Let The Little Children Come

I invite you to turn this morning in the Bible to the second book of the New Testament, the Gospel of Mark. We continue our study in this Gospel and we come to Mark chapter 10. We read through verses 13 through 31. My first sermon ever in this pulpit was the rich young ruler when I was in seminary. It was awful. I just want you to know. You do, I think, grow a little bit. But I've always loved this passage, I think it's a remarkable passage, and that would have been back in 2001 or 2002, so today we're going to consider that again. Beginning at verse 13 this morning, verse 13 of Mark chapter 10, and we will consider through 31. 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 and 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. And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him, why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments. Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not defraud. Honor your father and mother. And he said to him, teacher, all these I've kept from my youth. And Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him you lack one thing go sell all that you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me disheartened by the saying he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions 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 were amazed at his words. But 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. And they were exceedingly astonished and said to him, Then who can be saved? Jesus looked at them and said, With man it is impossible, but not with God. for all things are possible with God. Peter began to say to him, See, we have left everything and followed you. Jesus said, Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the gospel who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first. May the Lord bless the hearing of his word. We have been studying Mark's gospel for some time now, and I hope that we're getting a handle on what makes somebody distinctively a follower of Jesus Christ. Jesus here is training his disciples in the message that he is bringing. and you'll notice that that everything he is doing as we've noticed in mark's gospel is turning human wisdom right on its head it has been hard for the the disciples to accept this and see this but but he has been doing that turning all human wisdom on its head this was the real issue he was addressing with his disciples when he made a strong statement to them along the way and we looked at this that they were not being mindful of the things of God but the things of men they were looking to the things of men and not the things of God and if they are going to be his ambassadors and if they are going to take the gospel to the ends of the earth they're going to have to understand that gospel aren't they they're going to need to know the gospel they're going to need to be able to preach the gospel but they themselves have to enter the kingdom to themselves they have not entered yet which is a remarkable thing to think about as we look at what their problem is and what they're struggling with this is all training for them they still haven't accepted how one enters the kingdom they're getting a lesson in salvation by grace through faith alone is what they're getting here before us today because they have still struggled with the fact that of desiring and wanting a status update in the world and jesus is about taking away worldly status you're now being a follower of me are going to become a servant we've been looking at all this we've been studying all this you know the the problem that the disciples have been facing they have been given over to given to want to advance their own names their own glory their own platforms their own greatness vying for the best seat in the kingdom if you think this is still not a problem you can look down at verse 35 or we're going to come at this again where they come up and want to sit at the best seat in the kingdom they're still struggling with this and if this does not become clear to them what essentially will happen is they are little pharisees in the making and they will be good pharisees hard-working pharisees in the kingdom doing the very thing that he condemned in the last chapter of pulling people away from him he's got to deal with this this has to be addressed now with all of that said we come to one of the most important moments to make clear what gospel belief and saving faith looks like today. Jesus is spending a great amount of time teaching this before his death and his resurrection so that when they are sent out and the Holy Spirit comes, it will all be clear to them and they will help people into the kingdom in the way that Jesus taught them to help people into the kingdom and that challenges us for if they had the hardest time accepting how entrance is made into that kingdom so do we so do we it is a big problem and the message of jesus this morning is so clear anyone who enters the kingdom of god enters as helpless as insignificant as dependent upon him with absolutely no strength in themselves ever to be brought and carried themselves but have to be carried by somebody else. We'll look at that. Brought ultimately by the sovereign love of God. And anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God this way, anyone who does not enter it as Jesus will say, a little child will by no means enter the kingdom and be saved. We have to enter this way, is Jesus' message. So this is an immensely important section of Mark to understand salvation. What an important text that challenges us to ask if we have truly entered the kingdom of God. Everyone sitting here this morning, have we entered? Have you entered? Or are you still lingering outside that gate? The outline really is rather simple this morning. Jesus explains to his disciples how people enter his kingdom and salvation. Then he shows them a great example of how one does not enter the kingdom. And then he makes very clear for them how entrance is made possible. So you'll notice that there, how people enter salvation, how they do not, and then how this is even possible. As we turn to chapter 10 this morning, you'll notice that he was teaching. And we have another unique moment where some parents begin to bring little children to Jesus. And you'll notice there, right at verse 13, and they were bringing children to Him that He might touch them. The disciples begin to witness this. Multitudes of people are all around. The Pharisees are standing there. We have many people who've gathered to listen to the teachings of Jesus. He's preaching the gospel of the kingdom, as Mark has told us. And here come these parents, bringing and pushing through the crowd, handing their little children, bringing them up there, carrying them up there to Jesus so that he might bless them and touch them. The disciples witnessed this whole thing, and we read that they proceed to rebuke the parents for doing this. You'll notice here that Jesus is indignant about this. Absolutely indignant. This has really troubled him, that the disciples have put a halt and stopped the caring and the bringing forth of children, and other places you think of infants too, to him. Now you remember that Jesus had already in the previous chapter grabbed a little child, took him up into his arms, and remember that was motivated by the disciples' argument over greatness. Who would be the greatest in the kingdom. Jesus had already used the illustration of a little child, and it was at that moment that Jesus said, whoever welcomes a little child in my name receives me. Really important for this morning. In other words, the evidence that you have received me, says Jesus, will be shown in your reception of little children. Well, what just happened? They said no. So we have a real problem here, and you understand why Jesus is indignant. They essentially have refused him. And that's why Jesus is very unhappy right now with his disciples. They see these little children brought to Jesus, and their attitude is, why waste time on them? They don't understand anything. It's a little more than that, though. Behind it is, they're of no importance, isn't it? Get them out of here. Receiving these insignificant little children does nothing for us. It does nothing for our project. It does nothing for what we're doing to advance the cause of you, Jesus. That's their attitude. This is like saying in Jesus' ears, get me out of here. Today, of course, it's a little more challenging to talk about children and how they're viewed because everything's backwards in our culture than in the first century. Children really were nothing. Today, we idolize them. It's the cult of the child, and everyone runs around with their children, and they run here and there all for their children. Everything's about the kids, isn't it? Everything in this life is about the kids. But even so, our society knows that there really is no place for them. you think about it, what can they be a part of in society? They aren't really, they don't have access to any of the human organizations that are great. They're really not a part of anything that's extraordinary. There's no status there. You can't get them into a club. You know how children are generally treated in society. There's just little place for them. I mean, I don't know how many times I've walked into a restaurant and the waitresses look at the four little ones and I get the death look. you know they just do not want to serve us they feel macaroni is going to fly everywhere i guess this is how children are viewed they're just a hindrance they're just trouble they're just a lot of work true true now this is an interesting moment uh think about them when we think about children for a moment we think about all the work that goes into raising children? What is it that is really being reacted against by the disciples? Well, we could go through a few different things, but you would initially say, well, they're small. This has been one of the things that Jesus has been emphasizing. They're weak. Physically, they're nothing. They can't do much of anything in terms of strength and human ability. They could be crushed in an instant they're insignificant i walk into my child's room sometimes and i look around and i look in the closet and i think they are really poor aren't they i see a little string of clothes and there's no unless it's the abounding grace yard sale where they bring every toy home that they shouldn't have. There is really nothing in that room. They're poor. They have no worldly possessions. They have a few coins in their piggy banks from grandpa and grandma, not mom and dad. They can't get to the store to get food. They have nothing in life. Nothing. A little string of clothes. That's it. You ever thought of the witness of all these little kids running around, Zooming around carefree? Ever thought of the witness that's right in front of us in this? Zooming around happy? J.C. Ryle used to write on children playing, wrote a whole book on children playing, the blessing of that. Here are the disciples. Why are you bringing them here? Get them away. He doesn't have time for them. It's at this moment we get one of the most glorious gospel announcements of salvation that Jesus ever gives in the gospel. in a moment of great agitation, in a moment of great frustration, he says, let the little children come to me and do not forbid them. For of such is the kingdom of God. Remarkable statement. The kingdom belongs to these dear disciples. How dare you push them away? I won't let you push them away. Don't you forbid them. I'm not a lion's club. My kingdom belongs to thee. How do you feel the weight of that? Assuredly, assuredly, I have something really important to say to you right now, and you better listen up. Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it. Whoa. He just, in one swoop, ripped away the desire to be anything. that mentality is completely incompatible with my kingdom and salvation. He just said, unless you become small, insignificant, helpless, poor, everything that we know about children, no status in society, no riches, I'll come back to that, unless you become like that, You'll never be saved. Wow. It was Jesus' entire charge to a church in Laodicea. You say, I'm rich. I've acquired wealth. I don't need a thing. But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. There's a crucial word to this. I don't know if you caught, you should circle it. Unless you receive the kingdom. Unless you receive the kingdom like this. When you receive something, what are you doing? Your hands are out. It's a reception. To enter the kingdom of God, you have to receive his kingdom. Now let me just pause and say, and I think this is such an important point today because there are some of us who really struggle with this. this is exactly the principle upon which infant baptism is performed. God from the earliest days always included infants of believing parents in his kingdoms to teach this, to teach this principle. We bring helpless little babies in our arms to Jesus. We're not dedicating. We are baptizing. Why are we doing that? Because we believe that he has the power to bless them and to save them. When we do that, it becomes explicitly clear in that act that we're declaring something that it is not the child's ability to go get it. Do you understand this? It is not the child's ability, he does not have the ability in the whole course of his life to go get it. Baptism is God's sign declaring that something is received. It's a reception. that he does it for infants. The child in his most helpless state with not even a mind to think and understand all of this didn't even have developed minds to know Jesus at this point. Jesus is saying, it is all dependent on me and that's why we do this. That's how dependent we are. There was a crucial declaration. That is a crucial declaration in God's intention of putting his sign on our children. so that they would grow up and you would always teach them and you'd say, you know what, dear child, and I speak to all the children here this morning, you are really blessed of the Lord. You need to know how blessed you are of the Lord. He loved you from the foundation of the world. You. He has given you to be a member of His kingdom. He did that. That's the sign. Why would we, if they are of such is the kingdom, why would we deny the sign of the kingdom? That just makes no sense. Of such is. And then we grow up teaching them that they were blessed from the womb, that they were blessed from the earliest moment when God put his sign on them and loved them. And as the apostle Paul would even realize when all this came and he had an understanding that this grace was given to him before time began. He says that. Well, here are the disciples. Uh-uh. No way. We will not accept that. We do not want that. Keep them out. Notice how indignant Jesus is. The same kind of indignant moment that when Moses refused to circumcise his son. Now, we have a great contrast. The rich young ruler, we now have a refusal right in front of the disciples to receive the kingdom as a little child. This is the connection this morning. Mark juxtapositions this and he's doing this so that you see the contrast which is very sharp and very strong. Here we go. Now as he was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before him, and asked him, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Great contrast you can't miss it in contrast to the child who's carried which if no one enters like that you'll never get in he is in the other extreme everything society values earthly treasures the man has strength he runs to jesus he's young you know how society values youth he has great wealth Great wealth. He's a ruler of the people. He has made it up the social line, the status. He is a leader. This man of such importance comes running to Jesus. Mark can't paint a stronger picture of accomplishment, of success, of money. You can't help but think back to the Old Testament and certain figures who came like this. Naaman. Naaman the Syrian. Remember? Here he comes. Even though he's high in society, he shows great respect for our Lord and he addresses him in a respectful manner. Good teacher. What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? You'll notice that Jesus doesn't even go there. He first is addressing something else. Good teacher. Why do you call me good? There's only one that's good. That's God. Maybe you've been a little bit puzzled by that. I don't think it's that hard to figure out when you realize that the whole struggle of the book of Mark has been for the disciples to see Jesus for who he is. Remember, this has been the lingering struggle when in the boat, after he had calmed the wind and the storm with just the word of his mouth, they all are saying, who is this that even the wind and the sea obey him? This has been the great struggle of Mark. Who is this that's come among us? And Jesus was constantly raising it. Who do men say that I am? Well, some say you're a great prophet. Some say you're Elijah. Some say, you're a great teacher. Notice this man comes to Jesus and says, you're a good man. And that's the problem. He has no conception of who is a bad man. Think about this. You know, and I know we can say, well, this is truly God. He is God's eternal son. But he doesn't know that. So he's referencing in his approach to Jesus as a good man is the very problem. He's a good teacher. I'm a good ruler. This good teacher can teach the good ruler how to do it. It's a serious exposure of man, this man having no doctrine of sin and the problem of human nature. He just says Christ is a good prophet from God who can teach us the way and I can climb up the ladder and do the morality that I need to do to get there to achieve it. And from there, everything goes south. You'll notice this. The two glaring words here, the verbs that stand out, what shall I do to inherit? Don't miss the contrast, of course. The kingdom of God is represented in the person of Jesus. When he preached, he was telling people to enter through him. He's the gate. He's the door. No man is saved, it's lest they come through him. And think about it. In him, the kingdom of God is embodied. When people come into the kingdom, they enter through him. This is equivalent to saying here, the kingdom entrance is equivalent to saying this is how you are saved. You receive the benefits of Jesus by faith. You come to him and you receive it as a little child. Graciously given. Think of what Jesus was constantly saying to the disciples. I bestow a kingdom upon you, just as my father bestowed one on me, That you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom. Or do not fear, little flock. It's the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Now notice the question. What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? We're not even on the same page. Do and inherit life. Garden of Eden. There's the tree of life. It's not salvation he's asking for. It's really important. Anyone who said in the Bible, and you see this in Acts, what must serve, what must we do to be saved? And the answer was always, believe. He's not asking for that. You always have to follow Jesus and the question he was asked to know what he's doing. The man's asking for eternal life. How do I climb up there? This is the greatest man, and keep in mind, before the disciples, the greatest man in stature this is the greatest man of accomplishment this is the man of israel he's everything so the contrast again is kick the nobodies out let the somebody's in when we explain to our children god loves you god has a place for you in his kingdom god's given all this to you as a gift you know what children say me me and then you have this I'll do it myself, thank you. Now, this is all painfully familiar to us. I had a rare moment last week. I was able to speak and witness for a few hours to a very successful Muslim man. I never had this opportunity. Two hours we sat, and I was able to explain the Christian gospel to him. And I was moved. By the time I stepped away from it, thinking, well, this is just Mark 10, Everything that just happened happened in Mark 10. Everything that I just experienced happened in Mark 10. The story was repeated. He would not accept the problem of humanity. It was remarkable. It was a wall. Human nature being inherently sinful, inheriting the sin of Adam imputed to us. He said, human beings are good. It was from a Muslim man from Pakistan. And so his religion is all about climbing the ladder to God. And I asked him that. I said, well, how does a Muslim enter? I'm not going to ask him about salvation because he doesn't even believe he's a sinner. How do you enter eternal life? And he says, well, that's not hard. You have to believe in Allah and you have to do good works. No concept of a need for a mediator. No concept of a need to be saved. Because there was no doctrine of sin and no doctrine of need, because he generally hoped that the good will just outweigh the bad, which is so common in society. It was like hitting a wall to convince this man that his state was bad before a holy God who is not Allah. So needy before him that he would have to get on his knees and receive a free gift. But he was successful, you see. It was nonsense to him. What was interesting was he said to me, I do believe in the Ten Commandments. I said, oh, really? Let's work through some of those for a minute. And so for the next hour, I went through some of the Ten Commandments and I finally had him to admit that when he looks at a woman and he says, well, I've never committed adultery, I finally had him to, have you ever lusted? You know Jesus' standard, don't you? And so we're both convinced, now talking about the fact that as men, we've all lusted after women out there. I had him agreeing to that, and every one of you should agree to that, by the way. This is exactly what Jesus does. This is exactly what Jesus does. Why would he accept Jesus when he doesn't even know him or understand a need for him? So Jesus begins to thrust on him the full weight of the law like a dagger right into his heart. What must I do to inherit eternal life? I hope the Exodus series has helped you with this by now. If you're asking for eternal life and you're not asking for salvation from me because you don't think you need to be saved, well, the standard's always been the same. Romans 2. Those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, he will give eternal life. Catch that. But if you don't do that, you get wrath. That's Romans 2 before he gets to the message of salvation. That was always the standard. Only the doers of the law are justified. Well, what can the best the world offers do before Jesus? This is a real interesting moment. This you have all put right in front of you. Here he then begins to level the commandments. Well, you know the commandments then. You're a good moral person. And he goes to the second table because he's aiming to deal with the big problem of his heart, the one that he knows he will not be able to get out of. And he goes to the second table and he says, do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother. Why didn't Jesus just say, believe in me? Well, again, what good would that have done? The law, we've always said, demands, in its first use, perfect and complete obedience. Just because we ruined that at the fall, just because we tanked it at the fall, did not annul God's perfect standard. It doesn't go away. A holy God demands perfect and complete righteousness. That's the Christian message. Did the disciples comprehend receiving the kingdom as a child? Well, here's then what it doesn't look like. They didn't get it yet. Here's the answer. How did he do? Teacher, all these things I've kept from my youth. I've done it. Now, I can't help but think, you can tell your children they're sinners, but as soon as they get to youth, they become rather stubborn, don't they? They don't think they're doing anything wrong. I can convince my little children they do. It gets a little harder as they get older. It's not because they're innocent as young. it's just because there's mind development, isn't there? I've been a good person from my youth. Done a lot of good things. Done them all. Maybe he just thought the good would outweigh the bad, but it sure seems like he really believes. This is the remarkable thing. He really believes that if God looked at his life and measured it with the standard of the law, he's done rather well. That's what he thinks. In fact, the disciples have this mentality in verse 28. Well, he didn't do it. We have. We've left everything. We've followed you. Notice the self-righteousness in that. And the law was always given in its first place to awaken dead hearts to see sin. This is what Paul described in Romans 7, and I commend it to you to read this afternoon, where he said, I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. The commandment, listen to this, which was to bring life, life, I found to bring death. He woke up. For sin, taking the occasion by the commandment, deceived me and killed me. In other words, I started hearing the commandment and it's the strangest thing that begins to happen. When I hear don't do this, I want to do it. It arouses sin. It's such an important verse because it truly describes what's happening when somebody's truly being saved. He really is describing the before and the after in Romans 7. Paul's very personal there. I was alive once without the law. I used to have great thoughts of myself. I used to think I was doing well. I had no sense going through life. No sense anything's wrong. I was a good, moral, upstanding man. Read Philippians 3. I did it all. Every Christian who's ever been awakened goes through this at some point. There was a time in my life I didn't see anything. And all of a sudden there's a time I saw something that I didn't just see something, I saw a lot. I would arise every morning and I would get out of bed and I would be about my business and it would have never occurred to me. Think about this and everyone here today, I really plead with you, if you've not come to Jesus yet and received the kingdom, think about this. I would arise every morning out of my bed and be about my business and get up and do whatever I want to do, and it would never have occurred to me that I was heading right for hell. A lot of people live in that way. A lot of people. There was a time in my life where I got up and I think everything's great. My life was together. Hardworking person. I presumed maybe on my religious upbringing I was a good person, never murdered, never outwardly murdered. I paid my bills. I've never committed adultery. I'm really not that bad. How could God not accept me? Come on, look at all the bad stuff in the world. I'm not blowing up people. I wonder deep down how prevalent that thought is, maybe here, when you could be heading for hell. We're hardworking people. We're moral people. We're good people. We're rich people. We've led a life of service and uprightness. Paul says, I was there. Let me tell you about it. I was alive in my own estimation. I tried to climb the ladder to God. circumcised of the eighth day of the tribe of Benjamin, I mean, right up the ladder. But then he said this in Romans 7, 8, for apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was dead to sin. I didn't even see it. For Paul says, I would not have even known covetousness unless the law had said thou shall not covet. That's where we are here in the text. The man has just been brought to the most important place he could ever come. And here's what Jesus does. He takes the law and he drives it home to the one place in his life where sin had mastery. It had it everywhere, but this was the place where he would take him because he knew he couldn't get out of it. And I want you to notice that Mark includes that Jesus loved him. I believe Mark did that to demonstrate before everyone that telling the truth to someone about their life is love. because we don't want to do that today. We have children who are out parting it up and we don't want to say anything. Defend them. We cover them. It's not love. You're hating your kids. Here's what you need to do. Go sell everything you have. Give it to the poor. Then come take up your cross and follow me. I want you to go sell everything. I want you to go show that you receive the poor and that's why probably the indication of not defrauding is there which is a little bit interesting of an inclusion. Probably an outplay of the 10th commandment. But I want you to get on your knees and I want you to head down to the slum and I want you to love all those nobodies by giving them all your goods. Whoa! What just happened? He took the 10th commandment and he thrust it right into his heart. Do the rich go to the poor? This good, moral, law-abiding, outward member of the Jewish kingdom did everything right, but Jesus could look at his heart and see that he loved his possessions. He loved his possessions because possessions raise you up on the social ladder. You know how the rich are treated in the world. But take all that away. Now ready for this. Tomorrow you become nothing. Who does that sound like? Jesus. He was rich, he became poor. So Jesus takes the absolute best of the world and with the law before him, Jesus brings it home in such a way that he could not bear it and had a choice. I'll come back to what his choice should have been. But here was his choice. At that word, he walked away sad. He never entered church again. Didn't want to hear it. Couldn't do it. So in front of the disciples, this guy walks right away from them. I'd imagine some confusion happened. Aren't we supposed to be fishers of men? You just let one get away. What are you doing? And Jesus turns and he says, how hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God. Again, stay with the contrast here or else you'll miss and everyone, because I've heard this abused purely in terms of physical possession. You missed that. I don't doubt there is a real struggle for rich people to enter the kingdom of God. And this is an application of that. There's no doubt in my mind. That is it. But notice the contrast Jesus is drawing. Children were carried to him. No abilities, no nothing, given the kingdom at all of free grace. But here this man carries himself to Jesus and that was the problem for he was unwilling to receive the kingdom with nothing in his hands. There's a big spiritual application to that. If you put that together, the disciples will not receive the poor, the lowly, the small, the children. Jesus was saying, that is your very receiving of them that shows you've received me so that the rich ones here were the disciples. See it? They're struggling. They won't let it go. Well, Jesus becoming nothing. How will a rich man ever enter a kingdom of a Savior who became poor? The rich don't clean toilets. I hope you're seeing what it's saying about human nature. The disciples who were rich were rich in desire for their own name, their own glory, their own greatness. Rich in thought for themselves wouldn't receive the children. rich in search for a name our problem beloved is we won't come to jesus's little children it's our problem we don't want to be carried we don't want to hand out thank you as we see it the pride will hate to think of something as a handout and finally the disciples have come to the painful realization that there's nothing they can do to save themselves i mean they're pondering this and I believe they've come to a first moment of despair. Have you been here? Of real despair. I'm headed for hell. Children, he drives it home again. Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God. It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Here it is. Well, if that's the case, Who can be saved? Anyone who is saved will come to this place in the course of their life. You're going to come to grips with that question. Who really can be saved in this life? We're that messed up. And then you have all over the Scriptures the law taking people down. The law caused the publican to beat his chest in the back of the church saying what? God be merciful to me. The law caused Peter to weep bitterly after he had denied his Lord three times that he didn't love Him. The law caused Paul to cry out, O wretched man that I am, who will rescue me from this body of death? I say this in total compassion today and love for you, that to be saved from your sins, which is your biggest need, you will at some point have to get on your knees and come to a place of humility and recognition of your sin and mere misery and your absolute casting yourself on the Savior to receive His kingdom as a free gift. Pride keeps many people from bowing the knee. But that's the starting point of entering the kingdom as a little child. And then as you receive the free gift of grace and the justification of God, as He declares you righteous, having entered that kingdom, you now have real peace. You now have real joy. The disciples finally realized that no one can be saved without Jesus. He is true God. He's the Son of the living God. And isn't this the most encouraging statement to close? With men it's impossible, but not with God. With God, all things are possible. All do the saving. All go to the cross. I'll keep the law for you. Jesus says, but you need to know that those who are first will be last in the last first message. It's all grace, beloved. It's all grace. In that case, the disciples must have had a lot of compassion in Acts when they heard these people in despair after they heard the gospel preached and the law convicted them when they came running up and said, Sirs, what must we do to be saved? Think about this response now. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved for the promise is to you and to your children. I'm always going to include them. As many as the Lord our God will call to Him. Well, I think that's enough for today. I hope you've entered the kingdom of Jesus Christ as a little child. Heavenly Father, we confess that we're wise in and of our own estimation and sin holds us back from seeing as we should see. But you've given a great tool to crush us that we might be raised up brand new. Thank you for your law. Thank you for your love that you care in telling people the truth about their problem. And may your law and gospel, as it crushes and then the good news lifts up, would it overtake us, Lord, that we have entered your kingdom in the way that was presented here being carried all by grace as little children to the Savior, for that's what we are. Forgive us, Lord, that we have tried to do this ourselves. Forgive us that we have tried to establish our own righteousness. Forgive us, Lord, that we are confident in ourselves and we've never bowed the knee. This day we come with broken and contrite hearts to you, and in sincerity of heart, asking that anyone here whose heart is not born again or circumcised, that you would give life there and then we would begin to lead a life that treasures you for where the heart is and where the treasure is there our heart will be also thank you father for this time and your word of gospel to us in jesus name we pray amen