Luke 12:32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. If you were asked, my dear children, what commandment in the Bible comes the most often, do you think you should know? Shall I tell you which commandment God gives most frequently? "Fear not." He says this more than eighty times — I believe eighty-four times; this is much oftener than any other commandment. "Fear not." You know if we are afraid, it looks as if we did not trust God. If anybody is afraid in the dark, if anybody is afraid of thunder, if anybody is afraid of going to bed alone, if anybody is afraid of robbers, if anybody is afraid of wild beasts, if anybody is afraid that God will not forgive him (when he asks Him), if anybody is afraid that God will not guide him all along till he gets to heaven — then he does not trust God. Now we must look to see to whom it is that God says, "Fear not." It is called, what? "Little flock." Now, why is it called "little"? 1. Perhaps it is because there are so few in it, there are very few. A young man told me the other day that he was seven years at Eton, and he did not believe all the time that there was one real Christian there. Now, he could not tell. Very often religious boys are to be found where you do not think they are, and he might have made a great mistake. Very often God's people are hidden people. We cannot tell; but I am sure there are very few, — and I never knew a school yet, where there were a great many. There are but few, and so it is a "little flock." If you turn to Jeremiah, you will see how God makes a "little flock," — you will not wonder it is "little "when you read that. "I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion" (Jeremiah 3:14). So you see there are only to be "two" or "three." Nobody naturally tries to love God; and if nobody seeks to love God, or to care about his soul, he must not wonder at "the flock" being so "little." 2. Do you not think the reason is, not only because so few love God, but because there are so many "little " lambs in it? there are so many children in it (Isaiah 40:11). Do you not think they are called "a little flock" because everybody in that "flock" thinks so "little" of himself? Everybody who is a Christian thinks "little" of himself, or ought to do so. If anybody thinks much of himself he is by no means a Christian. "It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." What a good God must that great God be in heaven, who made the sky and stars, and who sits upon that beautiful throne in glory, and gives to such poor creatures as we are "the kingdom"! There was once a great Roman emperor going through Rome in grand triumph, surrounded by all his attendants, — his courtiers and his soldiers; he himself was riding in a chariot, accompanied by sound of trumpets, — oh! so grand! The emperor was in the midst of that great procession, when a little child came out of the crowd, ran up to this great man, and of course he was put back, — they cried out, "Go back, little child — go back — go back! He is your emperor!" And the little child said, "Yes, he is your emperor, but he is my father." Oh! how beautiful it is to say of the Lord, "He is my Father!" "Your Father!" How did He become your Father? (See Jeremiah 3:19.) God has one child; that is, Jesus. Nobody can be God's child who is not joined to Jesus — a member of Jesus — united to Jesus. Then you become indeed God's child. When we are joined to Jesus, then He is our Father in a sweeter sense. So that if you wish to be able to say, "Our Father, which art in heaven," you must love Jesus, follow Jesus, be like Jesus, and be united to Jesus. And oh! what a pleasant thing to have God's eye upon you. Now we must look at the last thing. What is He going to "give us"? Do you know? He will "give us the kingdom." Then I suppose He gives us everything — the greater and the less. In Romans 14:17, it is said, "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Thus we have "the kingdom of heaven" in our hearts when we have "righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." If we have that, then we have good hope, and when we die we shall go to heaven. And, my dear children, do you know you are all trained to be "kings"? I wonder how the Prince of Wales is trained. I should think he must be always thinking, "Oh, I am going to be a king." And that is what you ought to be thinking. "You should say, "I am going to be a king." Yes, every child, who is a Christian, is going to be a "king." "Fear not, little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." You have heard of Charlemagne, — he ordered that when he died, there should be a chapel built just like the chapel of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem; and that he should not be buried like other men, but like a king, and so he said, "Do not lay my body down, but set me upon a throne, and bury me like a king." He was to have a room set apart for him at the side of the chapel, and there was to be a Bible opened and laid by his side when he was dead, and the sword of Charlemagne was to be laid on the other side — and upon his head a crown of gold, and a robe over his shoulders. So he was buried. Years afterwards, the Emperor Otho went to see how Charlemagne looked; the chapel was opened, and he went in to see him, — and what did he see? He was crumbled up into dust. There was the cowl; the crown was not destroyed, but was saved. There was Charlemagne, one of the greatest kings that ever lived — there he was, all dust. Now I will tell you of another man. There was a poor miserable-looking old man, who lived in an almshouse — I will not say where — and the poor old creature had the palsy, and if you bad seen him you would have heard his shoes knocking together with the palsy; and he was sitting in his chair when a gentleman went to see him, and said, "Well, my friend, how do you do?" "Oh! I am waiting-waiting." "Are you waiting for me?" "No, I am waiting for my Master; for Him to bring me my crown." "Bring you your crown?" "Yes, I am going to be a king." "How do you know that?" "Because Christ has said it — 'Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.'" (J. Vaughan, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.WEB: Don't be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. |
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