But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. – Luke 18:16
I invite everybody to open your Bible and turn with me to Mark, chapter 10, verses 13 to 16, and let's study those words that Jesus said that I just read on the video. We love our kids here at Compass HB, but it's not just because that's how we feel about the kids. That's the way of Jesus to let the children come. And so, our text today is Mark 10:13-16. If you don't have a copy of the Bible, there is a handout in your bulletin where these verses are printed for you. And out of respect for God's Word, I invite everyone to stand up for the public reading of Scripture, and I want everybody here to hear what Jesus said. Please follow along as I read Mark 10, starting in verse 13.
And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.
That's the reading of God's Word. Please go ahead, have your seat. And if you do have that handout, can you circle that word “touch” right there in verse 13? Because we've been going through the Gospel of Mark for almost a year now, and we've seen that when Jesus touches people, this has been a very powerful experience. And so, as we can't just think about why do they want Jesus to touch him, from this one passage, we got to see it in the context of Mark, that this has already become something Mark has been making clear to us. Go back to chapter 3, verse 10, and let's just see how this idea of, oh, if Jesus could just touch someone, has developed throughout the gospel here in Mark chapter 3, verse 10. It's describing what Jesus is doing, and it says, “for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him.”
You’ve got to remember, Jesus is doing amazing miracles. He's feeding thousands, he's walking on water, he's casting out demons, and he's healing so many people of their disease. And people are like, oh, if I could just touch Jesus, I would be healed. In fact, go to chapter 5, where there was one woman who had the faith to go up in the crowd in Mark 5:27. You might remember this lady, she had been bleeding for 12 years, and it says in Mark 5:27, “She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, ‘If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.’ And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.” Maybe you remember we studied that touch of faith and how the woman experienced what she couldn't find for twelve years, this amazing healing. If you look at the end of Mark 6, the very last verse, Mark 6:56, this is where the legend, the aura of Jesus, reached such a level and an area of Galilee at this time. Listen to this. “And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.”
What are all these people doing out here? Oh, they're hoping Jesus is going to come by so they could touch him and be healed. So, imagine you're hearing these stories. You're hearing these reports. Oh, I just touched his garment, and I was like this, and now it's all gone. Oh, I'd had this for so many years. Now I'm all healed. If you're a parent at this time and you have your precious child, and you're seeing the blessing of Jesus touching people, you can see how parents would start thinking, I want Jesus to touch my child. I think that could be good for them. And so, the parents are bringing their children. And then go back to Mark 10. Now we understand why they would want Jesus to touch their child. Does it mean that their child could be healthy? Every parent desires that for their child, and so they come. But then look at what happens here. The disciples rebuke them. And one thing you have to make sure you always do when you're reading the Bible is you have to read it in its original context. Okay? And because the disciples rebuke them. Can you imagine? Hey, I want to bring my child to Jesus. No, get your child out of here. Jesus doesn't have time for your kid. That would seem crazy to us. That would seem harsh to us. We have such a value on our children. Well, I don't know if they had that same value on children at this time. I think what the disciples are reflecting here would be the common way of thinking in this culture at this day, where children were not highly valued and considered precious. Children were actually considered more insignificant that they didn't really have a lot of value. And so, Jesus, he's doing important things, significant things. And so, the disciples are thinking he doesn't have time for kids, because he what he's doing is bringing in the kingdom. And so, they rebuke the people. And look athow Jesus responds in verse 14, “when Jesus saw it,” Jesus here, he's indignant. Jesus has this righteous anger. Jesus is very frustrated with his own disciples. Okay, we've seen Jesus get upset at the Pharisees, but now, no, he's angry at his own disciples for turning these parents with their kids away. And Jesus, one, I think he's upset that they turn the kids away, and two, I think he might be angry because his disciples should know better at this point. In fact, notice what Jesus says, “Let the children come to me,” and then circle this word, “do not hinder them.” Do not hinder them. And then right next to that, you can write down Mark, chapter 9, verses 38 and 39 because that same word was used in the previous chapter.
Go back to Mark 9, and let's remember what Jesus already taught his disciples. Look back at verse 36. Remember they were in a house in Capernaum, and we went through several sermons of Jesus teaching his disciples. And one of the things he did in verse 36 of Mark 9 is “And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.’” Like, hey, well, my children, my little ones, they're like my kids, and you, when you receive them, it's like you're receiving me. So, he's already shown them this example with the child. And then in verse 38, “John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’” We tried to prevent him, to hinder him. Same word of what the disciples are doing with the parents and the children. Oh, they've done that with people who are casting out demons in the name of Jesus. And look what Jesus said in verse 39, “Do not stop him.” Don't hinder him. Don't prevent him, “for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.”
He's already taught his disciples, using a child as an example. He's already told his disciples, don't hinder other people, don't prevent them. And now what are they doing? They're preventing children from coming to him, two things he's already taught them not to do. Jesus, he gets angry with the disciples here. So, I want us to think about when Jesus says, “Let the children come to me,” Jesus is not saying, bring your children to me. He's not telling the disciples about their kids. He's teaching the disciples something here. The kids, they should not be prevented, they should not be hindered from coming to me. Let the children come. It is not just for the parents here, who are blessed with young children. Let the children come is something Jesus is teaching to his disciples, something Jesus would want his church to hear and pay attention to. And so, I'm here now in front of our church, and I'm saying, we need to let the kids come to Jesus, and it's not just your kids or your grandkids, but all the kids, they need to come and hear that God so loved the world, he gave his one and only Son, and whoever believes in Jesus, that's how you have eternal life. What a blessing for children to grow up knowing that, and they can learn that here at this church, we need to let the children come to Jesus. Can I get an amen from anybody on that? Okay, well, that wasn't your strongest Amen, and I know it's the first service on a Sunday morning, but we don't want to be like the disciples. Maybe some people come to our church they don't think about the kids’ ministry, especially now that it's in its own building. Maybe you think, well, that's somebody else's issue. That's not what Jesus is saying here. Jesus is saying to the disciples, the kids, that's a part of the kingdom.
And so, I don't know what you think when you come to our church these days. At this point, we're a church in Orange County that has a campus where hundreds of people come here every weekend here. Around here, they call that a mega church. And a mega church is a loaded term that doesn't really have positive connotations these days. A lot of people are looking down on churches like us in Orange County. Well, I don't know when you started coming to our church or what you think when you come here. I'd like to take a moment and tell you who we really are, because we're a group of people that got sent out by Compass Bible Church down in Aliso Viejo. And the reason we came up here to Huntington Beach is people were coming from Stanton and Fountain Valley and Garden Grove all the way down to South County to go to that church. And it gave us the idea we should plant a church up here. And so, some of us moved up here. Some already lived up here. There were like hundred of us, and we started a church in Marina High School, right down the street, in the outside amphitheater of Marina High School, and we started the kids’ ministry from day one. And the kids’ ministry was all hands on deck. It was like we got it. We’ve got to care for the kids that Jesus brings to this church. And so many people, they spent a lot of time serving in that kids’ ministry. College students who came to plant the church invested themselves in the kids. Families decided, we'll be a part of the kids’ ministry. And it was a big deal because we only had one service. There were just a few of us sweating under the sun out there in the outdoor bowl at Marina. And so, if you served with the kids, you didn't get to go to the service. And so, on Sunday night, the college students would come to my house and I'd preach the sermon all over again for the college service, students who served in the kids ministry. On Tuesday night, the families who served in the kids’ ministry would come over to my house and I'd preach the sermon all over again for those families. So, everybody got to hear the word preached, because it was like, we've got to have kids’ ministry. We've got the kids need to hear about Christ. We started our midweek kids’ ministry with the fellowship groups meeting, and while the fellowship groups are meeting, we're going to start teaching the Bible to the kids. We started it at the Beacon in our local community that is known as Murdy Community Center. Does anybody know that place? That's where we started our mid-week kids’ ministry. And I remember when we got started, it was like anybody who could help, we're all in. And I remember people handing their babies, their little, precious infants to me, and I was the person holding their baby in the kids ministry, if you can imagine that. And everybody who could, we would show up and serve, because these kids need to learn about Jesus. And so, if you think, well, the kids’ ministry is somebody else's issue. No, the kids’ ministry, the children, that is the issue of the church of Jesus Christ, and it should be our goal as a church that as many children as possible in our local community get taught the gospel of the Lord Jesus. And we should want as many kids as possible to come and hear who Jesus is and how he died on the cross for our sins, and how he rose again on the third day, and how he came because God loves you and he wants to save you. Kids need to grow up hearing this good news of great joy, and so I'm so thankful for over hundred people who don't act like the kids are somebody else's issue. They go in there and they say, we're going to minister to the kids. Over a hundred people every single weekend. Can we give them a round of applause right now? Can we thank them for doing that?
And let me just tell you that these people that serve, they take this very seriously. Even to get in to serve, you can't just show up and go serve with the kids. No, you get background checked before you get served with the kids. In fact, you don't even get background checked. It's like, hey, tell me the story of how you came to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Tell me your testimony of repentance and faith in the Gospel. Tell me even how you're fellowshipping everybody who serves over there. They're involved in some kind of small group here at the church, and so they're already a part of the church, and now they're serving with the kids, and they want to protect these kids in that building. It's so great that we have a whole building where we can keep it very secure. There are always two unrelated adults in every room, and there are other adults always going around to make sure that these kids are safe. And we are teaching all of them who God is from the youngest of ages. And so, now I'm coming to the church and I'm saying, hey, there's actually something we can all do. The building where our kids are, and this is really unfathomable to me that there is now an entire building devoted to the kids’ ministry. I would have never imagined that that would have happened here in Huntington Beach. In fact, when you add up all the leaders and the kids that are in that building every single weekend, when we moved into that building eleven years ago as a church, there were less than four hundred people coming to this church. There are now more than four hundred people in that building, just for the kids ministry alone, every weekend. It's bigger than our entire church was. And so, after all these years, there are some parts in that building that you saw that need improvement. The lease, it's costing more now than it used to. And so, I'm saying, hey, here's a chance that you can contribute and you can let the children come.
And so, let's get this down for point number one: “Contribute to the legacy.” Contribute to the legacy. I would hope that everybody here at the church would all want to think, what could I do for the kids? How could I contribute to the children? And coming to Jesus and being taught who he is, that some of their earliest core memories could be from the Bible at church with their parents and people telling them Jesus loves you. That's what we want our kids to grow up knowing. You know, I'm so blessed. I had a Christian dad, a Christian mom. They took me to church, they read me the Bible, and God saved me at a young age. And a lot of people think a testimony like that is boring. There's no sex, drugs, and rock and roll in a testimony like that. There are no crazy life experiences in a testimony like that. Sometimes people even say that's a boring testimony. It's not boring, it's beautiful. And you know, what I found is everybody wants their kids to have a testimony like that, and that's what we should be praying for. We cannot expect in the day and age that you and I are living in, we already know that not all the dads and not all the moms around here are teaching their kids the way of Jesus Christ, and we need to be saying, as a church, “Let the children come.” What can we do to make sure there is a place that kids are being taught about Jesus that's safe, and people there are really loving these kids and teaching them the good news. Now I know that the parents are very interested in this. Okay? I know that as parents, we want the best for our kids. And look at what happens in verse 16. We'll take a minute well, to come back to what Jesus says in verses 14 and 15, because Jesus, like he regularly does, he makes a masterclass out of the moment, and he teaches something very profound. But look at how it resolves. In verse 16, “he took them in his arms, and he blessed them, laying his hands on them.” So, the parents who wanted to bring their kids so that Jesus would touch them, Jesus did that. He received the kid from those parents, held that child, blessed that child, laid his hands on that child.
And so, there's got to be some very happy parents walking away from this thinking, wow, Jesus, who can touch people and they'll be healed. He just touched my child. Okay? Now I want everybody to look at this, though, and see what does it say here, “He took them in his arms and he” what? He “blessed them.” It does not say that he baptized them. I want everybody to take note of this. If Jesus wanted us to baptize children, don't you think this would have been a prime opportunity to instruct us in that command? But see, Jesus is blessing kids, not baptizing them. And see, here's the thing, I think a lot of parents out of this good desire that we have for what's best for our kids, and if you know God, then you know what's best for your kids is that they would know God through his Son, Jesus Christ, and be saved from their sins, that you as a parent can start to think, well, I want to do something to make them saved, and we start looking for physical, tangible ways that we can control the outcome of our child's life and make sure that they are saved. And so, maybe parents want to baptize their children to think that something happens between them and God. Sometimes I think even parents want to put pressure on their kids to pray this prayer so that they could say, my kid is saved. And it's like they want to force something to happen in a physical way, what can only happen in a spiritual way, in their soul.
So, this whole idea of being a parent brings up the fact that sometimes we want to take control of things that are actually out of our control. I remember when my first son was born. I remember that day, and I remember receiving him in my arms. My son still looked purple. Does anybody else know what I'm talking about, right? When these children, these precious ones, who are fearfully and wonderfully made in their mother's womb, created by God in a way that's hard for us to even fully understand. And when my son came out, and I watched his skin color change, and I saw him right there with his little, tiny fingers and toes, and I knew right away, this isn't something that I did. This is something that God did. And it can be hard for us parents to admit, hey, I'm not in control of my child's life. I'm not the one who actually made them alive. I can't actually keep them alive, and when it comes to them being saved in their soul, I can't somehow make them have a new heart or put the Spirit of God within them. And so, look at what Jesus says here, look at what he teaches here. He says, “Let the children come to me. Do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” And then, he teaches us this, “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a” what everybody? Like a child. You see, Jesus uses this moment where there's this interaction about the children that are coming to him. He uses that moment to teach something. What he always wants to talk about is the kingdom. And he says the only way to enter the kingdom is like a what? A child.
Now, let's think that through together. Okay, it's coming up to that most wonderful time of the year. No, I'm not talking about Christmas. I'm talking about tax time. Does everybody know tax time is coming up, right? And when you have precious children on your taxes, they are your what everybody? Your dependents. We don't expect them to pay for themselves. We don't expect them to pay taxes. They depend on their father, on their mother. So, if we're going to enter the kingdom, we are going to enter it dependent.
See, the reason I can't do anything to make sure my kids are saved is I can't do anything to make myself saved. I'm completely dependent on God's grace, and the only one who did anything to make me saved is the Lord Jesus, when he laid down his life to die on the cross for my sins, and when Jesus rose up on the third day. That is my salvation. Jesus paid it all. Jesus finished it. The only reason that anybody is saved, we're not saved by any works of the law that we can do. We are saved based on the work that Jesus did for us. Can I get an amen from anybody on that?
The best thing you can do for your kids is to leave them a legacy of faith. Let's get that down. Let's add that to point number one. The legacy that we want to leave to our children is our faith. What can we do? We can pray for our kids. What can we do? We can teach our kids God's Word. We can say, hey, here's how God says to live life, here's what God says not to do. And we can discipline our children. Here's what God says to do, and we can instruct our children. We can teach our children. We can pray for our children. We can introduce our children to the God we have believed in. But the best thing that any dad or any mom can do is to show your child that you have faith that you trust in God with all your heart and you lean not on your own understanding, that you have given your entire life to following Jesus Christ. That's what your kids need to see. Parents focus so much on what they're going to do for their kids, but as a parent, you will never rise above who you actually are in your own heart, that's what your kids will know about you. They will come to know you. They will see you for who you are. Your kids might be the people who end up knowing you better than anybody else, and if they see genuine faith, that will be such an encouragement to them, that will show them the way. But if they see you wanting them to have faith, but not living it yourself, that hypocrisy has turned many children away from the faith that is in Jesus Christ. So, parents focus so much on what they can do for their kids when our ultimate focus should be on being people of faith ourselves.
And I just want to say this to every dad that is here, whether you have little kids, or whether your kids have kids of their own, your children know who you are. Your children, they don't just remember one thing you said. They don't just remember something you did. They could describe you to a complete stranger with the surprising level of accuracy, and they'll say, this is who my dad is. And they don't describe actions or statements. They describe a person. I have seen young men who wanted nothing to do with Jesus, who were living their lives in rebellion, and then when they got confronted about their sin, I've seen and even young men now who were grown up men themselves, when they talked about their father, who had faith in Jesus, they broke down and wept because they didn't believe in God, but they knew their dad did.
Do your kids know that about you? Do they know I'm going to Jesus? I'm looking to him. He is the Way. He is the truth. He is the life, and the way I'm going to get to the Father is through Jesus, the son. That's the legacy we need to leave to our kids is we are trusting Jesus. Not just we did trust Jesus, no, but we are actively continuing to trust in Jesus. Look at verse 15 again, because when Jesus says, “Truly, I say to you,” he's about to say something that at first it may be hard to think is true. That's why he says up front, this is the truth, and I want you to hear it like it's the truth. Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God, notice even that the kingdom of God, which is an important theme in the Gospel of Mark, the kingdom of God, is to be received. It even says and you have to receive it like a child. And if you don't receive it like a child. You won't be able to enter into the kingdom. So go back with me to chapter 1, verse 15, and let's just remember some of what Mark has said about the kingdom, because here in Mark 1:15, a very important verse for the gospel of Mark, he gives us a glimpse at what Jesus was proclaiming. So, in this one statement in Mark 1:15 is a summary of all the teaching of Jesus. And he's saying, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel.” Now, if everybody’s taking notes, if you could write down “at hand” equals “drawing near.”
Here's something I want to make very clear, that this phrase in the Greek where Jesus says the kingdom of God is at hand. And whatever that means, the kingdom of God is at hand, Jesus thinks it's a compelling reason that you would repent of your sins and that you would believe in the good news that God sent his Son to be your Savior. And so, why should you repent and believe in the gospel of Jesus? Well, because the Kingdom is at hand. Well, and what does that mean? The kingdom is actually coming. The kingdom is actually drawing near. So, I think of Hebrews 10:25, where it says, “Encourage one another all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” The idea that there's a future day that is coming, and we don't know when it's coming, it could be soon. And so, you’ve got to get ready, because this day is drawing near. How about James 4:8? “Draw near to God, and he will” what? “Draw near to you.” That's the same Greek that's translated “at hand” here for the Kingdom. The whole premise of the gospel of Mark is that the kingdom of God is coming, and you need to prepare yourself, because the way of the Lord is drawing near. You need to make your path straight away immediately, at once, get ready now, because the king is coming. That's the message of the gospel of Mark. That's what John the Baptist was saying. That's what Jesus was teaching. And then throughout the gospel, he's describing for us what it means to be ready for the kingdom to come, how who's going to actually enter the kingdom. There are certain ways that people who are going into the Kingdom live.
Go over to chapter 9. And we just looked at this, Mark 9:47. This was just a few weeks ago. We went over this where Jesus taught if your eye causes you to sin. This is Mark 9:47, “If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell.” And so, here's Jesus saying, how do you enter the kingdom? Well, you don't enter the kingdom if you continue to live in your sin and you continue to allow things that cause you to sin in your life. Get rid of those things, cut them off, tear them out of your life. Better to lose those things now and enter the kingdom than to live in those sins now and miss the kingdom. So, it seems to me that whatever topic we're getting into, Jesus brings it back to the kingdom. Oh, you want to talk about sin? Well, yeah, you’ve got to get rid of sin to enter the kingdom. Oh, you want to talk about kids? Well, you’ve got to be like a child to enter the kingdom.
Go over to chapter 10, verse 23, and then he's going to talk about money. When the rich young man walks away sad from Jesus because he has many possessions, Jesus teaches his disciples this. This is Mark 10:23, we're going to get to this in a couple weeks. “And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’” And the disciples, they're amazed at his words. I thought being rich meant you were blessed. I thought being wealthy would be a good thing. They're amazed at what Jesus is saying, and notice what Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” You can't be caught up in the riches and wealth and material possessions of this life and be ready to enter the kingdom. Jesus is saying so you see this theme that the kingdom's coming, and you’ve got to be ready. And if you're ready, your life looks like you're cutting off sin. If you're ready, your life looks like you're not caught up in the possessions of the here and now, and if you're ready, Jesus says you're like a child.
So, let's think about that idea. What does it mean to be like a child to enter the kingdom? Go over to Matthew 18, where Jesus says something very similar, a similar teaching from Jesus, but Matthew, his account of it, adds a little bit more here. And at the very beginning of Matthew 18, the disciples are having a debate about who's the greatest disciple of all time over here, and Jesus needs to teach them a different way than everybody trying to be the greatest. And so, “Calling to him a child.” This is Matthew 18, verse 2, “Calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them, and he said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’” So you have to enter the kingdom like a child. Okay, what does that mean? “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Humility, dependence, that's what it means to be like a child.
Let's get this down for number two, you need to: “Consider yourself a dependent child.” You need to humble yourself. You need to think that the only way I'm going to enter the kingdom is by my Father. And this is how Jesus taught us to think when we pray. What are we supposed to say when we pray? “Our Father in heaven,” and what do we ask our Father for? We ask him for things like daily bread, like we can't even survive on a physical level if you don't provide for us. We ask him for things like, forgive us our debts, forgive us our sins. Like we're going to be judged for our sins if you don't forgive us for what we've done. Then we pray, “Lead us not into temptation,” because without your power, without abiding in Christ, we won't even be able to not sin going forward. So, we need you to lead us away from temptation. In fact, deliver us, protect us from evil, from the evil one, because there's Satan and the rest of the demons. There are evil spiritual forces in the heavenly places. There's an entire world system that is evil. And how are we going to make it through all of that? Only if our Father holds us in his hand.
You see, we have been taught dependence, and that's hard for proud people like us, because we want to think we did it. We want to try to do it ourselves. And this is saying we have to admit we are incapable. We have to admit and ask for help. We have to go to our Father and act like he's the one who's going to get us there, not just us trying to do it ourselves. And this kind of humility and dependence doesn't come naturally. This is something God has to give to us. God has to teach us. And so, do you talk to God like he's your Father and you're his dependent child? See, I've heard some dads talk. I've heard some dads get angry at their wives, get angry at their kids, and I've heard dads say things like, do you know how many years I put food on the table? Do you know how long I've provided for you, and yet you're ungrateful? Can't you see what I've done? I remember one man ranting and raving, walking around my office as he was about to divorce his wife, about how no one could appreciate how hard he had worked to provide. And I remember saying to that man, so when your family sits down at the table, would you like them to pray and thank you for the food? We think we're doing all of this living. We're putting breath in our lungs. We're making our heart keep beating. No. Every good and perfect gift that you have ever received in your life came from your Father.
We're living in a time where anxiety is an epidemic, where it has become normal for people to just say, I'm worried, I'm stressed, I'm anxious, I'm afraid. Why is that? Why is that becoming so common? Why do we see anxiety on the increase all around us? Well, according to 1 Peter, chapter 5, verses 6 and 7, anxiety is actually what's there because of a lack of humility. See, anxiety comes from me trying to control my life and trying to make sure my life's going to work out, and thinking, if I try hard enough, I can do it, if I plan it out well enough, it'll all work out. And so here we go. I'm going to do it this week. I'm going to do it this time, and then our pride of trying to do it ourselves meets the reality that we are not in control of life, and we cannot keep even our own children safe, and we cannot provide for ourselves or forgive our own sins or lead ourselves out of temptation? No, we are completely dependent on God, and so we have a choice to humble ourselves under his mighty hand, or to try to do it ourselves and to worry and stress. And so many people are trying to do it themselves that the anxiety is becoming overwhelming when they could just go to their Father and say, Father, I can't do it. I need you to do it. You're the only one who's in control. This is my Father's world, and all the things that seem out of control to me, he reigns on a throne as sovereign king over them all. Can I get an amen from anybody here today? Are you out there trying to do it yourself? Are you overwhelmed with anxiety because you're realizing it's not going to work out the way you wanted, and now you don't know what to do? Let us humble ourselves under his mighty hand and let us cast all these cares up to him.
Go to 1 Peter 5. Let's look at that together. 1 Peter 5:6-7. I want to make sure everybody knows these verses, and if you know them, I just want to remind you to use them. It's become such a such a thought for me. God has helped me to learn these verses in such a way, if you can go to 1 Peter 5:6-7, and now, when I see problems, when I when I'm feeling burdens, when I can tell, well, I didn't plan for that to happen. Well, that wasn't on my schedule for today. Oh, wow. Look what's going on. It's almost like now when I can tell the cares of this life are getting to me, it's like, oh, it's time to go to my Father again. It's time to tell my Father in heaven that I can't do it again, and to know that he actually cares for me. Look at 1 Peter 5:6-7, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so at the proper time he may exalt you, casting” how many of your anxieties on him, everybody? if you can tell that you are anxious about something that is a signal to you that you should humble yourself and ask your Father about it. And as a father, see, I used to think that God, being the Father, was like, we were supposed to think about our dad. And then, oh, that's how we would know what a God being a Father is. And I think a lot of people get tripped up on that. The picture of God being a Father is not just something you compare to your dad. No, it's actually when you become a dad is how you're supposed to see it. And when you become a dad, you have this love for your kids, and you have this thing like, what does this kid need? You would be willing to do it. You would be willing to work hard to provide. And you're, in fact, your whole way of thinking grows and develops and matures because you want to provide and be responsible for your kids. And you start to feel this way, that if one of your kids asked for something, as a dad, you would want to give it to him, and if they asked for this, you wouldn't give them something they did want. You'd want to as it's good thing. You'd want to give it to them if you could, if they what? They were asking for was good and right and true. Well, as a dad, you're already thinking, well, how could we fit that in the budget. How could we build that over time? How could we do this? And if you, who are a sinner, who are evil in your heart when you're born, if you want to give good gifts to your children, how much more does your father in heaven want to give good gifts to you?
See, my son, he's twenty years old now, my first born son that I held in my arms that day when he was still purple. He's his own man. Now, he makes his own decisions. He decides what he wants to do. And when my son, who's his own man, when he calls me, he says, Dad, what do you think about this? It brings great joy to any father to think that your children care about what you think. How much joy does your Father in heaven get when you ask him for wisdom? How much joy in heaven does your father get when you declare to him, dad, I need you to teach me. Dad, I need you to come through for me once again. Dad, you're the only one who's ever really done this, and I need you again this time. See, your Father in heaven knows you're one of his children and you need everything from him. Do you know you're one of his children and you need him for everything?
I think we have a real danger of not wanting to be children, but wanting to be independent. And the truth is that only people who are entering the kingdom are those who are dependent on God and acknowledging, I don't have it unless my Father gives it to me. I'm just receiving what my Father gives. So, I want to encourage everybody to really take this idea very seriously, because look back at Mark 1015, let's end with this clear verse right here, because Jesus is saying this is a deal breaker that you learn this. It's what I'm not saying is, it would be good for you to be more humble. What I'm not saying is, you should try to grow in being dependent. Know what Jesus is saying. Let's read it again. “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child, shall not” what everybody? Like, you're not even going to make it into the kingdom, unless you come with this humility, this dependence, with this faith, that I know how I'll get there. My dad will take me there. My Father, he'll hold me in his hand, and no one is able to snatch me out of my Father's hand. That's how I'm going to get there. I'm going to enter the kingdom like a child. If we know that God gets all the glory in the end, then we should live today like God's the one who's doing it all. That's why he gets the glory. And so, if you aren't humble, if you aren't dependent on God, and what's a way that you could know if you're humble or you're dependent? Well, let's talk about your prayer. How much are you praying? How much are you asking and seeking and knocking? How much are you declaring your dependence? We live in a country that's going to celebrate 250 years of independence. Well, I understand that, but I hope you're not trying to live independent from God, because we need God.
And so, flip your handout over. You can see here on the back of the handout, Question number two: How do you demonstrate your dependence upon your Father in heaven? What does this look like for you to be humble and dependent? I really want everybody here to think about this. And then there's a typo here on number three. Cross out Matthew and put Mark there. We looked at all those verses right now in the sermon, and what is Jesus teaching us about entering the kingdom? One of the concerns that I have, that I regularly hear people talk about, is people say stuff like, well, I have faith, and it's almost like, well, I already believed, I already trusted. I already did this thing. So, I know I'm fine, I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me. I'll be there in the end, because I already did this in the past. But see, that's not how Jesus is teaching us to think. Jesus is teaching us that we're on a collision course with the kingdom of God that's coming, and we don't know when it's coming. So, we’ve got to live ready. And this living ready is this active faith where, yes, because I believed in Jesus in the past, I trust him today, and I look forward to the future when I'm going to be in his kingdom. And so, are you learning to think this way? When was the last time you prayed that Jesus, I can't wait for your kingdom to come. I can't wait till I get to see you in your glory. Is that really what you're living for is not for the here and now, but for this kingdom that is coming, where you're going to get to be with Jesus. That's what he's teaching us in these verses. And people who are living for sin now, people who are caught up in the riches of this life, they're not ready to enter the kingdom. The people who are ready to enter it, they're not living for those things anymore. They're actively ready to enter the kingdom.
So, we’ve got to take the words of Jesus. He's not just saying, let the children come in a physical sense. He's saying, you’ve got to be like a child if you're going to be in the kingdom. So let me pray for us about that right now.
Father in heaven, I just pray that we could all take a moment and that we could really hear the words of Jesus here together this morning. Father, thank you for these parents that wanted to bring their kids to be touched by Jesus, and thank you for how that became an example to us that we don't want to be like the disciples, turning kids away, turning families away. We want to be ready to welcome the children in the name of Jesus. And so, God, I just pray that that would continue to happen at this church. I pray that the best days of the kids’ ministry of this church will be ahead of us, with teachers who are passionate to make the gospel clear to the children, teachers who are patient and loving. And keep protecting these kids and that all the families around our entire community would think, yeah, they love kids at that church. The whole church loves the kids there. They even did these improvements in their kids’ ministry building. You’ve got to see that place. God, I pray that that would be known, that we would be known for Jesus' love for the kids, and that the kids would know that Jesus loves them. And God, I pray that we would be like a child in our humility before you as our Father, that we'd be like a child, that we're trusting in you to hold us by your hand, that we would be dependent on you every day, knowing that, apart from your Son Jesus, we are not capable of doing one good thing If we don't abide in Christ. And so, God help us to see that there is a lot of pride where we live. There's a lot of us thinking, because we have resources and because we are safe and blessed, that we think we can do it, and we can do it for ourselves. We could do it for our kids, even we could make them Christians, too. God, I pray that you would humble us before you, and that we would all be able to say to you today and regularly, I can't do it. I need you to do it. My entire life depends on you, and what you're going to do, you're my Father, and if you don't hold me in your hand, I won't make it to your kingdom. So, Father, please, will you humble us? Will you make us dependent on your grace? Make us the children who call on you as our Father and we know that you care for us. God, please work in our hearts even now as we sing these songs to you in Jesus’ name. Amen.