BECOMING AS A LITTLE CHILD

     Jesus said "Except you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of God," Mat. 18:3. These are strong, powerful words of Jesus Christ, but most people will read right over the life and death seriousness of these words without them registering on their minds, or understanding what they really mean. When Christ says something, He means what He says, His words are weighty, meaningful and purposeful. He is not mealy-mouthed, wishy-washy, compromising, nor will He back off from what He says or has written! Christ is saying, no one can truly  be converted (which is turning from your  sins, your own way of pride, high-mindedness, and self-righteousness, the way of the flesh, to the spiritual life and way of God) unless you change, to have the heart of a little child, and can understand the humbleness, meekness, and teachability of the heart of a little child. Christ is saying very plainly"you shall not enter God's Kingdom" unless your attitude and heart is as it is in a little child.  

     What is the heart of a small child? In Mat. 18:4, Christ gives a basic characteristic of a small child as being humble, and says true greatness can be obtained by whoever will humble himself. Christ continues to say in Mat. 23:12, "He who in this life exalts himself will be abased, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted." Peter writes in I Peter 5: 5, "God resists the proud (the exalted ones) and gives grace (His favor, His mercy, His power) to the humble."

     Christ describes this humble heart of a small child in His Sermon on the Mount, Mat. 5:3-10, that humility is defined by Christ as one being poor in spirit, meek and pure in heart. People who have these child-like characteristics is what God desires, and requires Pro. 16:18-19, Isa. 57:14-15, and will be blessed because they will receive and inherit God's Kingdom, and because God says He will dwell with him.

Isa 57:15-----"I  (God) dwell in the high and Holy place, (and I  will dwell)  with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones."

        Why? Because Christ can teach them truth about what is sin, repentance, true conversion, the True Gospel, saving faith, being born again, the true Christ, and how one receives eternal life, all because they have a child-like, humble heart. A humble heart is one that is poor in spirit, meaning lowliness of mind, yes, low self-esteem, needing Christ's help to direct one's steps, not haughty, proud or assertive as in defending one's own way, but meek, submissive and teachable to Christ and His Word and way. As this lowliness of mind becomes an established manner of your heart, you have become a meek and humble person that Jesus Christ can teach, live in,walk with and choose for salvation. Did Christ set this example? Study Mat. 11:29 and Zech. 9:9. This lowly, meek, and humble heart becomes a person that is pure in heart (Mat. 5:8) without guile, hypocrisy, deceit, duplicity, but one that develops a child-like innocence, sincerity, with a plain and open heart. Jesus Christ said He did not come to call the righteous (the religiously proud who feel secure in their self-righteousness, following a perverted Gospel, a false church with a false Christ of their own creation) but sinners to true repentance--the lowly who can truly see their sins and repent of them, Mark 2:17.

     Satan's secular society has spawned and produced all kinds of movements and organizations, seeking their rights, that exalt the self, that destroys and drives out any remaining child-like, humble heart that a person may have retained from childhood. Satan's churches, with all of its show and exalted positions of leadership in their church government systems, praise each other and exalt people  who are high in self esteem and have exalted professions, but drive out the lowly, meek and contrite, who God says He looks to, Isa. 66:2. This is all the work of the synagogues of Satan.

Isa. 66:2------but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and  of a contrite spirit, and trembles at my word.

       There are churches  today who profess to be the churches of God and of Jesus Christ, and proclaim that God's way for its members is through submitting to the flesh of man, that being through his church government of power, rank, and authority which Christ commanded not to follow, Mat.20:25-26. Some of these churches teach their people that Christ directs His church through a church hierarchy or an oligarchy, and teach (by that system) self-esteem, pride, exalting of its leaders, egotism, the vaunting of one's self and the vainness of being puffed up. On the bottom side of its organization, they belittle, dumb-down, and put out any of its body those who are meek and humble people, and who  submit and look to Christ instead of them. By this system of its professed to be the way and government of God, these hierarchists feel greatly inflated, pumped up, and highly exalted, and  look down upon Christ's lowly sheep, and pronounce these lowly ones as not submissive to their hierarchical structure and possessing a bad heart and attitude. Many of these ministers of these churches think they as "God's ministers" are humble, meek and tearful servants of Christ, but their fruit of self-importance, rank, and elevated positions,  and their offending  of Christ's little ones proves otherwise, and they will not escape the damnation of hell, Mat.23:3.

Mat. 7:20, "Wherefore by their fruit you shall know them"

         They encourage young people to go to their colleges, seminaries, and religious schools, and through their school system quickly take out the child-like, humble heart, and fill their heart with an exalted heart that is filled with a perverted Gospel of church government, false knowledge of a false conversion directed toward the following of the flesh rather than the spirit, a false spirit, a false faith, and worst of all, a false  image of Christ that they credit all their great "change" to in their lives. None of this is in any way a work of turning of the people's heart to a child-like heart, that all the Godly fathers of the Bible had, but just the opposite, Mal.4:6, Mat. 23:12-13.

       These church governments and colleges are not teaching Christ professing people to have a heart like Abraham,  whose childlike heart was a complete child to father, trusting faith in Jesus Christ. Moses, whose heart  was like that of a child, was the most meek of all men and totally submissive to God, and also John, whose heart personified love, and wrote much about love, and yet was so meek, he avoided mentioning his own name in his own writings. Christ said of Himself, that "He was of a meek and lowly heart and He was God come in the flesh," Mat. 11:29. Where does that place all the highly exalted, and highly ranked ministers? Are they close to Christ or following Satan? Christ said  of the world and its unbelievers, that the gentiles are ruled by hierarchies and oligarchies who exercise authority upon their people, and Christ then said, "IT SHALL NOT BE SO AMONG YOU," His church. What a stinging  rebuke, indictment and testimony against churches having a government of this type, who lord themselves over the people, teaching the worship of self and exaltation by this very system, Mat.20: 25-27, and I Peter 5:3-5. Study Mat. 23:12-13. Woe be unto these self-elevated, and self-exalted church leaders and their false teaching about "God's" government!

        So the reason why Christ will only call and choose the humble, meek, poor in spirit, and pure in heart is because these people will respond to Him! They will mourn, be sorrowful for their sins, repent and confess their sins, the breaking of God's Ten Commandments, be converted to obeying God's law, His Ten Commandments-His law of love.  These are ones that can come to be spiritually converted. These humble, lowly ones will accept Him as the Christ of the Bible, as their saving sacrifice, to pay for their sin debt, be baptized and receive help from God through His Holy Spirit, to help them learn and obey His law of love. Only these people can learn love and fulfill God's purpose for His begotten and born again sons. Only these people will hunger by asking questions like a small child, thirst and drink in the Word of God,  examine their conversion to see if it is truly based on the teaching of the Spirit of God and not other people's ideas through man's abundance of literature and audio tapes, etc.

      Through this born again  development and growth, called  spiritual conversion, a true follower of Christ is freed from his sins and the punishment for his sins. He is given the gift of salvation--free, meaning he does not have to pay the debt of his sins. Why, because he realizes Christ came and died and paid the  sin debt and its penalty for him, because he-the sinner, has broken Christ's Ten Commandments, and he has repented of breaking His laws and desires to obey them, to learn God's love and to live forever! He is now at peace with himself and the world. As this person lives this example and fulfills God's will, he is helping others understand Christ's conversion process, and by this good news (the Gospel), he becomes a true peacemaker, a proclaimer of His Gospel, a light on a hill and salt to the earth, that has not lost it's flavor and is the called, chosen true child of God, Mat. 5:9, 13-16.

      Unless a Kingdom of God seeker is willing to abase himself, regardless of his job position, social status, church affiliation, and humble himself as a little child and be converted to God's way of life, to obey His law, to come to  have a spiritual heart, that Kingdom seeker cannot enter the Kingdom of God, so says Jesus Christ in Mat.18:3-4. How do you measure up to Christ's teaching and His very serious charge? Will your abasement be now  by your self-examination or during the humbling, ego-crushing, pride destroying, Great Tribulation? "If my people, which are called by My Name,  (the churches of God) shall humble themselves, and pray and seek My Face (understanding the True Christ) and turn from their wicked ways, (breaking God's Ten Commandments) then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." II Chronicles 7:14, Isa. 59:2.

     The bottom line  or foundation to this article message and teaching of Jesus Christ is; if your relationship and fellowship with God the Father and Jesus Christ is not as a little child, but to self, exalting of self, or even to another man's exaltation, or to the exalting of a church government of man's rule and authority, you are breaking God's first commandment, and will not enter God's Kingdom, Mat.18:3! Man cannot serve two masters! Where do you stand, and how do you measure up? Are you serving to be exalted  by the exalting of men and their organizations, or are you  becoming as  a little child, as a trusting, faithful child of God the Father, looking to Him, listening to Him, obeying Him, willing to accept correction based on  His Word. If you are, you are building on the spiritual foundation whereas you can develop and grow to be mature born again fully developed spiritual child and  son of  the Living  Christ and God the Father.