We turn in God's holy word this evening to Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12, we begin reading at verse 13. And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother that he divide the inheritance with me. And he said unto him, man, who made me a judge or divider over you? And he said unto them, take heed and beware of covetousness. For a man's life consistent not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth, And he spake a parable unto them, saying, the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, what shall I do? Because I have no room where to bestow my fruits. And he said, this will I do. I will pull down my barns and build greater. And there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods, and I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thy knees, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then who shall those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. And he said unto his disciples, therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat and the body is more than raiment. Consider the ravens. For they neither sow nor reap, which neither have storehouse nor barn, and God feedeth them. How much more are ye better than the fowls? And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow. They toil not, they spend not, and yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothed the grass, which is today in the field and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? And seek not ye what she shall eat or what she shall drink, neither be of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after, and your father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that ye have and give all. Provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Let your loins be girded about and your lights burning, and ye yourselves liken to men that wait for their Lord when he will return from the wedding. that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching. Verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meet, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know that if the good man of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also, for the Son of Man cometh at an hour when ye think not. You love it in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are about nine days away from the national elections, state elections, and there's a lot of anxiety over the elections to come. That anxiety, to some degree, is understandable because we live in an increasingly wicked world and those who lead us are often increasingly wicked. But we who are Christ have reason to stand back with a certain amount of fascination even and watch the unfolding of the signs of Christ's return. because Christ is coming. And he's working all things to accomplish that. And it's easy to get caught up in our daily lives and in the concerns we have. Also, when it comes to the direction of our country, But let's not remember, let's not forget, rather, what we just heard in Luke 12, verse 37 and following. Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching. Be ye therefore ready also for the Son of Man cometh at an hour when ye think not." And so, with that in mind, and also bearing in mind some of the signs of Christ's return, some of which are very difficult, some of which set before His church very trying times. times of persecution, times of tribulation, times of apostasy even in the church, Jesus said in verse 32 of Luke 12, and this is our text, fear not little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Fear not. Little flock. Those words are not for everyone. The entire section that we read, verses 13 through 40, deals with the seeking of the kingdom of God, and that over against seeking the things of this earth. That doesn't mean that there's conflict between the things of this earth and the things of the kingdom of God. The conflict is in the seeking. We children of God are often concerned with the things of this present time. We can be concerned about the economy, particularly when it affects us. We can be concerned about The employment rate, again, when our jobs might be threatened. We can be concerned about our own portfolios. What we have in our savings accounts, our retirement accounts, our bank accounts for daily expenses. And we can be greatly concerned about the development of wickedness in this world in which our children and grandchildren have to grow up and take their place. And remember too, Antichrist is coming under the sovereign direction of our Heavenly Father. And Jesus also warns us in connection with that coming of Antichrist. And he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, bond and free, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their forehead. and that no man might buy or sell save he that had the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name and Jesus warned us in Matthew 24 verses 21 and 22 for then shall be great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time no nor ever shall be and except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved. But for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened. You can quite imagine that when the children of God are found to be in a position where they are not able to buy nor sell, their temptation will be to say, what shall we eat? What shall we drink? Wherewithal shall we be clothed? How shall we live? And Jesus says, take no thought for your life, what she shall eat or what she shall drink, neither for the body, what she shall put on. Your father knows you have need of these things. but rather seek ye the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you. In the measure that you and I do that, beloved, we will understand and find comfort in the words of Jesus recorded in our text this evening. If you don't have any interest in seeking the kingdom of God, this text says nothing in the way of comfort for you. The Word of God is full of promises, but it's uncompromising. If you do not seek the kingdom of God, this text will give you nothing in that terrible day of the man of sin. But when you do, Jesus says to you, fear not, little flock. for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. So we consider this exhortation tonight, fear not. We notice first of all the grave concern, secondly the little flock, and finally the wonderful promise. This text is addressed to those who live with a grave concern They live with fear. Fear, in general, is a powerful emotion. The Lord is speaking now not of the Christian's fear of God, which is a fear rooted in love, comes to expression in reverence of Him, but He's speaking of a fear that's characterized by great apprehension, even terror. Fear is an emotion that's caused by the apprehension of some evil that's threatening us. Maybe that evil is avoidable. Maybe we are participating in an activity that threatens our physical well-being, and then the opportunity is there to withdraw ourselves from that evil. In other cases, that evil is physically unavoidable. The man or woman who has incurable bone cancer, for example, fears the unavoidable suffering that comes with that. And the evil he fears cannot be escaped, managed perhaps, but not escaped. But fear is always accompanied by the desire to avoid as much as possible the evil that threatens us. The man who fears will do whatever possible to avoid the evil that he fears. That's fear in general. In some cases, fear can be a healthy response of the brain. But Jesus says, Fear not, little flock. And he's speaking of a definite fear. He's speaking of those who are seeking the kingdom of God. Fear not. Though exactly because you seek my kingdom, you face an evil that threatens you. Fear not. If you seek the kingdom of God, you must expect evil. That was true at the time that Jesus first spoke these words, and that's true today. And in even greater measure, will that be true in the days just prior to Christ's return? The kingdom is heavenly. There's nothing earthly, nothing temporal, nothing carnal about the kingdom of God. It's not of this world. It's all spiritual, heavenly, glorious, everlasting. And as is the kingdom, so is its King, our Lord Jesus Christ. It's the kingdom of God since it comes forth from His good pleasure that He may be all in all But He rules that kingdom through Jesus Christ, His Anointed, who merited that kingdom in the way of His perfect obedience, even to the death of the cross. The kingdom is ruled by Christ, who is hated by the world, who is crucified afresh by the man of sin and all his followers, But if you seek that kingdom, you do so in Christ. To seek the kingdom does not mean that we seek to get saved. Those who seek the kingdom are saved already. Those who seek the kingdom are, even now in this world, spiritual citizens of that kingdom established through the cross, resurrection, and exaltation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To seek the kingdom of God means that we set our hearts on the things of that kingdom and its righteousness, that we walk as citizens of the kingdom in the midst of this world of darkness, proclaiming the word of the kingdom as Christ's witnesses. To seek the kingdom means that we daily strive to enter the kingdom of God. So it's not a matter of saying, well, I did that 25 years ago when I made confession of faith. No, you do it today. We seek the kingdom every day. The admonition of Christ stands before us always. Enter ye in at the narrow gate. When that's your daily striving, your daily testimony and confession in the midst of this world, you must expect opposition. The world, and I include in that the false church, hates Christ. Hates the kingdom of God. And in our day, you can hear it. everywhere. You can hear it in the political scene, you can hear it in the news media, you can hear it on the streets. The hatred of Christ and his followers and we may expect that more and more. Already In increasing measure, that which calls itself church in our day has become more openly anti-Christian, anti-God's word to embrace every sin known in our modern culture. The world is, the church is increasingly deceived by the talk of the world. And so the response of the world, say to this worship service, would be don't dare preach that way. And don't sing those psalms that call forth God's judgment upon the wicked. The spirit of Antichrist strives for the realization of its own kingdom, the kingdom of man. without the Christ of God, without the salvation which is only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, and there's coming soon a time when this fear of which the Lord is speaking will become very real. Don't you see, people of God, the forces of darkness are gathering? Satan has been loosed in these last days. Do you not see those signs of Christ's return which are unfolded in Matthew 24, Revelation 6, 2 Timothy 3, verses 1 through 5, 2 Thessalonians 2, Revelation 13. Don't you see that those are events rapidly developing in the world of our day And in the church of our day, the man of sin is rising to his feet. And if you seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and condemn the unfruitful works of darkness, and stand in the way of that realization of the proud kingdom of man, They will persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for Christ's sake. And is it not a grave concern to you? But Jesus says, fear not. Fear not. You notice he doesn't say, fear not because it won't happen to you. He doesn't say, fear not, for what happens in Saudi Arabia and Myanmar and China and Iran will never happen in Byron Center, Michigan. These things will certainly come to pass. They must before the Lord can return. And many are the evils that the ungodly world power has at its disposal to inflict upon you. Don't think we can run to the hills and hide. Not in our day. With all the facial recognition cameras and the drones. and the ability to track us wherever we go? No, we won't be able to flee to the hills and escape. From every earthly point of view, we will have much reason to fear. They will affect your very position and place in this world. But Jesus says, fear not. Fear not. Even though they take all that you have, though your own flesh and blood turn against you and hate you, though you lose any possibility of buying or selling, fear not. That's our text. These are the words of Jesus to us. These are his words as we face the terrible signs of Antichrist and the Great Tribulation at the end of the ages. Though the world considers you unworthy to occupy the very ground on which you stand, Jesus says, fear not, be faithful. Fear not, little flock. Little flock. What a beautiful name the Lord gives his church when he addresses them. Little flock. From a purely natural point of view, that's not such a nice name because sheep are among the most stupid of all animals. And yet the name is beautiful. A beautiful designation it is because of the shepherd who calls us by that name. He's the good shepherd who loves his own. And throughout the ages, the church has been called by that name. In the form of David's personal confession, it was expressed in Psalm 23, which we sang just a few minutes ago. Sometimes through the mouth of his prophets, the Lord calls his people, my flock, the flock of my pasture. It's an address of love. In the prophecy of Isaiah, this is beautifully portrayed in Isaiah 40, verse 11, with these words, he shall feed his flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with his arms and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those that are with young. How applicable to the church of Christ is this figure of a little flock Many sheep with varied characteristics all form a unity and are one. There's a variation of young and old, weak and strong, those demanding meat and those still requiring milk. And yet, no matter how old and mature a sheep of the flock gets, he is still a sheep. one of the most foolish of all animals. Without a shepherd or someone to give guidance, sheep will wander to their own destruction. They are creatures totally dependent upon the shepherd for their protection and safety. The flock would soon be destroyed were they not in the care of the good shepherd who knows them each by name, who leads them and lays down his life for them that they might live forevermore. And with intentional emphasis here, the Lord designates his flock as little. Always the flock of Christ is little. Now it's true, sometimes the church is presented in scripture as an innumerable host. God promised to Abraham a seed that would be as the stars in the heavens for multitude and the sand upon the seashore. And as that prophecy is fulfilled, it's indeed seen as true. John in his vision on the island of Patmos saw the church according to Revelation 7 as 144,000 at any given time in history. Great is the army of saints that marches through history to their final destination in the house of many mansions. And yet, the flock of Christ is always extremely small comparatively speaking. In comparison with the world at any given time, the church is but a tiny remnant that can hardly be seen against the vast mountainside called church, there's but a speck that constitutes the little flock to whom Christ speaks. Look at Noah and his family. Eight souls. Eight souls. And the millions around them were all lost. reprobate. And Jesus said, as in the days of Noah, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. Out of all nations, peoples, tribes, and tongues, at the time of Abraham, God called Abraham and his family in the land of Canaan Little Israel was surrounded by the wicked. A little flock is the Church of Jesus Christ. And let's remember, we don't see the true picture by looking at the contrast between the world and the Church Institute. Because the line of demarcation runs right through the Church Institute. All is not little flock that gathers within the walls of the church institute. There are wolves and dogs and swine behind some very well-constructed sheep mass. There are hypocrites within the walls. And so much is that the case that the church is usually smallest when it appears to be the biggest. How many are not the thousands who have forsaken the kingdom, denied Christ and his cross, apostatized from the truth, and been swallowed up by the world? How many are there who while outwardly bearing the name of Christ are not seeking the kingdom of God and the Christ of God? Little flock. How small. Ridiculously small in the eyes of the world. is that number of those within the nominal church who maintain the truth of God, the love of Christ, the wonder of God's sovereign grace in salvation. How much more will that be the case at the end of time? when you and I are forced to make a choice between the things of this world and the things of the kingdom, when we are forced to take the mark of the beast or go without groceries and without shelter, how small will the number be then? We must expect that many in the nominal church will fall away and so would you and I except Christ speaks his word to us. Fear not little flock. He spoke that word almost 2,000 years ago and he's speaking it today. Christ speaks this word also today through the preaching. Do you hear him? If Christ did not speak this word, we would certainly contradict it. I must live, but the good shepherd addresses his church, fear not little flock, you're indeed small, small in the eyes of the world, weak in your own eye, but you're little because I wanted so. I charge you to bear the testimony of me always until I put a stop to it by means of the man of sin. But don't expect the world to change or the flock to become big. My flock will remain little to the very end because my strength will be made perfect in weakness. Fear not, little flock, for I have a wonderful promise for you. In the way of your seeking God's kingdom, it's God's good pleasure to give you that kingdom. When you seek the kingdom and the enemy threatens you, as will indeed be the case, fear not. Maybe you say, those are nice words, but how can I get rid of the fear? How can I get rid of emotion? How can I not be afraid when the enemy seeks my life? Your fear can be removed. only by a stronger emotion, a spiritual emotion established upon a spiritual knowledge, the knowledge of faith. And Jesus gives you that spiritual emotion, if you will, by His grace and the word of His power, and that spiritual emotion is hope. Hope. Hope is the consideration more than sufficient to drive away all fear. And we often see it when a child of God is taken to heaven, not consumed with fear, living in hope. Hope is the consideration more than sufficient to drive away all fear. And the hope is this, I have given you the kingdom. God's Word, for Christ's sake. The Lord speaks here of that spiritual kingdom for which you long, little flock. He's speaking of the eternal kingdom of the living God, that inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that never fades away. And the glory of that kingdom is so unspeakably magnificent, indescribably precious, that all the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to it. Everlasting glory. the tabernacle of God with men, as it embraces the whole creation in the new heavens and the new earth. No more sin, no more sorrow, no more tears. This is the kingdom that the Lord promises you. There is absolutely nothing that we can lose on this earth that begins to compare to the glory and the wealth of that kingdom. He will give it to you. He will give it to you exactly in the way of your losing everything. Nothing can deprive you of that gift. For a gift it is. You need not fight for it. You can't possibly pay for it. You can do nothing to realize it. The enemy, even Antichrist himself, can do nothing to prevent its coming. When you've lost all, your father will give you everything. Fear not, little flock. Let me put this promise even more emphatically, as Jesus does. That kingdom has already been given to you. How so? It has been given in your father's good pleasure. Literally, it has been the good pleasure of your father to give you the kingdom. God's good pleasure is his eternal counsel as God himself has pleasure in it. Of that counsel and good pleasure of God, We see only a speck at any given moment. But in his counsel, God sees everything. He sees everything eternally. What is but a passing moment for us is eternally before God. And that counsel is all comprehensive. is I've tried to emphasize that counsel includes all things even the rise of the man of sin and the great tribulation that the church must endure and in that eternal counsel which is unchangeable and in which God delights in that counsel He has already given you the kingdom and according to that same counsel which has determined to give you the kingdom, God works all things, all things, the enemy, sin, evil, death, everything. He works all things for the purpose of giving you the kingdom. Fear not, little flock. His promise is sure. So should it be your Father's good pleasure that you live on this earth during that terrible time of the Great Tribulation, then take the present moment as hopeless as it might appear, and put it in the midst of that whole picture, the reality of God's good pleasure. You boys and girls remember the dream of Nebuchadnezzar? We read of that as Daniel interprets it in Daniel chapter 2, verses 31 through 35. Thou, O King, sawest, and behold, a great image, this great image whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee, and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou saw'st till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image on his feet, which were of iron and clay, and break them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors, and the wind carried them away, and there was no place found for them. And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the earth. Daniel was given to see the whole of God's good pleasure. That great image, the feet which are the final manifestation of the Antichrist, appears for only a little while. Why? because there's a great stone cut out of the mountain without hands. And that stone comes rolling down the mountainside, picking up speed as it rolls, and it hits the feet of that image and crushes them to powder, and the whole image comes crashing down. So where are the anti-Christian kingdoms of this world? What happened to Babel? Where is Assyria? Where is the Babylonian world power of Nebuchadnezzar? What happened to the empire of the Medes and Persians? And what about the great Greek Macedonian world power? How about the Roman Empire? who ruled at the time of Jesus. Where are they? They're in hell gnashing their teeth and wailing before the Almighty God. They were seen for a little while. They spoke great words. against God and against his Christ. And very soon they were crushed to powder under the mighty hand of God. Antichrist, he too and all who will serve him will be crushed by that same stone. That stone is Christ. the exalted King of kings and Lord of lords who speaks this word to you. Fear not, little flock. He who in love gave his son unto death for you, he will give you the kingdom. It's his good pleasure. Seek ye the kingdom. If you do not, you haven't heard this word, then you'd better fear. But if this hope is in you, if your life is in Christ, you seek the kingdom of God, then fear not. The matter is fully determined, little flock. Fear not. Amen. Gracious Father, Thou who has given Thy Son for us, given us to Him, hast also set before us the great wonder of Thy grace, and the revelation of Thy good pleasure to give us the kingdom, And we long for that because we long for that kingdom in which we might glorify thy name and know the joy of thy fellowship perfectly forever. And so we come to thee in Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Father, abide with us in him. In whose name we pray, amen. Psalter number 50. Psalm 22 is one of those messianic psalms that speaks in the first half of the psalm of the suffering and crucifixion of Christ. But the last part of that psalm reveals his victory. And let's pay attention to the words as we sing the three stanzas of number 50. where we lie. Your heart shall live forever, the Lord will satisfy. No regrets, obligations, to Christ the Lord shall To earth's remotest regions, its altar fire shall burn. O'er the heavens shall worship, O'er the heavens shall welcome, His praise shall be renounted to nations yet to be. Praise ye the Lord, ye hosts of old, in yonder heavenly high, and bless the Lord, ye saints below, Let all his creatures at his feet be honored and adored. The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Amen.