Good morning and welcome in. Today we’re going to take a look at a passage of scripture from The book of Matthew.
Matt 18:1-4
1 At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Conversion is to change something into a different form or so that it can be used in a different way, or cause to change in form, character, or function.
In order to truly be converted one must become like a little child all over again. The longer one dwells upon this Earth, the more information the mind acquires from society. We learn things each and every day that get stored up inside of our brains just like a computer stores information. But when we decide that we want to become a Christian, we need to hit the delete and reset button. We need to unlearn things that we’ve learned wrong in this world and then relearn things in a brand new way found in the Holy scriptures.
For example, at the end of the day, a school teacher might go up to an old blackboard and erase all of the information that accumulated from that day’s studies. Some people will delete things on their hard drives or a tablet after school. Conversion is very similar to this. It’s like having a glass of milk, then dumping it into the sink and refilling it with orange juice. As adults we have to take the information that we have learned, along with all the philosophies and teachings of this world and cast them out of our minds. This is so that we can make room for new information and a new way of thinking that’s found in Jesus Christ.
I guarantee you that this process doesn’t happen overnight. After all, how long does it take a concert pianist to learn how to play the way he does? How many years did it take you to learn to read and write? Learning is a process that takes time. The main point that I want to stress today is that the longer that you learn the things of this world, the more information gets packed inside your head. With that knowledge comes a great tendency to not want to listen to others. There’s a natural impulse to feel like you know more than others. The reason why is because knowledge puffeth up.
Haven’t you ever noticed that it’s hard to put new information into something that has the memory already filled up? How many of you have had to make more room on your computer because the drive was full? As a newborn Christian, God is calling each of us to a different purpose and direction in our lives, but in order to do that we must have the heart and mind of a little child all over again.
I was having a discussion with someone a few years back about how a child’s mind is like a sponge. They are constantly soaking up the new water of information. Many teachers in a school may attend continuing education classes, but the Christian Life goes beyond this. It is about deleting the things in your life that you have learned from the world and starting all over once again. If we are incapable of doing this, there will always be outside influences that can affect the true teachings of the Christian faith within your own heart. It’s because you haven’t let go of the concepts that you have learned in the world inside of your own mind. You haven’t hit the delete button yet.
Have you ever built something and then decided to tear it all down later because it didn’t come out the way that it was meant to? Have you ever cooked something that you had to throw away? You had to start from scratch. All of us in this world begin with a carnal mindset as we learn the ways of the world from birth. The older and older we become, the harder and more difficult it can be to let go, but it must be done nonetheless. That old sinful man inside each of us must be put to death, and this includes his mind. God wants to start over with each of us, but we need to become like a little child all over again. We need to convert from adults into children.
The Lord Jesus spoke about it as being born again when He talked to a religious leader named Nicodemus in John 3:1-7.
1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
This is very similar to what Jesus taught His own disciples in our Matthew passage today. We have to go through a rebirth inside of our hearts and minds. This is exactly what happened to the Apostle Paul when he converted to the Christian faith. He hit the restart and reset button in his life forgetting everything that was in his past that he had learned, including all of his worldly accomplishments and completely started over from scratch.
Phil 3:5-9
5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
The Apostle realized that nothing could compare with the knowledge of Jesus Christ. To obtain that knowledge he had to first let go of what he had learned in his head, and become a child in his mind. This is what each of us need to do because the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.
Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
God wants all men to repent and come to His Son Jesus Christ and get forgiven for their sins. He wants to take us in a brand new direction. In order to do this we must become reborn. We need to take all the knowledge that we have learned and hit the restart and reset button in our lives.
It’s all about starting over from scratch.
Let’s think about those things for today and Lord willing I’ll talk to you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.💖
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Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 