And what I want to emphasize is this. The chorus, there's a desire, draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, precious Lord. But think about the focus of the hymn writer. It's not about draw me nearer to you as God that I see your presence. It's draw me nearer to the cross, nearer to the sacrifice, nearer to observing what you did on the cross for my sin. Really, we need that, don't we? We need to see a glimpse of what Christ did on the cross for us. so I am thine, O Lord, I have heard thy voice, and it told thy love to me. But I long to rise in the arms of faith, and be closer drawn to thee. Draw me nearer, Nearer, blessed Lord, to the cross where Thou hast died. Promptly nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, by the power of grace divine nearer nearer thy precious cleaning side. O the pure delight of a single heart that before thy throne thy stand. When I kneel in prayer and with Thee, my God, I commune as friend with friend, drawing nearer. nearer blessed lord nearer there are heights of joy me. to thy precious And yeah, praise the Lord, right? Let's ask God. God draws near, not just to yourself, but just remind us of Calvary. All right, we'll dismiss the young ones as well, to the crèche, or the class with Mrs. Schnorr, so you're part of that age group today. Exit, stage left or right, whichever way you're facing. And the rest of us, please take our Bibles and get ready to turn to some scripture. And let me give you the first scripture that we're gonna go to. It's gonna be Luke chapter two, all right? Luke chapter two will be the first scripture that we go to tonight. There'll be several opportunities to turn the pages of your Bible and find some text. Just a topical message tonight that I wanna share with you that's back to school. It's an appropriate maybe that, you know, we got the kids here. And by the way, just remember that verse, much increases by the strength of the ox. Where no oxen are, the crib is clean. and it'd be an easy thing to have a crib and no children, but it's a better thing to have a lot of children and have a little bit of a mix. That's a good thing in the hope of God and certainly for our church to have young people here. All right, as most of you know, I get out and I run. I run four times or three times a week and run about four miles. And my run is around the village in Roslyn. I run Monday, Wednesday, Friday, this past Wednesday. As I went for my run, I was shocked when I got to the school bus stop and I saw instead of like normally 10 kids, like 30 kids that were there getting ready at this one stop, getting ready to go to school. And this is teenagers, I guess, although they look so young to me, but they're getting ready to go maybe for the first time to high school. And so they're getting collected. And then I come around Roslyn, I come back up and there's another bus stop. And there's the teens are getting on their bus and across the road from them, there is a little girl and a little boy, mom and dad, and I think grandpa or something standing there. And they're just looking at that bus, you know, big eyes. And you think it's got to be their first day of school or something like that. Our first bus ride from this place. And I go, hey, you know, give a thumbs up. Exciting days, you know, for them. And we can all think about those days. You know, going to school for the first time, going back to school, and maybe a little bit nervous. I don't know why. I guess it stands out in my mind probably because of the circumstances that I'm going to share with you. But getting to school the first day, being so nervous, I think that I got sick at the car park. And I don't know that I stayed for school that day. You might have some nervousness or something on that first day of school. I loved in college, you know, I loved my classes and things, but I didn't really enjoy the exams that much. You know, you enjoy the teaching, but maybe not the testing that takes place. There's a lot of things going on in your heart and mind as you get ready for that to go to public school and I got to homeschool. So I guess I got kind of all three aspects of where maybe some of our young people are. There are different places that they'll be and certainly at different times we'll have kids that are in Christian school or private school or public school or homeschooling. And each one can have their advantages and maybe their disadvantages. You think about homeschooling, it's a little difficult unless you have a really big family to have competitive sports, you know, to make up the teams that you might need or that you have at a public school. Parental oversight of learning is limited. If your child's at a public school, they can't always be there, can't always see what's being taught. You go to private school, it might be, for instance, their doctrine or their faith, maybe other students that are there. So I think there's advantages or disadvantages to every type of schooling. But what I want to emphasize tonight, for young people especially, all these things obviously will impact us as adults as well, is that our desire as a church is that our children thrive as they go back to school. We want them to thrive physically, we want them to thrive mentally, spiritually, emotionally. We desire that they really succeed at school. And again, it's a back to school Sunday, so focused on the kids, but again, it's going to, I trust, might benefit all of us. I remember as a child sitting sitting in church, and I was on the front row, and looking up at my dad. My dad said something. My dad was ministering. He said, you know, I know the kids can't always understand or something like that. I sat there as a little kid. I've been thinking, you know, I get this. I understand this. And I'm going to remember when I get older that I got it so that I know that kids, you know, get these things. And I know tonight that our children can take it in. in our church. Praise God. In my testimony, I got saved as a five-year-old sitting in church. The thing is, we know tonight that kids can get it. You know, our world has very low expectations for young people. And Paul, to a young minister, Timothy, he said this. He said, let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers in word and conversation in faith and in purity. Timothy was a young man, too young, maybe it seemed to some people they didn't have very high expectations for him as a minister, but Paul said, don't let anybody despise him. You know what, it would be a great thing for our young people that, you know, and it's interesting because I go with my kids into shops and you'll see, you know, the crew comes in, you'll see shopkeepers kind of go like, You know? And as a parent, I go, you know, I know my kids. My kids aren't perfect, but my kids are good kids. But I'll tell you this, that's the one that I got to grace. And the world doesn't expect that. Does that make sense? The world doesn't expect an in-person to be polite. The world doesn't expect an in-person to do what's right. But as a church, what are our expectations? Our expectations are, if I got to grace, we anticipate, and honoring God and learning about God and really benefiting in their walk with God. So we desire to help them with that. So I want to encourage the kids to maybe go to school and succeed. I want to share truth to help you guys go back to school, whatever that school is. So let's pray. God bless you. Father, I praise you for the grace that you give. Father, we're thankful for all the young people that just Father, we've got a great group of young people in our church, and we praise God for each one of them. And Father, it's been a special delight the last several months we've seen several of these young people trust Christ as their Savior. But Father, we want to go beyond that as a church. We want to see them not just get saved, but really thrive in their walk with God. Father, I pray tonight as I focus on preaching to young people, I pray God speak to all our hearts. listen to. These are things that I can put in my life that will help me to be a good young person, but beyond that, a godly young person. Father, I can't speak without your native language. Even as we looked at Sunday school, I prayed that the Spirit of God would guide me as I speak. Father, we can't listen without the Spirit of God opening up our ears and opening up our hearts. And Father, the biggest desire that we have tonight is Father, that you speak to us. And Father, that you help us in our walk with you, whether it's going back to school or maybe going to a new job or getting into a new environment, whatever that may be. Lord, certainly the truth that we consider tonight is of great benefit to us. And so I pray, Holy Spirit, for your blessing and your guidance upon this time. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. All right, some truth to help you as you go back to school, and now let's just kind of listen in and take it upward as well. All right, go to school and grow up like the Lord Jesus. All right, when I tell my kids to go to school and grow up like the Lord Jesus, Luke chapter two, verse 40, it says, in the child, Jesus grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. And we don't have much information about Jesus as a child. We see him as a child about two years of age as the wise men come. And we know that because Herod killed all the young people that were two years and younger as Jesus and Joseph and Mary fled away from that area. We see him again at 12 years of age. We're going to look at that passage in just a second. But beyond that, we just see him at the age of 30 as he begins his earthly Jesus tonight, as we look at this verse, is that Jesus had a thirst for education. He was filled with wisdom. I mean, even in his infancy, there was that taking in of knowledge, that thirst for information. And, you know, you ask the question, why do we have schools? I'm sure the kids have probably asked that. Why do we have schools? Well, schools are halls of education. What is education? Education is formal, consistent, teaching along certain subject lines, right? It's taking you from point A to point B in understanding a subject. about things that are going to be important to you in the future so that you know how to do different things. I want to remind us as Christian parents or grandparents that no matter where our children are schooled, we need to make sure they get a Christian education. You might think, well that's not possible because of, you know, this circumstance, but what I mean by this is we want them to have a Christian worldview. that no matter what education that they're receiving, that it all is taught in the poem to understand that through the eyes of the Word of God and through Christ and who Christ is. John Knox, the reformer, was not just a man that brought reformation of religion, but he also brought, really, reformation of education. John Knox did a lot with education. And in 1560, he outlined a plan for the virtue and godly upbringing of the youth of this realm. Education for rich and poor alike was seen as a joint enterprise between the family, the school, and the current. It was all closely related that the church and the school and the education. And that was the same with Thomas Chalmers as you read about Thomas Chalmers in the mid 1840s, all right, as he was in the prime of his ministry, he was very involved in education. And as he took the parish there in Glasgow, Johns and Forrest Parish in Glasgow, here he was given free reign to try his schemes to make the parish a hub of spiritual care, education, and help for the poor. He was very involved, not just seeing that there was a need, these children had a need, but getting the church involved in educating the kids, because as I've read his memoirs, he said this, Jesus and truth is central to education. We understand that tonight. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus is true. So the fountain of all education is found where? In Christ. We can't separate true education and Jesus, so we need to make sure as parents that we seek to make sure that our young people have a Christian education, no matter where they're in school. And we know about Jesus' education, that Jesus had a Christian education, This is in Luke 2, verse 43. When they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus carried behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and his mother do not love it, but they suppose him to have been in the company when a day's journey, and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. When they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass that after three days, they found him in the temple sitting in the midst and asking them questions. Okay, Jesus is just 12 years old. I don't know that we have any, you're 11, I think, Nelson. You've got some that are close to that age. I don't know that we have any 12-year-olds. But you think about a 12-year-old that's there in Jerusalem, there'd be a lot of exciting things taking place, but Jesus is there in the temple. He's seeking education. He's seeking Christian education. He's asking questions. He's taking truth on board, and he is learning. the Bible says in verse 52 and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God you know praise God that you know Jesus was an example like that but praise God that we have a Christian education available to I was worrying about the family is the place where the Christian education really is and really begins. And that parents have that responsibility of family devotions and taking the word of God to their children. I praise God that as a church, we've got classes in the same place right now. And it took place earlier where our kids are being impacted by the truth of the word of God. We want to get back to having our Wednesday night kids club that we had and we were able to meet together. Why? Because that Christian education is important. We took time to have quality Bible club and spend those days. Why? Because Christian education is important. It's important that our kids take it in. I praise God our kids were eating it up. They love it, you know, and we want to get back to the kids club because they're as excited about it. We got a youth activity this week and with that we include a time in the Word of God. Why? Because we need that to sharpen us and Jesus had a hunger for that. Proverbs 2 verse 1. So my son, help receive my words and hide my commandments with me so that thou can find my ear unto wisdom and apply thy heart to understand. It is possible tonight for a young person not to be just into video games, not just to be into secular things like movies and television. It is possible in our day to have a young person that is somewhat serious about being somebody that's going to learn and say, I want to be somebody that gets educated. And I'm not going to just sit in my class and just let my teacher chatter and not engage my mind in what she's saying. And I'm going to give myself to apply myself to my studies so that I can be the best that I can be for God. You know, you're building today, but you're going to be tomorrow. We want to encourage our young to be the best they can be. Take in that education and especially take it in the Bible. And so that's a good thing. So go to school and grow up like Jesus. Secondly, go to school and guard your heart like Daniel. Go to school and guard your heart like Daniel. You know, we had a pandemic this past year. It's still ongoing. It impacted Jonathan with his first year. All the exams got changed the last two years. And I mean, this is very impacted to them and their placements and everything that they're gonna do in the future is kind of hinging on these decisions that are being made that are outside of control. And you know, you think about Daniel. Daniel was really like that in his life. Daniel, in his teen years, he's taken captive to Babylon. He's a prisoner. And there we find him, if you want to turn your Bible to Daniel chapter one, He's part of a group that the king has gathered together to instruct them. And so Daniel chapter one, verse three, it says, the king spake unto Ashton as the master of the eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel and of the king's seed and of the princes. Children who was no blemish, but well favored and skillful in all wisdom and cunning and knowledge, understanding science as such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Calvians. Now, kids, let me ask you, was Daniel like Jesus in his desire for knowledge? Yes, he was, because when they found these guys that they were gonna bring into this program, they were looking for young people that were applying themselves to knowledge. And so they saw that apparently in Daniel and Daniel's three friends, and so they got this plan. Verse five, the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat and of the wine which he drank, so nourishing them three years that in the end thereof they might stand before the king. Now among these were the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Okay, Daniel's a young man, mid-teens, late teens, I mean, he's not that old, and the king's meat is offered to idols. The king's wine, grape juice, is offered to idols. Daniel looks at that and says, I don't want that, so look at verse eight, he says, Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with a portion of the king's meat or with the wine which he drank. Therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself." Dandle didn't have parental oversight. Dandle was in a foreign country. Nobody except God would know that Daniel was disobeying, and those that were Daniel's companions, that Daniel was disobeying God. But Daniel says, I don't want to do that. He's not rebellious. He doesn't try to go outside of authority. He goes to the authority, the prince of the eunuchs, and he says, please, I'd rather not do this because I don't want to defile myself. The prince of the eunuchs says no because he feared the king. Daniel doesn't stop there and go, OK, I guess by the prince of the eunuchs, and as you know, he's given a 10-day trial. We're gonna try this for 10 days, and Daniel asked that. Daniel was wise and casted that, and Melzir said okay, and God blessed. And so the Bible says in verse 19, the king communed with them, and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah. Therefore stood they before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding that the king inquired of them, he found them 10 times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all of his realm, okay? They were just better than the kids. They were better than the wise men of the kingdom. The guy just so blessed Daniel, why? Because Daniel said, I'm gonna stand for God. I'm gonna obey God. I'm gonna honor God. You know, in our day, if Daniel could stand back in his day, We're in a very wicked day. You might have seen the legislation that's come out for our teachers this year through the Scottish government saying that with transgenderism, that if a young person wants to identify themselves as a boy or as a girl, that's a choice, and that you're not to tell the parents, you're not to inform the parents, you're to help that child and refer to that child as that child desires to be referred to. I had a good friend that said this. I was a little boy, I said, Mom, can I be a girl? My mom said, no, in that sentence. It was just that simple. Just a little instruction, just a little parental guidance. But our world is just flipped upside down and says, we're just gonna let wickedness pervade our society and then the godliness will be prevalent. But the question is, can God protect our kids in this day? And the answer is, yes. They don't have to be defiled. Even back in my day, as I went to the, The public school, my parents had a request that I would get out of the assemblies that were basically kind of a rock concert. My mom and dad asked the school and the school said that's fine. I was sitting in study hall. My brother was sitting in study hall. while everybody else was in there having that. You know, we can do that as godly parents. And our kids can do that as well. They can say, wait a second, I can't be in this. That's ungodly. Look, they're starting to show pornography and other things to our young people. Our kids gotta be able to stand up and say, I'm not gonna watch that, I'm not gonna view that, I'm not gonna defile myself. It's what Jesus prayed about there in the book of John that we've already read this evening. But let's read it again, John 17. Beginning of verse 11, now I'm no more in the world, but these are in the world and I come to thee, Holy Father, keep to thy own name, those who thou hast given me that they may be one as we are. While I was with them and in the world, I kept them in thy name. Verse 14, I have given them thy word, the world hath hated them, because they're not of the world, even as I'm not of the world's heart, our young people are gonna be, whether through work or through school, they're gonna be around people that have a worldview that's absolutely contrary to Christ. And the Bible says that the world's gonna hate them, because they're not of the world. And as parents, we can't go, well, I want them to be like the rest of the world, except we gotta look at it and say, we want them to honor God. We want them to stand with the truth and plead this promise that Jesus gave. Father, I pray for them. Listen, Jesus is praying. We ought to pray as well. We ought to pray as a church. We can look at it as hopeless. We can look at it and say, there's no way that we're gonna raise godly kids from point A to point B as they go off, that we can't do that. Or we can say, by the grace of God, we will. that will teach our young people, say, take this stand that Daniel took, purpose in your heart, that you're not gonna be defiled. Listen, we've got technology these days. We gotta put parental controls on these things. We can't just say social media's fine. We can't have open portals to build that our young people are connected to things that are gonna defile them. As godly parents, we have to put the protection there, but listen, we need our kids to step up. It's not just parents, it's kids to stay like them, to look. Everybody else may be on the social media thing, everybody else may know that pop star, they might know that rock music, they may be able to speak about it, and it's cool to them, but listen, I'm not gonna defile myself. And I wanna encourage our young people, They can succeed. They can grow up like the Lord Jesus. Have a thirst for wisdom. They can grow up like Daniel. That purpose in his heart that he would not defile himself. Guard your heart like Daniel. And then third, go to school and go out to battle. like David, right? And that sounds kind of funny because, you know, we don't really necessarily want our kids to, you know, drop the gloves and get into it. But, you know, we're speaking about a spiritual battle that's there. We're speaking about, typically, spiritual adversaries. Yes, there might be faces behind that. There might be people behind that. But it could even be things like laziness. or fear or worry or things, but to have that fight, like David said, I'm going to get in the battle for the Lord. David was a teenager when he fought Elijah. If you want to turn to the story, it's in 1 Samuel chapter 17. 1 Samuel chapter 17. And I'm gonna fast forward to the story, to the end of the story, to verse 55, and read that verse. It says, when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this? You. And Abner said, it's thy soul liveth, O king. I cannot tell. You know, King Saul sees this little shepherd boy go out to battle, and he says, Because David thought, who got the glory? His family. Saul looked at it and thought, my, who's his dad? You know, today as we think about that, who's our father? Our father's God. You know, there ought to be some people that look at us as a believer and say, whose son is that? You know, as you go out to battle, go out as yourself. It says in 1 Samuel chapter 17, verse 39, It said, and David girded his sword upon his armor, and he has stayed to go, for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these, for I have not proved them. And David put them off him, and King Saul said, here's my armor, here's, you know, and King Saul's a big man, you know that, and the word of God, he's head and shoulders taller than everybody. David puts on his armor, he takes his sword, he goes, I can't, I can't go out into battle like this. And he puts it off. And he took his staff in his hand, he'd chosen five smooth stones out of the brook, and he put them in a shepherd's bag, which he had, even in the script. And a sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine. You know, what was David? Asking young people, what was David's position? Before a king. He was a... And as a shepherd, he just had a sling and stones. He just had the shepherd's bag. He just had his staff that was in his hand. He just took what he had and he went out to fight for the Lord. I want to encourage you tonight that God doesn't need greatness. God doesn't need us to be somebody else for God to be able to use us. God doesn't have to take somebody that's great. God can just take somebody that's willing and God will use that person for his glory. Moses felt like he was inadequate to serve God. The Bible says in Exodus chapter four, verse 10, and Moses said to the Lord, oh my Lord, I'm not eloquent, neither here to warn or sense thou has spoken unto thy servant. But I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth, or who maketh it dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with thine mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. He said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send. And the angered Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. But God, as God knew that he could speak well, did God call Aaron to be the leader of the children of Israel? No, God called Moses. And Moses just felt like, God, I'm not that eloquent, I can't speak, but he was the man that God desired to use. Because if you think about the story tonight, David going out and fighting Goliath, was he the only one that could defeat the giant? No. but he was the only one willing to obey God and fight for God's glory and go out to battle. Think tonight, you might look at your life as the young person saying, well, I'm not that great or I don't have that great of talents or that great of ability, but God doesn't need greatness. We have a great God and God can use anybody. God has equipped us to do exactly what God desires us to do. And so go out as yourself. And then go out with courage and confidence in Jesus' name. It says in verse 44, the Philistines said to David, come to me and I will give thy flesh to the thousand here and to the beasts of the field. Then said David to the Philistine, now comes to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a shield, but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into my hand, and I will smite thee and take thine head from me, and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistine this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with the sword, sphere for the battles more and he will give you into our hands. As David looked at it, David didn't look at the giant and think somebody needs to show what Israel can do and how great the soldiers of Israel are. David looked at the giant and said somebody needs to go out there and kill the giant so the giant and the Philistine and the children of Israel understand that there's a God in heaven. that saves not with a spear, not with a sword, for the battle is the Lord's. And so he went out with courage to magnify God. And then he went out to triumph over the enemy. It says in verse 48, it came to pass when the Philistine arose and came to Judah to meet David, that David hasted and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in the bag, and he took Ben's stone, and he slain him, and smote the Philistine in his forehead. And the stone sunk into his forehead, and he fell upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine, but the slain him with the stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran, and he stood upon the Philistine. And he took his sword and drew it out of the sheep thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled." And again, it's an amazing story. It's a story that we often refer to. It's like, you know, we'll say something like, it's like David and Goliath. Because it's against the odds that that could take place. You know, praise God that God could take the emperors from our church, raise them up to do great things for God. But they just took what they had, they were obedient to God, and they went out with courage like David to fight for God's glory. And so go out and fight like David, grow up like the Lord Jesus, have that hunger for knowledge, and guard your heart like Daniel. And then go to school and graciously believe There's an enemy of Israel, Syria, you can turn your Bibles to 2 Kings, rather, Chapter 5, 2 Kings, Chapter 5. But there was an enemy of Israel called Syria. And there was a man named Naaman, his wife had a little servant girl. And the Bible tells us about that story in 2 Kings, Chapter 5. In verse 1, it says, Now Naaman, Capernaum, the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master. honorable because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria. He was also a mighty man in valor, but he was a leper." As you read that phrase, but he was a leper, it kind of negates everything that went before it. Leprosy was a picture of sin. It was deadly, it was incurable, it was pervasive. And so the Bible says he's a great man, he's done all these great things. And then it says, but he was a leper. It's like, it doesn't matter how great you are if you're a leper, right? It doesn't matter how much you've achieved. If you have leprosy, leprosy is gonna defeat you. You can't rise up and say, but I'm gonna defeat leprosy because leprosy is incurable. It's the same with sin tonight. Somebody could be a great man, right? They got a lot of things going well in their lives. They can have achieved a lot of great things, but if they're not saved, it doesn't matter. If they have sin in their life that is unforgiving, it doesn't matter because that sin has defeated them. But there's a young lady that cared about her master And so the Bible says in verse two, the Syrians had gone out, but Companies had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid, and she waited on David's wife. And she said unto her mistress, would God, my Lord, were with the prophet that's in Samaria, for he would recover him of his leprosy. This girl is young, but she's got big faith. Leprosy was a death sentence. There was no way that anything could be done about it. Social distancing actually was first took place in the Bible. I found that interesting. The distance was six feet. It's in the word of God, but it had to do with leprosy. And if the wind was blowing, it could go up to 150 feet. that you had to stay away from that person. So it was not just, it was not just a disease that would kill you. It was a disease that separated you even from your family. And Nathan had this leprosy, and this little girl goes, my God could cure that. You know, I wonder tonight, do we have faith like that little girl? Do we really believe that our God can do something as great as Saving somebody from leprosy, do we believe tonight that God is great enough to save somebody that we love and care about from their sin? Do we really believe that God's able to, as an adult, if we're naming, do we believe that God could heal us of our leprosy? Do we believe that God could heal us of our sin? The children have great faith, don't they? And just that ability to believe. The Bible says in Matthew chapter 18, verse two, that Jesus called a little child unto him. He said it in the midst of them. He said, verily I say unto you, except you be converted and become his little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus takes a child, sets him up as an example of faith and say, you gotta have faith like this kid or you can't go to heaven. Every single one of us had to come to that simple faith of, I'm a sinner, the punishment for my sin is hell. Jesus Christ died for me by faith in Christ. I can receive God's gift of everlasting life. Okay, Amy, in our story, the little German girl says, my God can do something about that. He thinks initially, well, maybe your God can't. So he goes there. to Elisha's house in 2 Kings chapter 5 verse 10, Elisha sent a messenger unto him saying, go and wash Jordan seven times and thy flesh shall come again to thee and thou shalt be clean. But Naaman was wroth and he went away and said, behold, I thought he will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God. and strike a sandal in place and recover the leper. Are not Abadah and Farpar rivers of Damascus better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them and be clean? So he turned away, he turned and he went away in a rage. Naaman, Naaman is a great man. He's a man of valor. He's got incredible courage, but it comes to a simple thing that God says to do. And there's such pride in his heart. that he refuses to do something simple, that we know from the story, it's the cure. And very sadly, there's a lot of people like that tonight. They know the cure is Christ, they know the cure is the gospel, but there's such a deep-rooted pride in their heart that they refuse to humble their heart and do the gospel. We need some people like the servants of Naaman that would go to that person and encourage that person to humble their heart As they said in verse 13, my father, if the prophet had been to do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? How much rather then would he be said to be washed and be clean? Then went he down and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God, and his flesh came again, like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. There's a lot of people that are willing to be religious and do religious things again and again and again week after week slaves to trying to earn their their cleansing and it's so simple it's humble your heart and obey the gospel yes it is just a simple prayer and i'll tell you it's simple it's so simple a child can do it it's just a simple prayer there's some people that laugh at an invitation understand tonight that salvation is that simple. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. That we need to humble our heart to obey Him. That we got faith like that little girl to say, my God can do something about them. And that we receive that as an adult even to say, you know what? It's just simple childlike faith. I'm just going to put my faith in Jesus and get saved. Praise God for those that are like that little girl, and I wanna encourage our kids. You can help people come to salvation, right? That little girl impacted me, and it's not just physical salvation. I believe naming God saved. He said, God forbid me when I go in with my master to bow down to those idols. I don't mean it, I've gotta do it because he's my master, but I just want you to know. I believe it converted to Jehovah. It's the same, a child can just come up and say, you need to get saved. power of God to meet somebody's need. And then lastly tonight, go to school and get close to Jesus like John the disciple. Go to school and get close to Jesus like John. John, I believe, was a young disciple. There's others that believe it as well, but just in Bible reading, there's things that you read and they're just clues. The Bible doesn't say how old John the disciple was. But there's several things in his life story that we look at and think, you know, because of that, I think he was a young man. Remember when he and Peter followed the Lord to the house of Caiaphas as Jesus is going to be on trial. Peter's interrogated, but not John. And I say it like this, but John was probably like this, all right? But he was younger. It says in John 18, verse 15, Simon Peter followed Jesus and so did another disciple. That disciple was known unto the high priest and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest. But Peter stood at the door without, then went out that other disciple, which was known unto the high priest and spake unto her that kept the door and brought him Peter. John somehow was known and a familiar face, and I believe again, young, he's invited in, he goes out, he brings Peter in to that place. Remember at the crucifixion, he was there by the cross, the only one that was there that we know by the cross other than the women. And the Bible says in John 19 verse 26, when Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciples standing by, whom he loved, he said unto his mother, woman, behold thy son. Then said he to the disciple, behold thy mother. And from that hour, that disciple took her unto his own home. And again, we don't fully understand that. We know Jesus had half-brothers, but it appears that Joseph was no longer on the scene, probably had passed away, and Jesus is committing these two to one another. Kiara ran Peter to the tomb, John 20 verse four. So they ran both together, and the other disciple did outrun Peter and came first to the sepulcher. Why does the Bible tell us that? I think it's because he's younger. It's part of the story, but I think it's because he's younger, there's these clues to his youth. He outlived all the other apostles, and then the position that we see him in in this story here in John 13. All right, John 13 at the Last Supper. It says in verse 21, when Jesus had thus said he was troubled in spirit, he testified and said, verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. Then the disciples were one in another, doubting of whom he spake. Now there was leaning on Jesus bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake. He then, lying on Jesus' breath, said unto him, Lord, who is it? Jesus answered, he it is to whom I shall give a sock when I have dipped it. When he had dipped the sock. John is there, he's beside Jesus. Does that surprise us if we know anything of John and his relationship with the Lord, that he was the beloved disciple? Again, maybe because of his youth, he's very close to the Lord. And the Bible says in Galatians, the disciple whom Jesus loved. He's part of the inner circle. At the Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter, James, and John. John had a very close relationship with the Lord. You know, to be close to somebody, you've got to have similar interests, do you not? How can two walk together except they be agreed? And so tonight, to our young people, what do you have in common with Jesus? To our adults, what do you have in common with Jesus? How close are you to the Lord? Right, there's a friend that sticks closer than a brother, the Bible says, but it says at the beginning of that verse, a man that hath friends must show himself friendlier. How friendly are you with God? I wanna encourage our young people, spend time in prayer. Walk with God. Spend time with the word of God. like the Savior. Like, I'm sorry, John loved the Savior. So today, I hope you pass your exams. I hope you don't get ill trying to go to school. You know, there's gonna be those anxieties, those nerves and things that are taking place, but more than that, as a church, we just wanna encourage you that you can succeed. You can succeed in going to school, and you can grow up and be like the Lord, get wisdom, and say, you know, I'm gonna be somebody that studies. Guard your heart like Daniel. Say, I'm not gonna go in for all the things that the world's going for. I'm gonna not defile myself. Go into battle like David. Graciously believe, like the little servant girl, and get close to Jesus, like John. All right, may God bless his word to our hearts. Let's pray and ask God's blessing. Father, we thank you for the grace that you give. And Father, again, we're thankful for the young people that are in our church. Father, I just pray tonight that the Spirit of God would encourage them. They're going back to school, and Lord, it can be intimidating, it can be tough, whether you're facing academics homeschooling or you're facing learning a lot of people's names, a lot of faces, new teachers, new environments in a public or private school. Father, our desire is that our young people would succeed. Father, we pray for that. We pray that they'd have a hunger and thirst for knowledge, that they would take a stand as a young person, that they really decide that they're gonna live their life for God, that they're gonna be close to Jesus, that they're gonna fight like David for the glory of God, that they're not gonna defile themselves like Daniel. They're gonna tell people about Jesus like that little servant girl. Father, I pray tonight if somebody's here that's unsafe, We pray that they, like Naaman, would just humble their heart and obey the gospel, and be saved even tonight. Father, would you bless the Word of God to our hearts, we pray this evening. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.