INTRO: A couple in Southern California were planning to get married, but before they were able to get married, they were swallowed up by an earthquake. The next thing they knew, they were standing together in heaven. As soon as they were presented to St. Peter for processing, they asked Peter if they could still get married. Peter hesitated for a moment and then answered, "Let me think about it—I’ll get back to you on this."
A week passed, then a month, then six months, but still no word back from St. Peter. Then, after seven months of waiting, they were approached by St. Peter with a pastor following closely behind. "All right, you can get married now!"
The couple thanked Peter for his granting of their request, but they now had a second request.
Over the seven months of waiting, they felt that it would be wise to draw up a prenuptial agreement.
St. Peter was upset, and he told the couple so: "Listen, it took me seven months to find a pastor up here; how long do you think it’s going to take me to find a lawyer?"
-In all seriousness, we’ve been going through a series on the kingdom of heaven. Let me review for those who’ve missed.
: Kingdom is like a mustard seed; principle: it starts small but grows big.
: Kingdom is like yeast; principle: it changes what it’s put into.
: Kingdom is advancing and desperate people lay hold of it.
-Last week we looked at a revolutionary concept.
: Jesus instructs to repent for the kingdom of God is near. The kingdom is as close as a Christian. Rivers of living water flow from us to others.
: The gospel is about others and not ourselves and as we are obedient a fringe benefit is our Heavenly Father takes care of our needs. (Seek first his kingdom.)
Summary: So far in this series we’ve looked at: what is the kingdom of heaven, and where is the kingdom of heaven? Today we are going to look at: who are the kingdom people?
TITLE: The Kingdom of Heaven – Part 3
TEXT: Mark 10:13-16
I. Background. Jesus by this time in his life knew his purpose and what lay ahead of him—that was the
Cross.
A. It was at this time that he had children being brought to him.
1. Can you imagine the tension in his mind? But he still had time to take them in his arms, and he had the heart to smile into their faces, and maybe to play with them awhile.
2. It was customary for parents to bring their children to the rabbis for a blessing, and so it was reasonable that they would bring the little ones to Jesus.
3. Why do you think the disciples rebuked the people?
-Was it because they were hard? Or maybe they were tired and didn’t want to handle all that comes with a bunch of kids.
4. I believe the disciples were just trying to protect Jesus from this oncoming mob of people. They probably thought they were doing him a favor.
-In other words, they did not consider the children to be important.
B. The Lord became indignant, his anger was aroused by something unjust, it caused him pain. 1. The Lord openly rebuked his disciples for standing in the way.
-Then the Lord announced an amazing thing. He described what kingdom people will be like. II. Who are kingdom people? They are like children.
A. Children are better kingdom examples than are the adults. We tell the children to behave like adults, but Jesus tells the adults to model themselves after the children.
Thought: What is in children that God sees as qualities of kingdom people? In fact, he communicates that we better receive the kingdom like a little child or we will never enter it.
1. The 1st characteristic – is a child’s dependence. A child depends of his/her parents for everything.
-When a toddler gets hurt they don’t think about what doctor they need to call, they just want Mom or Dad.
Example. I remember when I was in kindergarten my father had some cherry bombs stored in the closet and we were instructed not to play with them. WeLl the next day Mom was on the phone, Dad was at work, and I was in the closet getting his cherry bomb to light it. As I lit it (I was not fully aware of how powerful it was) I just held it in my hand and off it went. At that moment, when there was this rush of pain, all I wanted was Mom.
-I knew she could make it better. That’s all I knew.
Point: God wants us to depend on him—it’s called faith. We need to have such a close relationship with God that when something happens we go to him first, not as a last resort.
a. In fact, right after this section Jesus deals with a rich young man who asked him how to inherit eternal life. Of all the people who ever came to the feet of Jesus, this man is the only one who went away worse than he came, and yet he had so much in his favor.
-Jesus began to answer him and at the end of the dialogue the Lord tells him to come follow him. The idea was to depend on him for his way of life.
-The man turned away sad, "grieved". Greek word gives the picture of storm clouds gathering.
-The man walked out of the sunshine and into a storm! This man wanted to get salvation on his terms, without dependence on Christ and it didn’t happen.
Point: This goes back to our text. V. 15, "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
TS: Another characteristic about children.
2. 2nd characteristic — is their trust. A child trusts in adults they’ve never met (normal relationships). A child does not expect any person to be bad. He will make friends with a perfect stranger.
Example. 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 shoe lace. The child has not yet learned to suspect the world. He still believes the best about others.
-Sometimes that very trust leads him into danger for there are those who are totally unworthy of it and who abuse it, but that trust is a lovely thing.
Example. When I worked for Damascus Way in Golden Valley, I worked with ex-cons, street people, child molesters, murderers. One time I didn’t have anybody to watch Felicia (she was just a little girl and we had no family) so I took her to work for a few hours.
Well that was the dumbest thing I did because she became friends with all the child molesters. Who knows what their motives were for being nice. But, as I watched Felicia, in her mind she had just made a whole bunch of new friends.
Point: We need to trust like a little child. Do we trust God will provide, take care of us?
3. 3"1 characteristic — is a child’s receptivity. They believe what you tell them. It’s amazing how open they are.
If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn. If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight.
If a child lives with fear, he learns to be apprehensive.
If a child lives with pity, he learns to feel sorry for himself. If a child lives with jealousy, he learns to feel guilty.
If a child lives with encouragement, he learns to be self-confident.
If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with praise, he learns to be appreciative. If a child lives with acceptance, he learns to love. If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself. If a child lives with recognition, he learns to have a goal. If a child lives with fairness, he learns what justice is. If a child lives with honesty, he learns what truth is.
If a child lives with sincerity, he learns to have faith in himself and those around him.
If a child lives with love, he learns that the world is a wonderful place to live in.
Thought: Today what are you teaching your child? Imagine your child is a blank slate, what are you going to write for them to learn?
4. 4th characteristic about a child – is their short-term memory. A child has not learned to bear grudges and nourish bitterness.
-Even when a child is treated unjustly they forget very quickly.
a. A child will not only recover quickly physically, but also emotionally.
Example. I’ve heard about cases of abuse from authorities where a child will forgive and go right back into their own demise.
-A child has a short-term memory.
b. I’ve seen adults when the wind will blow and an offense will come and they can’t forgive and move on.
In Conclusion
We’ve looked at who will be kingdom people.
1. Those who come like a child. As I said earlier, we teach children to become like adults, Jesus says we should become like a child.
2. Today we could compare how Jesus responded to children and the rich young ruler. The children were blessed while the rich young ruler went away worse off.
-They both had the same opportunity, the key was their attitudes. Today: How is your attitude?
