As a Little Child

I want to start the sermon today right where we left off in the message before we had the opportunity to bless the children, but this time turn with me back to Mark 10. Mark 10, we have another account of what we just read in Matthew about the blessing of children, and I want to draw your attention to something in the verse here. Excuse me for just a minute. Mark 10, verse 13, let's read through the blessing of children in Mark's account, just as we did in Matthew. It says, "...they brought little children to him, that he might touch them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them, and when Jesus saw it, he was greatly displeased and said to them, Let the children come to me, and do not forbid them, for of such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God, as little child, will by no means enter it." Pay real close attention to that last phrase. Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God, as a little child, will by no means enter it. When the Bible says things like that, we should pay real close attention. Jesus Christ was doing a marvelous ceremony of asking God's blessing on those little children, but he was teaching the people that day something as well.

Whenever Christ speaks, there are examples for us that he wants us to learn. As we bless the little children, and we know that God will watch over little Oliver and little Archibald, that he will be with them, and he will protect them from the terrors of this life. And, Father, and hopefully bring them to the knowledge of him as they grow as well, he teaches us something as well.

If we don't receive the kingdom of God as a little child, we will by no means enter it. Today, I want to go through these three verses here that we just read and tear it apart bit by bit and look at the pieces that are there and see how they apply into our lives. Because we learned something about the people that brought their children to Christ. We learned something about what he did and the touch that he put on them. We learned something about Christ.

We learned something about children. And we learned something about the kingdom of God, just by looking at these verses that are here. So let's begin and look at that first verse again. It says, in verse 13, they brought little children to him. They. Kind of a mass of people. We don't know how many were there. If it was a few families, many families, how many people actually brought their children to God or to Jesus Christ that day, we don't know. But they did it. And you notice, as Jesus Christ sees the crowd, he receives them. There's no judgment in him. He looked at the crowd, he saw people bringing children to him.

And they were bringing them to him. And he didn't say, well, they're just not worthy of my time. They're not really Jews, if you will, in that day. They're not really Christians. I don't need to spend my time working with them. There's absolutely no judgment. There's no spiritual issues brought up here at all. They brought children to him. Could have been any number of people who watched Jesus Christ and who wanted him to be the one to bless their children.

And so we learned that Jesus Christ, anyone that came to him, he received them. He had the time for them. He didn't segregate and say, you but not you. Well, this crowd, I'll spend some time with them. This time, I won't. Anyone that brought children to him, he blessed. And he made no judgment on them at all. And so as we go through our spiritual lives, we will meet a number of people, a number of people that may come to church, many more that may never come to church.

We can't make determinations on that. We receive them all. And we take the time for anyone who has the interest or who approaches God and wants to know. He never set any bounds in this situation with them, with people who were seeking him. And it says something about the people as well, and something about Jesus Christ, because they may have heard his words, and he spoke stirring words in the sermons that we read, and the Sermon on the Mount and other places.

But it wasn't his words necessarily that brought them to bring their children to him that day. They saw in him something that attracted them. They saw a heart in him that they wanted their children to be blessed by him. They wanted their children to be in his presence. They felt the warmth that was in him that they would even think about bringing their children to him. He wasn't an elder in the synagogue. The Pharisees would have them believe that he was someone not to even pay attention to.

The Pharisees wanted him gone, but the people saw the heart. They saw the Spirit of God and that warmth that emanated from him, and they knew they could approach him. And they may have been surprised when the disciples, who probably looked at the crowd and thought, he's got better things to do than to deal with little children. And Christ taught them a lesson.

No, there is time for everyone. There is time for everyone asks. There's never a time that's too busy. But they saw something in him. You know, as people encounter us, as we grow day by day, year by year, decade by decade, in the truth of God, as his Spirit lives in us and grows in us, people should see some of that in us as well. They should feel the warmth. They should feel some of the love of God.

They should see that, and they may not put their finger on it, but there's just something different about him. And the crowd recognized that, and they responded to it. When we work with people, we speak the truth, but we have to be.

We have to walk the walk, and we have to talk the talk at the same time, just like Jesus Christ did. And the people saw that in him. And they brought him, and they wanted him to pray over the children, and they wanted him to touch them, as was the custom back then, the custom still today.

You know, touch, if you look in any psychological journal, they say touch is just one of those basic and very necessary human needs. People need to be touched. And it's all over our society today. You know, we talked not too long ago about the doctrine of the laying on of hands, and certainly in our church culture and our church beliefs, there's a laying on of hands that Jesus Christ built that in as a doctrine. When babies are blessed, we lay hands on them. When people are married, we lay hands on them. When people are sick, we lay hands on them. When people are baptized, we lay hands on them and ask for God's Holy Spirit. So it's built into our culture. Touch is important. And if you look back in the Old Testament, you see the blessing was always accompanied by touch. And touch is very much of our society today. What's the first thing we do when we meet someone? We reach out our hands, and we touch each other's hands, right? Handshake.

It's still something that's very there and a very necessary part of life and a very necessary part of developing relationships. And Jesus Christ built that in here as He, as the children, were brought to Him. And then we learn something about Jesus Christ as well. Something about Him.

We could give a whole series of sermons on the attributes of Jesus Christ and the character traits of Him. All sterling. All perfect. All examples of what we need to become to like and what we need to become like and what God will lead us to be like as we let His Holy Spirit lead us. He was the epitome of love. He was the epitome of joy, even when people were all over His back about a number of things. He was the epitome of peace, patience, and all the fruits of the Holy Spirit. The same things He wants to see us develop in. And the same things that we should be. But I want to look at one thing here as Jesus Christ and hone in on one of them. As He looked at those little children, the disciples, what they saw was, this will take too much time. This is a nuisance. We don't have time for this. We had this on the schedule. This is what we needed to do. And so they said, no, no, He doesn't have time for that. But when Jesus Christ looked at those children and those parents who were bringing, He saw something different than the disciples did. He loved those people. He loved those people, and He wasn't going to let anything come between Him and giving the time that they needed. He was very approachable. People knew they could come to Him. And He looked at people with a different set of eyes than maybe you and I do. Certainly with a different set of eyes, and the Pharisees looked at people back in those days, and certainly a different set of eyes that the world around us would look at people.

He looked at people, and He loved every single one of them.

I want to spend a little bit of time as we develop, as we see, how Jesus Christ and how God the Father looks at you and me, and how He looks at every single human being. And while He wants us to come to look at them as well, to love them the way that He loved them, and when we see them in that way, then we too would be approachable. Then we too would realize and see the potential in the people that God is working with. He sees the potential in everyone. We don't have to turn to the first verse, but in Genesis 1, verse 27, you know that verse. That verse says that man was created in God's own image. After six days of creation, where through all the planning and who knows how long it took to plan everything and to create an earth that was just perfect in every aspect for mankind, and just think how much love was put into that, that He would create a perfect earth for us to live in with the variety of plants, the variety of foods, the variety of animals that we have, the variety of landscapes, a beautiful place. Then on the sixth day, the crown jewel of that creation was mankind. And He took the time and He built him in His own image. He wanted mankind because He was building him and He was creating him with all the potential in the world that we have yet to realize. But He knew exactly what He was doing. And when He created man, He built in him all the faculties that we have. He even made him mortal so that we would go through this life and we would develop the character that would last for eternity if we yield to Him and if we follow and if we we obey in the things that we need to obey in. But what He saw in mankind when He created him in His own image was what their future could be, what they would be for eternity. He wasn't looking just then, and He loved that creation. He created in His own image to look like Him. You know how it is when we look at our own kids and we see elements in them that remind us of ourselves, remind us of our wives or husbands, if it's the opposite. And we love those kids. They're products of us. We see ourselves in them. We see when they're young the potential that they have and we want to give them everything. And when Jesus Christ put, when He put man on earth and God created man, He wanted to give them everything. He wanted to provide it all, just like you and I do. He wanted to have them to have a life that was beyond anything they could imagine. And He wanted to give them a future that we're still realizing today and coming to understand in the months and years that we are in the church and led by His Spirit. That's the eyes that He looked at Adam and Eve with. That's the eyes that He looks at you and me with. That's the eyes that He was looking at the people in Jerusalem with back in those days. And when those children were brought to Him and He saw the parents just wanting to be close to Him, just wanting Him to do those things, that's the eyes that He looked at those young children with. And He said, bring them to Me. I want to give them. I will take the time. They are very important to Me. They're the future. I see the potential in them.

And, of course, there's time to give the blessing to them. He sees each one of us as someone He's working with, and He sees the potential in His children. Let's turn over to Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2, verse 10 says, we are His workmanship. He's working with us. He loves the things that He's working with. Just like when we create a project or we're doing something, we love the thing we're dealing with. Sometimes we create things, and we can be very proud of them. I don't mean create like God creates, but something we would build and we think, ah, I love that thing. Other people might look at it and think, not even worth looking at. But we love it because we put our time and effort into it. God looks at every person in that way. We are His workmanship, those of us who have repented and now allowing His Holy Spirit to live in us. We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. He sees that potential. He knows where we can go if we allow Him to lead us there.

We are His workmanship, and He loves that. And when He looks at you and when He looks at me, and He may be frustrated at times about what we do, He may shake His head, but He still loves, and He still wants what He had always planned for you and me. Let's go back to Matthew, Matthew 23. This verse in Matthew 23, verse 37, has always touched me. There are a number of verses that you have in the Bible that just reach you in a right way, and some people call them their favorite verses, but they just sort of speak to us. Matthew 23, verse 37, always has. Here we have Jesus Christ in the time that He was living with all the people who disliked Him, who wanted to discredit Him, who wanted to kill Him because, just imminent here after chapter 23, He would be arrested and crucified by people. And He could see that mounting, and He knew what was going to befall Him. In verse 37, He says, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who were sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together as the hen gathers her chicks under her wings. All I wanted to do, He said, is just give you everything. All I wanted to do was just open your minds, have you receive me. I just wanted everything to be good for you. I wanted to you to know the future that I had called you to. I wanted you to know the Messiah. I wanted you to know salvation. I wanted you to know God's truth. I wanted you to open up for you the way of life that would lead to everything that you say you want. Just like a mother hen watches out for her chicks. But He said, but you weren't willing. You weren't willing. He wanted to do it. It was the people who rejected Him. And in that verse, you can feel His compassion. You can feel His love. You can feel His sorrow that the people just wouldn't let Him give what He wanted to give.

And that speaks volumes about Jesus Christ. And the people who walked with Him and saw Him, who weren't dead set against Him, saw that quality in Him. And among God's people, one of the things we develop is to love people. To come over time to see people the way God sees them as the potential they have. We may get frustrated just like He gets frustrated with us, but He never gives up until the people no longer will do anything or respond.

And so we don't give up on people either. And as long as they are looking, and as long as they come, we take the time with them and we love them. And of course, Jesus Christ, when we talk about His love, you can't talk about His love without talking about how He was willing to give His life and how much more besides just His life. He gave up being God so that He could come to earth and be a human being and sacrifice His life in an awful manner, a torturous death, just so that you and me, and everyone else who has ever lived, might have the opportunity, well would have the opportunity to have the sins forgiven, and then have the hope of eternal life. That's how much He loved you and me. Another one of those things that we say, but I don't think we really fully grasp how much Jesus Christ loved us. He loved all of mankind, that He was willing to do that and go through that. So when He was there in Jerusalem, knowing what He was going, what was going to befall Him in just a short while, He still loved those people. He was still able to say that verse. And when those children were brought to Him, He was able to look at them and their parents and say, of course I have the time for them. I love them. I see the potential in them. I see what they can be. If they'll just let me give it to them.

Over in 2 Peter 3, verse 8, actually I don't need to read verse 8. Let's read verse 9.

It says, The Lord is not slack concerning His promise of some kind of slackness, but He's patient toward us.

Just like we're patient with our children. Sometimes they can frustrate us, but we don't stop loving them. And we're patient with them as they work out the things in their life.

He's long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. He doesn't want anyone to lose out on what He created mankind to be. He doesn't want anyone to perish. His will is that everyone would just let Him give what He wants to give. That they would receive His calling. That they would receive His message. That they would yield to Him.

That they would yield to Him. That they would repent and turn from their way of life and choose Him.

Recognizing and accepting that that's the only way to salvation. The only way to eternal life.

Not many ways, just one way. And that's through Jesus Christ. And that's through living the way of the life, the way of life that's portrayed in the Bible. Not willing that any should perish, because He loves them all. Over in 1 Corinthians 6, we find that Jesus Christ, you know, physical creation was done in six days or seven days with the Sabbath being created on the seventh day.

But creation is still going on as we talk. The physical creation was set in place in the six days, plus the seventh day Sabbath, where God became an imminent and extraordinarily important part of man's life and cycle on this earth. But today He's still creating. And He's still building.

He's still creating in us the character that we need in order to realize what He wants to give us.

And He's building a temple, as it tells us here in 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 19.

He says, Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you?

Whom you have from God and you aren't His own. Pay attention to that. He's working in you. He's building a temple in us. And He's building a temple among His people as well. A temple that He will return to. Always creating, always building, still working with one another.

And what He wants is to see that that building continues. He's very interested in what's going on in my life and the character that I'm creating. I'm very concerned when I do actions that would destroy that character, just like He is with you. Because what He wants to see is a steady progress so that we will be in the Kingdom, that we will recognize or realize what the potential for us is by His grace, by His love, and by His Spirit. Over in Colossians 3. Colossians 3.

In verse 12, I just want to look at the first few words here. Again, to give us a picture of what God sees His children as and how important they are. Verse 12 says, therefore, as the elect of God, the ones who have that He has called, who have repented, who have chosen and committed their lives to Him, holy and beloved, people that He sees no longer as someone who is an enemy, but someone who is now reconciled to Him. 1 Peter 2 verse 9 talks about a special people, a royal priesthood, someone in whom He is building His character, preparing and getting ready. And He loves what He sees, and He's looking forward to that day when He returns.

And when He returns, He's bringing those who have died and who are still alive at the time of His return to reign with Him. That's what He sees when He looks at you and me. That's what He saw when He looked at those people. That's what we should see when we see each other, people that God is working with, people that He loves, people that have loved God as well, have turned their lives to Him. And we should look at each other with the same type of eyes, with the same type of compassion and mercy and patience that God has toward us. Let's turn over to Malachi. Malachi 2.

Malachi 2.

God talks about the marriage relationship, and we talked about that last week as we went through the parts of Mark 9 and 10, what befell the disciples in between the time of the transfiguration when they had a vision of the kingdom and the time of the next Passover, the type of things that Jesus Christ wants us to learn as we now look forward to the Passover and our lives. And Malachi 2, he's talking of the marriage relationship here down in verse 14 and 15. And out of that marriage relationship, God sees the continuation and the furthering of His plan. Last sentence there in verse 14 says, speaking to husband, she's your companion and your wife by covenant. Verse 15, to take them one, having a remnant of the Spirit. Now why one? Why did he find husband and wife together? Why did he expect them to commit for life to each other? Why did he expect them to become one flesh? A picture of the relationship between Christ and the church. He seeks godly offspring. He seeks godly offspring. Our children are important to him. They're important to us.

But our children are important to him. Children that are born to people of God. He has, as he does for everyone, high hopes for. Because if those people are living God's way of life, if it defines them and if in their homes they're talking of God, if He is an important part of their family than any other family member is, that He's real, that He's acknowledged every day, that children are being taught God's way. They're taught about who God is. Seeing lived all around them the example of His way of life, then they'll grow up. They'll grow up to want that same thing.

They may stray, but if they're trained up in the right way it'll never leave their head. They'll never forget the happiness and the joy that was part of their lives. They'll never forget what they were taught about God. They will never forget what that is. And one day, one day they will return even if they stray. That's what He wanted to see. Families. Families that are living God, that He's a part of it. As I said back in Deuteronomy 6, you'll hear in the Bible study, that on the doorposts of their house when you walk in, God is an important part of it. He's the one watching over that house. That house is defined by living God's way of life. And children that are raised in that environment then can rise up or grow up and have children that follow that same way.

Important to God. Our children are important to God, and we have a responsibility to Him to teach them of His way. To teach them of His way and to make sure they know who God is, what His plan is, how much He loves every single one of them and every single one of us. And when He looks at them, just like He looks at us, He loves them. He cares for them, and He wants what's best for them.

Over in Psalm, Psalm 127, Psalm 127, verse 3, we actually sang this hymn right before services started. Verse 1 says, Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain, who build it. Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.

Scrap down to verse 3. Behold, children are a heritage from the eternal.

Think the old King James says they're a blessing from the Lord. They're a gift from Him.

And those of us who have children, I know we think of them as blessings. They are gifts from God.

We can be frustrated with them at times, and sometimes we may not think they're blessings, but we never lose the love for them, and we never overall see them anything but blessings.

God sees you. God sees me in the same way. He loves His children.

He sees them as blessings, and every single one who comes to Him, who yields His life to them, He loves. And He loves all the rest, too, who will in a future time have their minds open to know the truth of God, and who will have their opportunity to follow Him and to yield to Him.

Those are the eyes that Jesus Christ looked at those people in Jerusalem at.

Those are the eyes when He saw the children crowding around Him and the parents bringing the children to Him that He said, no, let them come to Me. I've got the time. I want the time. I want to give them what they're seeking. And the disciples who maybe wanted to stay on a schedule or wanted to get wherever they wanted to be, they learned a lesson. Jesus Christ loves His people.

He wants us to love one another. John 13, verse 35, says, By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, that you love one another, that we see each other, and that we see other people in the way that Jesus Christ saw them, that we grow in that love. And we, of course, love God and are led by His Spirit and follow His way of life. You know, with Jesus Christ, there was no respecter of persons, or He was no respecter of person. You read through the accounts of Him, and it wasn't just the children that He suffered. You remember back when He called Matthew to be one of His disciples. And Matthew was a tax collector. And then he went in and sat down and had dinner with tax collectors. And as the Pharisees and the Jews would have said, you sit then with sinners. What kind of man are you that you would be sitting down with sinners? Because they segregated people. They judged them and they pegged them in their little hole and thought, we won't associate with you. Jesus Christ showed there is no differentiation. He loved them all. He was willing to sit down with them. He didn't have a list of who I will and will not associate with. There was no position.

There was no person too low for Him to associate with. Mary Magdalene, we don't know all of her background. We know that she didn't have a good reputation. But look how much time He spent with her. He could have passed by and thought, I'm not going to spend my time on you. What hope do you have of ever changing and turning from your way of life? He gave her all the time that she needed.

And she was there. She was there at His cross when He was dying. She followed Him and she was there.

The first one there, after He was resurrected and found that tomb. No one. No one was turned away by God. And He didn't ever differentiate or say, no, I don't have time for you. Even the woman at the well, the Samaritan woman, the Jews would have never taken the time to talk to her. But He set the example, I will. And she listened. And so He expects the same from us. There is no pecking order. There is no one who God brings that we would not talk to or that we would look down on or have any kind of disrespect for. He sees all men as His children. He sees all people in that way and He loves them all. And He wants us to be the same way. Very approachable. A heart that you could see and a heart that people responded to. But He lived the way of God's life contrary to what He saw around Him. And He set a powerful example for His disciples, for the people of that time and for us as well. That's the Jesus Christ that they saw that day. And then we have the children. Then we have the children of Mark 10. And of them, Christ said, unless you receive the kingdom as a little child, you will not enter it. And over the last months, we've talked about the things that God wants us to develop. That we must fear Him in the right sense of the word of fear. We must learn to love Him with all our hearts, all our mind, and all our soul. We must believe Him in the word, in the sense that the word believe has in the Greek. That it even commands a change in behavior when you understand. That we trust Him and we would trust Him with our lives and that we would choose Him. And that He would be our only God. And He says, unless you receive the kingdom as a little child, you won't enter it. What is it about little children that Jesus Christ wanted us to learn? And I know over the years, you've heard sermons and sermonettes about all the traits of a child. You've heard about how they're trusting. You've heard about how they're teachable. You've heard about how they are wide-eyed and they're in wonder, and they willingly follow their parents.

All important traits. We could sit here and we could list all day long the traits of a little child and how God wants us to be like that when we look at Him and when we come into His family.

Let me read to you from the Barclays Study Bible. And he had his commentary on Mark 10, verse 13, and he lists four things about the qualities of a child that Jesus Christ would be teaching us and setting that example. Let me just read from them, from that one by one.

He says, of such said Jesus is the kingdom of God. What is it about the child that Jesus liked and valued so much? First point, there is the child's humility. There is the child's humility.

There's the child who is an exhibitionist. And remember, he wrote this back in the 1800s, so exhibitionists then didn't mean what it means today. So what he's talking about is a child who would put them out there and was always looking for all of the attention. Okay, remember we're talking about little children. Even children can grow in that way. But a little child, rarely do you see them out there promoting themselves and, hey, everyone look at me. They're just happy to be part of the crowd. There is the child, he says, who is an exhibitionist, but such a child is rare and almost always the product of misguided adult treatment. You know, when I first read that, I had to think back to John Monet Ramsey. Remember her? She was kidnapped. And I remember that story as it unfolded. And I guess I had never realized before that there were even such a thing as child beauty pageants. It just never occurred to me. I never was involved in it. I'm certainly not involved in it, but I mean never heard anyone talk about it or anything like that. So it just kind of fascinated to me that parents would have children and that they would be in beauty pageants. It was just kind of a whole new thing for me. And here was this girl who, you know, was kind of primed for that. And that's what she was all about. And as you look at her pictures, you know, somehow her parents misguidedly directed her to that. And then, of course, her life ended. But as I read that, I thought about, and especially when he writes about the misguided adult treatment, he goes on to say, ordinarily the child is embarrassed by prominence and publicity. He hasn't yet learned to think in terms of place and pride and prestige. He has not yet learned to discover the importance of himself. And isn't that true? When we look at little Oliver and we look at little Archibald, we don't see them enamored with themselves. They're not looking in their mirrors and thinking, hey, you know what? I'm going to grow up one day to be this great person. They're just happy children to be there. They love mom and dad. And we don't see any of those qualities that we develop in life, in this world that we live in. They're just humble.

They're just them. And they haven't learned those things that, unfortunately, they will learn later on in life. Number two. There's the child's obedience. True a child, he says, is often disobedient. But paradox, though it may seem, his natural instinct is to obey. He hasn't yet learned the pride and the false independence which separate a man from his fellow men and from God.

And that's true. You know, I don't remember so much when our kids were younger. But as we have an opportunity every now and then to be with our grandchildren, and now they're getting to be up in age. Up in age is in five and four, but they learn a lot. And not all good we learn every time we see them. But when they were younger, you know, they just they were very happy. If you told them to do something, they just did it. There was no, you know, there was just no resistance. If he's told them to go get something, they just did it. But as the years go by, and you know, we see them every three to six months, you can kind of see them testing mom and dad, like, no, I don't want to do that. And they would, and that just kind of develops that resistance. You know, Mr. Barkley here would say that it's their natural instinct to obey. Well, we know that the Bible says it's the natural man is enmity against God. And certainly as a child grows, they have that resistance. And it's one thing as parents we work with. Now, I think about Owen, our grandson, and I don't know how long ago I remember writing one of the letters and fascinated because his mom was talking to the daughter who's older, and she was accusing him of something, and she said, Owen hasn't learned to fib yet. And that was true. So I thought, you know, yeah, when Owen, when you ask him if he did something, even if it's to his demise, he'll just admit it. Not true anymore. Owen has learned to fib. And yeah, it's not a pretty thing, but he's learned. I can say what I need to say, and they scatter and figure out who's telling the truth. But unfortunately, we grow. But you know, when they're younger, children want that. And they want the direction from their parents. They want the boundary set. They want to know what's right, what's wrong. Their natural instinct is to obey. And it's the influence over the years and as the influence of Satan in the world around us that that comes. And we, as children of God, remembering that he wants us to become, as a little child, having these traits, humble, stripped of all the arrogance, all the pride, all the climbing the ladder because we need this position, just being willing to be in God's family and do whatever he asks. That's what he wants. To obey him and to yet his Holy Spirit give us the strength to overcome the natural resistance that we have to his way of life. To actually create within us the desire to live his way of life. Something that, without his Holy Spirit, we can't do. As a little child, as a little child to obey him. Three, he said, there's the child's trust.

Mr. Barkley says this is seen in two things. First, it's seen in the child's acceptance of authority.

There's a time when he thinks his father knows everything and that his father is always right.

To our shame, he soon grows out of that. But instinctively, the child realizes his own ignorance and his own helplessness and trusts the one who, as he thinks, knows. And isn't that the case? When we're young, we think mom and dad know it all. And we look to them and we know they provide everything. And children will believe whatever you teach them. That's why it's so important what we do at home and so important what we teach and how we live. Because they believe and they absorb everything we do. And they learn to trust. They trust mom and dad. Now, again, remember, as a little child, he's talking about our relationship with God. Unfortunately, as Mr. Barkley suggests here, children can be too trusting. And in the world, it gets them into trouble. And people pray on that.

So we grow and we realize we can't trust everyone. And the Bible says, trust no man, but we do trust God. And as a little child, we trust him. And he's the only one in whom we put our trust. Because we know and we know that we know that everything that he does is for our good. Just like the little child in mom and dad's care believes that everything mom and dad do are for his good. They will simply follow. They will trust him. They will follow them anywhere. And so we must follow God anywhere. And as we go through our lives, it's not always a bed of roses. And sometimes there's going to be difficulties. Health difficulties, financial difficulties, relationship difficulties, whatever it is.

But through it all, we never lose faith in God. We never trust him or never distrust him. We never say, oh, this isn't the way because we know and we trust. We will follow him through thick and thin, through peak and valley. And that his will is to bring everyone into his kingdom. Not willing that any should perish. Never losing sight of that, but always looking to him and asking him what it is that we learn. And always knowing that he's looking to develop that character and he's still creating within us that character that he wants to.

Respect for authority. The children, a little child has that. And all too often as we see children grow, we see that authority that they fight against. And parents need to watch out for that. And, you know, the fifth commandment is honor your mother and father. And there's a reason that God has every single commandment because it teaches us very important things. Throughout our lives, we will be under authority. We will always be under God's authority. We learn to love it. We learn to accept it. We learn to appreciate it. We see all the benefits of it. And being under his authority lists the yokes and the burdens off of us and frees us to become who God wants us to become.

You know, even back in Jeremiah, when you read through and Judah's about to go into captivity with Babylon, remember what God says to him?

He says that if you go there, just submit to their authority. He never says, break the laws. He never says, you know, disregard my laws, follow my principles, but just submit to the authority and all will be well with you. And, of course, Judah had a different idea, and they didn't do what God said, and it didn't go so well with them. Submit to God's authority. Be as a little child.

Just choose him. Yield to him. Trust him, as Mr. Barkley would say, and accept him.

Second part of trust, he says, is it's seen in the child's confidence in other people. He doesn't expect any person to be bad. He'll make friends with a perfect stranger. A great man once said that the greatest compliment ever paid him was when a little boy came up to him, a complete stranger, and asked him to tie his shoelace. And I had to think about that for a little bit, but, you know, this man obviously had accomplished a great deal in his life. And to him, having this little child who didn't even know him, look at him and trust him enough to just say, will you tie my shoe?

Had that kind of impact that somewhere along the line he recorded that, so that other people could see that. God wants us to trust him, to have confidence in him.

The child, it says, has not yet learned to suspect the world. He still believes the best about others. Sometimes that very trust leaves him in the danger, for there are those who are totally unworthy of it and who abuse it. But that trust is a lovely thing. And it's a lovely thing to see our children trust us and follow us. It's a lovely thing to see that. And it's a lovely thing for God to see us acting as little children, just trusting him. As a little child would trust his parents.

Fourth thing, the child has a short memory. He has not yet learned to bear grudges and nourish bitterness. Even when he is unjustly treated and who among us is not sometimes unjust to his children, he forgets and forgets so completely that he doesn't even need to forgive. Isn't that a beautiful thing to think about? And isn't that the case? You can all remember even back in your child's You would get into, I don't even mean when you're just a little baby, even when you're young. You get into fights with friends, siblings, and the next day it's like nothing happened. It's just done and life goes on. And yet as we grow older, we learn how to develop a grudge. Someone says something to us and we let it weigh on our minds and it just becomes a bigger and bigger issue. And how many families have been broken apart because people can't just let something go and can't just say, fine, we just keep on with life, we forgive and don't let it develop into something bigger. How many marriages have broken up because a grudge has developed? Because people just won't let something go? How many problems even in the church have been over the years because people will hear something, get offended, and then just let it continue to fester and fester and fester and grow? God doesn't want us to be that way. He doesn't want us to nourish and nurture grudges. He doesn't want us to be angry. He wants us to forgive. There's nothing, nothing, you know, you've heard me say many times, Christ says it. There's nothing we shouldn't be able to forgive.

Christ forgave those who were nailing him to the cross.

And we know what Hebrews 12 verse 15 says, if we let it grow into bitterness, many have become defiled. Many will lose salvation because they just can't get over something.

Little children get over it quickly. Little children may be mad at mom and dad. They get over it. He wants us to be as little children, not nurturing grudges, not bearing them, not being bitter, forgiving, getting on with life. And you know, every once in a while, and it's not at all in anyone I'm speaking of here, I will hear about something that someone said to another, and how should they take that? Don't take it. I'm convinced that 99.9 percent of everything that we think that someone is saying to us that is offensive to us, they didn't know what they were saying. I don't believe very many people at all intentionally try to offend one another.

As I've said, I can't imagine the occasion I would ever intentionally offend someone, but if I wanted to offend you, I would, you would know. And I think that's the way with people. So, you know, when someone says something to us, just give them the benefit of the doubt. Don't let it, don't let it fester. God doesn't want his children to be that way. He wants us to grow together. He wants us to grow in unity. Grow with him, just as a family unit should. And just as siblings can get in squabbles with one another, but in five minutes, then you, they're the best of friends again, that may be, that would be like the little children that he wants us to be. Mr. Barkley concludes and he says, indeed, as he speaks of the traits of these children, indeed of such is the kingdom of God. And you could list many more qualities of children that you appreciate and that you, as you think about them, that God would want us to be like. He says, if we don't become as little children, his little children, we won't enter the kingdom of God. Let's go back to John 1. John 1, verse 10.

John 1, verse 10. He, speaking of Jesus Christ, was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn't know him. He came to his own, and his own didn't receive him.

But as many as received them, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. His children, people who he called, people who responded, people who became like little children. In Romans 8, verse 17, it tells us if we are children, as again we sang in one of the hymns that we've sung so far today, we become heirs with Jesus Christ. So we have Jesus Christ, we have the children. Let's talk a little bit about the kingdom of God, because Christ said, of such is the kingdom of God, and if you don't become as little children, you won't enter the kingdom of God. Now we know from the foundation of the earth, the kingdom of God, that God had planned what was going to happen with the physical earth, and there would be a time when the kingdom of God, Jesus Christ, would return, and the kingdom of God would be established, and it would last forever and ever, as it says in many places in the Bible. The kingdom of God. Let's look back at 1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians 4.

Often, funerals will read this verse. Let's pick it up in verse 13 and get the whole context here. 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 13. I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. Verse 15. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. And Paul says, comfort one another with these words. Know what God's plan is. Believe in what God's plan is. And know that the next minute that someone who has died is conscious, if they've died in the faith, they will be with God. And as it says here in verse 17, always will be with the Lord.

For the rest of the time, in his kingdom, that's what we're looking toward, to being with him for all eternity, in his kingdom. Today we live the way of life of the kingdom. Today we live by the laws that God has established for our own good. The laws that bring us and led by the spirit that brings us all the blessings that God would give us, that gives us the purpose in life, that gives us the meaning in life, that gives us a future that we don't have without all that.

But we still live in a world that kind of shrouds our view of that kingdom. Let's turn back to 1 Corinthians 13.

We're children, but with each passing year and decade, God expected us to retain the traits of a little child, but we grow. We grow. Here at the end of the chapter that we know is a love chapter where Paul is talking about all the traits of agape love, he says in verse 11, he says, When I was a child, I spoke as a child. I understood as a child. I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put away childish things. And then he talks about where we are today. For now we see in a mirror dimly. We see the kingdom of God. We put his laws into practice. We see the benefit of them, but we still live in a world and we still live in bodies that are resistant to him, that we with God's help are overcoming. We see dimly in a mirror, but we will see face to face. When he returns and those who are dead and those who are still alive meet him in the air, we will see him face to face and we will see the kingdom of God. That's what we're all here for. That's what God has called us to. That's what he wants every person to be in. And Paul says, now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

We keep growing. We keep allowing God to give us a vision of his kingdom. Let's turn back to Colossians 2. Colossians 2. I'm going to read beginning in verse 20 and then the first four verses of chapter 3.

Colossians 2 verse 20. Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations? Don't touch, don't taste, don't handle, which all concern things which perish with the using, according to the commandments and doctrines of men. So Paul is saying, if you've died with Christ, why are you putting so much stock? Why are you replacing the commandments of God with commandments of men and so into these physical things? Verse 23. These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom and self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but they're of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

Chapter 3 verse 1. If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth, for you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you will also appear with Him in glory. Back in 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 16, we said that our future is to always be with the Lord. We will always, thus we shall always be with the Lord in His kingdom. Here in Colossians 2, who's recently shown me by another minister, there's four times that with Christ is mentioned. We will always be with Him. And in these four occasions here in these few verses, we see the plan of God. We are with Him. Let's look first at verse 20 of Colossians 2. Therefore, if you died with Christ, from the basic principles of the world, and let's stop there, with Christ, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, what's the first step in becoming a child of God?

We repent. We repent from dead works. We die. We die with Christ. We repent. We're baptized. We're buried in the waters of baptism. We choose to turn from our old way of life to God's way of life.

We died with Christ from the basic principles of the world and turn to live His ways.

Down in chapter 3, verse 1, if then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. If you were raised with Christ, if you were repented, if you died from sin, died and put your old self to death, when we come up out of the waters of baptism, we're a new creation in God's eyes.

We rise out of the waters of baptism with Christ. Hands are laid on us. We have the Holy Spirit, and He says, if indeed you've been raised with Christ, if indeed you're living that way of life and you've come out of the waters of baptism to do that, set your mind on things above.

Think on those things. Don't put your things on the things of the earth. We still have to live. We still have to go through the activities of daily living. All do all those things well, serve our employers well, and all those things. But seek Him. Second step in the way that we become a child of God, verse 3, for you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Your life is hidden with Christ in God. When we commit to God, when His Holy Spirit is in us, He sees us as children. Not yet born into the kingdom. That comes at a later time. But someone that He loves, that He's watching over, He knows every move, and He's very interested. He loves everything about us, and He watches everything we do. We're in His hands, trusting that everything that happens to us is of His will, that He is looking and He is working with us to get us ready for His kingdom. Hidden with Him. Hidden with Christ. Him watching over us. Him taking care of us.

Him continuing to build us. Him providing the joy and the family environment that we all grow in. God watches out for our well-being. And everything that happens to us, He knows. You're His child. I'm His child. We're His own special people.

And finally, in verse 4, when Christ who is our life appears, then you will also appear with Him in glory.

Repent. Come out of the waters of baptism. God watches over your life and directs you. And when He returns, you will always be with the Lord. If you've allowed your life to be that, the ultimate being the kingdom of God. Jesus Christ said, unless we become His little children, we're not going to enter that kingdom of God.

That's the ultimate goal. That's where we need to look. The answers aren't in this world. The answers aren't in any government. The answers aren't in anything other than in the Bible, in Jesus Christ. And that's where salvation is.

When we began today, I read a blessing in Numbers 6, verses 22-27.

I want to close with something that we heard at the feast. You meet fascinating people when you go to the feast. One of the ladies we met over in England, I wish I had her accent. I wish I could just speak the way she spoke for a while because she had a wonderful accent. If I tried it, you would laugh through the whole thing. But we were talking about the blessing. She was a very interesting person. She lived in many places, including in Jerusalem. She knew a lot of what the Jews do and everything. But then she rattled off this blessing, an old Irish blessing. As she said it, it just sounded very good. And like I said, I wish I just recorded it. But I had her write it down. I wanted to want to read and close with this old Irish blessing as we close this service where we begin with the blessing of little children. It says, May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sunshine warm upon your face. May you lack no good thing. And until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand.