Grow up and Be as a Little Child

The title of today's sermon is, Grow Up and Be as a Little Child.

Grow up and be as a little child.

Today, we remember Jesus Christ's love for children.

God loves all children, just as He loves all people, as we heard in the sermon at today. God seems to especially love that age of human life, those early weeks and months of childhood, when infants and toddlers are especially innocent. And as I would say at that time before they really developed that sense of self-awareness. They just are what they are, and they're so sweet and loving and enduring.

But just draw our hearts to them.

And there's something about those little ones at that age. When we look at Scripture, Jesus wants His disciples to emulate. There's something He wants us to be learning from little children.

Now, I read this part out loud to you in the ceremony a few moments ago, but let's now, with your Bibles, let's turn to Mark chapter 10, and let's together read these words of what Jesus said. It's one thing to hear, but it's also another thing to hear and read at the same time. It gets the message a little deeper into our brains, our minds. So Mark 10 verse 13, and I'll give you a little more information here as I go, it says, and then they brought little children. The people had gathered, they brought little children. Now, the word for children right here in verse 13 is pydion, the Greek word pydion, and it really means it can be a little child. That's pretty much what it means. It can mean an infant, it can be a small child. It does not mean a newborn, and it does not apparently mean a much older child. And then, if you want to compare, you can look at Luke 1815. Just jot it down. We're not going to turn there right now. But Luke 1815 uses the word infant, and that Greek word is bryphos, and it does mean infants. A few months old, perhaps little toddlers. And so that's the age group we're talking about. Then they brought little children to him that he might touch them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them, but when Jesus saw it, he was greatly displeased and said to them, Let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them. For of such is the kingdom of God. And assuredly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, like one of these little children, will by no means enter it. And then he took them up in his arms, and that gives us an idea of how small they were in their age, he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them. And so we follow Christ's example today. And so it's a curious statement he makes here. What did Jesus mean, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.

What does it mean? It suggests that whoever refuses to submit humbly and willingly to God's authority, and referred to as kingship, as rulership, it means those that don't submit, humbly so, and willingly, will be excluded from God's kingdom. They will not enter it, they'll not be allowed to come in. In other words, we'd understand it to mean they will not receive eternal life. To enter in, he says, we must be as a little child. Now, in the way of speaking today, we might say most of us here are, we're grown, right? We're grown. Young people know what I mean by that. Don't act too cool. We know what it means.

So how do we grown people, adults, how can we do that? How can we become as a little child? Well, the answer is, through Scripture, the answer becomes that to be as a little child, we must mature spiritually and strive to be devoid of pride, ambition, haughtiness, self-importance, and whether synonym you might want to throw in there. And I'll say it again, we must mature spiritually and strive to be devoid, destitute, if you will, of pride, ambition, haughtiness, and self-importance. Or I could put even more simply to you the title, we need to grow up and be as a little child.

So Jesus' instructions, as we just read, recorded in Mark 15, we need to understand something. This is not the first time he had taught his disciples that one must be as a little child to receive eternal life. If you read it out of context, you might think, oh, this is the first time they heard it. No, it's not. If you put a marker here in Mark, we're going to be coming back a little bit. Let's turn to Matthew 18 verses 1 through 5. This is an incident that occurred sometime previous to this event we just read about Mark 10. In Mark 18 verses 1 through 5, and let's just read what it says, and they're going to read some of the other accounts to give a fuller picture here in just a moment. Mark 18 verses 1 through 5. And here we read, it says, at that time the disciples, I think I got it, did a confusion, Matthew 18 1 through 5 is where I want to be.

My ear caught dissonance in the crowd. I can hear too much paper being flipped.

My teacher ears were going, oh, what's going on?

Matthew 18, sorry for the confusion, Matthew 18 1 through 5. Here, in Matthew 18, we read, at that time the disciples came to Jesus saying, who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

And as Jesus sometimes does, he doesn't always answer with a straight answer. He can answer with a question. Sometimes he does something what some teachers call show and tell. And then Jesus called a little child to him, and he said him in the midst of them and said, he told his disciples, assuredly I say to you, unless you are converted, meaning unless you turn your ways, unless you change and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. It's very similar to what we read in Mark 10, isn't it? But there's more. Verse 4, therefore Jesus added, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one little child like this in my name receives me.

And then he can add in one more line, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believes in me to sin, it would be better for him if a mill stoner hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Now what this last sentence seems to suggest, by the time it seems as Jesus is continued on discussing little children, the idea of a little child becomes used in the more of a figurative sense in this last sentence we read in verse 6. It says, whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, most scholars recognize that figuratively speaking he's talking about the new Christians, young Christians, immature Christians, those new in the faith. And so those, the point is, it would be better for the person that causes these new little ones in the faith to leave God, to turn from God, to go back to life of sin, be better for them if they were just dead. It'd be better for them just to die and be dead than to turn one of his little ones to sin. That's pretty serious stuff, isn't it? So as we see, Jesus' instruction was in response to the disciples' question in this encounter. It was, who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Now we need to understand where the disciples were coming from. They didn't mean kingdom of heaven as we might understand it, as we were practicing and rehearsing and remembering during the Feast of Tabernacles, just what, 11 days ago is the eighth day. By the kingdom of heaven, the disciples had in mind this idea of this new kingdom of Israel, the renewing of the kingdom of Israel on earth, which they thought the Messiah, they believe Jesus was a Messiah, they thought he was about to set up, and once he set it up, he would overthrow the Roman government. He'd get rid of these oppressors from the land promised to Abraham and his descendants. And indeed, scholars tell us it was then a common expectation of the Jews, that this is what would happen soon.

And his disciples apparently thought the same. So when they asked who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, his disciples wanted to know, they really wanted to know which of them would receive the better offices under Christ as king. Perhaps which one would become the treasurer? Which one might be the equivalent of a prime minister? Which one might do this or that? What positions of power would they receive? What honors would they receive? What rewards might come their way? That's how they were thinking it. What's interesting is that Matthew's account does not mention how the disciples had been arguing over that question for quite some time. It's not mentioned here in Matthew 18. But we do find that fact stated in Luke's account. You can jot this down. You can find it mentioned in Luke 946. And it's also mentioned in Mark's account in Mark 933-34. In fact, hold your place here in Matthew now and let's go back to Mark 933. Hopefully you remembered the legal bookmark there. So now let's go back to Mark 933-34.

Here's kind of the backdrop. Here's some of the backstory that Matthew 18, Matthew doesn't include in his account of the same event. So here's what Mark tells us. Mark 9, we're in the right place, 33-34. And then Jesus came to Capernaum and when he was in the house, he asked them, he asked his disciples, he says, what was it you disputed among yourselves on the road? What were you arguing about back there? Verse 34, but they, the disciples, kept silent. Well, why? Why didn't they speak up?

Well, I wonder, could they have been embarrassed? Had they been doing something that they know Jesus would have disapproved of? Are they doing something they really knew deep down they shouldn't have been doing? Well, let's read. But they kept silent. For because on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. They disputed. That means argued. They're arguing about it. So now if we go back again to Matthew 18, which I did not bookmark, Matthew 18, 1 through 5 again. You can flip back there. Matthew 18, 1 through 5. So now we got the bigger picture, don't we? We get the larger context. With this larger context being that they had been arguing over this question and trying to answer it themselves, it changes the color of what, it changes the color of the tone, the meaning, to a degree of what Jesus said to them.

So the question is, who would be the greatest in the kingdom?

Jesus' answer, their question would keep coming up over and over again, as we're going to see here in just a bit. And Jesus' answer would also remain the same over and over again. Matthew 18, now just verses 2 through 4. And so Jesus answers the question, who'd be greatest in the kingdom? Notice what he did again. Then Jesus called a little child to him, a symbol, a representation, what he's talking about. And he said him in the midst of them and said, Assuredly I say to you, unless you are converted, unless you change and repent and become as little children, you begin to see the deeper meaning because they've been bickering about who's the greatest.

Unless you become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. But we get a bigger picture now of what the problem was and what the solution is all about.

To be the greatest in God's kingdom requires that one turn his direction, that one become humble as a little child, like an infant or a toddler. In other words, one must turn away from and repent of pride and haughtiness and wrong ambition. Some ambition is a good thing. You need to have a little ambition to get out there and get a job and to want to have a home and a family. The ambition back in the Middle Ages was a bad word. Ambition meant you were being driven by pride and greed and things like that. That's more the meaning here when I use the word ambition. So they needed to repent of pride and haughtiness, wrong ambition, that eager desire for status and fame and power.

And the fact is, then is now, those who seek the kingdom of God must turn away from and resist those worldly attitudes and approaches. Living that way will not get us into the kingdom of God.

It doesn't matter who we are. Now, the fact is, human pride and ambition, wrong ambition, is not easily mastered.

But scripture is unapologetic in revealing how the disciples would continue to struggle with their human pride, with their wrong ambition for position and power.

I'm not trying to smear them. I'm just showing you what scripture tells us, because they're just like us. They had the same struggles. But something wonderful happened in their lives, just like something wonderful has happened in our lives. But let's look. Let's look at Matthew 20. We're in the neighborhood still. Let's turn to Matthew 20. In Matthew 20, 20-28, for example, it tells us about the time when the mother of the wife of Zebedee, when the wife of Zebedee, excuse me, yeah, the wife of Zebedee, it says, verse 20, the mother of Zebedee's sons, that would be the mother of James and John, she came up and asked Jesus to give the two best offices in his kingdom, at its left hand and right hand, to give them to her sons, James and John.

Do you remember how the other disciples reacted when they heard that? No? Okay, well, let's read it. Verse 24. And when the other 10 disciples heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. They are angry. Today's way of saying it, they were really ticked. They were really ticked. They're angry about it. But Jesus called them to himself, verse 25, and he said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them, yet it shall not be so among you. But whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, remember they wanted to know who'd be the greatest in the kingdom? If you want to be the first, well, then let him be your slave. Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. And so once again, this issue of who's going to be the greatest, who's going to get powers to position the kingdom, it comes up again. And Jesus's answer comes up again. You got to be humble. You got to be, you can't live this way of wanting more and more for yourself. Jesus emphasized, instructed them in the need for humility to be great leaders in the kingdom of God, even great leaders in their own lifetimes. Now, disciples, let's look at Luke 22. Let's turn to Luke 22 now. Luke 22, verse 24 through 30. And it's just, again, I'm not besmirching their reputation or character. I'm just showing us what Scripture tells us. It's a lesson for us.

Luke 22, the disciples, you see, were even arguing over who would be the greatest on the night that Jesus Christ was arrested. Sometimes we may forget that. Notice Luke 22, 24 through 30. If you look at Luke, verse 24, if you glance up at verse 20 and in verse 19, you see reference how Jesus took bread. He gave thanks, broke it, said, this is a body given for you, do this in remembrance of me. He did the saint, the wine cop. This is the new covenant, my new blood, which is shed for you. So this is the night that, at Luke's account, they finished taking the New Testament Passover symbols. And then we read verse 24, how this arguing was going on even then. Verse 24, now there was also a dispute among them as to which of them should be considered the greatest. There's that nagging question again. Verse 25, and again, Jesus said to them, the kings of the Gentiles exercised lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors, but not so among you. On the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger and he who governs as he who serves. And remember, it was on this very Passover, as recorded in John 13, that Jesus washed his disciples' feet, and he set them for them and for us an example to follow and to understand that God's way of governance and leadership is through loving service and self-sacrifice. But even then, Jesus knew they would not understand what he was doing. They would not understand his purpose. You can jot down John 13, verse 7, because here's what Jesus told Peter, that very night, even after he did the symbols and gave them this instruction, Jesus told Peter, verse 7 of John 13, Jesus answered and said to Peter, what I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand after this.

Something would happen. One year later, they will know. One year later, things will have changed. You see, their attitudes changed. Their attitudes, they did repent. They did turn as they had been instructed by Jesus many times, and they were converted. They became different. It happened after they received God's gift of the Holy Spirit. Jot down John 7, 39. God's Holy Spirit would not be given until after Christ was glorified. They received God's Holy Spirit on that day of Pentecost.

And so God's very spirit, God's life essence, God's power in them, it helped transform them. It transformed their hearts, their minds. It transformed their attitudes towards God. It transformed their attitudes towards their fellow disciples and their brethren. That question never came up again. If you look in Scripture, they don't ask that question again. Who is the greatest in the kingdom? It doesn't matter. They know now. They finally got it.

Brethren, we got to get it. I think we do. But we got to get it, and we got to keep it. And then we have to live it. You see, the Holy Spirit they received is the same Holy Spirit we receive. We receive it through the laying on of hands at baptism. And it's to God and to a spirit in us that we are to surrender. And humble surrender.

Now today, we may not be arguing about who among us will be the greatest in the kingdom. We read Scripture. We know better now. We get it. We saw their examples. That's what the examples are there for. But as long as we're in the flesh, and if this won't go ahead and pinch yourself, are you in the flesh?

Are you in the flesh? Yeah. As long as you're in the flesh, we're gonna have trouble. Yeah, don't pinch too hard. I don't want anybody to bleed or anything. I don't want that. As long as we're in the flesh, we must still contend with their human pride. We must contend and fight our own sense of self-importance. I know we struggle with it. We all do. We do. Squabbles, bullying, contention can still arise among us.

We can get into it over status and position. Sometimes over the really little insignificant, sometimes silly things. We can argue about who does what. We can argue about the right or wrong in any issue. I think most of us, you give us an issue, and we'll come up with an opinion, and we'll stand by it. Well, maybe we shouldn't stand by it too much.

But I think you know what I mean. On any issue, whether it's worldly or spiritual, that can become a bone-in-the-art. Or spiritual, that can become a bone of contention, we might say. That's really not what we're to be doing. Christ tells us again that we must repent of those wrong attitudes. We're to become humble like a little child. And we who commit, those who commit themselves to God and Christ, must also be careful to guard themselves against pride and worldly ambition. They must be ever mindful of becoming like a little child.

Learning the things of God, I think you know this, learning things of God does not come to us naturally. They don't come to us naturally, nor easily. Because the ways of man are against God. The ways of man, the way we think, the way we are, are contrary to his law and his way of love.

We don't think the way God thinks. We have to learn how. And he gives us the Spirit and his word of truth to help us know what that means, how to do it. But the innocent and humble qualities of an infant and toddler, they represent the sort of humility God expects all members, all members of the body of Christ to be learning and to be living as best we can.

And this is a lifelong process. It's a lifelong process. And whether we be ordained leaders in the congregation or not, all of us must be learning humility. Why? It's a matter of life or death. Frankly, it's a matter of eternal life or eternal death. Spiritually speaking, then, we need to grow up by becoming like a little child. So what do we need to do?

What do we need to learn to be truly humble and ready to receive God's kingdom? I have some ideas. I have five. And you can add to the list. I think you know my lists are freely expanded upon. You can do it. What do we need to learn to be truly humble and ready to receive God's kingdom? Well, number one, learn to be teachable. You have to learn that it does not come naturally, not to be teachable in the ways of God. Learn to be teachable. Little children, you know, infants, little toddlers, they are readily teachable.

They are ready. They want to learn. They are little brains and minds with all their little senses. They are like little sponges, aren't they? They are just ready to soak up all they can learn. All they can learn about God's creation. They are fascinated by it. They can be so fascinated by a dead ladybug, you know?

And you get down close and you look at it with them, you realize, yeah, there is a whole world down there I didn't see before, but that kid did. What do you know? They are sponging it in. They are wanting to learn about God's creation, great and small. They want to learn about God. It is up to the parents and their church family to help them learn.

And their family, they want to learn about family and they want to learn what love is. They are ready. Teachable means being able and willing to learn. It can also mean capable of being taught. It refers to someone who is open to gaining new knowledge or skills. We certainly want to be teachable when it comes to God's way. God created human beings to be teachable. Now in this world, sometimes people are born who are not fully able to be teachable in the full sense.

But the good news about that is that one day, everyone will have that opportunity. We learned about that at the feast regarding the eighth day. And so everybody will be healed. Everybody will have that full opportunity to finally be able to be taught about God.

They will be fully teachable. And when it comes to learning God's way of life, we must be willing to be taught and willing to be taught from God's Word. Not only having a willingness to learn, but a willingness to learn from the Bible, from Scripture.

It also means we must be willing to listen, to learn, and to change. We have to be willing to listen, to learn, and to change. If you don't really change, all the listening is for naught. It's no good.

Let's look at Isaiah 66, verses 1-2. Isaiah 66, verses 1-2. Here we learn...here Isaiah tells us something very important. It's a starting point, you might say. Isaiah 66, 1-2 tells us that we must fear God. We need the fear of God. We need to revere God in His life-saving instruction. Here's what it says, Isaiah 66, verse 1.

Thus says the Lord. It gives us a big picture of who's speaking here. Thus says the Lord. Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you will build me? Well, there's no house that can fit God. And where is the place of my rest? For all those things my hand is made. What things? Well, he's talking about the heavens and the earth. The heavens that's His throne and the earth is footstool. God's pretty big, isn't He? He's pretty great. For all those things my hand is made, and all those things exist, says the Lord.

But notice this. Here's God. In one sense, you could say He's got the whole universe within His hands. All this going on, all this He's watching over, all this He's set in motion. And what gets His attention most, it seems?

Maybe I shouldn't say most, but what gets His attention? But on this one, I will look, God says, on Him who is poor. That's not something about money. It's talking about being humble. On Him who is humble, and of a contrite heart. A contrite means remorseful or repentant. I will look on Him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles. Some versions say, reverently trembles at my word. So when we read God's Bible, when we read His Scripture, when we hear instruction, like I'm sharing with us today, things I've learned, things I've been taught, we need to take it seriously. We shouldn't be taking it like we're reading the Sunday sports page.

Do they still make Sunday sports pages? We shouldn't be taking this lightly. These are the words of life. We should reverently tremble at God's word. Let's look at James 1, 19. James 1, 19-22 also urges us to heed God's instruction. This is not just an Old Testament idea. It's ludicrous. This is God's eternal teachings. James 1, 19. So then, my beloved brethren, the Apostle James writes, Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath. For the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

This idea of being swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to get anger, we've got to be controlled. We've got to listen. We've got to listen to what God's telling us. Don't blow it off. Don't say, well, I don't agree with that, so I'm not going to do it. Well, you do that on peril of your death. You know, today we're witnessing great anger in our society. Have you noticed that?

There's great wrath in our society today. There's great unrest in our nation. But you know what we don't see a lot of? We don't see much of God's righteous fruit, do we? I don't care which side of the political spectrum or morality spectrum you want to stand on, you don't see a lot of fruit of God's righteousness.

But you know where you should see it? We should see it in our lives. God needs to see it in our lives. We need to see it in each other's lives. We don't want to fail at this. This is our chance now. This is our time of judgment. This is our time of being held accountable. God holds us accountable for what He's teaching us. And so then James continues on verse 21, he says, Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, all that's contrary to God's loving and beautiful way, and receive with meekness, there you go, there's that teachable component, and receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls.

God's word put in our hearts, etched in our hearts, the help of God's Holy Spirit. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. I talk about that a lot. It's something I have to keep working on, and I believe we all do. It's not good enough to know something. You have to live it. You have to put it to action, or it's useless.

We're wasting time. And we don't have a lot of time. God only gives us a little bit of time. 1 Corinthians 3, 18-20. To be truly teachable and ready to receive God's instruction, be ready to live it, brethren, we have to be doing a lot of unlearning. Yeah. We have to do that. Sometimes we have to unlearn some important things, things that are, well, important in order to stay right with God.

No longer important if we're followers of God. Sometimes it means we have to become foolish in the world's eyes, in the eyes of the world. 1 Corinthians 3, 18. Paul writes here, he says, Let no one deceive himself. Don't get cocky. Don't think you've made it. Don't think you're somebody.

You've got to be humble. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, in this world, let him become a fool that he may become wise. See? Unlearn the worldliness and start doing what you were taught many years ago, perhaps. What you just discovered. If you just discover something you've been doing is wrong, but it's really cool according to the world, are you going to stay cool with the world or are you going to stay right with God? I know what I'm going to try to do. Verse 19, For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.

For it is written, He catches the wise of their own craftiness. And again, the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile. They're foolishness. He's talking about the wise of the world. And what we hear on television, the news media, and websites over and over again, is the so-called wise of the world, but just pause and ask yourself, are they wise in the world or are they wise in the ways of God?

That should matter to us. Now, God is gracious. He wants to give us eternal life, but we need to be ready to receive it. So that means we do, brethren, we must be teachable. We must be able and willing to heed His instruction. We need to repent of sin. We need to live humbly, according to His word. Second thing we need to learn. We need to learn to accept our limitations and weaknesses.

This one's tough. Learn to accept our limitations and weaknesses. Now, little children are aware of their limitations and weaknesses, though, yes, I know, they don't actually think in those terms. When they need food, what do they do? They cry. When they need a diaper changed, they cry. When they are frightened and need comforting, they cry. Boy, some of you got this down pat. I'm amazed. That's great. You see, they cannot provide for themselves. They are limited. They are weak, although they don't think in those terms. So they cry out for loving, compassionate hands to help them. They cry out for loving, compassionate hands to help them. May that remind you of somebody.

May that remind you of you. We need compassionate, loving hands of our Father and of Christ to help us at times. Being aware of our limitations and weaknesses should lead us to have greater reliance on God and His Holy Spirit to help us.

2 Corinthians, we are in the neighborhood. Let's turn 2 Corinthians 12. 2 Corinthians 12, 8-10. Here we have the example of the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul openly admits here to his limitations and weaknesses. 2 Corinthians 12, 8-10. He admits his own limitations and weaknesses to his brethren and to us. And he also explains to us he understood why God does not always remove affliction from us. And we need to understand this ourselves. In verse 8 he's talking about something he calls the thorn in the flesh. It's some affliction he had, some physical affliction that he asked God to remove and he didn't. Verse 8 he says, Paul says, He's going to put up with all the afflictions that may come his way in life. Because what has he learned? He says it right here. For when I am weak, when I'm weak and limited and helpless, then I am strong. Strong in what? Do you know the answer? Strong in God, strong in faith, strong in his connection to God. Paul understood that his infirmities and limitations were actually beneficial to him in that vital and spiritual way. His afflictions and his firmities, his limitations, helped to keep him humble and reliant on God for help and strength. And I wonder, perhaps Paul realized that without his weaknesses to bolster true humility, perhaps he realized he might have remained or become proud and arrogant and tyrannical like he had been, instead of compassionate and long-suffering and loving towards others and more and more faithful to God. Paul is a wonderful example to help us accept and be willing to learn from the afflictions that God gives us. Let's also read Philippians 4.12. Philippians 4.12. And here in the book Philippians, I recommend you go ahead and put a bookmarker there. We'll be coming back here a few times to Philippians. Philippians 4.12.13. These words we're familiar with, these famous words, Paul again boldly confesses his awareness of his human frailty and also of his great strength through faith in Jesus Christ. Philippians 4.12. Paul says, what we just read from 2 Corinthians, he says, Philippians 4.12, Philippians 4.12, I know how to be abased and I know how to abound. I know the good and the bad of life. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. But what does he learn most? 13. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That's an admission of his weakness, and that his true strength is from Jesus Christ and his relation. And he's not going to let it up. He's not going to give it up. That needs to be us. That needs to be our view. Only God has true strength and power. Unlike God, we human beings do grow weak and weary. Have you noticed? And it can be very frustrating and terrible at times to grow old. There are some benefits. You get to be among silver seniors, right? And you get your discount. No, I'm teasing. There are the benefits of having a better appreciation of what life's about. You've got this perspective. You're on top of the mountain. You can see things better. You can see your life better. And you can be more grateful to God for what he's given you. You can also maybe look up and across and see God's kingdom coming closer. And that gives you great hope, too, when we're older. God allows our weaknesses and aging as a means of teaching us and making us aware of our need for him. Brethren, without God, we can do nothing. And so, believing the truth about our limitations and weaknesses, they really ought to humble us as a little child and help us focus our attention on our need for God. It should drive us closer to God. Now, learning this truth about learning to accept our weaknesses and limitations, that will help us learn this next quality of humanity. Number three, we need to learn to trust and depend upon God. Learn to trust and depend upon God.

Little children trust their parents for food. They trust their parents for clothing and protection and comfort. Again, they don't necessarily understand their needs. They cry out, and somehow they feel better. Isn't that wonderful? God kind of does that with us sometimes, probably. Those little children, they trust and depend upon their parents to provide for them. We must learn to trust God. That means learning to depend less in our own frail and limited selves, and depend less on others. Don't get me wrong, there's wonderful people out there, and technology and things that can help us in our need. We don't want to ignore that, but let's never lose sight of where our true help comes from.

Our true help, ultimate help, is from God. We must learn to place our trust, belief, and faith in God. You know, Matthew 6, 31, 34. Matthew 6, 31, 34. Familiar passage, you know it. But it fits well with what I'm trying to illuminate and share with us today. Matthew 6, 31, 34. Jesus tells us that we don't need to fret and worry. We don't need to fret and worry. We don't need to fret and worry like those who do not know God. Whenever we feel overwhelmed, we need to stop and realize we know God.

Others are in our shoes, they don't know God. But because we know God, what are we going to do about it? Jesus says, Matthew 6, 31, He says, Therefore do not worry, saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? What shall we wear? How am I going to solve this problem? How am I going to get through this? How am I going to face another day? How am I going to get through next year? For after all these things the Gentiles seek, those who don't know God. For your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. That's just not a cliche. And all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Take care of today. I'm here with you right now, God says, today. And you and I will take care of tomorrow, tomorrow. And I've already scoped it out, okay? Stick with me. And we'll get through tomorrow, too. Do we get the point? So we can, when we understand that we can trust God and depend upon God, well then we can stop fussing and fighting as if we're the only ones trying to take care of ourselves.

That we've got to fight with people to get what we think we want. We can learn to stop doing that. We can stop trying to do everything ourselves, even things that we just cannot simply do ourselves. And just as little children humble and carefree, so can we be carefree and without worry as we place more trust and dependence upon God and his promises and upon living according to his way of instruction. Let's look at Philippians 4, 4 through 9. Go back to Philippians. Philippians 4, 4, 9. Paul exhorts us to trust and obey God. It's very encouraging if we allow ourselves to listen, if we open our hearts to be teachable and listen to what God's telling us to hold on to him and not be anxious, not be worried.

Trust him. Philippians 4, 4 through 9. Paul writes, He tells us, He's telling you and me, rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice! Get happy! Let your gentleness be known to all men. Share what you know about God, how to live with others. The Lord is at hand. Verse 6, Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication. With thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Go to God with our problems. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. And finally, brethren, whatever things are true, what other things are noble, what other things are just, what other things are pure, what other things are lovely, what other things are of good report, if there is any virtue, and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things.

I don't think He'd have us meditating on the latest whatever coming out of the news media. Would you agree? We don't need to focus on all that. Be aware, but don't fixate it. It's destructive to worry about things like that. Verse 9, Paul says, The things which you learned and received and heard and saw on me, Paul says, He is an example of Christ. These do, and the God of peace will be with you. We've already learned He is with Paul.

He will be with us. Brethren, we can choose to let go and let God guide us and direct us in how to live our lives in Him. Instead of us being all about me, me, me, and more, more, more, right? Which takes us to the next thing we need to learn in order to be humble as a little child. Number four, we need to learn to be content.

Learn to be content. Little children need little to be content. Mother's milk can quickly satisfy them. I've learned that an empty water bottle is a perfect toy. No batteries required. Do you notice how little ones, little children don't worry about what new clothes the other babies are wearing this year? They don't worry about that. Sometimes we do. Who's being childish? The infant or us? No, let's not go there. Learning to be content and satisfy with what we have helps us stay humble, you see.

We don't become anxious about wanting what somebody else has. The Joneses, I don't even know the Joneses. Why do we want to keep up with them? We need to learn to be content. Learning to be content will keep us from being controlled by society's pressure to get and have more. Learning to be content will help us battle covetousness. Covetousness is an enemy of contentment. I don't know if you ever thought of it that way. Covetousness is an enemy of contentment. It tells us, oh, you can't be content until you buy this.

You get this, then you'll be content until this comes out next week. You know how it goes. 1 Timothy 6, 6-8. 1 Timothy 6, 6-8. Paul tells us there. I think you're familiar, you may be familiar with this. 1 Timothy 6, 6-8. Paul tells us that godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world is certain we can carry nothing out.

And having food and clothing with these we shall be content. We can be content with food and clothing if we choose to be. But if we choose to always be anxious and want more, we're not going to get contentment. What Paul is telling us in 1 Timothy is that we don't need a bunch of stuff to be truly content. That goes contrary to our consumer-based economy in this country.

Let's go back to Philippians again. Philippians 2, 1-4. Philippians 2, 1-4. You see, brethren, Paul also tells us we don't need the stuff. We also don't need to be status seekers. We don't need to be always worried about climbing ever higher in that ladder to worldly success.

Philippians 2, 1-4. Paul tells us that unity in our relationship with God, in our relationship with our brethren, through that spirit of humility, is what we should be striving to have and to keep. Philippians 2, 1. He says, Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection, if any mercy, will then fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love. This is speaking of unity in the church, of being of one accord and one mind. Look at verse 3. He says, That means pride. But in lowliness of mind, there's that humility factor, in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. And let each of you look out not only for his own interest, but also for the interests of others. Hebrews 13, verse 5 gives us something more to think on. Hebrews 13, verse 5. These are not new scriptures by any means. Perhaps you're seeing them in a little more exciting and energized way today. Hebrews 13, verse 5. The speaker here writes, the writer says, See, all these things we can be content about. The thing that should give us greatest contentment is the fact and truth. If we allow it to be and stay faithful to God, God says, Now, brethren, sometimes contentment is hard to define.

Sometimes we can feel what a word means. To this day, when I think of contentment, I think of something that happened to my little brother and me after shopping with my mother and grandmother one day when we were just little kids. Mother and mom bought us each a snow cone. You know what snow cones are? Not the fancy Hawaiian ices. I know some of you really like those. Now, that's just a plain old snow cone. And we were sitting on the bench, and I know we must have been kicking our legs. You know how little boys do? And kids, little girls, they kick their legs just like dogs wag their tails. Kids kick their legs when they're happy. And we're just sitting there eating snow cones, and grandma walks up and she goes, I have never seen two more contented children in my life. I don't really think I knew what contented meant, but I felt it. I knew what it felt like. Contentment can be hard to explain, but it can...you know when you're content. And maybe it's sort of like kindness. It's kind of hard to define kindness, even with the Greek words. But we know what it feels like, and long suffering, and patience, and love.

We need to learn to be content with the things God offers us, and especially that idea that He's never going to leave us. And finally, brethren, leading us to the last thing I had listed to learn, and it's a very vital aspect of humility. You must learn to be forgiving. Learn to be forgiving.

You ever notice how little children can express emotions in unexpected ways?

One moment, they're happy. Maybe they don't know how to giggle yet, so they're just kind of tortling or making girdling sounds, but you know they're happy. The next second, they're angry. And you know when they're angry. And then, shortly after that, they're all hugs and squeezes. Just like that.

You know what little children don't do? I've noticed this, the little ones I'm talking about, infants and toddlers, they don't hold a grudge. They don't hold a grudge.

They don't say, I'm going to get you. You know, there's no vengeance in them. Sometimes they get older, then you've got to talk to them. But not when they're really little. It seems to me, in fact, it seems that little children, the group Jesus was talking about, they almost seem incapable of being angry for very long. They're angry, they're unhappy, they get over it pretty quick.

That's something maybe related to forgiveness. Learning to be as humble and forgiving as a little child means that we must be willing to let go of bitterness and grudges and hate. Sometimes we don't even realize it's in us, and it pops out in unexpected times and ways.

We must choose to love and not hate. And that's what God instructs us. Ephesians 4.31-32.

In various ways, we hear this over and over again in Scripture. Ephesians 4.31. Here Paul writes, Let all bitterness, all wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. It's not supposed to be a part of us. Instead, and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. You see, hate in our hearts ultimately hurts ourselves, hurts us the most. It hurts us most of all because it displaces God's love that's supposed to be in us. Hate displaces God's love. It keeps God from being in total control of our hearts and minds. But the good news is that God is ready to help us eradicate hate and bitterness. He gives us His word, telling us how. He gives us His spirit to help us. We need to seek God's help in learning to forgive those who hurt us and those who disrespect us. And sadly, sometimes it's the ones that we have come to love most that do that. Sometimes they do it intentionally, sometimes it is intentionally. And it's not fun. But God is ready to help us cope with that and deal with that and learn to forgive those who hurt us and disrespect us. Our part, we must be striving to be reconciled. The other person may not be interested, but as much as depends on us, we should be doing all we can with God's help to build back the bridge that's fallen apart, perhaps. We must be doing all we can with others to resolve bad choices, mistakes, hurtful actions and words. You know, it takes great faith and trust in God, and I will add great courage to forgive. It may be one of the hardest things we ever do. It especially takes humility to admit and then to say, I was wrong.

That should not become a hard phrase for us to say as followers of Christ.

It takes great humility to forgive those who wrong us, even terribly wrong us. But, brethren, let's turn to Matthew 6, 14-15. Sometimes we can come up, you know how our little human brains and hearts will do.

Human reasoning apart from God.

Sometimes we'll justify, well, I'm not going to forgive them because they haven't treated me right, and they did this. Sometimes a person that did that may have been dead 40 years ago, and we still haven't forgiven that person.

We're only hurting ourselves. God doesn't give us any wiggle room with regard to forgiving others. Look at Matthew 6, 14. It makes it very clear. Jesus said this, Matthew 6, 14, For 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 trespasses.

Let's also look at Luke 17. How often must we humble ourselves and seek our brother and sister in repentance, or seek them out for forgiveness? How often do we do that? As many times as we sin against him or her, as many times as we need to be forgiven and reconciled with. Luke 17, 3-4. Again, there's not much wiggle room. Jesus said, Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him. And that doesn't mean you go out and beat him up, and I'm going to straighten you up. No. It's out of love. You're trying to reconcile and help him get better. And rebuild good relationships. Your brother sins against you, rebuke him. And if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you saying, I repent, I forgive you. Say to him, I forgive you. Seven times a day, maybe seventy, seven hundred times a day. As much as it takes, we have to keep being willing to forgive. Matthew 6, 14-15. Again, we don't have much wiggle room at all on that, do we? So like a little child, we must develop, and we must retain a forgiving mindset. That mindset of our loving God, of our loving God, remember who has forgiven us for all of our sins. If God has forgiven us for all of our sins, how can we justify not forgiving others who have repented and seek forgiveness, our forgiveness, for what they've done to us? We need to be like our Heavenly Father. And so, brethren, those are five things we need to learn. These are five things we need to learn to help us to have that humble heart, to help us become more like a little child, to help us be ready to enter into God's kingdom. And so we've been reminded of the many spiritual things we need to be learning and practicing. We have much to learn and to do as we walk in the way of God, walking towards the kingdom. But never forget, Christ is with us every step of the way, if we allow Him to be, if we turn to Him. So, brethren, we've spoken to many things today. I'm sure I've given us all much to think about. I'm going to keep thinking about these things as well. Let us persevere and let us continue. In that wonderful process, this wonderful thing God has provided us, a process called conversion. And brethren, let us grow up. Let us grow up and be as a little child.