There are two forces at work—the devil and our Lord Jesus Christ. The devil has always had the majority, dear friends. Make no mistake about it. “Are there few that be saved?” someone asked the Lord, [Luke 13:23]. And our Lord, by what He said after the question was asked, agreed that there would only be a few people who would be saved. [See Luke 13:24.] “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it,” [Matthew 7:14].

So, everybody who says, “The Lord is with us,”—He may not be! Even His own parents made that mistake!! And they went back to find Him.

Now this Word tells us where He will be. He’ll be in any good and honest heart that asks Him to come in. The Revelation letter says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me,” [Revelation 3:20]. We will have fellowship together around the common table. Dear friends, do you know that our Lord has fellowship with us in the Lord’s Supper? “I will not take it new until I take it with you in My Father’s kingdom,” [Matthew 26:29]. I don’t believe that means eternity. I believe that’s here today. I believe we are IN the kingdom, [Colossians 1:12], that He added us unto the family when we were baptized into Christ and our sins were washed away, [Acts 2:37-47].

The day of Pentecost was when the kingdom started. Jesus was crowned King then! Lord of lords and King of kings!! [1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14; Revelation 19:16]. You’re in the kingdom now! And you made entrance into the kingdom the same way they did on the day of Pentecost. “They, then, that gladly received his words were baptized, and there were added unto them in that day about 3,000 souls,” [Acts 2:41]. That’s the beginning of the KINGDOM!!

Now, there were kingdoms in the Old Testament. David was a good king, and Jesus is a descendant of David. Solomon had a great kingdom, and Jesus is a descendant of Solomon. “So the Lord God of Heaven would raise up One to sit on the throne of David. And of the increase of HIS kingdom there shall be no end,” [Luke 1:31-33; Isaiah 9:6-7]. His kingdom is still going. What a thought, to think, or suppose, that Jesus is with us—and He’s really NOT! And even His parents made that mistake. So this Good Book tells us how to get in fellowship with Him, and how to stay in fellowship with Him.

Now, what did the parents of Jesus do? They went back to Jerusalem. And they found Him, but they had to look for Him. They must have looked for Him quite awhile before they thought, “I know where He ought to be. He ought to be on the Temple grounds.” “In His Father’s house” is how they would say that. And the mother upbraids Him. She gets after Him! “Knowest Thou not that we sought Thee sorrowing?” [Luke 2:48]. In other words, “Why did You do this?”

But we come to His answer, and He says, “I must be about My Father’s business.” At twelve years of age, He knew who He was! He knew what His work was going to be. And what had He done? He’s talking to the teachers of the Law in the courtyard area of the Temple. But what we don’t notice is…“and He ANSWERED them…”, which means that they asked HIM questions! And all of them are amazed at His wisdom and knowledge. At twelve years of age!!

You know, a lot of us were baptized when we were 12 or 13 years of age. I don’t think that’s too young, dear friends. I think we become persons of accountability. And some people can arrive at the age of accountability even earlier than that. We come to know what life is all about. We come to know that we have a responsibility…that we’re on our own, in a sense, and that the decisions we make are far reaching in effect…for life itself. And if we make right, deep decisions, and a hard and fast commitment to those decisions, early in life, that’s a wonderful thing to do “before the evil days come and ye say, ‘I have no pleasure in them,’” [Ecclesiastes 12:1].

I’m not surprised where Jesus was. These are His first recorded words! I think that’s significant. “I must be about My Father’s work…business—His house…all that He owns. I must build it up. I must bring back His people to Him!” And, you know, everybody on earth belongs to the Lord. We’re His offspring in a physical AND a spiritual sense as we grow up. A little child is not a sinner. You don’t sin until you make a willful choice that contradicts what God wants you to do. That’s SIN! The word “transgress” means “to go across lines or borders.” And that’s one of the synonyms for “sin.” “Missed the mark” is the literal translation of the original Greek word, hamartia, which is the word for “sin.” You aimed at a mark, and you fell short—you missed the mark! [See Romans 3:23.] Friends, there’s no need for us to miss the mark! All of us as parents need to be “training up our children in the way that they should go,” [Proverbs 22:6], and when our children are old, they will not have to say as David said, “I have no pleasure in my days.”

Our Lord was fully conscious of the fact that He was the Son of God. He was fully conscious that Jerusalem was the “City of God” and that He and His family were there to celebrate that Passover. And He’s talking with the teachers of the Law, and they are AMAZED at His Words!! I like that.