Sorry, just a moment. Technical difficulties. Well, good morning, everyone. It's good to be here.
I mean, wow, great songs about a great Savior. And you know what? We have such joy awaiting us. And this is the prequel.
This is where we, as believers, children of God, we get to gather and worship Him and praise Him. And there's a day coming. We're going to be with Him forever in eternity. And we're going to be worshiping and praising Him.
And all these other things are going to be gone past. And they're not going to have any power or effect on us. So that's different. I've titled this message of such as the kingdom of God.
Before I started to open in prayer. Father in heaven, Lord, we thank You. We thank You for Your word. We thank You for Your Son.
It is right and good to make much of Him. And to just look into Your Word and rejoice in God our Savior. And so Father in heaven, as we look into Your Word, and we look at the Word made flesh, Father in heaven, bless this message and bless the hearers that Your name would be exalted. And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
In Luke 18, let's go into some other text here. Hang on. Luke 18, Jesus said, but Jesus called them to Him and said, let the little children come to me and do not forbid them. For of such is the kingdom of God.
And that's the message of such is the kingdom of God. We as children of God live in a fallen world and it continues to fall. As human beings, our nature is corrupted. We see the moral decline amidst the ever-growing chaos of living in a world unhinged from morality.
But amidst the chaos, our Father in heaven has given us His word. One of my nephews found a really large clam on the beach at Clam Harbor, I mean, what else would you find? It's Clams. And he wanted to take it home, but the clam shall it was open just enough so you can be able to put your fingers in there to kind of pry open.
So he had to pry it open, and man, it was a workout. I managed to pry on it and pry it open. It was quite the challenge. And for us as believers, as Christians, our Bibles are like that.
Sometimes it takes tremendous effort sometimes to crack it open. The Bible that the Gideon's distribute has its preface to it. The Bible contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable.
Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler's map, the pilgrim staff, the Pilate's compass, the soldier's sword, and the Christian's charter. Here, too, heaven is opened and the gates of hell disclosed.
Christ is its grand subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully. It is a mind of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure.
It is given you in life, will be opened at the judgment, and be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, rewards the greatest labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents. That is such a staggeringly accurate description of what the word of God is. And a lot of the times, we avoid the very things that will see us through the difficulties and struggles and trials that seem to converge on us, especially now, all at once.
And we know what I'm referring to. I mean, how many times do we get hit with seemingly insurmountable predicaments? At first we may react as if we're caught off guard, as the crisis sinks in, like a chicken with its head cut off? Has anybody ever seen a chicken with its head cut off?
Yeah, that's something. My grandfather used to do that. I'd run underneath the struck, and that chicken would be running all the way. Anyways, so if we would just look immediately to his word instead of relying on our own resources, I mean, we look at the revealed character of God, it leads to that peace that surpasses all understanding.
Have you ever seen what a little child does when they are in a store, say, and they see something that causes them to be afraid? They start backing up, back up, right up to the parents, grab the leg, and look up. That's what we have to do, saints. That's what we have to do.
We need to back up. We need to back up to the safety and security that's found in the word of God, and look up to him, who holds the universe in the palm of his hand. I love nature shows. I think I was intrigued with them before I was a believer.
But now when I look at them, I see the awesomeness and the majesty of God. And it's wonderful to give him credit where credit is due. I remember a friend of mine. This is along before I came to know the Lord.
But he couldn't get past why God would want to be worshipped, why God should get the credit. And I said to him, and he was a pretty good artist. I said to him, what do you do when you finish your painting? What's the last thing you do?
Why? I'm my name in it. Why? Well, because he wants the credit.
He did it. And God deserves the credit. And he deserves that. But well, he deserves something else, too.
We all do. But anyway, that's not a story. But when you look at things like the majesty of creation, the incredible creatures that God has designed down to the last atom, the last subatomic particle, man, that's a reason to be encouraged, saints. Look at the mighty elephant.
I mean, nothing. Look at a horse. Those little hooves. All that weight.
Not a problem. Runs around. There's this thing. It's amazing.
Just the level of intricacy and design in there. Have you ever heard a lion roar? I mean, what a sound. What coming out of that creature?
It's terrifying. You know, Jesus wanted to gather the children of Jerusalem to himself as a hand gathers her chicks under her wings to itself. But they were not willing. Isn't that ironic that in this day and age, God is still calling people to himself.
And we see it a lot when we're on the street. A lot of people aren't willing. And they're missing out on this. They're missing out on the hope that comes through faith in Christ from being born again.
This world, if you think about it, I was speaking with a nik, a rather nik, proposed on Friday night. I said, isn't this world exactly what you expect to see in a world bent on destroying? Every visage of the one and only true God in Jesus Christ, whom he has sent. Isn't this typical of what we should see?
A world in rebellion, a world without a moral compass, a world that is trying to do better and be better. And yet, look at the news, if you dare. Don't look at it too much, as he said. Don't look at the news too much, because it's really startling sometimes.
So how do we navigate this? Jan Markel said these things. The world is falling apart, but it's also falling into place as well. And so it is.
God is handling this thing. He's sovereign. He's working this stuff. Each of us is in a different situation or situations.
And multiple things all at once converging. I think a lot of us would agree. There's a lot of things coming together. And I'm speaking not only from the proffetical point where in the word of God we see what's coming down.
But it seems like, wow, how much more? Have you been to that point probably in the last couple years? I was like, wow, I don't know how much you are. I can't take on one more thing.
And then something else happens. And something else happens. It's a continual roller coaster in a lot of ways. And even as his believers, we struggle a lot of the ways.
Think of the world. And I'm sure a lot of we all do. Think of the world that has no truth. They're just ambling around.
And while there was a guy on the street that came up, he came up to John after. But I'd spoken with him. And he was very heavily intoxicated. And he professed to be a Christian.
He said, I used to be a Christian. He said. And he was just trying to say, yeah, yeah, what I'm doing? It's OK.
It's OK. That's what it says in the Bible. He says, that's what it says. Jesus 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.
And also, Jesus said, unless you become as little children and are converted, it carries the meaning of being turned around not only in your thinking, but in your direction, from loving and living as rebels against everything that God in Christ represents, to believe in the truth revealed in his infallible word. Interesting, right? We have the fallen world, and we have the infallible word of God. It's what a contrast.
The two things are so diametrically opposed. Then, near the time of the cross approaching, Jesus said, referring to the disciples who were looking to him, like a small child looks to his or her parent, little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek me. And as I said to the Jews, where I am going, you cannot come.
So now I say to you. And then later on, he says, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to him. And I say to myself, where I am, there you may be also. And where I go, you know the way and the way you know.
And Thomas said, Lord, we don't know the way where we are going. How can we know the way? It's almost like what a little kid would say, right? What do you mean?
What are you talking about? What do you mean the way? Our son Jordan was in the backseat in a child seat. And Diane and I were talking about Diane as my wife.
And Diane and I were planning something. And he started crying in the back because he could hear part of it. But I said, what's wrong? And he looked back and he said, his tears down his face.
He says, I don't understand. I just don't understand. And you know, it was so sweet because he wanted to understand, he wanted to understand what was happening. And you know, I think a lot of us as Christians were like that, we're crying out to God.
I want to understand. You know, just give me help me to understand this. And you know, it's in his word. Things have happened to me in my past, maybe almost 40 years ago.
And I remember looking up at the sky, I wasn't a believer. I wasn't born again. I believed in God. And I just looked up in the sky and I just went, why, why, why?
And so some 40 years later, I go, oh, that's why. So you know, sometimes you have to wait a little while like Moses in the wilderness, right? 40 years. Why?
You know, there's a referring back to that young man that was intoxicated and said there used to be a Christian. You know, he had just enough of the Bible to hang himself, right? He took advantage of those scriptures that work well for him. And we hear it all the time on the street.
And that's the sort of perspective that we have to have with them, especially when they quote one of the most quoted, like, judge, not judge, not judge, not, but they forget about the context. So what are the three rules of Bible interpretation? Number one, context. Number two, context.
Number three, context. Amen. You know, as Spurrion said, there is dust enough on some of your Bibles to write damnation with your fingers. I mean, that's heavy, you know?
There's people, you know, they got the Bible. How many times John has said, people have come up, they've showed us the cross. Hey, yeah, I got the cross, I'm good, I'm good to go. Or they're shooting, I got this big tattoo of Jesus on their side and I'm going, well, that's interesting.
And yet they're, of course, they're saying and doing things that of course, they're not believers. I'm not saying that if someone has a cross, they're not a believer. I'm simply saying, if they're trusting in that piece of metal or wood or whatever it is, then can that's they're good to go? You know, they're, they're, unfortunately, seriously deceived.
Little children are dependent on their parents, well, even ironically, grown up children are dependent upon their parents. That's another story. Little children are a bit of a picture of innocence. They ask why and whatever answer you give them, it leads to another why.
For example, if you say we're going to the store, they say why? Well, we need to pick up some food. Why? We need food to keep healthy.
Why? Because without food, you can't live. Why? Because then when you eat the food, you won't be asking me why.
They want to understand sometimes, but I think sometimes they do it just a buggus, you know? Bless their little hearts. A little child doesn't fret about, the dad, Peter Rant. I wonder if the furnace is going to pooch out, you know?
They're not there. They are confident that my mother, the dad, are going to provide for them, and that gives them the freedom to live. And you know what? It's not wonderful to look at a child.
That's what Jesus says. Hey, don't stop them from coming to me, because the parents wanted to have the children blessed by Jesus. And it's a picture of innocence. We're called little children in his word, and we don't have to fret either.
Jesus said in Luke, chapter 12, two disciples, therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, nor about the body, what you will put on it. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. And then further down, he says, consider the lilies, how they grow, they neither toil nor spin. And yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
If then God so close the grass, which is today is in the field, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you of little faith? All the things that the nations of the world seek for, eating and drinking. And your father knows that you need things, but seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. Do not fear little flock.
This is wonderful here. For it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Jesus said, worry won't help. It's just burning you out, and it won't help.
The apostle John wrote to the believers addressing them as children. I write to you little children, because your sins are forgiven. You, for his namesake. In 1 John chapter 2, he writes, and now little children abide in him, that when he appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
1 John 3, little children let no one to see you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous. In 1 John chapter 3, 18, my little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but indeed in truth. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
I mean, amen to that. You ever see that? A little diagram is in a gospel tract, I think, long, maybe 25 years ago I read it. It had that little train in there.
It had the engine. It had the engine. Then it had the next car. And then the next car.
And then the first one was fact. And then the next one was faith. And the next one was feelings. And what it was trying to convey was that if we try to put our feelings on the first thing and try to have that as the engine that moves us through life, we will be utterly disappointed, because our feelings, they come and go.
But even through the midst of all this, as believers, we have this undercurrent. It's just fine. Everything's, you ever see ships at sea in a storm? And yet below the surface, everything, it's unaffected, right?
And that's what we have to be when we look at the Word of God. And we embrace who we are. We are the children of God. Sons and daughters, right, you mean?
Abraham is like a little child. Do you remember in Genesis when he knew that what was going to happen to Sodom and Gomorrah? And he said, would you also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there were 50 righteous within the city.
Would you also destroy the place of not-spirit, for the righteous that were in it, for the 50 righteous that were in it? Far be it from me. For from you to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous so that the righteous should be as the wicked. Far be it from you.
He's really emphasizing that point. She'll not the judge of all of your authority, right? I mean, look at that. I thought that's so bold.
I mean, Matt, you're talking to God like that. You're just a, I thought that was very bold. But you know what? It's typical of something that would be trusting in the Lord and saying, in a sense, where he could come to him and get the answers, right?
He's kind of going, why? Why? Why? Right?
And God is saying, if I find in Sodom 50 righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their six. Then Abraham answered and said, indeed, now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord. What are children like? They're humble.
They're little. They're just OK. You know? You hand them something.
OK, I'll eat that. I'll drink that. OK, you know, they're so trusting. And that's what God wants us to be, trusting in him.
And when these things come along, these storms in our life, so to speak, we can trust him. We have his word. And if we rely on the facts, like that engine, fact, faith, feelings, if we keep that in order, this is what God says. I believe what God says.
Our feelings may come and go. But if you trust in the Word of God, and it is the litmus test, right? As well as you at many times, things go wrong. And you know what?
We're panicking. We want to get out of that situation. And yet those situations sometimes are the very things that we'll expose. That, Lord, I don't think I'm really trusting in you that much.
I want to be able to trust you. And that's why when Jesus said, ask, seek, knock. You know, we can do that. We can come to him as his children, as his beloved children.
Then he goes on to say, well, what about 45? If I find your 45, I will not destroy it. Suppose there are 40. I will not do it for the sake of 40.
And then Abraham says, let not the Lord be angry. And I will speak. Suppose 30 should be found there. So he said, I will not do it if I find 30 there.
And he said, indeed, now I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose 20 should be found there. At this point, I was looking at this going, that's incredible. I just, where is this going?
And I said, I have to keep reading. So he said, I will not destroy it for the sake of 20. Then he said, let not the Lord be angry. And I will speak, but once more, suppose 10 should be found there.
And he said, I will not destroy it for the sake of the 10. The humble child like faith, Abraham, going to God. It's so easy to get off course if we're not constantly keeping our focus on Christ and in the Word of God. Remember the clam?
Crack it open. And I open that Bible. Stay in the Word. That's what Jesus said.
If you remain in me, I will remain in you. And you think, what does that mean? Being a new Christian and already wasn't going to really talking with other Christians. I was a brand new Christian.
Remain in me. What does that mean? Remain in his Word. Stay in his Word.
Stay in prayer. And I want to encourage each and every one of you. We're all the same. We're all the same before believers if we've been born again.
We stumble. We fall. We got confused. We ask why.
But I want to encourage each and every one of you that comfort is in the Word of God. And that, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, that's that peace that surpasses us understanding. I want to encourage you guys. Sometimes God uses the strength of an illness or other calamity to help us probably open his Word.
Don't wait for that to happen. Get into the Word before it happens. I have gathered a lot of scriptures to go to when I get sideswiped by something. Because when I'm in the moment, I'm like that chicken.
With its head cut off. I don't have the thoughts or the integrity, I guess, in a way, just the ability to go and start looking for those verses. I used to work in sports fields. And they had these AED machines hanging on the wall.
When you need to use that thing, it's there. You just got to grab it. You got to use it. If you're all of a sudden, something happens, where someone goes down in an arena, a hockey game, whatever.
AED machine is that. What are they? It's called automated, external defibrillator. That's something where you get to go sort of.
But it's a lot gentler than that in some ways. To the person that's getting zapped, I suppose not. But you can't go, oh, the guy's down on the ice, whatever. I should go to the store and pick one up.
Where did I put that thing as you start looking through covers and that? So have them ready. Have those promises of God ready. So that when you need to, you can go to them, and you can find them.
Because a lot of the times we're in it. And it's hard at that point to sort of get ahold of some of those scriptures. So yeah, I've got this one little thing on my iPad. It says, help.
And then I know to go to that folder, and all the verses that are comforting or encouraging. And that would remind me. And you, that would remind us that our Father in heaven, we've been adopted into the family of God. The world, every single human being on this planet that's ever been born and will be born, all of them are created by God.
But they're not all these children, right? Jesus said, you are of your father, the devil. Before we're born again, that's who we are. And we do what his works.
And the testimony of that is look at the world, right? We see the world. Am I telling you guys anything new? Probably not.
Still exciting though, because you know what? We get to look at the Word of God. Do you guys remember that movie, Apollo 13, where they're stuck in space? And they got, what they're trying to figure out how to get back.
And they put, they had the image of the Earth in a window. And as they were burning the engines, because they had to get on course, and all their systems were down. They had to keep, when they were using that joystick, they had to keep the world in focus in view there. And that's what we have to do with the Word of God.
And God, we have to do that. We gotta keep them, as we're trying to, okay, I'm trying to figure this out. We gotta, oh yeah, there's the Word of God. Oh yeah, you know, don't be afraid.
I'll never leave you nor forsake you. Oh yeah, that's a good one. You know, stay with the Word of God. It'll get us, we're all going home, we're all going to need to have forever home.
But you know what, in this world, it helps chart us to the next day, literally. Have you guys ever heard of that acronym? Push, pray until something happens? That's a good one.
So keep praying, you know, keep praying, saints. Fact, faith, feelings. So we see that the world is in the state that it's in. How do we live for God?
Through his word. He's coming back. Jesus is coming back. He wants us to be with him forever.
Why? Because he said so. And he always, always, always keeps his word. In Revelation 19, it says, now I have an open to behold a white horse.
And he was sat on him, what's called faithful and true. And in righteousness, he judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire and on his head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except himself.
He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood. And his name is called the Word of God. And the armies and heaven clothed and fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses. You ever see when geese are flying?
We're out of birds, I guess. And they make that V. And there's the one in the front there. And the other ones are trailing behind, following him.
Because the lead one's cutting the wind resistance. You know, think about that. When we come back with the Lord, he's going to be exactly like his word says, riding in front. We're going to be behind him.
All the focus is going to be on the front. And he's going to cut the resistance of sin at the roots. And he has written on his robe and on his thigh, a name written king of kings and Lord of lords. As we grow in our relationship with God, you guys notice as we delve deeper into his word, how precious the blood of Christ becomes.
It's a precious thing. It's a beautiful thing. And again, preaching some people when they hear about the blood of Christ, they're repulsed by it. They don't understand, right?
Because there's a spiritual aspect of it that they can't comprehend. And it becomes more and more sublime, the more we think on it. In other words, sublime means lofty, grand, exalted in thought, expression, or manner about standing spiritual, intellectual, or moral worth. The blood inspires us to awe because of its beauty and nobility, its grandeur.
Remember that in Genesis, they took Joseph's tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood. And when you first read that, maybe you don't see, oh, OK. But when you read in Revelation where he was clothed in a vestige or a robe dipped in blood, that inspires such confidence because they go, that's no coincidence. Those things aren't coincidences in his word.
Those things are laid out for us to discover just like you're walking down the beach and you see a wonderful gem lying in the sand or something. They're all there. You just have to pick them up and just say, hey, it all fits. I'm going to be made fit for the kingdom of God too.
So sorry for the lesson keeps getting on me. First Peter, chapter 1, but with the precious blood of Christ is a lamb without blemish and without spot. We've been redeemed. Having disarmed principalities and powers, that was one of the the the the the scriptures that was quoted this morning.
He made a public spectacle of them, try and think over them in it. It's only one way to save this world, you know, and it's not reducing the carbon footprint. It's the gospel. You can force people to obey a set of rules, but that suppression of behavior is external.
It won't bring about any real and lasting peace. No human rallying cry of, we can be better. No, you can't. We can bring this world out of crime and evil by doing social reformation.
No, you can't. I can do anything with a first taken out of context. Again, no, you can't. I mean, since Adam and Eve fell in the garden, man has been trying to get up under his own steam and has met with absolute failure.
Every time you can compel people to comply with a set of rules and some whole thing that will solve the problem, but those attempts are futile. The gospel changes people on the inside. That's the only way it's going to happen. That's the only way that this world is going to come together.
And you know what? That's why we need to go out into the world and tell them. Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Use tracks.
They're wonderful. They work. Tell people when we're a new man or women in Christ being a new creation, separated and saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, King of kings, we're new creations. This world is not our home.
But for those who don't know the Lord, if they're told even one lie, use God's name in vain even once, look at someone with lust, you'll be found guilty on judgment day. And hell will be your just punishment. But God is rich in mercy. Remember how God was willing to spare Sodom for the sake of even 10 righteous?
God is not willing that any perish, but that all should come to repentance. He doesn't want even one to perish. A broken spirit, a broken denocant right heart. These, oh God, you will not despise.
In humbleness with childlike faith, admit you've sinned against God. Believe that Jesus died for you and rose again. Ask him to forgive you and save you from a fate worse than death. We use it almost as a cliche, right?
A fate worse than death. Hell is a fate worse than death. So if you don't know him, what are you waiting for? If we're born again, we can have the every confidence, every assurance that not only is our King returning, he's coming very soon.
We have his word on it. Like to sing with the help of the worship team. Behold, he comes, and then I'll end with some prayer. We have the faith, Father in heaven, and the faith is in the Son of God.
And so Father in heaven, help us Lord to rejoice in that truth. Tell others. And in Jesus name we pray, amen. Thanks for listening.