looking at Luke chapter 12 this
morning. And we'll look at verse 1 down
through verse 7 of Luke 12. I'm entitling the message from
the first 7 verses in this chapter, I'm entitling the message, Warnings
and Promises. Warnings and Promises. The Lord gives both here. He
gives us warnings, but he also gives us precious promises. One preacher of the past said,
and I've often repeated it because it's a true and good saying,
my pastor often repeated it as well, Pastor Henry Mahan, but
one preacher of the past said this, God hedges his people back
with warnings lest they presume but also exceeding great and
precious promises lest they despair, warnings lest they presume promises,
lest we despair. And the Lord has given us many
exceeding great and precious promises in the gospel of Christ. And it is true. We find this
all through the scriptures as we do here in our text this morning. We find warnings and promises. I read in your hearing just a
moment ago from Jeremiah 17, we find there two of the same thing, warnings and
promises. Cursed is a man that trusteth
in the flesh after warning, isn't it, and then a promise. Blessed
is a man that trusteth in the Lord that would make the Lord
his hope, all of his hope, all of his salvation. Now while the
Pharisees and scribes were seeking to end and discredit the ministry
of the Lord Jesus Christ, as it says there in the last few
verses of chapter 11, lying wait for Him and seeking to catch
something out of His mouth that they might accuse Him. And they
accused Him of many evil and wicked things. On another occasion,
when the Lord healed the man with the withered hand, remember?
He said, stretch forth your hand. And he stretched it forth, and
here's what the Pharisees did when they saw that miracle of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The Pharisees went out and held
a council against him how they might destroy him. Now see how wicked self-righteousness
is and what it leads to. But look at verse 1. I love the
way this chapter begins. In the meantime, while many were
seeking to end his ministry and to end his life, There were innumerable
multitudes seeking to hear him. In the meantime, when there were
gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, in other
words, thousands of people, insomuch that they trod one upon another,
and he began to say unto his disciples, first of all, Beware! There's a warning. Beware of
the leaven, or the sin, or the doctrine of the Pharisees, which
is nothing but hypocrisy, nothing but self-righteous hypocrisy. Here's a numerable multitude
seeking to hear Him. Thousands came seeking mercy
from the Lord." They came to the right place, didn't they?
They came to the right person. I love this scripture. If you
want to turn back and find it with me, in Luke chapter 9 verse
11, you remember when the multitude came in that day, Luke 9 verse
11, and the people, when they knew it, they followed Him and
He received them. and spake unto them of the kingdom
of God, and healed them that had need of healing." The Lord
Jesus Christ has never turned away a mercy beggar. They came to the right source,
for He is salvation. All spiritual blessings are found
In Him, in the Lord Jesus Christ are hid all treasures of wisdom
and knowledge, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He's the storehouse
of mercy. You need mercy? Don't come to
me. Don't look to Daddy. Don't look
to Mommy. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ.
He said, Look unto me, all the ends of the earth. I am God,
the only just God and Savior. Look unto me, and be ye saved. There is salvation for sinners,
but found only in He that hath the Son hath life,
he that hath not the Son hath not life, but the wrath of God
abides on him." We can say with the Apostle Paul, and every believer
can say this, we count all things but dung, ruin, loss, that we
might win Christ and be found in Him. Now notice carefully
in verse 1, he began to say unto his disciples, first of all,
he said, you need to be aware of this, first of all, he said,
beware of the leaven, or the sin, or the doctrine of the self-righteous
Pharisee, which is nothing but hypocrisy. The first thing the
Lord says to this large crowd, the Lord issues a strong warning,
against false preaching, against the doctrine of the Pharisees,
and the doctrine of self-righteousness. The first thing, or especially,
our wise and almighty Savior does, He exposes the error of
the wicked. He comes out strongly against
false religion, doesn't He? He comes out strongly against
false preachers. I've been criticized because
I'm pretty hard and very harsh upon those who would compromise
the gospel, who would preach a message something other than
the Lord Jesus Christ alone, but I must follow His example. The first thing He does here,
He exposes the wickedness of false preaching and their false
doctrine. Let me show you this, this is
not the only time the Lord does that. If you look back in Matthew
chapter 7, I'm not going to change because people complain about
me doing that. I'm going to keep on following
the example of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Matthew 7 verse 15
he says, Beware of false prophets. Not everybody who calls himself
a preacher is preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Beware
of false prophets which come unto you in sheep's clothing,
but inwardly They're ravening wolves seeking to devour you. Now hold your place there in
Luke chapter 12. And the Apostle Paul did exactly
the same thing. If you find 2 Corinthians chapter
11, he also called out false preachers and false apostles. In 2 Corinthians chapter 11,
he said, For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming
themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel, for
Satan himself is transformed into an angel of... What's that
word there? Light! Therefore, it's no great
thing if his ministers also be transformed as ministers of righteousness,
whose end shall be according to their work." Now, what is
the righteousness here, these here that are ministers of Satan? What is the ministry of righteousness
that they're talking about here? Well, it's making yourself moral
or righteous by what you do, rather than the righteousness
that's found in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose end shall be according
to the works. Now, if you'll turn over to 1
John chapter 4, John does exactly the same thing. You see, the
apostles of the Lord called out those who were false preachers,
and the Lord Jesus Christ did so, and we must do so as well. If I would be true to your soul,
I must preach the truth. 1 John chapter 4, Beloved, believe
not every spirit or every preacher, but try them, try the spirits,
whether they are of God, whether they are of God, because many
false prophets are gone out into this world. Now look back at
Luke chapter 12. In the meantime, there were gathered
a great multitude And he began to say unto his disciples, first
of all, beware of false preachers. Beware of the leaven, beware
of their sin, and as Matthew says, beware of their doctrine.
Now the next thing the Lord does here, now watch this, he makes
this personal. He said, Beware, rather, beware
ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. We need to
be warned about hypocrisy and self-righteousness as well. Because of our sinful fallen
nature, we need to beware of being religious without true
faith in the true Christ of God. Now, I don't want to be religious
and miss salvation. I don't want to be religious
and miss Christ who is salvation. We need to beware of hypocrisy
that is within us. We all have a sinful and fallen
wicked nature that would carry on with a false pretense before
men and God. Self-righteousness and hypocrisy
go hand in hand where you find one You find the other. Remember
our Lord said to those Pharisees, you or they would justify yourselves
before men. But God knows your heart, that
which is highly esteemed among men as an abomination in the
sight of God. Our sinful nature is still ingrained. Now listen to me, I'm telling
you the truth. Our sinful, fallen, guilty nature,
the old man that we have, is still ingrained. with self-righteousness
and religious pride and we must be aware of it and look for mercy
to root it out and to subdue it and to never trust ourselves
for righteousness. Never trust ourselves or look
to ourselves for salvation. We must look out of ourselves
to Christ alone. But we need to be aware of these
things because of our sinful, rotten nature that we still have
that's full of hypocrisy and self-righteousness. We would
trust ourselves apart from His grace. That's right. We say with
Paul, I am what I am by the grace of God. But our Lord Jesus Christ
was more concerned about the welfare of those who heard Him,
therefore He told them the truth. than what the Pharisees thought
of him. The Lord was more concerned about
the glory of God than the approval of men. He was more concerned
about the salvation of sinners than for his own comfort. And it is so. May God give us
the mind of the Lord Jesus Christ. As the Apostle said in Philippians
2, let this mind be in you which was also in the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope I am more concerned for
the salvation of God's people and for the salvation of sinners
than what people think about me. That's what the Lord is doing
here. If we would be honest before
God, let us always confess that we are sinners, guilty and vile,
in need, a great need of His righteousness alone to justify
us. Now how righteous must I be to
stand before God accepted? I must be as perfect as God.
Oh, how can that be? Only in Christ, my Savior, who
was made to me, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption
were justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. By the one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. So by the obedience of another,
the Lord Jesus Christ, shall many be made righteous. That's
the righteousness I need. That's the righteousness you
need. If we would be true to the souls of men, let us be faithful
to them, declaring the truth of salvation in the Lord Jesus
Christ. You don't have any righteousness
of your own. Can you claim any? I can. But I have righteousness
imputed to me in Christ. I would much rather tell sinners
the truth and offend them than to lie to men and offend Almighty
God. I would much rather tell the
truth, if it's offensive to you, I'm not apologizing because it
is God's truth, than to lie to men and offend Almighty God. I don't want to offend Him. Nothing
scares me more than anything in this pulpit than to say something
that's not so, than to say something that is not true. disturbs me greatly. I take great
pains to study this book and to tell you exactly what God
says, not to make up things along the way. So that's the first
thing. Now, in verses 2 and 3, He tells
us here, all things are naked and open before the eyes of Him
with whom we have to do. Now here's the reason that hypocrisy
is plain insanity. You can play games before people,
but you cannot play games before God. Look at verse 2 and verse
3 of Luke 12. For there is nothing, emphasis
upon the word nothing, covered that shall not be revealed. There is nothing hid that shall
not be made known. Therefore whatsoever you have
spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light, and that which
you have spoken in the ear in closet shall be proclaimed upon
the housetop. God knows us through and through. Now hold your place there and
find the book of Hebrews, chapter 4, verse 12. How much so? Well, here's what he says. In
Hebrews, in the book of Hebrews, chapter 4, verse 12. The Word
of God is quick and powerful, living Word and the written Word.
Powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, this Word of God is piercing,
dividing asunder soul and spirit, and of the joints and the marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intent of your heart."
God knows our motive, our purpose. Look at verse 13, "...neither
is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight. All
things are naked, and opened unto the eyes of him with whom
we have to do." We have to do with God who knows all things. Psalm 139, David said, "...there
is not a word in my tongue but lo, O LORD, thou knowest it,
All together. Now, I can't see into the deep
recesses of your heart. I don't know what you're thinking.
I don't know your mind unless you reveal it to me. Unless you
tell me what's on your mind. But God knows us through and
through. That's why hypocrisy is just plain nonsense to play
the game before God because He knows all things. Our great God
and Savior is not only Almighty, and He is the Almighty God. There's none greater than God. He's the only wise, almighty
God. And He is everywhere present.
Everywhere present. You cannot hide from Him. And
He is all-knowing. He knows us through and through. Therefore, hypocrisy will always
be discovered in the light of the Lord's gospel truth and will
be finally revealed and exposed on the final day of judgment. Remember those men stood before
the Lord and said, Lord, we preached in your name. Lord, we've done
many wonderful works in your name. And the Lord said, depart
from me, I never knew you, you who work iniquity. Let us not
play religious games before God. Let us examine ourselves whether
we be in the faith. Let us make sure that our faith
is not mere pretense and sham, but rather the faith of God's
elect that confesses. What does the faith of God's
elect confess? How do I know if the faith I
have is true faith? The faith of God's elect confesses
that salvation is all of God, all of grace, and all in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Let us make our calling and election
sure, as Peter says. One old writer said this, either
men are dead in sin and guilty before God, or they're not. If not, they need no Savior.
If they are dead in sin, and that's the truth of God's Word,
dead in trespasses and in sin, then any attempt to please God
in the flesh is the mere doing of vain religion, is it not? And any attempt to make ourselves
a part Savior is a delusion of the devil. Robert Hawker said that back
in the 1800s. And it's so. Christ is all of
my salvation or none. He's not a part Savior. He doesn't
do a part and you do a part and then we bring the two parts together
and we have a whole. In Him goes all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily and we are complete in Christ. The verse I read this morning
in our Bible study, I do not frustrate the grace of God, for
if righteousness come by the law, by our doing, then Christ
is dead in vain. Now, here's the third thing we
see in verse 4, back in our text. Luke chapter 12, verse 4. I love
this part right here. I say unto you, my friends, My
friends, the Lord has some friends. They're called His sheep. They're
called His people. They're called His jewels. They're
called His friends. I say unto you, my friends, and
here's a precious promise. and promises. I say unto you,
my friends, be not afraid of them that kill the body, and
after that they have no more that they can do unto you. Precious promises. I say unto
you, my friends, the Lord Jesus Christ makes himself the friend
of sinners. In Proverbs 18, we read that
he is a friend, he is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. He is a friend that sticketh
closer than a brother. You remember the Pharisees thought
they mocked him when they said of the Lord Jesus Christ. They
said, well, he's a friend of sinners. Aren't you glad he is? He's a friend of sinners. My
friend, he came to save sinners. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all except patience, that the Lord Jesus Christ came
to save sinners, and the Apostle Paul said, I am the chief offender. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
gave His life and laid down His life for the sheep. The Lord
Jesus Christ gave His life for His friends. His friends, who
were guilty sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. Greater love
hath no man than this, John 15, 13. Greater love hath no man
than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. And the Lord Jesus Christ laid
down His life for His friends. For the ungodly, hearing His
love, not that we love God, but that He loved us. And that He
sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sin. Because He is the
Lord Jesus Christ, He is our eternal friend. He said, I've loved you with
an everlasting love, therefore with love and kindness I'll draw
you to myself. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
is our eternal friend, He will never forsake us and He will
never leave us, no, not ever. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
came to seek and to save the lost, none for whom He died,
none for whom He laid down His life, none of His friends, will
perish. He said, all that the Father
giveth to me, they'll come to me, and those that come to me
I will in no wise cast out. He said, I didn't come to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance. That is His precious
promise I say unto you, my friends. He is our Lord, and He has made
us His family. Be not afraid of them that kill
the body, and after that, they can't do anymore. That's all
they can do. Now, verse 5. Here's another
warning. A promise and a warning. But
I will forewarn you whom you shall fear, that is, fear Him,
that is, fear God Almighty with a reverential fear. which after
he hath killed hath power to cast into hell. Yea, I say unto you, fear him,
fear him with a reverential fear." Now, here's another warning.
If we fear God, and it's only by His grace that we do, If we
fear God and revere God in our heart, no need to fear. Man. If we fear God, no need
to fear man. The fear of man is religious
bondage which leads to eternal condemnation. The true fear of
God is freedom and liberty and life in Christ. You remember
Paul said, if I preach just to please men, I'm not the servant
of Christ. Because we fear God, we do not
fear men. And make sure you understand
this right here. Almighty God has all power to
save. Is that right? Father has given
him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to
as many as the Father has given to him. John 17, 2. Almighty
God has all power to save forever. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ. It's the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth. But let us not forget. Almighty
God has all power to kill the body and soul, power to condemn
the soul forever. I was reading this earlier and
wrote it down in Deuteronomy 32, 39. The Lord says, See now
that I am God, I am He, there is no God with me, I kill, I
make alive, I wound, I heal, neither is there any that can
deliver out of my hand. None can stay the almighty hand
of God. But I forewarn you, whom you
shall fear, fear him which after he hath killed hath power to
cast into hell. Yea, I say unto you, fear almighty
God." Now, there is everlasting life in Christ. But there is
also everlasting condemnation apart from Christ. He that believeth
on the Son hath life, John 3, 36. He that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. Now,
just listen to this scripture. This is found in 2 Thessalonians
chapter 1 verse 7 down through verse 9. And to you who are troubled,
rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven
with His mighty angels. Now I don't know if you read
these crazy things that go on on the internet, but yesterday,
September 23rd, was supposed to be the end of the earth. Did you know that? That's what
was said. And I read about the man who
predicted that, and he said, well, the eclipse happened on
August 21st. He said the Lord Jesus Christ
lived 33 years upon the earth, so if you add those 33 to August
21st, it comes out September 23rd. That's to be the end of
the earth. Well, you know what? It didn't
happen. But you know what we're to look
for? We're not to look for the end
of the earth. When the Lord shall be revealed
from heaven, we're looking for the Lord, not the end of this
earth. Now, it will end in flaming fire. He'll take vengeance upon them
that know not Him. But we're looking for Him. Now,
he says, In flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not
God, that obey not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, who
shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence
of the Lord and from the glory of his power. I want to be found. Where do you want to be found
when the Lord comes back? Where do you want to be found
when the Lord comes back? Buying groceries? In church? I want to be found in Him. Don't
you? When He comes by, I want to be
found in Him. He that hath the Son hath life. Now, here's the last thing I
want to leave with you from Luke chapter 12 verse 6 and verse
7, and it leaves us with a promise. Warnings? lest we presume, promises
lest we despair. Are not five sparrows sold for
a very small part of a penny, two farthing, and not one of
them is forgotten before God? Matthew said, not one shall fall
to the ground without your Father. But even the very hairs of your
head are all numbered. God knows us personally. He knows
us intimately. He knows His sheep by name. Therefore
He said, Fear not now, because you know Him and He knows you. Fear not therefore. You are of
more value than many. The believer resting in the Lord
Jesus Christ has no need to fear Him. Now those apart from God
and who are going about to establish a righteousness of their own,
they need to fear God. Judgment is coming. But those
who are resting in the Lord Jesus Christ for all of salvation,
He said, fear not. The Lord gives unto us this precious
promise of His perpetual, continual, ongoing concern and care. He cares about His people, does
He not? Since it is true the Heavenly
Father, our Almighty God and Father, is the absolute ruler
over all things, Not even an insignificant sparrow falls to
the ground without God's cause, will, and purpose being fulfilled. Not even a sparrow falls to the
ground without the purpose of God being fulfilled. Old Brother John Gill said, God
is the first cause and last end of all things. He worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will. How much more does
he care for his elect? I was looking out this window
this morning and looking out on the power wire there on that
pole and there was four birds sitting on that wire out there
this morning. And I'm thinking to myself and
thinking about this verse, the Lord cares for those little birds.
He feeds those birds. How much more does the Lord care
for us? How much more does He care for
His elect? Listen to this promise in 1 Peter
5, 7. Casting all your care upon Him,
for He careth for you. That's personal. Cast all your
care upon Him. How much more the Lord does love
His own elect. God so loved that He gave His
only begotten Son. God so loved the world of His
elect that He gave His only begotten Son. How much more does the Lord
Jesus Christ give unto His elect? If He takes care of the little
birds, how much more? How much more does He care for
us? The Apostle Paul put it this way, You know the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes
He became poor, that you through His poverty might be made rich. In the providential government
of God, and the rule of our Lord over all things, nothing comes
to pass in the life of the believer that's not ordered of the Lord. Did you get that? Nothing comes to pass in the
life of the believer that's not ordered of the Lord. Nothing
happens by chance. Nothing happens by luck. I try
to never use that word. Don't ever say, well, I was just
lucky. No, you were blessed of God. Nothing happens by chance,
fate, or luck. Nothing happens by accident,
but rather everything happens by purpose. He doeth all things
well, and He does all things on purpose. He said, I've purposed
it. I've spoken it. I will do it. In this promise given in Romans
11. Of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. Now
that covers everything, doesn't it? "...of Him, through Him,
and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever." And then
it says, Amen. David said, "...the steps of
a good man are ordered by the Lord. He delighteth in His way."
And we all know this Scripture. I trust that we do, Romans 8,
28. And we know that all things work together for good to them
who love God, to them who are called according to His purpose. God saved every sinner whom He
wisely saves by purpose, not luck, not accident, not chance,
not fate, purpose. Now, let us all seek to have
an abiding sense of God's hand in all our affairs. Confidence
in the Lord's wise and sovereign providence is the mighty antidote
against murmuring and complaining against him. You never do that,
do you? Sadly, we all do. But if we can
realize we're under the providential government of God, the government
upon His shoulder. He orders everything in our life
to His glory and to His eternal purpose. Let us be content with
such things as we have in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ,
for He freely gives us all things. He's blessed us with all spiritual
blessing in the heavenlies in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, 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 Apostle Paul put it this
way, he said, we have not received the Spirit of the world, but
the Spirit which is of God that we might know the things that
are freely given to us of God. He said, I'll never leave you,
I'll never, no, never forsake you, therefore be content with
what we have in Christ. What do we have? Everything! We have everything, all spiritual
blessings given to us in the Lord Jesus Christ.