WEBVTT 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:12.480 This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:18.000 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:21.359 Good morning. 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:23.839 It's good to be back with you all. 00:00:24.079 --> 00:00:28.640 Every time I start feeling like I need a little humidity, I just come to Houston. 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:32.399 Not bad today, not bad. 00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:34.880 But it's good to be back with you all today. 00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:37.600 Well, Neil is in Amarillo. 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:44.079 Pray God's blessing on his ministry where he is preaching today, and for God's blessing on us as well. 00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:48.079 If you have your Bibles, turn to Luke chapter 12. 00:00:48.960 --> 00:00:50.880 Gospel of Luke, chapter 12. 00:00:50.960 --> 00:00:53.759 We're only going to read one verse of Scripture. 00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:57.039 It's one of my favorite texts in all of the Bible. 00:00:57.359 --> 00:01:00.240 Luke chapter 12, verse 32. 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:02.240 Let's read and then we'll pray. 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:06.879 Jesus says, Fear not, little flock. 00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:11.519 For it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:14.239 Fear not, little flock. 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:18.640 For it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:20.079 Let's pray. 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:53.680 Spirit of God, we ask that you would open our eyes, soften our hearts, enlighten our minds, inflame our affections, that we might not only see it and understand it, but rejoice in it and trust in it. 00:01:55.439 --> 00:02:04.560 So, Father, we come to you now and ask for all these things, not so that we may be promoted or praised, but so that Jesus will be exalted. 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:08.479 So we commit this time to you. 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:11.199 In the precious name of our Savior. 00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:12.159 Amen. 00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:28.719 I am entirely persuaded that you and I will never truly experience the abundant life that our Lord Jesus Christ came to give us until we have learned how to enjoy God. 00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:33.120 Now, we can be religiously active. 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:35.520 You can show up every Sunday for church. 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:37.759 You can be an avid reader of Scripture. 00:02:37.919 --> 00:02:39.360 You can share your faith with others. 00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:41.280 You can be generous in your giving. 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:44.080 You can even pray on a regular basis. 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:53.280 But if we do not understand and embrace what it means to enjoy God, we will bear little fruit to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:57.439 So what do I mean when I talk about enjoying God? 00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:00.000 What in the world could that mean? 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:07.199 I'm talking about the experience of sheer unadulterated delight in who God is. 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:15.599 Talking about the experience of deep soul-satisfying joy in all that God is for us in Jesus. 00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:22.800 To enjoy God is to find in him the supreme satisfaction for our souls. 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:27.520 It's to be captivated and enthralled by who he is. 00:03:28.560 --> 00:03:38.560 To enjoy God, to use the words of the Apostle Peter from 1 Peter chapter 1, is to love him and to rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory. 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:45.520 My flesh and my heart may fail, said the psalmist, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:47.759 That's what it means to enjoy Him. 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:52.879 In His presence is fullness of joy, we read in Psalm 16, 11. 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:56.879 At his right hand are pleasures forevermore. 00:03:57.360 --> 00:04:07.599 Enjoying God is an absolute necessity if we are ever to make progress in our relationship with him and in our experience and our effect on others in our lives. 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:09.680 But we have a problem. 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:21.040 The problem is our belief, a false belief, but a belief nonetheless that God does not, cannot, and will never enjoy us. 00:04:22.240 --> 00:04:30.639 The fact of the matter is, it's hard to delight in someone that you actually believe is disgusted with you. 00:04:30.959 --> 00:04:37.360 It's hard to take joy in someone that you think in your heart probably doesn't even like you very much. 00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:46.399 Our capacity to delight in God is only as good as our capacity to enjoy his delight in us. 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:52.959 And we say to ourselves, how could a God who's worth his salt enjoy me? 00:04:53.519 --> 00:05:06.000 A God who is infinitely holy and righteous and pure and just, and knowing that I am the very antithesis of all those things, I find it almost impossible to believe that God could delight in me. 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:15.680 It seems more likely that he is not only disappointed, but absolutely repulsed by who I am and how I live and what I've done. 00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:23.600 This is why every once in a while, in fact, maybe more often than that, we need to be reminded of how incredibly good God is. 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:29.600 How in his heart are depths of delight in his children. 00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:37.199 That moves him, as Zephaniah 3.17 says, to quite literally sing over us, his children. 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:45.519 Now, I know for some of you this may sound a bit trite, because one of the first things that you're taught when you become a Christian is the love of God. 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:49.519 You memorize John 3.16, the first time you enter into a church. 00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:54.399 And yet, I also think it's one of the most difficult things for Christians to believe. 00:05:54.720 --> 00:06:04.720 We all too live, all too often live in fear that God isn't really good at heart, and that he has little, if any, desire to do good things for his people. 00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:11.040 And if he does do good things, he does it reluctantly, begrudgingly, with hesitation. 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:14.480 I think maybe this comes from seeing so much bad in the world. 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:29.759 We look around us and we see natural disasters, we see premature deaths, we see disease and pandemics, we see the way people hate each other and fight and kill, and we say, if God is good, why is this world in such a mess? 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:36.160 Or maybe we think if God is good, he's only good to those who are good, and since I'm no good, he won't be good to me. 00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:39.839 We just have all these objections, all these obstacles. 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:44.079 And that is why I love Luke 12, 32. 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:58.079 Every syllable in this simple passage, every word is designed to diminish in your hearts the fear that God is irked with you, that he just simply doesn't like you. 00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:02.639 And that if he does something that you consider a blessing, he begrudges it. 00:07:03.120 --> 00:07:09.519 That he's really constrained, he's out of character when he seems to bless us in some manner. 00:07:09.759 --> 00:07:16.000 That basically at bottom, he's angry, he's put out with you and me. 00:07:17.199 --> 00:07:20.639 But this passage is talking about the nature of God. 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:23.120 It's talking about what makes God glad. 00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:35.439 It's talking about not so much what God has to do, not what he does out of obligation or necessity, but what he delights to do, what he loves to do, what brings him greatest joy to do. 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:43.040 Fear not, little flock, it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 00:07:43.839 --> 00:07:49.199 Now, you may think, how in the world is he gonna spend 30 minutes on this one verse? 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:51.360 Is there really all that much here? 00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:53.680 Well, let me remind you of something. 00:07:53.839 --> 00:08:00.639 If you come to the Bible and only scratch the surface, in other words, if you bring a rake to scripture, all you're gonna get is leaves. 00:08:00.879 --> 00:08:04.240 But if you bring a shovel and dig deep, you're gonna find diamonds. 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:06.720 And we're gonna dig deep into this passage today. 00:08:06.879 --> 00:08:19.040 There are, in fact, seven words, seven statements in this one passage, all of which are designed to put your fears at rest that maybe God really hates me after all. 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:21.759 The first one's right there at the beginning. 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:23.199 Fear not. 00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:27.600 Now, this isn't the word first time that those words have appeared in Luke's gospel. 00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:35.519 Back in Luke chapter 1, you may remember that the angel Gabriel appeared to Zecharias and announced to him that his wife was going to give birth to a son. 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:37.360 Of course, that was John the Baptist. 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:41.759 And when the angel appeared, Zechariah trembled. 00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:44.799 And the angel said, Don't be afraid, fear not. 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:52.000 And then again later in Luke's chapter 1, verse 30, when he appears to Mary to announce that she is to be the mother of the Messiah. 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:53.840 Again, the same words. 00:08:54.080 --> 00:08:55.600 Don't be afraid. 00:08:55.840 --> 00:09:05.840 And then in Luke chapter 2 and verse 10, when the angels appeared to the shepherds on that momentous evening, they said, Don't be afraid. 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:12.799 I think in each of those cases, the reason why Zacharias and Mary and the shepherds are told that is because they were terrified. 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:15.120 They were fearful of their own physical welfare. 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:19.279 They thought perhaps this angel has come to judge them and to kill them or to punish them. 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:30.480 But here in Luke 12, 32, Jesus is saying something along the lines of, don't worry, don't be anxious, don't be filled with fretful thoughts. 00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:33.679 Don't lie awake at night agonizing. 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:41.039 In other words, he's telling them not to live in the fear and the anxiety that it's just all too good to be true. 00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:48.879 He's addressing our concern that what we experience from God, what we sing about as we have this morning, it's just a pipe dream. 00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:50.240 It's just pie in the sky. 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:52.080 It will never be true. 00:09:52.320 --> 00:09:56.559 It's the fear that keeps us from enjoying God's goodness. 00:09:56.799 --> 00:10:14.960 And Jesus' design, his aim, his intent in this simple statement in Luke 12, 32 is to rid you of that fear that God is not the kind of God who wants to bless you and wants to be good to you, wants to take care of you from now into eternity, but rather that He's just put out. 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:17.519 He's ill-disposed, he's angry. 00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:29.759 You know, it's possible for us to kind of intellectually persuade ourselves that God is good, but deep down in our hearts we cling to the fear that his goodness is constrained. 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:39.919 We think, for example, if I can use an analogy, that it's kind of like a judge in a courtroom, and he's really grown to dislike the defendant, the one who is accused. 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:46.480 But this really clever lawyer has found a technicality that the judge himself couldn't even have anticipated. 00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:54.559 And the judge, against his better judgment, against his desires, I say, all right, charge is dismissed, you can go free. 00:10:54.799 --> 00:10:59.519 He'd really rather throw the book at the guy and lock him away forever, but he's been tricked. 00:10:59.840 --> 00:11:02.480 We sometimes think, maybe that's what happened with the Father. 00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:14.720 Jesus came up with some argument that he hadn't thought about, some loophole in the law, and the Father has to kind of dismiss all our sins against us when really he'd like to throw us into eternal hell. 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:18.879 That is not what our father is like. 00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:23.039 That's the sort of fear that Jesus wants to dispel. 00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:25.679 Now, he's not saying that we should never fear God. 00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:40.399 Obviously, we know that we tremble in awe and reverence at the majesty and the infinity of God and all of his power and his glory and his authority, but he's saying we shouldn't live in fear that God is basically a heavenly Scrooge. 00:11:40.960 --> 00:11:47.279 And he gives reluctantly, he gives against his better nature, and maybe one day he'll just all take it back. 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:48.240 Take it all back. 00:11:48.480 --> 00:11:51.919 That's the fear that Jesus wants to put to rest. 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:57.039 We live in fear that maybe God's love is like the love of others. 00:11:57.360 --> 00:12:03.840 Most of you know, at least to some degree, somebody who's promised their friendship, promised their love. 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:06.720 They said they'd be with that, be with you whenever you had need. 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:09.279 And just when you had need, you looked around and there's no one there. 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:10.720 They abandoned you. 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:25.279 Maybe God's telling us that he loves us and that he's good because he's setting us up to so we'll lower our defenses and become vulnerable, and then he'll pop some command on us, like, well, you need to move to North Korea and be a missionary. 00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:27.679 Although that wouldn't be a bad thing. 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:33.519 That's the kind of fear that the Lord Jesus Christ wants to dispel from your hearts. 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:41.279 The second thing, he says, fear not, little flock, it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 00:12:41.759 --> 00:12:45.120 Now, translations differ on how they render this word. 00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:48.720 The New American Standard says your father has chosen gladly. 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:51.600 The NIV says your father has been pleased. 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:54.559 It's actually one verb in the original text. 00:12:54.720 --> 00:13:04.639 Now, here's the interesting thing: this verb appears six times in Scripture, all of which are in one of the four Gospels, and always in the same context. 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:10.879 You remember at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan, the heavens were open and a voice speaks audibly. 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:17.039 This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have good pleasure. 00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:21.679 On the Mount of Transfiguration, once again, the heavens open, the audible voice comes down. 00:13:21.919 --> 00:13:27.919 This is my son in whom I have good pleasure, in whom I am delighted, with whom I am well pleased. 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:30.159 That's the word that Jesus chose. 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:34.639 The only other place that word appears in the Gospels is right here. 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:37.360 Jesus could have chosen some other word. 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:44.159 He could have made the same point, but he chose that word to describe how the Father feels about you and me. 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:50.639 He says, if Jesus says to his disciples, hey guys, do you remember what I told you happened at my baptism? 00:13:50.879 --> 00:14:02.559 How the Spirit descended like a dove upon me, anointed me with power, and the Father spoke audibly from heaven about how he is glad and well pleased with me, his only begotten Son. 00:14:02.799 --> 00:14:08.960 That's how God feels about you and giving you the kingdom. 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:17.840 God the Father is no less happy, no less delighted about giving you the kingdom than he is about me doing what I am in fulfillment of his will. 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:25.519 The Father's heart is bursting with affection, bursting with joy and excitement in giving you and me the kingdom. 00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:33.600 I don't know how to express that in a way that can make the point with any more force. 00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:47.919 Just as God delights in Jesus, just as he is pleased and happy and thrilled with his incarnate Son, so he is happy and pleased and delighted and brimming with joy to give you and me the kingdom. 00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:54.799 Simply put, God is not acting in generosity toward us to hide some ulterior motive. 00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:57.279 He's not got some malicious intent. 00:14:57.440 --> 00:15:01.279 He gives freely, lovingly, and joyfully and sincerely. 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:06.720 It reminds me of what he said to the people of Israel back in Jeremiah 32. 00:15:06.960 --> 00:15:12.000 I will make them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. 00:15:12.639 --> 00:15:16.320 And I will put the fear of me in their hearts that they may not turn from me. 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:18.000 I will rejoice in doing them. 00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:33.519 I'm not just going to do them good, I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness with all my heart and all my soul, not half-heartedly, with all my heart and with all my soul. 00:15:34.879 --> 00:15:36.080 Notice the next thing. 00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:46.159 Now, Jesus could have said it's God's good pleasure to give you the kingdom, and we would have understood it. 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:48.960 But he uses the word father. 00:15:49.519 --> 00:15:58.879 He doesn't want us to think of God as our employer or our boss or our teacher or our coach or even a friend or a relative, but as our father. 00:15:59.360 --> 00:16:03.440 Now I realize that that doesn't help some of you very much. 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:11.120 I know that some of you sadly were raised in homes where your father left many scars on your soul. 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:15.440 It may be that it's not so much that he did anything bad, he was just absent. 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:16.799 He just wasn't there. 00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:25.519 Or maybe you had an accusing father, who the only time he opened his mouth is to point out all your faults and all your failures and how you don't measure up to other kids. 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:28.240 Or maybe he was just an apathetic father. 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:29.519 He just didn't care. 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:34.000 But God is unlike any earthly father, even the very best of them. 00:16:34.080 --> 00:16:39.039 I was blessed with the most wonderful earthly father I could have ever imagined. 00:16:39.679 --> 00:16:41.200 Not all of you were. 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:50.799 But our Father, our Heavenly Father, never fails to speak the truth, never fails to be present when we need him, never fails to come through for us when we're desperate. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:17:00.159 So how can some of you unlearn the pain of an either absent, apathetic, accusing Father? 00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:01.919 By looking to Jesus. 00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:06.559 That's what we learn in John chapter 14 when Philip said, Lord, we'd like to see the Father. 00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:10.720 And Jesus said, Philip, have I been so long with you and you haven't figured it out yet? 00:17:10.880 --> 00:17:14.079 When you see me, you see the Father. 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:20.480 So if you struggle with God as Father, if that kind of sticks in your throat, just look at Jesus. 00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:28.640 Explore his character, his compassion, his love, his power, his beauty, and realize that that is true also of your Father. 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:30.960 Well, let's move on to the fourth thing he says. 00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:37.200 Fear not, little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:42.240 Our father takes great delight in giving the kingdom. 00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:44.079 He doesn't put it up for sale. 00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:56.640 You aren't in competition at some auction with other Christians as to who can offer up the most good works, who can fulfill the most promises, who can make the greatest sacrifices, and you'll get the kingdom from God, and they won't. 00:17:56.880 --> 00:17:57.119 No. 00:17:57.359 --> 00:17:59.759 You can't purchase God's blessings. 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:02.720 Maybe you thought that you could trade for it. 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:06.240 You amass all the good deeds you've done, all the promises you fulfilled. 00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:10.160 You say, Lord, I'll swap you all this stuff for the kingdom. 00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:15.200 God says, No, I don't trade, I don't bother, there's no barter, there's no exchange. 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:19.359 I love giving you the kingdom. 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:22.559 Think about the dynamics of giving. 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:25.759 God is himself a giver, not a getter. 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:33.519 God's greatest delight does not come from making demands, it comes from meeting needs, the needs of his people. 00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:42.559 One of our greatest joys is the delight we experience when we are able to give something to somebody we care about and to watch the glow and the joy in their face. 00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:52.720 Have you ever had it happen where you've really worked hard and labored for a gift to maybe a family member or a friend, and you gave it to them and they went, oh my, I'm sorry, this is too much. 00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:53.839 I can't accept it. 00:18:53.920 --> 00:18:55.279 And they hand it back to you. 00:18:55.599 --> 00:18:56.960 Your countenance will fall. 00:18:57.039 --> 00:18:57.359 Why? 00:18:57.519 --> 00:19:00.880 Because they just robbed you of the joy of giving. 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:04.559 Their joy in giving comes from your joy in receiving. 00:19:04.720 --> 00:19:09.920 If you don't really delight in receiving, it spoils their delight in giving. 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:14.319 You know, the problem here, we just don't trust givers. 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:16.160 We really don't. 00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:22.960 Maybe a one-time gift, and we can say, well, I don't quite understand this, but okay, thank you. 00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:29.599 And then they come back a week later with another, and you start saying to you, what are they up to? 00:19:29.759 --> 00:19:33.680 And then they come back again the next week with another, and you say, All right, what do you want? 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:36.000 You're up to something. 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:41.839 You're trying to butter me up, you're trying to smooth the path, and you're gonna make some demand on me, or place some burden on me. 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:49.119 I know you can't mean this in the way that it seems like you do, but that's not how God operates. 00:19:49.279 --> 00:19:56.559 He gives and gives and gives because he enjoys giving and he enjoys the joy we get from getting what he joyfully gives. 00:19:56.880 --> 00:19:58.319 God is a giver. 00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:01.119 So how do you honor a God like that? 00:20:01.839 --> 00:20:08.400 I remember many years ago reading in one of John Piper's books, an illustration that has stuck with me all these years. 00:20:08.799 --> 00:20:15.839 He said, Do you serve God like he's a watering trough or like he's a self-replenishing mountain stream? 00:20:16.079 --> 00:20:17.759 What do you do with a watering trough? 00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:29.119 Well, you go out and you recruit other people and you create this bucket brigade and you keep walking up the hill and pouring water into it and making sure that it's still full and you're constantly filling it up with what it lacks. 00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:31.279 That's no way to serve God. 00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:41.920 To honor God, the giver, you get out on your knees and you drink from that self-replenishing mountain stream, and then you run down in the valley and tell people where they can find water. 00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:49.119 Because God is a self-replenishing mountain stream who just overflows again and again in giving. 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:54.559 The fifth thing he says here, look at how we're described. 00:20:54.960 --> 00:20:57.519 We're a flock, a flock of sheep. 00:20:57.680 --> 00:21:04.640 We're not a thundering herd of elephants or a pride of ferocious lions or a pack of ravenous wolves. 00:21:04.960 --> 00:21:07.119 We are a flock. 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:11.920 Helpless, dumb, utterly dependent on the shepherd. 00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:16.640 And this is one of the biggest roadblocks to our capacity to be able to enjoy God. 00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:20.559 Fear not little flock, sheep. 00:21:21.920 --> 00:21:25.680 What I mean is this you know who you are. 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:27.359 I know who I am. 00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:32.640 I am very keenly aware of my history of sin and failure and rebellion and unbelief. 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:33.920 So are you. 00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:49.359 And you look at your own soul, and we say, My goodness, given how prone I am to just repeat the same sins all over and over and over again, knowing myself as I do, there's no way that God could ever want to give me anything good. 00:21:49.519 --> 00:21:52.079 Because He knows me better than I know myself. 00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:59.680 See, one of the greatest obstacles to enjoying God is our knowledge of His knowledge of us. 00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:08.319 It's one thing for me to be honest about who I am and how I have fallen short, but then I think, wait a minute, God is omniscient. 00:22:08.559 --> 00:22:17.920 He sees and penetrates my soul and all my excuses and my behavior and every bad motive and every ugly word, and he sees it more clearly than I could ever hope to see it. 00:22:18.559 --> 00:22:22.559 And if I'm disgusted with myself, how much more must he be? 00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:26.960 I think that's why when we sin, we run from God rather than to him. 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:32.799 Each of us is painfully aware of the depth of our sin and our depravity. 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:40.400 And it's that inescapable, very painful knowledge that we have of ourselves, and we say, well, God knows it even better than I do. 00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:44.640 There's no way that he could care for me or love me or even want me. 00:22:45.359 --> 00:22:52.960 That's why I talk to people all the time who just are convinced that God is disgusted with them, disillusioned, disappointed, frustrated. 00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:54.799 After all, why shouldn't he be? 00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:56.480 That's how I feel about myself. 00:22:56.640 --> 00:23:00.000 So surely a God who is holy would feel even more so. 00:23:01.359 --> 00:23:04.319 Do you realize how this affects the way we relate to other people? 00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:11.519 If you think that if other people saw the true you, that they would be disgusted and turn away, what do you do? 00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:22.400 Well, you put up some sort of outward facade, you take on some image, you assume a certain relational style to make sure they can never get too close to see you for what you know you really are. 00:23:24.400 --> 00:23:31.279 If we react that way to people whose knowledge of us is limited, imagine how we react to God whose knowledge of us is infinite. 00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:37.680 We might be able to fool some people some of the time, but we can never fool God at any time. 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:43.359 His knowledge of us is exhaustive, penetrating, comprehensive. 00:23:44.160 --> 00:23:49.039 Now, I'm not suggesting that God isn't displeased with our sin. 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:50.319 Of course he is. 00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:53.440 But he's displeased as a father is with an erring child. 00:23:53.519 --> 00:23:58.640 He wants to take us into his arms and bring conviction and transformation into our lives. 00:23:58.880 --> 00:24:06.400 But my point is simply our knowledge of God's knowledge of us poses a great obstacle to our ability to enjoy God. 00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:11.200 Let me just remind you of this by reading from a very familiar Psalm. 00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:13.039 You know Psalm 130. 00:24:13.279 --> 00:24:15.039 Some of you probably haven't memorized. 00:24:15.200 --> 00:24:20.160 We're told in verse 8 that the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:23.440 We go, wow, great God, amazing. 00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:24.319 It gets better. 00:24:24.480 --> 00:24:29.759 Verse 10, he does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. 00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:33.680 And then it follows on that, it even gets better in Psalm 103. 00:24:33.920 --> 00:24:39.440 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him. 00:24:39.599 --> 00:24:43.920 As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. 00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:49.440 As a father shows compassion on his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. 00:24:50.480 --> 00:24:52.799 We say, Oh, well and good, that sounds great. 00:24:54.480 --> 00:25:00.559 But it will never happen with me because I'm everything that God isn't. 00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:05.920 I'm fallen and wretched and weak and selfish and fickle. 00:25:06.880 --> 00:25:12.480 And then we come to one of the most amazing verses in the Bible that I think people oftentimes just skim right by. 00:25:12.880 --> 00:25:22.160 After all of these blessings, these expressions of love and kindness and compassion that God has toward us, we come to verse 14 of Psalm 103. 00:25:23.759 --> 00:25:28.000 For he knows our frame, he remembers that we are dust. 00:25:29.839 --> 00:25:31.359 Time out, Lord. 00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:33.920 That doesn't make any sense at all. 00:25:34.480 --> 00:25:44.640 When you see the connection between verse 14 and all that has preceded, all these glorious things that God is and what he does for his children, and then he comes and he says, God knows our frame. 00:25:44.799 --> 00:25:48.079 He knows how weak we are, he knows that we were made from dust. 00:25:49.920 --> 00:25:50.720 I don't get it. 00:25:50.960 --> 00:25:53.119 It took me forever to figure this out. 00:25:54.319 --> 00:25:59.599 God loves us and has compassion on us and forgiveness because he knows us. 00:26:01.119 --> 00:26:05.519 I mean, I would have thought his knowledge of us repels him and drives him away. 00:26:06.799 --> 00:26:09.440 But his knowledge of us doesn't terminate his blessings. 00:26:09.599 --> 00:26:16.240 His knowledge of us, in some sense, is the reason or the explanation for why he's so compassionate and kind. 00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:21.599 Folks, that is divine logic, because that's not how a human being thinks. 00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:27.039 If you'd asked me if that makes any sense on a human level, I'd say that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. 00:26:27.680 --> 00:26:29.680 It's not how you and I would reason. 00:26:29.839 --> 00:26:32.720 Our tendency would be to say it's because he knows my frame. 00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:37.680 He knows how fickle I am, he knows how weak and prone to wander I am. 00:26:38.079 --> 00:26:40.000 That is why he will have nothing to do with me. 00:26:40.079 --> 00:26:50.400 But no, God says, no, it is precisely because I know that about you that I've chosen to be compassionate and forgiving and patient and kind and loving. 00:26:51.599 --> 00:26:58.559 So your knowledge of God's knowledge of you is not a good reason to run from him when you sin, but rather run to him. 00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:02.400 You see, God sees you clothed in the righteousness of Christ. 00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:09.440 He sees in you the work of grace and the fear and the reverence and awe in which you in which you respond to him. 00:27:10.160 --> 00:27:20.319 So no matter how well we know our own hearts, no matter how thoroughly you think you know your own soul, if we would but know God's, all fear, all hesitation would disappear. 00:27:20.480 --> 00:27:28.720 He is an ever-flowing, never-ending fountain of forgiveness to those who in repentance and faith seek him through Jesus. 00:27:29.759 --> 00:27:32.319 Well, we've come to the last two words. 00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:38.480 You know, it's one thing to say we're a flock of sheep, but we're just a little flock. 00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:42.400 We're not even a big flock, a moderately sized flock. 00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:46.960 Now, that word little there could be taken in two ways. 00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:49.920 It might be simply a term of endearment. 00:27:50.160 --> 00:28:01.440 When my daughters were very young and a thunderstorm and lightning would be flashing in the sky, and they would be terrified, and they'd run into me and my wife, and I'd take them in my arms, and I'd say, Little Mel, little Joey, it's okay, don't worry, I've got you. 00:28:01.680 --> 00:28:04.559 It's a term of affection and endearment. 00:28:05.039 --> 00:28:08.559 But it may also point to size and influence. 00:28:08.799 --> 00:28:13.680 It's Jesus saying to them then and to us now, you're not a very big flock. 00:28:13.839 --> 00:28:24.640 You don't have a lot of fame in the world, you don't have a lot of influence, you're not very impressive, your numbers are few, worldly expectations are meaningless to him. 00:28:24.880 --> 00:28:29.119 He says, Don't be afraid, little flock. 00:28:30.160 --> 00:28:33.119 And then we come to the clincher, the seventh and final thing. 00:28:33.359 --> 00:28:39.680 Fear not, little flock, because it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 00:28:40.079 --> 00:28:48.240 You know, one of the reasons why we find ourselves doubting God and getting mad at him is because we have trusted him for things he never promised to give. 00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:58.240 We think God has promised us wealth and health for all of our days, that we will never be persecuted or slandered by others, especially by Christians. 00:28:58.880 --> 00:29:03.759 And when that doesn't materialize, we we, hard God, I've had enough of you. 00:29:04.720 --> 00:29:07.279 Imagine this: your birthday. 00:29:07.519 --> 00:29:09.119 Try to go back many, many years. 00:29:09.200 --> 00:29:18.480 Maybe you're a uh early teens or even younger than that, and your birthday is coming, and you've dropped every hint possible to your parents what you want. 00:29:18.720 --> 00:29:27.599 You've even got a catalog or a newspaper, and you found a picture of what you want, and you rip it out and you tape it to the refrigerator door so that they'll see it every time they go there. 00:29:28.079 --> 00:29:30.880 And then your day comes and they come in with this package. 00:29:30.960 --> 00:29:33.279 You think, well, it's not exactly what I thought. 00:29:33.359 --> 00:29:39.839 I it wouldn't fit in a box, but you say, okay, you rip it open, you it's the kingdom. 00:29:40.400 --> 00:29:41.920 The kingdom of all things. 00:29:42.079 --> 00:29:47.920 I was hoping for a dirt bike, or maybe a car, or a gift card worth several thousand dollars. 00:29:48.079 --> 00:29:49.680 All I get is the kingdom. 00:29:51.519 --> 00:29:53.200 What the kingdom of God is. 00:29:54.079 --> 00:29:57.599 The kingdom of God means you will inherit the earth. 00:29:58.400 --> 00:30:05.680 You'll judge angels, you'll reign forever with Christ, you will never see war or injustice again. 00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:07.359 All death will be gone. 00:30:07.519 --> 00:30:13.599 Righteousness and joy and peace will prevail at every single moment of your life for all eternity. 00:30:13.759 --> 00:30:19.119 You'll experience firsthand God's promise that he will never ever leave you or forsake you. 00:30:19.279 --> 00:30:23.440 But the greatest treasure of the kingdom, folks, is the king. 00:30:24.880 --> 00:30:31.519 Fear not, little flock, for your father's good pleasure is to give you himself, the great God of this universe. 00:30:32.880 --> 00:30:43.119 If you could have all the blessings of heaven, walking on streets of gold, a new glorified resurrected body, reunion with all your friends and family, but not have Jesus, would you be happy? 00:30:43.920 --> 00:30:44.960 I hope not. 00:30:45.519 --> 00:30:52.960 Because the greatest blessing of all is the King, his presence, his power, his beauty, his love for all eternity. 00:30:54.000 --> 00:30:57.359 So little flock, don't be afraid. 00:30:57.440 --> 00:31:21.680 Don't live constantly in anxiety and fear, fretting yourselves about God's intentions toward you, what he will or won't do, depending on what you will or won't do, because it is your father's glorious delight, his greatest pleasure to freely give you, not to sell you, not to exchange for something you might give him that he wants, but to freely give you the kingdom. 00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:24.720 And in the kingdom is the king himself. 00:31:25.440 --> 00:31:36.640 That's why if you and I are ever going to be of any success in honoring Christ in our lives and blessing others, we need to come to the place where we can enjoy that God. 00:31:36.799 --> 00:31:47.519 And that will only happen when we come to understand how much He enjoys us and how delighted He is to give us as an act of grace the kingdom. 00:31:47.839 --> 00:31:48.799 Let's pray. 00:31:55.599 --> 00:32:03.759 Father, I know that some here are probably still struggling to believe that you could possibly be that good. 00:32:04.079 --> 00:32:14.960 Maybe their lives have taken a turn for the bad, a business has gone under, maybe children have rebelled, or a spouse has walked out, or finances are in the tank. 00:32:21.680 --> 00:32:24.640 Who I am and what's happening to me? 00:32:25.279 --> 00:32:38.400 Lord, I pray that these incredible diamonds, these incredible nuggets of gold in this one verse of scripture would resonate in our hearts and would change us by the power of your spirit. 00:32:39.519 --> 00:32:46.799 Lord, I can only try to unpack what I think Jesus is saying, but Spirit of God, you have to embed that within our hearts. 00:32:47.039 --> 00:32:50.160 You have to use it to powerfully transform us. 00:32:50.880 --> 00:32:58.480 So we ask now that you would do that for the sake and for the glory of Jesus our Savior, in whose name we pray. 00:32:58.799 --> 00:32:59.440 Amen. 00:33:01.359 --> 00:33:02.000 Amen. 00:33:03.759 --> 00:33:08.799 Each week we take some time and we ask God what has my name on it from the sermon. 00:33:08.880 --> 00:33:12.079 So I just want us to take some time now in our heads and in our hearts. 00:33:13.359 --> 00:33:15.440 What's the one thing you take away from the word today? 00:33:15.839 --> 00:33:16.799 Let's do that together. 00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:32.559 We're reminded there's a difference between just surface mining and actually digging a mine shaft and getting down the side of the earth. 00:33:34.559 --> 00:33:44.880 So we pray that the seed of your word that's been sown among us would take deep root, and that the burning heat of persecution would not cause it to wither. 00:33:46.000 --> 00:33:49.039 That the thorny cares of this life would not choke it out. 00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:55.839 Would make of us good soil so that we would bring forward good fruit in Jesus' name. 00:33:56.079 --> 00:33:58.640 And all God's people said amen. 00:34:00.400 --> 00:34:02.240 I want to thank you so much for your presence today. 00:34:02.319 --> 00:34:05.599 If you're new, this is your first time with us, there's a number on the screen. 00:34:05.759 --> 00:34:07.519 You can text, welcome to that number. 00:34:07.599 --> 00:34:11.039 That way we know you are here and we'll get you connected with the life of our church. 00:34:11.119 --> 00:34:16.719 Uh, if today is the day you worship through giving, there's boxes by the doors, you can do that uh on your way out. 00:34:16.880 --> 00:34:20.320 This is a large church, as you've probably noticed, if it's your first time. 00:34:20.400 --> 00:34:23.760 Uh, and we want to get you outside of the large room into smaller environments. 00:34:23.920 --> 00:34:28.400 One of the ways we do that is tonight we've got community groups meeting all over our city. 00:34:28.480 --> 00:34:30.000 Uh, we'd love for you to be a part of one of those. 00:34:30.079 --> 00:34:32.639 If you want more information, you can go to our website. 00:34:32.800 --> 00:34:36.159 Uh, this next video has some other ways you can be involved as well. 00:34:36.239 --> 00:34:37.360 So let's take a look. 00:34:44.880 --> 00:34:47.840 Here's a look at what's happening at Grand Parkway Baptist Church. 00:34:48.000 --> 00:34:52.159 The table is next Sunday, November 10th, from 6:30 to 8.30 p.m. 00:34:52.320 --> 00:34:53.039 in the sanctuary. 00:34:53.119 --> 00:34:56.000 This is a woman's only event filled with worship and the word. 00:34:56.400 --> 00:35:01.280 This Thursday, November 7th, is the last chance to register for child care for the table. 00:35:03.440 --> 00:35:08.960 On November 6th, join us for an evening of food, fellowships, and fun at Home Run Dugout. 00:35:09.199 --> 00:35:12.000 We have reserved two batting days with a large dining area. 00:35:12.159 --> 00:35:15.119 Whether you want to play games or relax with friends, it'll be a great time. 00:35:15.280 --> 00:35:19.760 This is a men's only event with a cost of$5 per person plus your meal. 00:35:21.920 --> 00:35:28.320 Finally, we're making big plans for our upcoming Family Christmas Fest event on December 7th from 9.30 to 11:30 a.m. 00:35:28.639 --> 00:35:48.320 There will be many fun activities for the whole family, including our live nativity and petting zoo, face paintings, train rides, sounds houses, crafts, food trucks for purchasing food and drink, and new this year, SNOOOOOOOO! This will be a free event, but if you would like to donate and help be a blessing to our community, there's a place to do this on the registration form. 00:35:48.480 --> 00:35:52.320 We hope you are making plans to join in the fun and advice your friends and neighbors. 00:35:52.480 --> 00:35:57.599 For more information or to register for these events, please visit our website at gramparkway.org. 00:35:57.840 --> 00:36:03.599 If you have any questions or want somebody to pray for you, find one of our pastors at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service. 00:36:12.559 --> 00:36:15.039 So I'll be there like a polar bear. 00:36:16.400 --> 00:36:19.280 Uh I want to say thank you so much, Sam, for being here today. 00:36:19.360 --> 00:36:21.360 Uh, Sam and some of the other pastors are gonna be down. 00:36:21.599 --> 00:36:22.239 Yes. 00:36:26.400 --> 00:36:29.199 Sam and some of our other pastors will be down here at the front of the stage. 00:36:29.280 --> 00:36:32.719 If you have any questions from the sermon or want somebody to pray with you, we'd love to do that. 00:36:32.800 --> 00:36:35.280 I want to take some time to do one more thing. 00:36:35.360 --> 00:36:36.880 Uh, where's Wade Burgess? 00:36:37.119 --> 00:36:37.840 Wade is right here. 00:36:37.920 --> 00:36:44.239 We're gonna ask Wade to come down at the front of the stage as well because Wade is about to leave for eight weeks on sabbatical. 00:36:44.480 --> 00:36:48.400 Uh Wade is uh he works hard and he's ready for a break. 00:36:48.639 --> 00:36:50.400 And we're gonna ask you to do one thing. 00:36:50.559 --> 00:36:52.719 Don't bother Wade for eight weeks. 00:36:52.800 --> 00:36:55.119 Uh so he and Amy can rest and recover. 00:36:55.199 --> 00:36:56.320 So please pray for them. 00:36:56.400 --> 00:36:57.039 Uh come down. 00:36:57.119 --> 00:36:58.719 You may have a word you want to speak to Wade. 00:36:58.800 --> 00:37:00.559 You may have a, what did Neil call it in his email? 00:37:00.639 --> 00:37:01.840 A Pentecostal handshake. 00:37:02.000 --> 00:37:05.679