Fear Not, Part I

Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Luke 12:32. In this article, we will look at the features of this verse—first, “fear not”; then, “little flock”; followed by “your Father’s good pleasure”; “to give”; and, last of all, “the kingdom.”

Fear Not

It says, in 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”

How easy it is to become fearful when we hear of the terrors and terrorists that have the world governments in a state of anger and confusion. We see and hear of natural disasters such as earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, fires, and tsunamis, as well as tragedies such as automobile accidents, airplane crashes, and man’s inhumanity to others. Then there are sicknesses and diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and a host of others that attack the human body. We know that a national Sunday law is coming and also a time of trouble such as there has never been. (See “Ellen G. White Comments,” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 977; The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, vol. 3, 1002.) We might well ask ourselves the question, How do I cope?

On top of all those things, we still have to earn a living. The economy is very unstable, and job security may also be a worry. Paying the bills month-to-month is not easy. Then we must get along with a difficult neighbor or an incorrigible boss at work or even some people in the church who do not think as we do. Is there a solution? If so, what is it?

What we need to learn and to experience is the perfect love of God. We have heard that His promises are sure, and we try to believe that. We have read the text in Romans 8:28 that says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.” But when the real trials come, is our faith strong enough to carry us through? It is not, unless we are really acquainted with the love of God and can sense His presence with us at all times. We need to experience His love.

“Love is a precious gift, which we receive from Jesus.” Messages to Young People, 435. All love comes from God. We must ask for it, for he that asks receives. “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Matthew 7:7. We must ask for love by spending time on our knees, talking with God.

“Love is a [tender] plant of heavenly growth, and it must be fostered and nourished.” The Adventist Home, 50. Love must be cultivated and nourished to flourish. We must care for the gift of love by studying the character of God until His attributes, His love, become a part of us.

If we are going to have a perfect love that casts out fear, we must ask for and receive the gift of love; then culture and nourish it daily.

As a Flower

When we, in our mind’s eye, view Jesus on the cross, we need to realize how terrible that was and that He did not have to do it. He came to earth and suffered and died on the cross because of the heaven-born love He had in His heart for you and for me. When we begin to count all of the blessings He has given to us, love for God wells up in our hearts, and we are ready to do anything for Him. He puts love in our hearts for our fellow beings, and if we will practice that love and keep up our relationship with Jesus, we will grow in love until we have perfect peace.

We must establish the habit of talking to God about everything—even when in a crowd of people, we can still lift up our hearts to Him. When we learn to turn to God for help in all things, our faith and love will grow. We should learn to turn to Him to give thanks and to ask for help, just as the flower turns to the sun. “We may keep so near to God that in every unexpected trial our thoughts may turn to God as naturally as the flower turns to the sun.” The Signs of the Times, December 16, 1889.

As we get into the habit of talking to our Heavenly Father about everything, realizing that His presence is by our side at all times, our love and faith will grow, until one day we will reach perfection. We will be prepared to stand without a mediator after probation closes. “As a flower turns to the sun that its bright rays may aid in perfecting its beauty and symmetry, so should Christ’s followers turn to the Sun of Righteousness, that heaven’s light may shine upon them, perfecting their characters, and giving them a deep and abiding experience in the things of God.” The Youth’s Instructor, September 22, 1898.

To be continued . . .

A member of Steps to Life’s staff, Ruth Grosboll is a retired registered nurse. She worked for many years with her husband in the mission field. She may be contacted by e-mail at: ruthgrosboll@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Fear Not, Part II

Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Luke 12:32. In Part I of our study on the phrases of this text, we learned that, in order to “fear not,” we must experience the perfect love of God. We must ask for this love by spending time on our knees, talking with God, and we must care for the gift of this love by studying the character of God until His attributes, His love, become a part of us. As we grow in God’s love, we will attain peace.

Little Flock

Jesus calls us a “little flock.” If we look at the history of God’s people, we will find that they have always been in the minority. The throngs flock to worldly pleasures. Remember, it says in Hebrews 11:25 that Moses chose “rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” We must choose to belong to the few. We are not to worry about who is the greatest or who has the biggest church. After all, if we are on the Lord’s side, we are in the majority.

There are two good angels to every bad angel, and there is the universe beyond which is peopled with faithful beings. “When Satan became disaffected in heaven, . . . through their sympathy with him one third of the angels lost their innocence, their high estate, and their happy home.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 291. “Worlds are peopled by his power, and yet the humblest creatures of the earth are the objects of his love and care.” The Signs of the Times, December 12, 1878.

When Jesus was here on earth in human form, he had only a “little flock.” Even the nation and church which He had blessed and established turned Him down. They called Him a deceiver. (Matthew 27:63.) They even said that he had a devil. (John 7:20.) But Jesus was calm, undisturbed by criticism and not elated by praise, because He knew His heavenly Father. He knew that His cause was just and true, and that truth would triumph.

If we know that what we believe is true and that our belief is founded on the eternal principles given to us from our Heavenly Father, it will not make any difference how many or how few believe as do we. We can stand as firmly as Jesus did, even if it is only a “little flock.” Numbers never make a thing right; the principle is, Is it truth? The majority may be able to sway crowds, but only God can control the events.

Our Example

When Jesus was here, He spoke to crowds and even fed thousands by His miracles. People flocked to Him for healing. But He had only a faithful few that actually followed Him. Of His 12 disciples, even one of them betrayed Him, and the rest fled from the mob when He was captured in the Garden of Gethsemane. No one stood with Him at His trial. One of the disciples even denied he knew the man, Christ Jesus. (Matthew 4:23, 25; 14:21; 15:38; 26:47–49, 56, 69–72.) Through all of this, He triumphed.

As His followers, can we expect to be accepted by any great number? Only 120 were faithful in following His instructions at the time Jesus returned to heaven. (Acts 1:15.) It was only a “little flock,” but He did a mighty work with only a “little flock.” There were times when He did a mighty work with only one person.

In the end of time, God will have a “little flock,” and I do hope to be one of them.

Good Pleasure

Now we come to the phrase in Luke 12:32 that says, “It is your Father’s good pleasure.”

Ellen White tells us of the suffering that God has experienced and is going through as the result of sin: “Those who think of the result of hastening or hindering the gospel think of it in relation to themselves and to the world. Few think of its relation to God. Few give thought to the suffering that sin has caused our Creator. All heaven suffered in Christ’s agony; but that suffering did not begin or end with His manifestation in humanity. The cross is a revelation to our dull senses of the pain that, from its very inception, sin has brought to the heart of God. Every departure from the right, every deed of cruelty, every failure of humanity to reach His ideal, brings grief to Him. When there came upon Israel the calamities that were the sure result of separation from God,—subjugation by their enemies, cruelty, and death,—it is said that ‘His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.’ ‘In all their affliction He was afflicted: . . . and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old.’ Judges 10:16; Isaiah 63:9.” Education, 263.

After reading of the suffering that our heavenly Father has gone through to redeem us from this world of sin and degradation, we should deem it a great privilege to bring even a little joy to His heart.

To Give

In our human experiences, we enjoy giving gifts to those we love and experiencing the thrill they have in receiving those gifts. And if the gift is something useful that the receiver will use for a while, seeing them use it may extend our joy.

Our key text says, “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give.” [Emphasis supplied.] “To give” is a great demonstration of Acts 20:35 that tells us, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” It brings the Father pleasure to give to His “little flock.”

“Our Heavenly Father gave Christ to our world as a sin-bearer, in order that he who would believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Having made so priceless a donation to men, will he not with Christ freely give us all things? In the gift of his Son, all heaven was opened up, that its priceless treasures might enrich men and women of faith. The love of God has been revealed to the hearts of believers, that they should diffuse the light of heaven, and not spend their time and money in lands and their cultivation, and in taking pleasure in the things which their imaginations might picture as being desirable, as did the inhabitants of the Noachic world.” Review and Herald, January 8, 1895.

The Kingdom

God’s eye is ever watching over us to help us to prepare for the day when He can say to us, “Enter into the joy of thy Lord.” (Matthew 25:21.) How great that joy is, we cannot comprehend, but, if faithful, we will be able to experience it someday soon.

Can you imagine, God giving us “the kingdom”? How great that kingdom is, we do not even know. But we are told that we will sit on the throne with Jesus, for it says, in Revelation 3:21, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” You may wonder to yourself, Can a God that rules the world and holds the stars in space and governs the unnumbered inhabited planets say to human beings such as you and I, “Come, sit with Me on My throne”?

When Jesus departed from this earth, He left with us a promise that has been held dear to the saints ever since: “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if [it were] not [so], I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also.” John 14:1–3.

Redemption of the Saints

Jesus is coming again, and the best way I know how to describe His coming and the kingdom of God is to quote from the writings of Ellen G. White. The description she gives is thrilling, and I cannot improve upon it.

But first, let us read 1 Thessa-lonians 4:15–17: “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

“Soon appeared the great white cloud, upon which sat the Son of man. When it first appeared in the distance, this cloud looked very small. The angel said that it was the sign of the Son of man. As it drew nearer the earth, we could behold the excellent glory and majesty of Jesus as He rode forth to conquer. A retinue of holy angels, with bright, glittering crowns upon their heads, escorted Him on His way. No language can describe the glory of the scene. The living cloud of majesty and unsurpassed glory came still nearer, and we could clearly behold the lovely person of Jesus. He did not wear a crown of thorns, but a crown of glory rested upon His holy brow. Upon His vesture and thigh was a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords. His countenance was as bright as the noonday sun, His eyes were as a flame of fire, and His feet had the appearance of fine brass. His voice sounded like many musical instruments. The earth trembled before Him, the heavens departed as a scroll when it is rolled together, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. ‘And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?’ [Revelation 6:15–17.] Those who a short time before would have destroyed God’s faithful children from the earth, now witnessed the glory of God which rested upon them. And amid all their terror they heard the voices of the saints in joyful strains, saying, ‘Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us.’ [Isaiah 25:9.]

“The earth mightily shook as the voice of the Son of God called forth the sleeping saints. They responded to the call and came forth clothed with glorious immortality, crying, ‘Victory, victory, over death and the grave! O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?’ [1 Corinthians 15:55.] Then the living saints and the risen ones raised their voices in a long, transporting shout of victory. Those bodies that had gone down into the grave bearing the marks of disease and death came up in immortal health and vigor. The living saints are changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and caught up with the risen ones, and together they meet their Lord in the air. Oh, what a glorious meeting! Friends whom death had separated were united, never more to part.” Early Writings, 286, 287.

What an experience that will be to see Jesus come and know that we will be with Him forever!

Strive for the Strait Gate

It is recorded, in Luke 13:24, that Jesus said, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate.” In this parable, He is talking about the kingdom of God, for which it is surely worth striving. Following are additional descriptions of that kingdom:

“All the treasures of the universe will be open to the study of God’s redeemed. Unfettered by mortality, they wing their tireless flight to worlds afar—worlds that thrilled with sorrow at the spectacle of human woe and rang with songs of gladness at the tidings of a ransomed soul. With unutterable delight the children of earth enter into the joy and the wisdom of unfallen beings. They share the treasures of knowledge and understanding gained through ages upon ages in contemplation of God’s handiwork. With undimmed vision they gaze upon the glory of creation—suns and stars and systems, all in their appointed order circling the throne of Deity. Upon all things, from the least to the greatest, the Creator’s name is written, and in all are the riches of His power displayed.” The Great Controversy, 677, 678.

“And as the redeemed shall ascend to Heaven, the gates of the city of God will swing back, and those who have kept the truth will enter in. A voice, richer than any music that ever fell on mortal ear, will be heard saying, ‘Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’ Then the righteous will receive their reward. Their lives will run parallel with the life of Jehovah. They will cast their crowns at the Redeemer’s feet, touch the golden harps, and fill all Heaven with rich music.” The Signs of the Times, April 15, 1889.

“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Luke 12:32. What a wonderful promise! It would be well worth it for each of us to make first things first and to prepare for the kingdom of heaven.

Ruth Grosboll is an employee of Steps to Life. A retired registered nurse, she worked for many years with her husband in the mission field. She may be contacted by e-mail at: ruthgrosboll@stepstolife.org or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Pen of Inspiration – To the “Little Flock”

Dear Brethren: The Lord gave me a view, January 26, 1850, which I will relate. I saw that some of the people of God are stupid and dormant and but half awake; they do not realize the time we are now living in, and that the man with the “dirt brush” has entered, and that some are in danger of being swept away. I begged of Jesus to save them, to spare them a little longer, and let them see their awful danger, that they might get ready before it should be forever too late. The angel said, “Destruction is coming like a mighty whirlwind.” I begged of the angel to pity and to save those who loved this world, who were attached to their possessions and were not willing to cut loose from them and sacrifice to speed the messengers on their way to feed the hungry sheep who were perishing for want of spiritual food.

As I viewed poor souls dying for want of the present truth, and some who professed to believe the truth were letting them die by withholding the necessary means to carry forward the work of God, the sight was too painful, and I begged of the angel to remove it from me. I saw that when the cause of God called for some of their property, like the young man who came to Jesus (Matthew 19:16–22) they went away sorrowful, and that soon the overflowing scourge would pass over and sweep their possessions all away, and then it would be too late to sacrifice earthly goods, and lay up a treasure in heaven.

I then saw the glorious Redeemer, beautiful and lovely; that He left the realms of glory and came to this dark and lonely world to give His precious life and die, the just for the unjust. He bore the cruel mocking and scourging, wore the plaited crown of thorns, and sweat great drops of blood in the garden, while the burden of the sins of the whole world was upon Him. The angel asked, “What for?” Oh, I saw and knew that it was for us; for our sins He suffered all this, that by His precious blood He might redeem us unto God!

Then again was held up before me those who were not willing to dispose of this world’s goods to save perishing souls by sending them the truth while Jesus stands before the Father pleading His blood, His sufferings, and His death for them; and while God’s messengers are waiting, ready to carry them the saving truth that they might be sealed with the seal of the living God. It is hard for some who profess to believe the present truth to do even so little as to hand the messengers God’s own money that He has lent them to be stewards over.

The suffering Jesus, His love so deep as to lead Him to give His life for man, was again held up before me; also the lives of those who professed to be His followers, who had this world’s goods, but considered it so great a thing to help the cause of salvation. The angel said, “Can such enter heaven?” Another angel answered, “No, never, never, never. Those who are not interested in the cause of God on earth can never sing the song of redeeming love above.” I saw that the quick work that God was doing on the earth would soon be cut short in righteousness and that the messengers must speed swiftly on their way to search out the scattered flock. An angel said, “Are all messengers?” Another answered, “No, no; God’s messengers have a message.”

I saw that the cause of God had been hindered and dishonored by some traveling who had no message from God. Such will have to give an account to God for every dollar they have used in traveling where it was not their duty to go, because that money might have helped on the cause of God; and for the lack of the spiritual food that might have been given them by God’s called and chosen messengers, had they had the means, souls have starved and died. I saw that those who have strength to labor with their hands and help sustain the cause were as accountable for their strength as others were for their property.

The mighty shaking has commenced and will go on, and all will be shaken out who are not willing to take a bold and unyielding stand for the truth and to sacrifice for God and His cause. The angel said, “Think ye that any will be compelled to sacrifice? No, no. It must be a freewill offering. It will take all to buy the field.” I cried to God to spare His people, some of whom were fainting and dying. Then I saw that the judgments of the Almighty were speedily coming, and I begged of the angel to speak in his language to the people. Said he, “All the thunders and lightnings of Mount Sinai would not move those who will not be moved by the plain truths of the word of God, neither would an angel’s message awake them.”

I then beheld the beauty and loveliness of Jesus. His robe was whiter than the whitest white. No language can describe His glory and exalted loveliness. All, all who keep the commandments of God, will enter in through the gates into the city and have right to the tree of life and ever be in the presence of the lovely Jesus, whose countenance shines brighter than the sun at noonday.

I was pointed to Adam and Eve in Eden. They partook of the forbidden tree and were driven from the garden, and then the flaming sword was placed around the tree of life, lest they should partake of its fruit and be immortal sinners. The tree of life was to perpetuate immortality. I heard an angel ask, “Who of the family of Adam have passed the flaming sword and have partaken of the tree of life?” I heard another angel answer, “Not one of Adam’s family has passed that flaming sword and partaken of that tree; therefore there is not an immortal sinner. The soul that sinneth it shall die an everlasting death—a death that will last forever, from which there will be no hope of a resurrection; and then the wrath of God will be appeased.

“The saints will rest in the Holy City and reign as kings and priests one thousand years; then Jesus will descend with the saints upon the Mount of Olives, and the mount will part asunder and become a mighty plain for the Paradise of God to rest upon. The rest of the earth will not be cleansed until the end of the one thousand years, when the wicked dead are raised, and gather up around the city. The feet of the wicked will never desecrate the earth made new. Fire will come down from God out of heaven and devour them—burn them up root and branch. Satan is the root, and his children are the branches. The same fire that will devour the wicked will purify the earth.”

Early Writings, 48–52.