We read in Deuteronomy 29, I've
led you 40 years in the wilderness. Deuteronomy 29.5, your clothes
are not waxen old, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot. Now you think about that. That
is a miracle of God, how He sustained them, and that is a picture of
how God blesses and sustains us. And then He says, your life
is more than meat, your life is more than food, your body
is more than just the clothes that you wear. You can take off
your clothes and you're still you. You're still you. Your clothes are not you, are
they? Now look at verse 24 and following. And he uses these
simple earthly illustrations to teach us his divine and spiritual
truth. Verse 24, "...consider the ravens,
for they neither sow nor reap, which neither have a storehouse,
they don't have a barn, and God feeds them." Now, it's interesting
here that he brings forth a raven, which is considered under the
law an unclean bird. A dove was allowed to be sacrificed
unto the Lord, but not a raven. But even the Lord provides for
those dirty, unclean birds. He opens His hand and satisfies
the desire of every living thing, the psalmist says. Neither have
storehouse nor barn, yet God feeds them Now, here's this phrase,
how much more? How much more does He feed His
people? How much more? Are you better
than the fowls of the air? Look in the same chapter, Luke
12, you remember over in verse 6, Are not five sparrows sold
for two farthing? And not one of them is forgotten
before God? Even the little sparrows. I was
watching a little bird this morning, a little sparrow around in the
bush, and I was thinking, this is God's little sparrow. He's
providing for him. But even the very hairs of your
head are all numbered. Fear not. Therefore, you are
of more value than many sparrows." How much more! If God so feeds
that unclean, dirty, bird-raven, how shall He not also freely
give us all things in the Lord Jesus Christ? Which of you, by
taking thought, can add to his stature? If you then be not able
to take that which is the least, able to do that which is the
least, why take ye thought for the rest?" And then he says,
consider the lilies, how they grow. They toil not, they spin
not, 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 is today in the field and tomorrow was cast into the oven,
and here's this phrase again, how much more? How much more
will He clothe you, O ye of little faith? Faith, little faith. How He uses the birds of the
air and the flowers of the field to demonstrate to us how much
more He cares for His church, His family, His children. His bride, His people. We read this in Ephesians 5. Husbands, love your wives even
as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called sons
of God. Here it is loved, not that we
love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the sacrifice
for our sin. 1 John 4, 10. Since our Lord so loved us and
gave Himself for us, would we entertain any thought that He
would not care for us and to provide everything for us necessary
for this life and the next? Certainly, He is a God who abundantly
supplies all our need. Listen to these scriptures. You
remember from Genesis 22, the story of Abraham and Isaac, and
how God provided the lamb for the burnt offering? You remember? Abraham bound Isaac and put him
on the altar, and raised his hand with that knife, ready to
take Isaac's life, and then God provided that ram, caught it
in the thicket, and Abraham declared, He did, didn't He? He provided
for Abraham in that day. And then David said in Psalm
23, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. God provides
for His children everything they need. Now listen to this. He
only will accept that which He provides. He will only accept
that which He provides. What has He provided for us?
The Lord Jesus Christ. Having Him, we have all things. The Apostle Paul put it this
way, My God shall supply all your need according to His riches
in glory through the Lord Jesus Christ. Consider the ravens. In the birds of the air, how
the Lord feeds them, how much more are you better than all
the birds? So much so that the Lord chose
us, redeemed us, called us, saved us, and takes us to glory by
His grace. Now, look at verse 25 and 26. And which of you, with taking
thought, can add to his stature one inch, one cubit, if you then
be not able to do that thing which is the least, why are you
so anxious about these other side issues? The Lord gives us
here the blessings that we enjoy in Christ and He gives it to
us freely. Can we by anxious care and needless
worry add one day to our life? Can we by needless worry and
anxious care add one height, one inch, To our height? Well, the answer is obviously
and of course not. We can't add one day to our life. Man's days are determined of
the Lord. Now, I'm all good for it. I'm
all in on exercise and eating healthy and these different things
and going to the doctor and getting your checkup and all those things.
I'm all for that. That's not going to add one day
to your life. I'm not saying we should neglect
these things. That's not going to add one day
to your life. Don't be anxious and worry about these things
that you have absolutely no control over. You cannot add one day
to your life. If we be not able to do the least
thing, Why do we needlessly worry about the rest of the things
of which are much greater, such as the forgiveness of sin, the
redemption of our soul, and righteousness that's found in the Lord Jesus
Christ? If the Lord feeds all the millions
of birds of His creation, do you think that He's going to
let us starve before Him? David said, I've been young.
Now I'm old, I've never seen God's children begging bread."
He's going to take care of us. He's going to take care of us.
Now think about this. He talks about here food. What
has the Lord provided for His church to feed upon? What is
the bread that we feed upon? The bread that we feed upon and
the bread that sustains us is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He's the bread of life. Listen
to John 6.35, And the Lord said unto them, I am the bread of
life. He that cometh unto me shall never hunger. He that believeth
on me shall never, I love that word never, never, never, never
hunger and never thirst. Ho, everyone that is thirsty,
come ye to the waters. Come buy milk, milk and wine,
without money and without price. And then he says in verse 27
and 28, consider the lilies, how they grow, how they grow. They do not toil, they do not
spend, yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory is not
arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothed the grass
which is today in the field and tomorrow was cast into the oven,
how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? The birds do not work for their
living, the flowers do not labor for their beauty, Even Solomon
and all of his earthly kingdom is not as glorious as the Lord's
beautiful creation. I love to look at God's creation,
even in its fallen state. To my fallen eyes, it's still
beautiful. Imagine what the garden looked
like before sin entered in. If God so takes care of the birds
of the air and the flowers of the field, how much more will
He clothe you..." Now notice this statement here, "...He will
clothe you, O ye of little faith." Now, what is the clothing that
the Lord provides His children? Well, we know the bread that
He provides for us is the bread of life, and the clothing that
He provides for us is what? He clothes us with the robe of
righteousness. Listen to this scripture. Isaiah 61, 10. I will greatly
rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God, for
He hath clothed me. With the garments of salvation,
he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom
decketh himself with ornaments, as a bride adorneth herself with
jewels. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
Bread of Life, the Lord Jesus Christ is our Salvation, Savior
and Righteousness. He is the garments of our salvation. Is he not? nor the name under
heaven, given among men whereby we must be saved. He is God our
Savior." The garments of salvation that we have freely given to
us is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. We're clothed with that garment
of salvation. And then we have that robe of
righteousness that He freely gives us. These are the things
that He provides for us, that we desperately need, that He
will only accept that which He provides. What is this robe of
righteousness? It is Christ our righteousness.
Listen to this scripture, Romans 4 verse 6, Blessed is the man
to whom the Lord imputed righteousness with outworked, saying, Blessed
are they whose sins are forgiven, whose iniquities are passed by
and blotted out. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not charge sin. And then he says this, How much
more will the Lord clothe you? How much more are you better
than the birds of the air? And then he uses this phrase
here, O ye of little faith. Little faith. Now that describes
me. Little faith. little faith. Abraham believed God and it was
counted to him for righteousness. On two other occasions the Lord
said to his disciples and then to Peter, on two other occasions,
O thou of little faith. You remember on the boat when
the boat was sinking and the Lord was back sleeping and they
shook him and woke him up and said, Lord, don't you care that
we're perishing, the boat's going down, we're taking on water,
and you're back over here sleeping? And he said, oh, you little thing. Did he provide for them? He arose
and rebuked the wind, and there was a great calm, and they said,
oh, what manner of man is this, that even the wind and the seas
obey him? And then another occasion, The
Lord said to Peter, you remember when Peter went out walking on
the water? When the Lord came to them and Peter saw him, and
the Lord said, come on Peter, come to me. And he starts walking
out on the water, but when he took his eye off the Lord and
started seeing the waves as they were billowing over, he started
to sink. And he said to the Lord, save
me, I'll perish. And the Lord says to him, O thou
of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? You think I'm going
to let you drown, Peter? I'm not going to let you drown. The boat's not going down, O
ye of little faith. Now, listen to this. I would
rather have little faith than false faith. I would rather have
little faith than no faith. No faith. You see, without faith
it is impossible to please God. He that cometh to God must believe
that He is, and that He is the rewarder of them that diligently
seek Him. We know that faith is the gift
of God, right? To them that have obtained like
precious faith with us through the righteousness of God, our
Savior, Jesus Christ. For by grace are you saved, and
that not of yourself, it is a gift of God. Little faith, if it is
true faith, now listen to me, Little faith, if it is true faith,
is saving faith. Because it's not the amount of
faith that saves, right? It's the object of faith that
saves. You see, saving faith doesn't
look in here. Saving faith looks out of self. Saving faith is objective faith. Not subjective. Saving faith
looks to the Lord Jesus Christ. Looking unto Him who is the author
and finisher of our faith. Hebrews 12, 2. And then Isaiah
45, 22. He said, Look unto Me and be
ye saved, all the ends of the earth. I am God and beside Me
there is no other. Now look at verse 29. Luke 12,
29. Seek not ye what ye shall eat
or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of a doubtful mind. Be not of a doubtful mind. Seek not therefore the things
that are perishing in this world. Because he says back over in
verse 15 of Luke 12, Take heed and beware of covetousness, for
man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which
he possesses. The fashion of this world is
passing away. Trust nothing cling to nothing
except for Christ. Everything else is passing away. And then he says, neither be
of a doubtful mind. Now, the marginal reference,
if you look in your reference Bible, neither be of a doubtful
mind, the marginal reference is, or live not in careful suspense. Live not in careful suspense. That is, live not tossed up in
the air and carried about by every wind of suspicion and doubt,
but rather be rooted and grounded in Christ, resting on Christ
a solid rock. All other ground is sinking sand. Be not of a doubtful mind. What
is the opposite of being of a doubtful mind? trusting the Lord Jesus
Christ. Questioning and mistrusting the
Lord's good providence is to cast doubt upon the Lord's infinite
wisdom and power. The wise man Solomon said this,
Proverbs 3, 5 and 6, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart,
lean not unto thine own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge Him,
and He'll direct thy path. And then David put it this way
in Psalm 37, The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord,
and He delighteth in his ways. Trust Him. Don't be like, he
says here in verse 30, for all these things do the nations of
the world, the pagan Gentiles of the world, seek after, unbelievers
seek after. Your Father knoweth that you
have need of these things. The pagan world of unbelievers
seek only those things, material wealth, laying up riches for
self like the rich fool did. Your Father, your loving Heavenly
Father, knows all things and will provide all things for you."
Now, I thought about this song when I was studying this message.
The old preacher John Newton, he wrote that song, Amazing Grace,
how sweet to sound. But he wrote many other good
hymns This one is familiar with some folks, and he wrote about
the Lord providing, Though troubles assail us, and dangers affright,
Though friends should all fail us, and foes all unite, Yet one
thing secures us, whatever be tied, The promise assures us,
the Lord will provide. Second verse, the birds without
garner or storehouse are fed. From them let us learn to trust
our God for our bread. His saints, what is fitting,
shall never be denied, so long as it is written, the Lord will
provide. He will provide for us. But rather,
now he says here, seek not these things of the world, of the flesh,
But rather, verse 31, seek ye the kingdom of God, and all these
things shall be added unto you. Now the Lord, if you'll find
Matthew chapter 6, give me just a couple of minutes here and
I'll wind this up. Matthew chapter 6, verse 31, or verse, well, we
can begin at verse 31 of Matthew 6. The Lord preached this same
message on another occasion, Sermon on the Mount. Verse 31,
Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? What shall we drink?
Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do
the Gentiles seek. For your Heavenly Father knoweth
that you have need of all these things. Now look at verse 33
carefully. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God, And his righteousness and all these things shall be added
unto you. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God. That's the gospel of God in Christ. And his righteousness. Seek first
Christ who is the king in the kingdom. Being found in Christ,
being one with Him, we have all things now and forever. 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 Kingdom of God that is mentioned
here in this verse and in the next verse, verse 32, Fear not,
little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give
you the kingdom, and it's the kingdom of God. The kingdom of
God is the same as the gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ, His person, who He is as God our Savior, and His redemptive
work, how He put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. But
here's what I want to camp on for just a minute, verse 31.
But rather, seek ye the kingdom of God. Seek ye the kingdom of
God. Now, what is involved in seeking
the kingdom of God? It's seeking Him who is the King. That's the key. Seek Him who
is the King. In Him dwells all the fullness
of Godhead bodily, and in Him you are complete. So first of
all, what's involved in seeking the Kingdom of God? Seek Him. Seek Him. Seek Him in His Word,
the written Word tells us all about the living Word, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Hebrews 4.12, the Word is quick
and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. Secondly, we
are to seek Him by prayer, that is calling upon the name of the
Lord. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved." We are taught in Scripture to pray without ceasing and in
everything give thanks. Seek Him, thirdly, until you
find Him. Seek the Lord, Isaiah 55, 6,
we read a moment ago. Seek ye the Lord while He may
be found, call upon Him while He is near. Call upon Him. Ask the Lord for mercy. God be
merciful to me, the sinner. What is involved in seeking the
Lord? Seek Him in His Word. Seek Him
by prayer. Seek Him until you find Him.
He that hath a Son hath life. And then seek Him continually.
Listen to this scripture. 1 Chronicles 16.11. Seek the
Lord and His strength. Seek His face continually. The psalmist said, young lions
do lack and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord shall
not want any good thing. Seek ye the Lord, and all these
things shall be added unto you. Verse 32, we'll pick up here
next week. Fear not, little flock. Little
flock. For it is your Father's good
pleasure to give you all things." To give you all things. I'm going
to quit with this. Matthew 11, 25. The Lord prayed, I thank Thee,
O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid
these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto
babes, even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. It is your father's good pleasure
to give unto you the kingdom