Fear Not Little Flock

It's just been two weeks exactly today that we had this terrible attack in Israel around the Gaza Strip, but it's also covering other areas. It is interesting that 50 years ago, I was planning to go to the States, and after the feast, I was planning to go to Israel. And I had tickets bought, everything reserved, everything. And as I was traveling, young people wore, broke out. It was exactly 50 years ago. I remember vividly as if it was yesterday. And I had to change my plans of where to go. But I still kept the feast in poker-ness, and that's where I met my lovely wife. So it's 50 years. I remember that exactly. It's 50 years. But it is interesting because 50 years, it's symbolic in the Bible to Jubilee, and it declared liberty in the land. And it is exactly 50 years later, also on a high day, also on a Sabbath, there was this terrible, terrible attack. Obviously, that's not God's Jubilee, because God's Jubilee is when Christ will come and will declare liberty in the land. That will be true liberty. But the sad thing about it, and there are many sad things about it, but the sad thing about it is that the Jewish nation, and in fact, as in the States and the U.S. Department of Defense and Intelligence, etc., we're caught unawares. And it reminds me of 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 3, because that ties into a mindset when it says, when people say, and you and I could say that in our minds, in our hearts, there's peace and safety, everything is cool. And it appears that there was a false sense of security, and then that struck, that attack struck. Suddenly, suddenly, you know, sudden destruction came upon them, like a thief in the night. As we heard in the sermonette, are we, spiritually speaking, asleep? Are we ready?

We saw the example of the 10 versions in Matthew 25, and the point is, are we alert? Now, in Luke 21, so let's go to Luke chapter 21. Verse 29.

Luke 21, verse 29.

And then he spoke to them, a parable said, look at the fig tree and all the trees, and they were already budding, and you see and know yourselves that summer is now near. Now, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near.

Surely, I say to you that this generation will not pass until all things will take place.

Now, when you see these things happening, what things? Well, if we just go back a few verses in the same chapter, for instance, in verse 20 and 21, it says, but when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near, then those who are in Judea flee. And so these things that we need to be watching is Jerusalem surrounded by armies. That is an important signal. Now, that is not yet the case, but we can see it's getting near, and then it says flee. Now, keep your finger in luck because you're going to go back to it, but just turn now to Matthew 24. In Matthew 24, verses 15 and 16, it also refers to fleeing, but then it says, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken by Daniel the prophet, standing in holy place, then to also in Judea flee. So what we have is the same condition to flee. One is Jerusalem surrounded by armies, and another one with it, a second condition, is the abomination of desolation, as spoken by Daniel. Now, when we look at Daniel chapter, 12, Daniel chapter 12, so let's turn there, Daniel chapter 12, and we're going to look at verse 11. Daniel chapter 12, verse 11, he says, And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, this shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. So now we have here the abomination of desolation that is tied in to a daily being taken away. I understand the word sacrifice is in italics, but the daily, and if you read back historically, that was sacrifices being done. And so the time that the daily is taken away and the abomination is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. That is three years and a half plus thirty days. And so what do we have is a countdown, a countdown. Because when we get to that time, the days are counted.

And then if we read verse 12, it says, This blessed is he who waits and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. That is forty-five days before. And so something will happen, then there will be a countdown, and basically the days are counted then. But before that, we don't know the day or the hour when this will blow up. And so we have to be ready. So going back to Luke 21, where we were a moment ago in Luke 21, let's now turn to verse 34. In verse 34 says, Take heed to yourselves. Who is it that we gotta take heed? Who is it that we gotta be making sure that we are correct? It's us, ourselves. We gotta examine ourselves. We gotta take heed of ourselves. Lest you get involved in the things of the world, and it lists a number of them, and it'll all will just come to you as a surprise, as a snare. And then it says, verse 36, Watch therefore, and pray always. Watch what? Well, watch two things, basically. Watch yourselves, and watch these things that are being warned. It's like we gotta watch all these things, events, as we heard, a number of them in the sermonette. But we also have to be careful. Are we awake? You see, it's two sides of the equation of what we gotta watch. Now, it is important, and it says, and pray always, that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things. And we can read in Revelation chapter 3, we can read in Revelation 12, there will be a protection of a portion of the church. There will be a protection for some of us to escape. Don't doubt that. Don't doubt that. And that is a blessing that God gives us if we are amongst those wives, wise virgins, they're being awake. But even more important than that is to stand before the Son of Man. We gotta watch ourselves so that we will be amongst those that will be in the first resurrection, or if we're still alive, that will be changed and transformed into spirit beings so that we can stand before the Son of Man, before Christ, before the Son of Man, before Christ, as He comes, we are with Him and we can stand with Him. That is even more important. Now, people have said sometime in the past, oh well, I pray that I make the right decision to flee. Well, that's not what this verse says. This verse says, pray that you may be accounted worthy.

So it is God that will decide if you and I are accounted worthy. And so that's why we gotta watch ourselves and watch world events and pray that God may count as worthy for not only for our sake, but for our children's sake.

So it is a very sobering message, but a little earlier in Luke chapter 12, in Luke chapter 12, and let's read verse 31 and 32. It says, seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. And we know that. We read that in Matthew as well. Seek you the kingdom of God and His righteousness. First, it says, that's your priority. But then look at verse 32. Do not fear, little flock.

Do not fear, little flock. You know, as we read and we see these things around us, we can become anxious. We can become worried and fearful some.

And God says, do not fear, little flock. And you put that together with what we read in Luke 21. Verse 36, watch and pray that you may be counted worthy. Do not fear, little flock. If you and I are awake and we're close to God, we should not fear, because God has promised. And God wants, pioneers, balanced, mentally balanced and sound as the pioneers, our young children, our young adults, to be those, being the leaders in the kingdom of God, as the kingdom of God is ruling on earth, in other words, during the millennium. God wants you. And that's why it says, because it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

So don't fear. God wants you in the kingdom and He wants you there.

I know we can look at things around us today and we can get pretty worried. Maybe we lose sleep.

But the decision is actually in our hands to trust God, have no fear, and be close to God. Are we close to God? So there are basically two things once again. We've got to watch world events and we've got to watch ourselves. Today I want to explain some of the world events and I want to also show you how we can watch ourselves. You know, these two sides of the equation.

Now we've been saying for many times that we've got to watch geopolitical events like Europe, Jerusalem, sacrifices, the kingdom of the south, the kingdom of the north, which basically Europe, which will become Europe, or from Europe, the loss of pride of the states. We're also from a religious point of view. We are to watch the Catholic Church, the Pope. We are, yeah, there's a lot of things happening there that maybe we're just not even aware. We are to watch God's Church, how Satan attacks us and tries to destroy us because he knows time is short. And lastly, we've got to watch the declining morality. Really the declining morality in our society that over the last few years has grown exponentially. If you have children at school and you watch what's happening in social media, God is very angry with that and is not going to allow it to go on for a long time.

Time is short. Do not think the Lord is delaying his coming.

Do not think the Lord is delaying his coming. So we know that one of the next major events we need to look at is armies surrounding Jerusalem, the abomination of desolation, the stopping of the daily sacrifices that we understand. Now, we're not there. I mean, sacrifices haven't even started. So how are they going to stop? I mean, how are they going to start? That's kind of enigma in our minds.

And therefore, when the abomination of desolation starts, 30 days later, starts the Great Tribulation, which is the fifth seal. And so we are nowadays, it's still in the time of the Four Horsemen. But yeah, we've been in the time of the Four Horsemen for years and years and years and centuries. What is a clue? Is there a clue in the Bible about what may possibly be happening at these end times before the Great Tribulation? I believe there is a clue. Now, I might be wrong. And so I would say, and again, it's my speculation, I might be wrong, but I would say Leviticus 26 gives us a clue. And that is interesting, because Leviticus 26 is the section about blessings and cursings. And yes, there is a parallel in Deuteronomy 28. But Leviticus 26 puts it in a very interesting way. Let's say as first, well, if you are by me, these are your blessings. But if you do so by me, these are your curses. And less those punishments, less those punishments, in what I would say five waves.

Five waves. And if you look at it carefully, the last wave appears to be the Great Tribulation. The last wave appears to be the Great Tribulation. So let's look briefly at those waves. I just use the word waves. And again, I'm saying I am speculating you. I might be wrong. But I'm just saying it might be a clue that might be applicable. And in verse 14 says, if you don't obey me, then it brings these different waves of punishment that gets seven times more intense every time that it comes the next time, the next wave. Now, in this context, it's written to a society of that time. But if we give it a parallel or of analogy to current situations, we could put it into some simple comparison. The first wave is described in verse 16. In fact, 16 and 17. But it says, I will also do this to you. So that's kind of the first wave of punishment. I'll appoint terror over you. Now, the first wave of terror. Now, we have had terrorism around the world. I've lived in South Africa. We've experienced terrorism. I remember a lady in the church, a family in the church, going to walking from the hotel to the hall where we had services during the feast. And for some reason, on that day, they decided to go around the block just having a little detour because they had a little extra time. And during that moment, a bomb exploded in the road where they would have walked. There was terrorism in South Africa, and God always protected us. God always protected God's people. Fear not, my little flock, because it's my pleasure to give you the kingdom. We have to trust God, and we've got to be close to God. Now, I've seen cases where some people in the church were not protected. I do not judge. But I've seen in many situations where, afterwards, well, these things were happening, which is kind of sad. But watch and pray that you and I may be counted worthy. That is a big lesson, and God does protect us. So terrorism has been around. But to the nation of Israel, modern-day Israel, and I'm not talking the Jewish nation, which we call today Israel, I'm talking about the modern-day Israel, which is Ephraim and Manasseh, and particularly to Manasseh, that first big, big shock of terrorism was in 2001-9-11. So I might be wrong, as I said, but that could be a parallel. And what happened after that? Oh, well, it appeared to people to kind of turn to God temporarily, but they soon left God. And then exactly, exactly, seven years later, we had, at the evening, at the evening, at the end of the day, it was at the beginning of the day of trumpets.

We had a market crash, and on the wall appeared, as if written by an invisible hand, the number 777. And that was splashed on TVs across the country, because there was a market crash of 2008 at the night, at the end of the day, at the beginning of the day of trumpets. And I said to my wife, it kind of reminds me of the writing on the wall.

And 777, I kind of thought of it like seven seals, seven trumpets, seven lost plagues. A warning, time is short. Now somebody told me, well, the number was not exactly 777.

They were right. I went out and looked, and the number was 777.68. 6 plus 8 is 14, two additional sevens. So, I mean, it's nothing, but to me was significant. And that, seven years later, ties in, in my mind, to the first punch to losing the pride of America's power, which is the dollar, the market crash, the market crash. I know that people then build things up, and things get better, and things like that. But you see, in verse 18, it says, if you do not obey me, then I'll punish you seven times more for your sins, and I'll break the pride of your power. So that was the first little piercing, punching the pride of our power. And we know it's going down and down. But we didn't repent, did we? We didn't repent. The nation got peace and safety. We okay. We're getting better. And so, as you know, that was 2008. The third wave, the third wave, was, I think, again, I'm speculating. I might be wrong, so please forgive me. It's just a way of me to try and frame things in my mind.

We saw COVID exactly 12 years later. Not to the day. Well, we don't know when it actually broke out, but when it became evident in this country was around about March, around about period of 11 bread, where everything started closing down. And that was 2020. Exactly 12 years later, after 2008. And if you read the third wave in verse 21 and says, if you walk contrary to me, and you're not willing to obey me, I will bring to you seven times more place. What a coincidence, isn't it? Now, maybe, as I say, maybe I'm wrong.

Maybe I'm wrong. I hope I'm wrong. But does it mean that we were hit with 9-11? The impact of the market crash was a lot greater, wasn't it, than 9-11? And I think you'll agree with me that the impact of COVID was a lot greater than the market crash. Now, we are in a period where morality is going down. And then we look at it in verse 23, which is the fourth wave. And if by these things you're not reformed by me, but you walk contrary to me, then I also will walk contrary to you, and I'll punish you seven times more for your sins, and I'll bring a sword against you. So, the next wave, if this is correct, would be war. And the impact of this war would be a lot greater than the impact of COVID was, which was a lot greater than the impact of the market crash, which is a lot greater than the impact of 9-11. Could we, therefore, be facing the beginnings of a Third World War?

I hope not, but maybe I'm looking at this speculating. Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong, but I'm just saying, if that is the case, what is the next wave? And the next wave, which is the fifth, which starts in verse 27. And as he looked at all the way through verse 29 and 33, it clearly appears to be the Great Tribulation. And so, if this is correct, and if this is like birth pangs where they go in quick and then they slow down and then they go in quicker and quicker, we could be really just a few years before Jerusalem would be surrounded by armies and it could be very soon where the daily would start. So, we don't know what events will trigger. We do know when we look at a number of structures that the nation of Judah will be a nation that will cause a lot of pain around nations around them.

I mean, one of my sons often draws the attention to me about Genesis 49, 8 and 9, where he's talking about Jacob's lost words and what is going to be full on the last days. And it says about Judah that your hand will be on the neck of your enemies.

And as he told me, he says the neck is like you can squeeze it or you can show mercy.

It's an interesting situation. Even more interesting is certain scriptures related to Zechariah chapter 12. In Zechariah chapter 12, there's some very powerful scriptures about Judah. Which is what we call today the nation of Israel, which is Judah. And in Zechariah 12, starting in verse 2, says, and in one modern translation puts it this way, I'll make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nation stagger. Well, that seems to be pretty much what's happening.

In verse 3 of Zechariah 12 says, I'll make Jerusalem a movable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try and move it, but they will only hurt themselves. Wow. Look at verse 5 in this modern translation. It says, all the clans of Judah will say to themselves, the people of Jerusalem have found strength in the Lord of heaven's homies, their God. And in verse 6 says, I will make the clans of Judah like a flame that sets a wolf pile ablaze, or like a burning torch among sheaves of grain.

You see, brethren, there are some serious events to happen. I don't know when they will happen, but it appears that a great war seems to be the next step. And then the Great Tribulation.

So the question I have now is really, what shall we do? What shall we do?

We read in Luke 12, verse 32, that it says, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Fear not, my little flock. So what is it that we can do? I believe that 2 Peter is one of those scriptures, one of those epistles, that gives us some very powerful stepping stones of what we can do.

Now, 2 Peter in the context, so we're going to now turn to 2 Peter, but 2 Peter in the context is warning against false prophets, and in today's context would be false Christianity. And so in the first chapter, basically tells the brethren in 2 Peter to grow in the knowledge of Christ and of God and be more like God. And it says, if we do these things, we will never be moved.

Then in the second chapter it says, Yah is some of the destructive teachings and doctrines of false churches and religions. And then in chapter 3 it says, God is faithful. God will intervene. Just hold on. And so let's look at some of those steps highlighted in the first chapter, starting in verse 2. It says, Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of our God and of Jesus our Lord.

Now it's interesting that the beginning is very similar to the end, because the very end of 2 Peter in chapter 3 verse 18 says, growing the grace and knowledge. But at the beginning it says, Grace and peace be of you, and multiplied. In other words, the grace be multiplied. You grow in grace in the knowledge of our God and of Jesus our Lord.

So very similar beginning and ending. It's like the book endings, and then you've got the content in the middle. And then we need to understand, brethren, that grace, and the church has an excellent booklet on grace that I do recommend you to really read it carefully. It is an excellent book explaining it. But grace is just not one dimension.

You see, grace is not just forgiveness of sin. Of course it is, but it's not just that. It is a whole lot of additional godly virtues of graciousness, kindness, being a giver. It involves basically us becoming more like God or like Christ, because he's in the image of God. And so we need to know we've got to grow in the knowledge of who God is, who Christ is, so that we can be like they are. And so we see, yeah, in verse 3, first, I beg your pardon, second Peter, chapter 1, verse 3.

So grow, grace and peace be multiplied. And then in verse 3, as is divine power, now what is God's divine power? It's God's early spirit. It's God's early spirit. So as is divine power is given to us all things that pertain to life. Now, obviously, it's talking about eternal life. So God's early spirit gives us all the, let's just put it between inverted commas, all the spiritual tools. God's early spirit gives us all the spiritual capabilities, all the things that you and I need to have to attain eternal life and godliness, which godliness is basically being like God.

So God's early spirit is his God's power that gives us those characteristics to be like him. And then it continues through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue. So he's given us, so we've got to copy Christ, and he says, verse 4, by which have been given to us exceedingly great promises, by which, by what God has shown us, by what God has given us, by his power, we have an opportunity to have exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you and I, we may be partakers of divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Brethren, what we need to do is to put on divine nature. In other words, what we need to do is to become like God. And God has given us all the things that we need to be like God. He's given us all the spiritual tools to do that through his spirit. You see, how often have we heard we've got to put off the old man and we've got to put on the new man. That's what it is all about. We've got to put on that divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Okay, so that is the big picture. Now, specifically, what is it that we need to do? And that is explained in the next few verses. But also, for this reason, giving all diligence, make every effort, really work hard on it. Add to your faith. Add to your absolute trust in God. We have to trust in God. It's only our hope we gotta trust in God. Add to your faith virtue. What is virtue? What is virtue?

Virtue is a way of thinking that is virtuous. It's virtuous feelings. It's virtuous actions. It's moral goodness. It is moral excellence, which includes things like modesty, purity, graciousness, thankfulness, being a giver, being kind, being courteous. It is doing and having a desire and motivation to live God's way. And these are... we can do that because we have God's Holy Spirit and gives us the tools for us to do that. Then we need to virtue. Add knowledge. Knowledge of what? Well, knowledge of God, knowledge of Christ's teachings, knowledge of the truth. It's not just learning, learning, learning, which is always learning but never coming to the truth, but it is having a genuine love for the truth. As we read in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 10, we have to have a genuine love for the truth. And then it continues. And to knowledge, self-control. We have to have the self-discipline, which basically is one of the characteristics of the fruit of God's Holy Spirit in Galatians 5, 22, and 23. We gotta have self-control. So we gotta, once we have the faith, we have those virtues, we know what we gotta do, now we gotta do it. We gotta do it. And that's why we need to watch and pray that we may be counted worthy, that God will inspire us and God will continue giving us of his Spirit, so that we do it. And then to self-control, add perseverance. And what is perseverance? Perseverance is that patient doing, sticking to it, and not giving up, just doing it. And to perseverance, godliness, because the goal is to become more and more like God, a commitment to God, as opposed to the immorality of this world. And then we become more kind towards one another. That is brotherly kindness. Brotherly kindness. And that brotherly kindness then takes it to one step further, to agape love, which is godly love, the love, the way that God thinks.

And so in verse 8, for if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren, nor unfruitful, in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. So if we really are abounding in these things, we will bear fruit in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, we become more and more like He is, and He is the image of the Father. And therefore, we become like He. Verse 9, for He who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that He was cleansed from His old sense. You see, we only see blindly these things, but we've got to be careful that we don't forget these things. We apply these things. Therefore, brethren, verse 10, be even more diligent. Really work hard at it to make your calling an election sure. Really work hard at it. Putting these steps, adding to faith, virtue, and knowledge, and self-control, and perseverance, and godliness, and brotherly love, and godly love. If you do these things, you're making your call an election sure. You will be counted worthy by God. For if you do these things, you will never stumble.

It's like one of, while I was attending ABC, one of the instructors there said, this is like God's spiritual insurance policy. That's an interesting way of putting it. It's an insurance policy, a spiritual insurance policy, that he says, we'll never stumble, we'll never fall. But basically what it means, you'll never leave God's church. You'll be able to stand before the Son of Man when he comes. Verse 11, for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly. In other words, therefore, that way you will enter abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So this way we'll be in the kingdom.

And so the point is, don't be unfruitful. That's why it says in verse 13, I stir up, reminding you the thing, remind you, and I remind you, while I live in the stand, I remind you, I repeat myself, remind you, please stay close to God, please. And YHWH is a simple, let's call it, ladder of points to work that we stay close to God. Repetition is good, and we need to remind ourselves of these points. And then Peter goes on to various wrong ideas and doctrines, and then he closes by saying, you know, the day of the Lord will come suddenly, and everything ultimately will burn up. But seeing that we know these things, we read in 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 11, what manner of persons we ought to be in holy conduct and godliness. You see, that's the important point. I mean, we can watch world events. I may have it completely wrong. I may have it completely wrong. We don't know. But I am convinced that time is short.

I really am convinced time is very short. It's never been so short, brethren. And what we need to do is to make sure that we keep in mind what manner of persons we ought to be in holy conduct and godliness. Therefore, it concludes, you know, beware, it concludes right at the end of chapter in verse 17 and 18, beware that you don't get distracted by the things of the world, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

In the book of Revelation, it concludes very powerfully with the following words. Revelation 22 verse 12. And this is Christ speaking. And it says, And, behold, I am coming quickly. In other words, suddenly. And my reward is with me to give everyone according to his work. I am the elf and the almond, beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are those who do his commandments, for they have the right that they may have the right to the tree of life. And then it says, Behold, I am coming quickly. That is in verse 20. Christ says, Surely, I am coming quickly. And our prayer, brethren, is, even so, come, Lord Jesus. Amen.