This morning I will be teaching a little bit of Bible as the Holy Spirit directs. Please turn your Bible with me as we read together Matt. 18:3 and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven”. Father anoint your word and let your word profit in the things you have sent it to do and let no flesh glory in itself IJN
When God gave me this message I was wondering what God was about to do, thus I tried to do some research and by the time I finished I knew God has dealt with even me. My prayer this morning is that as He has dealt with me, He will do same in your life IJN
Jesus Christ was talking to His disciples in this passage, so it means not just unbelievers but believers. He discovered that the disciples were going in completely the wrong direction and unless they made a complete about-turn, they were going away from the Kingdom of heaven and not towards it. The 2 key word that I’m going to stress are BE CONVERTED and BECOME LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN
Many of us pretty much have the idea of being converted and repentance, but I wonder if we really understand and have applied the idea of becoming like a little child. This is not an optional thing....nor is it an unimportant thing. If we do not fulfill this part of the verse, we are assured of not being able to enter into the Kingdom of God.
Why must we become like little Children to enter the kingdom of God? The answer is simple. There are many characteristics that make Children the “model” for the kingdom of God – like the power to wonder, the power to trust, the power to forgive and forget, innocence, humility, simplicity, frankness, obedience, etc. All these things and many more are what was in the mind of Jesus when He made the statement. Today let us look at some of these great qualities that make the child the symbol of those who are citizens of the kingdom of God.
1. TRUST/DEPENDABILITY
A child is totally dependent upon his father. He has absolute trust in the father. A child knows that he doesn’t know very much and needs to trust to his wise father’s guidance.
Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
It is when the child starts to think that he knows more than the father that he gets himself in trouble. II Corinthians 3:4-5 “And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God”.
A child asks his father for everything that he needs. The father doesn’t begrudge the son for asking him for food....or clothes....or a warm, dry, house. The father wants his son to look to him for his needs. No father would be pleased with a son who decided to eat grass, rather than ask his father for some food. In truth, it would be an insult to the father if the son didn’t ask his father for his needs. It would also bring discredit to the father for others to think that he would not love his son enough to give him what he needed.
Matt. 6:31-32 – 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ “For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
HUMILITY
Little Children are very humble, they had nothing to be proud of, a child does not wish to push himself forward neither does he wishes for prominence. It is only as the child grows up and gets involved in a competitive world that his instinctive humility is left behind. Anyone that desire to enter the kingdom of God must be very humble. James 4: 6 says God resist the proud and gives more grace to the humble. James 4:10 says “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up” Psalm 18:27 says “For You will save the humble people, But will bring down haughty looks” Psalm 149:4 says “For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation”
I quickly tell you the story of a young pastor, the first time this young man preaches a sermon in his Church the whole church was full of praises to God but after 3 years as a pastor, he felt adequately prepared, and when he was introduced to the congregation, he walked boldly to the pulpit, his head high, radiating self-confidence. But as soon as he mounted the pulpit, he stumbled reading the Scriptures and then he became confused halfway through the message. He began to panic, so he did the safest thing: He quickly ended the message, prayed, and walked dejectedly from the pulpit, his head down, his self-assurance and self confidence gone.
Later, one of the godly elders went to him and whispered to this pastor “If you had gone up to the pulpit the way you came down, you might have come down the way you went up.” The elder was right. God still resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
1 Peter 5:6 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” HUMILITY is a condition for entering the kingdom of God
WAITING
Children learn to wait...they learns that they can’t have everything they want...when they want it. Sometimes they don’t understand why this is so but they wait, however it may be because the father has determined that it would not be best for him. Many children have been injured in some way, when they have decided to take things, “into their own hands” and try to fulfill their own desires against the father’s advice. Psalm 27:14 “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!
OBEDIENCE/SUBMISSION
Children are expected to be obedient. A father expects his child to obey him immediately and without argument. Even if he may not fully understand...why? A father expects a child to obey him without fussing, complaining, or murmuring. A father expects the child to obey with respect for the father’s greater wisdom.
A child does not think that he is the important one in the family. He submits his will to the will of the father. The child knows that there is an order of submission and that he must submit for his own good. He also understands that the father will punish him if he refuses to submit. Even though it displeases the father greatly, he will punish the child for trying to equate himself with the father. Hebrews 5:8 says “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.
Again...our obedience and trust needs to be as a child...it must be total and
not in all of our self-righteous adult reasoning. A child does not think that He is the most important one and that his will should be supreme....even over that of the Father. A child understands that he is the child and the most important consideration must be that he does the will of the father, at all times. Luke 22:42 says, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
Rom. 12:3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, s God
has dealt to each one a measure of faith. Children obey completely and never esteem themselves about their father.
GROWING
I Peter 2:2 says “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby” A child must grow. He will grow slowly, at first....He will have to be fed and watched after for his every need. Even if he doesn’t know that he has a need, the parent knows and will supply it for him. The Bible says in Philippians 4:19 “And the Lord will supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus”
As the child grows, the child will look like the father....act like the father...imitate the father. Indeed, people will know what son belongs to what father by how the father and the son act. A son will be happy to be like the father, no wonder when Philip ask Jesus in John 14:8-9 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him,” Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
SECURITY
A little child would always want to know that his father was close by. He would grieve if he thought that he was separated from his father. This child’s security doesn’t come from
knowing that we have a standing army or that the police are on duty. This child’s security and safety are directly linked to his father. His peace of mind....comfort....and security are dependent upon his close relationship with his father.
James 4:8 says “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. If we secure our life in the hand of the Almighty Father just as little children secures their life in the hand of their earthly father, no evil will come near us Psalm 91:9-11 says “if you make the LORD your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you, no plague will come near your home. For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go”
CONCLUSION:
As I conclude today, the bible says except we become like little children we will not enter the kingdom of God. We already know the quality that makes children the MODEL for God’s kingdom, now there are many questions begging for answers. Begin to think within yourselves as I ask these questions this morning
Are we truly humble? Are we totally dependent upon our Father?
Do we completely trust in our Father?
Are we truly obedient....I mean, obedient as a child would be. Are we obedient in everything...or only in the things that we want to be obedient in?
Is our sufficiency truly from God and we are satisfied and content with what God gives us or doesn’t give us?
Do we acknowledge Him in everything? Do we lean on Him and not on our own admittedly limited understanding?
Do we really ask our Father for everything that we need, or are we content to eat grass. Does God provide our needs, or do we provide our needs?
Are we content to wait on the Lord, or do we result into fury and anger when we don’t get what we want....when we want it?
Do we expect God to do what we want...even if and when that is not the Father’s will?
Worse yet....do we seek to do our own will and then insist that the Father
approve and bless our rebellion?
Do we feel that we are “the boss” and we will follow God....only in-as-much-as God follows us?
Are we growing and do we desire the sincere milk of the word?
Can people see God in us....can they look at us and comment on how much we look like the Father. Is God glorified in His children?
STAND UP AS WE PRAY
Phil. 2:14-15 says “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world”
Can we say that we are truly....blameless and that we do no harm to the name of God...as His children? Do we stand out in this generation of wickedness?
Children are innocent....if they do things wrong, often times it is simply because of their ignorance....not because they purposely want to be wicked. Can the same be said about us?
Father humble my body, soul and spirit that I may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world
No longer my will O Lord…Let your will be done
My righteousness is like a filthy rag in your presence O Lord…. Make me righteous in Your own way
