The Kingdom and the coming of the Lord

… Luke Chapter 12 Many times in reading the Scripture, I like to take a little word and note down some of the things that I have. I'm not strange to those here, but to my own heart, they really bring blessing. But nevertheless, Luke 12 and verse 32. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Revelation Chapter 3 Verse 7 And to the angel of the church of Philadelphia write, These things sayeth he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and no man shutteth, he that shutteth and no man openeth, I know thy works, behold, I set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it, for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Hebrews Chapter 10 Verse 37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come, will come, and will not perish. James Chapter 5 Verse 7 Be ye patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husband waited for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long waited for it, until he received it early in that arraignment. Be ye also patient, establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord doth not. I was thinking in these things that we had before us today in the meetings of the practical walk of a believer. And how good it is to have those things brought before us in such a way that we can understand them, that we can walk in the truth that we receive from the scriptures. And here the Lord Jesus in talking to his little flock in verse 32 of Chapter 12, he says, So fear not, little flock, because it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Well now, if we realize that it was the Father's good pleasure to give us a kingdom, how much more it is to lay hold of those other things that are connected with the kingdom when we walk in this wilderness scene here below. And you know when the Lord was talking to his disciples, particularly in the 12th chapter of Luke's Gospel, no doubt you're familiar with the contents of the chapter, he was told them not to be afraid. And isn't that some of the things that we need to know as we are left here in this scene? Not to be afraid. Not to be afraid to speak a little word here or there for the Lord Jesus. You know in the same chapter we read that the Lord said, If thou shalt confess me before men, I will confess thee before the angels in the heavens. And isn't that wonderful to know that if we confess the name of Jesus, just say that name Jesus, that he confesses us before angels in heaven. Isn't that something? You know my mind, as small as it is, if I could only realize what it was or what it is to confess the name of the Lord Jesus to those whom I come in contact with that the Lord confesses my name before those thousands and thousands of angels only because I have used that precious name upon my lips. It hasn't been too long ago that I took that blessed name in cursing and swearing and everything that was contrary to God's mind. But you know, I spoke with a man one time and he was giving me the gospel and telling me I ought to be saved. He said, In spite of all of that, the Lord loves you still. Isn't that something? In spite of all those things that I did and done in my life, the Lord loves me still. Can I understand it? Blessing to my soul. But to my intellect, I can't understand it. So we see here that it's the Father's good pleasure to give us a kingdom. And as we walk in this theme below, we have in the book of Ephesians the things that we should do and the things that we shouldn't do and how we should be in subjection to the Lord and how wives should be in subjection to their husbands and how we should be obedient and all those things. And as we learn those things from the Word of God, we can look unto Him. But how? To walk according to the things that we have in Ephesians. Isn't that something? We can look unto Him and realize what He is and what He's been through for you and I in this scene here below. We can rejoice and know that in the soon coming day we shall be not only shall we be with Him, but we shall be like Him now with all His presence. And I think that was one of the things that really touched my heart in connection with me trusting the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior. To know that I was going to be like Him and I was going to be with Him. I didn't know how, but I was satisfied because of the work of the cross I have a place with Him in the glory. Isn't that something? Me a head of the very center and likewise you here sitting here today. We've all had different experiences and probably could make a book if we all write them down. But me personally, God so loved me that He sent His Son to die on the cross of Calvary for me. Isn't that something to rejoice about? I thought the other Lord's day almost brought me to tears. I was sitting around the Lord's table and here was folks here from this country whom I've never seen, never knew. And here I was breaking bread, remembering the Lord in His death for me. That's something to me, you see. And I think and I thought as I was sitting there how much the Lord loved me. Then I said, well how much did He really love me? All I have to do is by faith look back at the cross of Calvary. If I want to know how much the Lord loved me all I have to do is look back and how good it is that I can express a measure of love to Him in the breaking of the bread. He said, this dude remembers me. Well now what can I show the Lord that I love Him? Only to be in a place of obedience each first day of the week. Well now here the Lord was encouraging His little flock as they went along to be strong and to realize the opposition that they come in contact with every day. You know where I work? I work in a shipyard. And I work in a shipyard where there's 10,000 men. And in that shipyard and you begin to talk about the same thing to the Lord that you carry your Bible at lunch time or sit down and eat your sandwich and look at the Bible and think you're crazy. You get all kinds of opposition. And you overhear what they tell you sometimes But how good it is to say that Christ Jesus died that I might have life. And you know I went to see a sister here not too long ago and she was suffering. She was suffering. And you know she told me after we had a little word there she loved the Lord. She said, I never knew anybody suffering any more than I'm suffering. I said, so what happened to the Lord? She said, I'll say no more. Because His suffering and His death on the cross we can't even explain it. So the Lord shut it in. And there was that voice that pierced the gloom. My God, my God, what has thou to say to me? There was darkness all around me, you see. Only that voice from heaven that pierced that gloom that we can realize and appreciate the work that Christ has done on the cross of Calvary for those who have sinned. Now Revelation chapter 3. Just a little thought on that. In Revelation chapter 3 to the church of Philadelphia now I'm quite sure that we're not of the church of Philadelphia. I'm speaking about this dissertation-wise. We're living in an age of lay-up-of-seeds. And there's coldness on every hand. And you can walk up to a man on the street or someone you come in contact with or associate with and say, are you saved? The lack of a church in college school. That's not what I asked you. Are you saved? Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ in your prayerful state? He said, I don't know. He said, I don't know. And of course that gives you an opportunity to sit down and talk about these precious things. But here's the hard-headed mind in Revelation chapter 3 that here we can manifest the Philadelphia character. We realize we're not Philadelphia age because we're living in the end of the age waiting for a Lord soon coming. But we can manifest the Philadelphia character like we have in verse 8 of the chapter that I read. I know thy works. Behold, I have said before thee, an open door and no man can shut it. For thy hath a low strength. Not Pentecostal strength, but we have a low strength. And hath kept my word and not denied my name. Isn't that something? That has to do with the testimony here. Now the Lord has given us all those precious promises. We read that he's made us love and drink him. He's made us love wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. He's given us all those things. There's a table spread. Well how can we make them ours in a practical way? Isn't that what we have in Ephesians? That we can lay hold of them with the Lord in view and we can make them our very own. You know the apostle says to Timothy, lay hold of eternal life. Did he already have eternal life? He sure did. But in a practical way. He was to realize that the Lord Jesus Christ had died on the cross of Calvary. He's probably sinned by the sacrifice of himself. And in a practical way, we can enjoy having eternal life. You know many people, no doubt, have eternal life. But they don't like to talk about it, you see. Because they haven't been instructed. They haven't kept his word. They have denied his name in many aspects. And how good it is, we as simple believers can walk in a scene marked by righteous living and all those things that we can walk simply before the Lord with an eye before him of his soon coming again. You know I think of Hebrews 12 where we read that the Lord says for the joy that was set before him he endured the cross despite the shame has sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. You know I thought about that reading it one day. I said what was the joy that was set before him? Now I know that he didn't despise the cross. He despised the shame. But what was the joy that was set before him? Wasn't it the thought of having a people for his namesake? Wasn't it the thought of having you and I in the glory of himself because of the work of the cross? Well now, here we can manifest that philosophic character realizing that we have little strength and lay hold of it as we walk into sin and rejection while we are left here for this little while. You know we have no lease on life. We have no lease on life sooner or later we have to deal with God. And how good it is that we in this scene can validate him knowing that he saved us and he has given us a place of himself. Now, just a little thought on Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10 verse 37 I'll read that again. For yet a little while he that shall come will come and will not tarry. That's the only thing left for a believer. The only thing left for the world is judgment. The wrath of God is upon the whole world. But it's being healed back. It hasn't been executed yet because you and I as believers of the church of God are still left here. And we know in a little while he that will come shall come and will not tarry. Now, in bringing those things together those words, we have a little flock and we're certainly not a big flock. A little flock looks straight at a little while. And how good it is to know that that little while can even be right now. And it's our prayer and our desire as a people of God having been saved by grace divine can say, like we read in the last of the book of Revelation Come, Lord Jesus, come. James chapter 5 Verse 7 Be patient therefore, brethren It's not a word for you and me It's a word for me anyway. Be patient. Don't be occupied with other things. That's where the scoffers are. The mockers are. They say, in Peter we read in Peter's epistle where is the promise of his coming? I was talking to a man on his job the other day and I told him that I was looking for the Lord because I don't know if he came right now. He said, well, I've heard that for years. I said, well, you're a mocker that we read about in the epistle to Peter. But we as the Lord's people can be patient unto the coming of the Lord. Now, verse 8 Be you also patient establish your heart for the coming of the Lord doth not. Isn't that a wonderful thing? Isn't that a wonderful blessing to know that the coming of the Lord doth not. And you know, I was thinking about this brother of mine a short while ago and we had spoken on the word together. And of course, I'm not going to turn to it but I was thinking about it in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 where it says we shall be called together with the Lord. But you know that last verb I like to emphasize that last verse in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 it says, wherefore comfort ye one another with these words and if the coming of the Lord is a comfort to your heart you better take account. Well, I know. I know that every believer who has looked just a little bit into the word of God knows that the coming of the Lord doth not. And we read in 1 John that beloved now we are the children of God and it does not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him. Now, little clock, little string, little while and soon the Lord shall come to call his redeemer himself and we can say like we mentioned before as we read in the last chapter of Revelation even so come Lord Jesus come. …