Matthew 19:13-15
Topic: You are never too young to come to Jesus
Subtopic- Young People need Jesus too!
You are never too young to come to Jesus Christ. It does not matter how young or old you may be; you are never too young to come to Jesus Christ.
It does not matter what grade you may be in; you are never too young to come to Jesus Christ.
It does not matter if you are in preschool or in college: you are never too young to come to Jesus Christ.
It does not matter what race, nationality you may be of; you are never too young to come to Jesus Christ.
In matter of fact, the word of God encourages young people to have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ while they are young.
Psalm 119:9 says, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word?”
Here we see in Psalm 119:9 that God wants young people to read, study, and learn the Word of God because it is through the Word of God that we can learn about the Lord and how we should live for the Lord while we are young.
In I Timothy 4:12 says, “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”
Here we see in I Timothy 4:12 that God wants young people to be an example of Jesus Christ in every thing they do or say.
In Ecclesiastes 12:1 says to “Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth…..”
In other words, while you are young, take time out to get to know Jesus Christ for yourself! Not only should you need to get to know the Lord for yourself, but while you are young, you ought to serve the Lord. While you are young, you ought to worship the Lord. While you are young, you ought to testify and be a witness about the goodness of the Lord. No matter what talent or gift that God has given you, you ought to use your talent or gift for the glory of the Lord, and you are never too young to give God the glory that He deserves!!!
Now, in Matter 19:13-15, we read about how some parents who had brought their young children to Jesus so He could lay his hands on them to be blessed. And it is a blessing when parents bring their children to the Lord to be blessed. In matter of fact, the Word of God commands parents to teach their children about the goodness of the Lord and to train their children in the ways of Jesus Christ.
Deuteronomy 6:4-7 says, “Hear O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord; And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart; And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down and when thou risest up.
Proverbs 22:6 says to “Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
Ephesians 6:4 says, “And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath; but bring them up in the nurture, and admonition of the Lord.”
So, we see it is a good thing to bring the children to the Lord,and to teach them about the Lord, and to teach them how they should live for the Lord in every aspects of their lives.
But in Matthew 19:13-15, while the parents was bringing their children to Jesus Christ to be blessed, the disciples rebuked the parents for bringing their children to see Jesus to be blessed. The disciples felt that bringing children to see Jesus was a hassle and a waste of the Lord’s time. But what the disciples failed to realize was that Jesus Christ loves children just as much he loves grown-up adults. There is a song that says, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red, yellow, black, or white, they are precious in his sight; Jesus loves the little children of the world.”
When Jesus came to earth to save the world from their sins, Jesus did not come just to save the grown-ups adults, but he also came to save the little babies, pre-schoolers, elementary kids, middle-schoolers, high shoolers, college students, young adults. That is when Jesus came to save, He came to save everybody, and that includes young people!!!!!!
Now, notice something here. Notice it was the disciples, the ones who walked with and followed Jesus for 3 years. The ones who witnessed the many miracles that Jesus had performed; they were the ones who were tried to keep the children in Matthew 19:13-15 from being blessed by Jesus because they felt that children were not significant enough to be in the presence of the Lord. And sometimes the church act like the disciples had done in Matthew 19:13-15. Because the youth of today act different, dress differnt, speak differnt, or worship different than most of us grown folk, we want to do what the disciples wanted to do with the children in Matthew 19:13-15; we want to turn them away. And when you turn young people away from the Lord, and from the church becasue of the difference they may have, you are allowing the devil to use you because the devil does not want to see young peole come to the Lord or come to church. The devil wants us as a church to turn young people away from the Lord and from the church.
But God did not call the church to turn young people away form Christ, but He has called the church to draw young people to Christ. God has called the church to win young people to Christ. It does not matter what hairstyles the young people are wearing. It does not matter what style of clothing they may be wearing. It does not matter what type of music they may be listening to, the church must reach out and win the young people to Christ.
It does not matter where they live. It does not matter if they are wearing tatoos, ear rings in their ears, or a gold tooth in the mouth, the church must reach out and win the young people to Christ.
And the reason why the church must reach out and win the young people to Christ is because the young people are just as significant as the grown-ups in the presence of the Lord because young people need salvation just as much as the grown ups do. The young people need the power of the Holy Spirit, and to be filled with the Holy Spirit just as much as the grown-ups do. The young people need healing and deliverance just as much as the grown ups do. The young people need grace and mercy just as much as the grown-ups do. The young people need the love of God just as the much as the grown-ups do. He hears and answers the prayers of the young people just as much as He does the grown ups.
You see, God wants to bless the young people just like He blesses adults. He wants to save the young people just like He saves the adults. You see, the young people have valuable precious souls just like the grown-ups do, and they need Jesus Christ just like everyone else.
And because the young people need Jesus like everyone else, Jesus rebuked the disciples for trying to prevent the parents from bringing their children to Him to be blessed. He tells His disciples, “Suffer the little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
What Jesus was saying to his disciples as He telling us today is that “don’t stop children, young people, teenagers, or young adults from coming unto me, for the kingdom of heaven is not just for grown folks, but it is also for the young folk as well.” You see, when Jesus Christ died on the cross, He didn’t just die for the grown-ups, but He also died for the young people as well. Yes, Jesus died on the cross for our sins, He was buried in the grave for 3 days and 3 nights. But on the 3rd day, Jesus rose up from the grave with all power in his hands. And the bible says in Romans 10:9 that “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved, and that applies to the young people as well as the adults because you are never too young or too old to come to Jesus Christ to be saved.
