Become as Little Children, Part 2

Well, last Sabbath, as you may recall, if you were here, we had the blessing of the little children, and I gave a sermon on what Jesus Christ meant when He stated that unless you are converted and become His little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Well, last Sabbath, I ran out of time before concluding the sermon, and a number of you asked me if I would consider finishing the sermon, and I'd be happy to finish it, and that's what we will be doing today. I'd be happy to do so.

But since we have a number of visitors with us this week and folks that didn't hear the sermon last Sabbath, I thought we would give a little recap for ten minutes or so on the main points of what we covered last week, and then we can just pick up where I ran out of time. We read last Sabbath in Matthew chapter 19, verse 13, a very powerful statement by Jesus Christ. It said, Little children were brought to Him, and they wanted the parents, wanted Jesus to lay His hands and pray on the little children, and it said the disciples rebuked them.

And Jesus was upset with that when He witnessed it, and He said, Let the little children come to Me, and don't forbid Him for of such, as these little children, Jesus said, is the kingdom of God. This said, and He laid His hands on them, and He set that example. And after that, I asked a question, what did Jesus mean by that comment?

And we continued. We revisited an account that happened just a few chapters earlier in Matthew chapter 18. This was another very interesting situation, where one of the numerous times the disciples got into a discussion with themselves, wondering about who was going to be greatest in the kingdom of God, in the kingdom of heaven. And to teach them a lesson, according to Matthew chapter 18, Jesus brought a little child in the midst of them, and put them in the center of where the disciples were standing.

And He said in the midst of them, He said, unless you are converted, and become like a little child, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. He said, Jesus continued, whoever humbles Himself as this little child, and again, Jesus used this child as a prop to teach this lesson. He says, whoever humbles Himself like this little child will be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one little child like this, Jesus said, in my name also receives Me. So it's like you're receiving Jesus Christ Himself.

So Jesus said that we have to be converted, we have to become like a little child to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again, I asked the question, what did He mean by that statement? So we began to look at some characteristics of little children about the ages of birth, the three years old. And again, I gave the disclaimer, as I do every time when I get in this topic, not all little children are the same. We all have different dispositions as adults, and I had three daughters of my own, and I can tell you that children are born with personalities of their own and dispositions the moment, the second they come out of the womb.

So in general, what I'm talking about here are typical of little children, not universal qualities. Sometimes little children, there are some little children who are just cranky or grumpy, just not very happy campers. And obviously, so the principles that I discussed were typical of what you find with little children. They're not universal qualities. The first one was genuine humility. And I mentioned from the dictionary, the American Heritage Dictionary, that it defines humility as marked by meekness or modesty in behavior, attitude or spirit, not arrogant or prideful.

We also read from the dictionary that it shows deferential or submissive respect, one who considers himself low in rank, quality or station, unpretentious, lowly. And I mentioned how little children see the world differently than you and I do. Little children live in a world where everybody and everything's bigger than they are. Again, picture yourself about three years old. And what do you see? You see these gigantic beings with these long legs flying all around you. They're bigger than you are.

They move quickly. They are intellectually your superior, whether it's mom or dad or a sibling. And they live in a whole different world. They realize that both physically and intellectually they're inferior to their parents and to their older siblings. And by nature, they usually want to please their parents. They want to receive praise. And they want love for the things that they do well.

And as the spiritual children of God, I acknowledge that this is a kind of attitude that we should have towards our own father, our spiritual father, spiritual parent. He's the superior. We're the inferior. Intellectually, in every way, he is God. We are mere weak human beings who have to depend on him for the very next breath of air that we breathe.

Now we turn to 1 Peter, chapter 5, verses 5 through 9. And we looked at Peter's admonition to the church. He said to be submissive to one another and to be clothed with humility. Now when he said clothed, Peter didn't mean some facade.

Like we put clothes as an outer covering. He meant to be surrounded. Surround yourself. Engulf yourself in humility. He said that God resists the proud and he gives grace to the humble. And Peter said, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. That means when the time is right.

And then we looked at the Holman Bible Dictionary that defines humility as a personal quality in which an individual shows dependence on God and respect for other persons. Humility means that you acknowledge and respect both God and his fellow creation. That's our brothers and sisters in this world. Humble people don't feel the need to constantly express their ideas and opinions to others. They don't feel the need to be in other people's face all the time.

They don't believe that they're better or superior to other people. They don't see a need to seek constant attention for themselves. Humble people rigidly maintain their values. They're not pushovers. They're not tatsies. They maintain their values. But they are patient and generous with others who have a different point of view. Because humble people accept the fact that they might be wrong. It's God who's all-knowing, not us.

It's God who has all knowledge. We may be flawed. We may have beliefs that in time we will come to see are wrong. When I was first brought into the church in the early 70s, we had doctrines that we taught that were wrong.

And we had to learn over a period of time, God revealed and he opened the mind of his church to realize that certain things that we taught were wrong. It is God who is all-knowing, not us. So humility, people with humility understand that yes, they could possibly be wrong. We also read Matthew chapter 22 and verses 34 through 40 where Jesus said, and he was talking about the Great Commandments, He said, the first is, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind. He said, this is the first great commandment. He said, and the second is, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Your neighbor isn't your inferior. You shouldn't have a smug, arrogant view of your neighbor. You should love your neighbor as much as you love yourself. So humility places God first and places other people on an equal level with yourself. Humility rejects elitism and arrogance and an attitude of superiority. The second quality that we discussed was having a childlike attitude. There are four parts to having a childlike attitude. The first is forgiveness. This is so hard for us.

We mentioned how, if you've ever noticed when a little child gets into a squabble with one of their siblings, or when they have a conflict with mom and dad and they get a spanking, a minute later, all is forgotten and they're back to playing again. We had to grow up to be adults to learn how to carry the baggage around of bitterness and anger forever towards some people. Those are adult traits.

Those are not the traits of little children. At this time in their lives, they're not old enough to learn how to carry perpetual anger and bitterness towards others. We looked at Matthew 6 and verse 9, and scripture that I often refer to in the preparation for the Passover because it's so profound. Jesus said, and this is part of what's commonly known as the Lord's Prayer in verse 14, forgive men their trespasses if you forgive men their trespasses.

Your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespass. I read from the translation God's Word for today, which I like. It says, if you forgive the failures of others, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you don't forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failures. So what's Jesus saying here?

He's saying that to the same degree that you forgive, you will be forgiven. So if we've been offended and we continue to hold resentment or anger or bitterness towards someone, on Judgment Day do we want Jesus Christ to say to us, Well, you could have been forgiven, but I'm going to hold an equal way that you judged other people, and I'm going to judge you the same way. And because you never let this offense go, because you never stopped resenting this person, I'm sorry, but I just can't forgive you.

None of us wants to hear that on the Judgment Day, do we? We want to be completely forgiven. We want to be loved by Jesus Christ. We want to be part of his family. Remember that Jesus said, If you do not forgive, then their trespasses. Neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. And again, for a childlike attitude of forgiveness, this is easy for little children. They get a spank and they have a conflict with mom or dad or a sibling, and five minutes later they're going on their merry way.

Life is good, and they've forgotten all about it. It's something that's behind them. So it's a beautiful childlike attitude. The next one was enthusiasm. Small children have an enthusiasm for life. They look forward to each day with zest and wonder. Even though small children often get corrected, they hear the word no often, or they're forced to do things against their will. You know, you've got to go to bed, or you've got to put your toys away.

Even though they face these frustrations, they rarely get discouraged or lose hope. They wake up each morning, and it's a brand new day. And when they start to verbalize, I can remember my children, when they start to verbalize, you're trying to get a few extra winks in, and they're in their crib.

Mom, dad! Why are they doing that? Because it's a brand new day. Let's get going here. Let's get cracking. Come on, mom. Come on, dad. Let's get with it. That's just the enthusiasm that little children have for life itself. They're resilient when things go wrong, and their enthusiasm for life soon rebounds over again. We looked at a scripture from 2 Corinthians, chapter 7 and verse 5. We know that 1 Corinthians, Paul wrote a very strong letter to the Corinthian congregation.

He literally chewed them out. But they responded in a positive way. They didn't get bitter with Paul. They didn't get angry. They responded. They repented. They changed their attitude. They changed their little church culture. And he said, in responding in 2 Corinthians, regarding what they had done, he said, Observe this very thing that you sorrowed, he said, in a godly manner. What diligence it produced in you. What clearing of yourselves. What indignation. What fear.

What vehement desire. What zeal, he said, you had. So the church reflected a childlike attitude of enthusiasm to be the kind of people that God wanted them to be. To preach the gospel and to serve each other. We saw an example of a congregation that had received severe correction from Paul, and it responded in a right way in a way of enthusiasm. Another quality, the third quality of a childlike attitude was the joy of learning. And we talked about how a small child, there is discovery in learning about the world.

Knowledge comes naturally to them. They're like a sponge. They just want to soak up knowledge and explore the physical world. They examine things closely. Just learn how they work, what works, what doesn't. And soon they begin to verbalize and repeat what they see and what they hear. And this is how we should be spiritually. We should have a great level of excitement as we learn more about God and more about spiritual things.

We saw an example of a simple woman who realized the importance of knowledge. It was Hannah, Samuel's mother. And we turned to 1 Samuel 2, verse 1, and she said, talk no more so very proudly. Let no arrogance come from your mouth, for the Lord is the God of knowledge. We realize that knowledge has to come from God, not filtered through men, not the ideas and opinions of men. Knowledge comes from the Lord, who is the God of knowledge. She continues, and by him actions are weighed, the Lord will judge the ends of the earth, he will give strength to his king. So true spiritual knowledge comes from God and is our calling from God.

It's a gift. And she put life in a proper perspective. She said, I don't fear enemies. I don't fear mighty men, boasters. I don't fear those who are in temporary positions of power in the world. She said, because the God of knowledge has the universe in his hand. She realized that she was protected and blessed by him. The fourth quality was childlike faith, that we discussed, and at that point little children believe what they are told. They anticipate that their parents, they believe, they just accept that their parents are telling them the truth. They believe that their parents want what is best for them.

And this is a good biblical principle and attitude to have towards God. We went to Matthew 9, verse 27, and an example of two blind men who followed Christ and said, would you please heal us? And Jesus said, do you believe that I'm able to do this? And they said, yes. And he said, okay.

He said, then according to your faith, he said Jesus had all the faith that was needed. He said, this depends on your faith. According to your faith, let it be unto you. And I mentioned that the most undeveloped gift or tool that we have as God's people is faith.

It's hard. It's what I struggle with most of all. In our secular world, in our scientific age, where we have reason and we have logic and we focus on proof, and these things are idealized in our culture, and faith is ridiculed. Just simple faith is ridiculed as being blind as somehow being insufficient.

We have a problem believing what God tells us is possible to do with a living faith, don't we? We turn to Matthew 21, verse 18, and it told the story about how Jesus was hungry and he approached a fig tree. And there were only leaves on that fig tree. And he said, let no fruit ever grow on you again. And immediately that fig tree withered up and the disciples were shocked. And Jesus said, you know what? He said, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to this fig tree, but you'll be able to say to that mountain, be moved and cast into the sea and it will be done.

And as I mentioned, Jesus said that to men who didn't even have God's Holy Spirit at that point in their lives. So what should we be able to do? Those of us who possessed the Holy Spirit of God. And he said, whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive. So that fourth quality of a childlike attitude so powerful is faith. Well, we're about to point to the time where we pick up where we left off last Sabbath.

So the third area that I wanted to mention is constantly growing. And now we'll slow down and we'll get into the Scriptures and we'll glean these points as I finish this sermon today. Constantly growing. This is point number three. Little children are constantly growing physically.

They can't help it. It happens whether they're conscious of it or not. It's by design. Their physical bodies were designed to continually grow and expand. It's their destiny that they grow from little children into adulthood. As much as I loved my little children, I couldn't stop them from growing up. As much as they were great when they were little and they were fun, you can't stop them from growing up. But that is by design. And the same should be true of us spiritually. The stark truth is that as physical beings we are either changing and growing or we die.

And that's the stark truth. Now, we may be growing old. But we're still growing. Those physical processes of change are still happening. And when those stop, then as human beings we stop. Even in a physical sense, we are changing, we are growing, and when that stops we die. Very powerful concept. But little children are constantly growing. Let's go to Psalm 92 and verse 12. Psalm 92 and verse 12. And see this beautiful analogy that David has between the righteous, that's you and I, those whom God has called, forgiven, given His Holy Spirit to, the righteous and ourselves.

And see what we are encouraged to be like and appreciate. Psalm 92 and verse 12. David was inspired to write, the righteous shall flourish like a palm tree. He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who were planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.

They shall still bear fruit in old age. Oh, Mr. Thomas, I'm, I, I hit 60 years old, Mr. Tom, Mr. Thomas, I'm 80. I've decided it's time to kick back. It's time to just put it on speed control. My vehicle is pointed towards the kingdom of God, and I think I have enough gas in the tank, and I'm just pointing forward.

No, brethren, that's not good enough. It says, they shall still bear fruit in old age. We can't check out of growth. We can't decide, well, I've done all I can do. My time of growing is over. Remember what I said. We either change and grow, or we die. That's not only true of our physical processes, that is true of our spiritual lives. So continuing, they shall still bear fruit in old age. They shall be fresh and flourishing. How's that a remark for someone who's old?

It doesn't say they shall be burned out. They shall be tired. No, it says they shall be fresh and flourishing to declare that the Lord is upright. He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. So obviously, David is talking about the spiritual growth of the righteous. God intended us to bear fruit well into old age. And no matter how many years we have been in the church, we should be fresh and flourishing. That's what it says in the scripture in verse 14. We shall be fresh and flourishing in our relationship with God. God wants us to spiritually grow tall, strong, and solid, like a cedar tree.

Not like a little sapling that's blown here. Every time there's some doctrinal wind, we lean over to this side. Somebody has a different opinion. We all lean over to this side. No, he wants us to be strong, like a cedar tree. Before the feast, my wife and I visited Monticello, one of my favorite haunts.

For the third time, I've been able to visit the home of Thomas Jefferson. The thing that I always find remarkable about him is he never stopped growing. He had a love and a zest for learning. In his 80s, he designed and built the University of Virginia. He just continued throughout his life. Every day was a new and exciting venture. He kept diaries of what the weather was like every day. He just meticulously, scientifically loved to study life. He loved the clean knowledge. He just, like a little child, he just constantly wanted to grow.

How about us, brethren? Ephesians 4, verse 11. Let's turn there. Ephesians 4, verse 11. Paul wrote to the congregation in Ephesus, chapter 4, verse 11, and he himself, referring to Jesus Christ, gave some to the apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.

And of course, you remember that edifying means to build something. So for the building of the body of Christ. It says these are responsibilities. There are roles that God put within his church. And how long should they last? Until I'm so spiritually mature that I no longer need these things? Well, verse 13 tells us how long these responsibilities shall last. Till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Jesus Christ.

Verse 14. That we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. But speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into him who is the head Christ.

Verse 16. From whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effect of working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

We are all part of the body of Christ. We all play different roles. We are all different joints and different parts of that body. Christ gave his church various positions and roles so that the church can grow and be built up. You know, I looked at our directory. I count, personally, over 20 teachers in our beloved congregation, including sermonette speakers, including song leaders, including youth educators who work with our children, including women's club presenters, including those who are opening and closing in prayer.

I count over 20 individuals who are serving as teachers, as Paul discussed here in Ephesians 4. All trying, feverishly with God's Spirit, to build one another up, to strengthen each other, to encourage each other to build each other the way God wants us to. God doesn't want us to be drifting from one loony doctrine or teaching after another. He wants us to grow up, to be like him and our Father. And healthy spiritual growth comes with obedience and persistence, humility, and a maturity that's developed over time. So again, that was point number three.

And point number three was constantly growing, which is a wonderful quality that little children have. Point number four. Children love unconditionally. Again, children love unconditionally. What does that mean? It means there are no strings attached. At first you might say to yourself, well, don't all of us as adults want to be loved, especially by God?

Well, we may say that we do, but the truth is that we typically only give love or receive it on our own terms. When there's something in it for us. We usually don't give love or receive it unconditionally. In our minds, in our attitudes, there usually are strings attached. Again, this is part of human nature that we acquire as we enter into adulthood because we are burned for attempting to love someone. And then after we are burned, we put up barriers and an emotional shield to protect ourselves from being hurt again.

Again, this is human nature. This is the way that we all are. In contrast, a little child typically accepts love without ulterior motives or selfish intentions. Little children love their parents even when they're disappointed by them. I've noticed that little children, even if dad is a drug addict, a little child unconditionally loves dad.

Even when parents are dysfunctional, little children just unconditionally love their parents. Let's see an example of the love that Jesus Christ had for the city of Jerusalem in Matthew 23, verse 36.

Again, Matthew 23, verse 36. We're talking about unconditional love, which is something that God has for us. Matthew 23, verse 36. Jesus is talking about here in context the fact that some very terrible things will happen soon to Jerusalem. And they did happen at 70 AD when the Romans invaded Jerusalem. They literally destroyed the city. Many thousands of people died. I think I've told you before how I believe, if I recall correctly, it's the writing of Josephus that said that after the Romans invaded Jerusalem, there were so many people impaled and set on fire by the Romans that at night it looked like daytime in the city of Jerusalem.

So the Romans didn't come to play around. The Romans meant business. And Jesus was talking about what would happen to Jerusalem. But here's what he says beginning in verse 36. Assuredly I say unto you, all these things will come upon this generation. He just remarked about things that would happen.

He says, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her, how often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.

Jesus said, I wanted to love you. I wanted to give you a big hug as your God. I wanted to protect you. But you wouldn't accept my love. That's what Jesus says here. Verse 38, See your house is left to you desolate. For I say unto you, you shall see me no more until you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

He says, You're not going to see me again, oh city, until I come back the second time and establish the kingdom. I'll read this from the translation God's word for today. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you killed the prophets and stones to death those sent to you, how often I wanted to gather your children together in a way. A hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Your house will be abandoned, deserted.

I can guarantee that you will not see me again until you say, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.

So here we see the desire of Jesus Christ to love the people of Jerusalem, but they refused his love and his protection.

They didn't know how to love God or how to accept love from God. And I know particularly in my experience in the church, a lot of men do not know how to accept love from God. And the usual, the root of that is because we didn't have ideal fathers. So because we didn't have the right kind of relationship with a physical father, some of us struggle in having the right kind of relationship with our spiritual father because we think God is somehow like our dad was. And God is so far above and beyond the weaknesses that our physical fathers had. But yet, because many of us had absent fathers, we struggle, being men, to allow ourselves to be loved by God.

And some of us don't know how to love God back. And that's something that we have to work with and struggle with and learn. Well, Jerusalem didn't know how to love God or how to accept love from him. And instead, they murdered the Son of God like they earlier had the prophets that God had sent.

And sure enough, in 70 AD, Jerusalem was completely destroyed by the Roman army. And I'm sure there were some who heard this statement 40 years earlier, who lived long enough to see Jerusalem destroyed and probably recalled what Jesus Christ the Messiah had said on that day.

Well, sadly, brethren, many of us have been through some difficult life experiences. Some of us have become so hurt and jaded and offended and discouraged that we no longer really know how to express love or even how to receive love, how to accept love from God. And until we process that and work through it, we are going to be stunted spiritually. Far too many people want to love God from an arm's length. You know, kind of like—and this is something that I'll be very candid and open with you—because of the teachings of the World Wide Church of God in the 60s and 70s when I was reading literature and coming into the church, I had in the early part of my life more of a deistic view of God. A deistic view of God said that God was real, but God kind of wound up the clock and he went away. And he had a plan and the clock would tick and everything would work out all prophecy and everything would be fulfilled. But God wasn't really all that interested in your life. He was like an arm's length away from directly intervening in this world. And that's how I pictured God, and that's a very distorted, unbiblical view of who and what God is. God is a personal God. He is intimately interested in every detail of our lives. He is a God who intervenes, who hears our prayers, and cares for us even for things that we may think are silly, are not silly to our Father, are not silly to our great God. So I think it's important for us to realize and appreciate that we have to love God in the right way, not from an arm's length, because if we do that, we'll be spiritual pygmies. Our spiritual life will be stunted. John 14. John 14, beginning in verse 16. John 14, verse 16. Christ said, and again we read this usually around the Passover, and I will pray the Father and He will give you another helper. And we know, of course, that helper is God's Holy Spirit. That He, and of course I will read the Scriptures as they are, but we know that Holy Spirit is not a gender. That He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him or knows Him, but you know Him. For He dwells with you and will be in you. So Jesus knew the Holy Spirit was not yet into the disciples. It was working with them, but it would not be in them until the day of Pentecost when they would receive it. Verse 18, I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you a little while longer, and the world will see me no more. But you will see me, because I live, you will live also. Verse 20, at that day you will know that I am in the Father, and you and me, and I in you.

He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is He who loves me. So by our fruits we show that we love God. And He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love Him and manifest myself to Him. Judas, not a scary, it's in Him. Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world? And Jesus answered and said to Him, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come and make our home with him. Our, meaning Jesus Christ and the Father through the Holy Spirit, will come and make home with us. In other words, we become part of family. Isn't home family? Isn't home where a family lives? He says, I will make you part of my family. The same spirit that resides in Jesus Christ, the same spirit that resides in the Father, resides in us. That is just remarkable information when we think about it. Christ is not simply talking about some intellectual jargon here called love. When we understand what it means here, this is a life game changer. It's life changing. What it means here is we're no longer enemies or alienated from God. We are now part of the family. That's exciting. It means we look upon God with a special affection, so much so that we should call Him Papa Abba. Not just, you know, Heavenly Father, which is fine, but more affectionate than just Father, Daddy, Papa. That's how we should look at God in a very personal and an affectionate way. For translation here in verse 21, for God's word today, it says, Whoever knows and obeys my commandments is the person who loves me. Those who love me will have my Father's love, and I too will love them and show myself to them. So children love unconditionally. God unconditionally loves us while we were yet sinners. Jesus Christ died for us. Before we had made a move, before we had done anything to show God that we even cared about Him, Jesus Christ died for us. That is unconditional love.

The fifth point that I would like to discuss is that children go to their parents first. Children go to their parents first. Ever notice a small child when it's frightened or startled? This happened a few weeks ago, and I saw one of my granddaughters, Claire, she was startled. And her first instinct was to immediately run to Mom or Dad for comfort and for assurance that everything's okay.

If there's a genuine threat, a small child knows that they can go to Mom or Dad and that they can receive protection. And oftentimes they'll wrap both arms around the leg. They'll cling. They'll grab a hand. They're clingy. I need to feel secure. I need to feel safe. I need to feel like I'm protected. And this is a true spiritual principle as well. Children go to their parents first. But what's the problem, brethren? The problem is, is we become adults, we want to be independent. Right? We don't want to depend on God. We want to be all their teenage years, right? We wanted to be old enough to drive a car, because then we would be independent. We wanted to be old enough to consume large prodigious amounts of alcohol. Why? Because we would show our independence. That's what we looked forward to. That's what was important to us. And that's what our society emphasizes, particularly we Americans. Don't we take great pride in our independence as Americans? We tend to only go to God after we have failed, or after everything else we tried fails. That's the truth of most of us as adults. Remember the lyrics to the song, My Way? A number of years ago, Frank Sinatra sang a song called, My Way. That was actually, I think the words were by Paul Inka. And here's what the last part of that song says. It song starts out, of course, that he's near the end of his life. He says the end is near. And he's boasting about the fact that I did everything my way. And here's what the final paragraph is.

For what is a man, what has he got? If not himself, then he has not. To say the things he truly feels, and not the words of one who kneels. The record shows I took the blows and did it my way. Yes, it was my way. I searched this one phrase about the one who kneels on the Internet, and some say it was an anti-religious statement, demeaning people who pray. And then other people said that, no, it's just talking about he refused to be subservient to anybody. And Paul Inka isn't talking, so we don't know what the original writer of those words truly meant. But the point of the song was, I didn't need anybody. Yeah, I took the blows. I'm like a boxer. Hit me again. Give me another one. And he takes pride in the fact that he's been beaten and battered around in life, but he's proud because he did it my way. And that reflects the attitude of so many people today. To their own hurt, they're going to bang their heads against the wall and do it their way, rather than humbly going to God or even going to a professional who can help them and get the help that they need. First John, chapter 4 and verse 15. First John, chapter 4 and verse 15.

John was inspired to write, Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us.

God is love and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him. You know, there are a lot of critics today regarding the United Church of God that you people, you people, sure talk about love an awful lot. It's all about love. Well, why is it all about love? It's because John says God is love. And he who abides in love abides in God and God in him. So should love be a rather loose topic that we get around and talk about once a year when we're feeling kind of sentimental once in a while? Verse 17, Love has been perfected among us that we may have boldness in the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world. What is Jesus Christ? He is family. So he says that love is perfected in us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. And why can we have boldness? Because we are forgiven, we are loved by God, we are part of family. Verse 18, There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear because fear involves torment. You know, there are some ministers, there are some religious organizations that are dedicated to manipulate people through fear. Oh, you better do this or you're going to the lake of fire. Oh, you better do this or you're not going to be in a place of safety. Be afraid, be very afraid. Do what the minister tells you or you're going to go to hell fire. Be very afraid. Jump! But what does John say here? He says, There is no fear in love, perfect love casts out fear because fear involves torment. Fear and love are diametrically opposed. They cannot even reside together. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. So if someone makes you fearful, if someone's goal is to manipulate you and make you feel afraid, very afraid, what John is telling us here is that he who fears has not been made perfect in love because they are incompatible. Fear and love are incompatible. God wants you to obey him because you love him, not because you're afraid of him, not because you're terrified of him.

He wants you to be obedient because you love him, because you choose to be obedient through love. Verse 19, We love him because he first loved us. Again, point number five was children go to their parents first. And in this case, before we were even called while we were yet in our sins, we love God because we say, you know what? No strings attached. He loved us first. He loved me first. Before I made any move towards God, before I understood who and what God is, before I acknowledge his presence in the universe, he loved me before I did any of those things because he loved me unconditionally. The Believer's Study Bible says this about verse 17. Christians have confidence as they anticipate the day of judgment. God's love, which the believer experiences and expresses towards others, drives out fear of eschatological or future punishment. Again, love and fear are not compatible. Don't allow yourself to be manipulated by people who have made a cottage industry in making you feel inferior, making you feel like you always fall short because you have something on your face or you don't have a hair covering, or you're not idolizing the sliver of a moon over Jerusalem on a certain day of the month. Do not let any of these charlatans manipulate you into thinking that somehow you lack righteousness because you're not dancing to their tune.

Their reward will come. They will receive their reward. In the meantime, don't allow yourself to be manipulated. Before a child is even born and parents discover that the mom is pregnant, they nurture that unborn child. They love it first before it even comes out of the womb. And they care for the embryo even before the child is delivered into the world. They anticipate it with joy. They think about it. Oftentimes they'll prepare a room in advance. They love that little child. And the same is true of us. God loved us first, even while we were still in our sins and cut off from knowing Him. Just knowing this fact should make us want to draw closer to our Father, knowing that He loves us that much.

Should make us want to learn how to love Him and how to accept His love back in return. Remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13. It's known as the love chapter. Why? Because there are people who put importance on a lot of things. There are people in my 40 years who have had hundreds of their own goony prophetic declarations and they all failed. Many of them are dead now, awaiting their judgment for lying to people. But Paul says prophecies will fail. But what remains? He says, love. He says, all I do is espouse things to everybody. He says, I'm like sounding brass. He says, what's really important, verse 13, when all is said and done, He said, is having love. And that's something we need to understand and appreciate more than ever before. Matthew 6 and verse 24. In our society today, we don't tend to go to God first looking for satisfaction, looking for personal fulfillment. We tend to go to things first to look for personal fulfillment or satisfaction. We look for new toys.

We look for material things to give us happiness, to provide us satisfaction. Jesus warned about this in Matthew 6 and verse 24. No one can serve two masters. We can't be loyal to materialism and the true God. For either He will hate one and love the other, or He will be loyal to the one and despise the other. We cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore, I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat and what you will drink, nor about your body. What you will put on? Is it not more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more than one of they? Verse 27, which of you, by worrying, can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. And yet I say to you that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not a raid like one of these. So if God so clothed the grass of the field, which is today and tomorrow, is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? As I've said before, no matter what we think we achieve in this world, death is the great equalizer. Steve Jobs now has nothing. I think he was the 40th richest man on earth. You know what? He is equal to a bum who was buried in Pottersfield in Cleveland last week. They both ended up in the same place. They both have nothing. One is just in a prettier box than the other. That's the only difference. Death is the great equalizer. So we tend to put all this stock in my house, and in my car, and in my suits, and in all of these things. And brethren, it means nada. It means nothing. It doesn't hold any value in the kingdom of God, which will last not just our mere physical lifespan. The kingdom of God lasts for eternity. He says, O you of little faith, therefore do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear? He said, For after all of these things the Gentiles seek. Why? Because the Gentiles don't go to their father first. They look for personal fulfillment. They look for happiness through materialism, through power, through money, through prestige. He says, For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things, but seek first.

Not third, not after all else fails. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. I have mentioned before that God refuses to be our genie. Please, brethren, God does not want us going to Him after all else failed. God, pull me out of another one. I'm going to rub the magic lamp.

Provide a miracle. No, that only happens in Disney movies. We worship a great God that we should go to first, not as an alternative after everything else fails. So what is Jesus saying here? He says, In every area of life, for every concern, every worry, go to God first. Not after you've exhausted all other options.

Are you discouraged right now? Are you going through health problems? Are you frightened? Are you anxious? Go to God first. That's what a little child does when it's anxious or worried or frightened. It runs to Mom or Dad first. It's instinctive for a little child. Ask Him for comfort and protection. Have you ever noticed that little children don't worry about food? They don't worry about clothes. They don't worry about the newest toy.

They just assume it'll be provided by Mom and Dad. That's the innocence that a little child has. It'll be provided. It's always appeared. Since the day I was born, I was fed. It was Mom's breast. And then it was that terrible baby food that tasted like wallpaper paste. And then they moved me on to other things. But I've always been taken care of. It's always there. It's always been provided. That's what a little child believes. And that's the way God wants us to approach Him.

Well, in conclusion of the sermon today, putting all of these qualities together regarding what Jesus meant when He said we must become like little children, the key concept of all of the points that I mentioned is absolute, complete, unfailing trust in God and in all of His promises. Trust. Can we trust God? Can we believe Him that much? Let's see the example of Solomon, 1st Kings, our final scripture, 1st Kings, chapter 3 and verse 5. It says, at Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night and God said, Ask, what shall I give you?

Well, that'd be pretty neat, wouldn't it? Imagine having a dream and God comes to you and says, Anything you want, what do you want me to give you? Well, I'm not going to give you anything. God comes to you and says, Anything you want, what do you want me to give you? Now, what would you ask for if God said to you, What shall I give you?

Anything you want? Wow! A lot of people I know would say, I'd like to be President of the United States, or I'd like to be a CEO of my own company, or I'd like this particular type, I'd like to be the richest man on the Forbes list. Richest man in the world. That's what a lot of people would say. And Solomon said, You have shown great mercy to your servant David, my father, because he walked before you in truth and righteousness and in uprightness of heart with you. You have continued this great kindness for him. You have given him a son to sit on this throne as it is this day. Verse 7, he's going to give his answer to God.

He says, Now, O Lord, my God, you have made your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child. Solomon says, I don't know how to go out or come in. He says, You know what, God, I'm over my head here. This is a pretty big nation. There are a lot of people counting on me to do the right thing, to be successful. And I'm just a small child who lacks understanding, who lacks wisdom, who is way over his head in the responsibilities that I have.

Verse 8, And your servant in the midst of your people, whom you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. Again, going back earlier in the sermon, you notice how he puts people on an equal plane with himself.

He doesn't say, Yes, you may be king over the drones, over the mindless imposols that you happen to breed within this nation. No, that's not his attitude towards the people at all. He's there to serve them. He refers to them as a great people, not a people who are inferior to him, too numerous to be numbered or counted. Therefore, give your servant an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge, once again, this great people of yours?

Verse 10, the speech pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked for this thing. Then the Lord said to him, Because you have asked this thing, have not asked for a long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice. Behold, I have done according to your words. God said, already done. You've got it. See, I have given you a wise and understanding heart.

So there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall there be any arise after you. Verse 13, And I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among all the kings of your days. Remember what Jesus said? Seek you first, the kingdom of God, and all of these goodies, all of these other things will be given to you, will be provided.

That's exactly what God did to Solomon. Solomon was humble. He referred to himself as a little child. He referred to God's people as great. God said, I like that attitude. You're coming to me first. You got it right, Solomon, and because of that, I'm not only going to give you wisdom, I'm going to give you wealth and prestige and all of these other things that you didn't ask for. Verse 14, So if you walk in my ways to keep my statutes and my commandments as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.

Solomon candidly tells God that he knows he's over his head. It's a heavy responsibility to lead a great people, like the people of Israel.

This reflection of Solomon's humility and his complete trust in God and in God's grace results in a special blessing of wisdom and understanding along, yes, along with wealth and along with honor.

So in closing, what little child avoids its mother's arms? No, he trusts his mother's arms. What little child rejects her father's playfulness? No, they enjoy that time together. And when dad is tired, the little girl is saying, again, more! Let's play some more again! What child stays angry more than a minute after the spanking is over? No, he forgets the crisis and he trusts mom and dad over and over again. What little child fails to accept comfort again after being stung by a bee or pushed down by a bully or even being bitten by a dog?

No, little children, they get over the crisis of life and they trust again and again and again over and over. The little child knows no bitterness. Instead, they trust. And so must we, brethren. For to truly know God as a father requires trust in his promises. It requires trust in his correction. It requires trust in his word and trust in his plan for our individual lives. So I have a wonderful Sabbath to remember, as Jesus said, therefore, whoever humbles himself like a little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one little child like this, like this, or like this, whoever receives one little child like this in my name, Jesus said, receives me. Have a great Sabbath!