the scripture that I would bring
before you this evening is found in that chapter that we read
Matthew chapter 18 and verse 3 Matthew chapter 18 verse 3
verily I say unto you except you be converted and become as
little children you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven
verily I say unto you except ye be converted and become as
little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Now these words of the Lord Jesus
Christ were occasioned by a question of the disciples, which was put
to the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 1 we read, At the same
time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven? Who is the greatest in the kingdom
of heaven? Now this question they asked
of the Lord Jesus, not willingly, but rather reluctantly. You see,
in a parallel passage in Mark's Gospel, in Mark chapter 9, and
verses 33 and 34, we are told, And being in the house, he asked
them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way?
but they held their peace for by the way they had disputed
among themselves who should be the greatest now the Lord Jesus Christ knew
of course what was in their hearts and what it was that they were
disputing by the way Luke says, in his account, he says, then
there arose a reasoning among them which of them should be
greatest, and Jesus perceiving the thought of their heart. took
a child, and set him by him, and said unto them, Whosoever
shall receive this child in my name receiveth me, and whosoever
shall receive me receiveth him that sent me. For he that is
least among you all, the same shall be great. We see, by comparing
the Gospel accounts, that they are brought by the Lord Jesus
Christ to confess their sinful pride and their vainglorious
ambition for there is nothing hid which shall not be manifested
neither was anything kept secret but that it should come abroad
and so Christ asked them What was it that you disputed among
yourselves by the way? Then eventually, after holding
their peace, they ask him this question, which was the subject
of their dispute. Who is the greatest in the kingdom
of heaven? Now it's clear that they were
not thinking of the possibility of Moses, or perhaps of Elijah,
or Isaiah, or even John the Baptist. the dispute was which one of
them should be the greatest. Remember, Luke says, then there
arose a reasoning among them which of them should be greatest.
This was their quarrel, and this was their question. Who is the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Which of them should be greatest?
They were expecting that Messiah, the King, would set up the kingdom
of heaven here upon earth and they were thinking that they
who had forsaken all and followed him they were expected that they
should receive should receive privileged positions in his government
and so the question was who would be the Prime Minister? Would
it be John, that disciple that Jesus loved? Or would it be Peter? to whom the Lord had said and
I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven or perhaps
it might be Judas Iscariot who had the bag who is the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven? well in answer to their question
we read in verse 2 and Jesus called a little child unto him
and set him in the midst of them Here is an object lesson in humility. These great apostles, why, they
must be taught by a little child. A little child must be their
teacher and teach them. Their ambition and their pride
had reached such a pitch and such a height, they could only
be taught by a little child. And Jesus called a little child
unto him, and set him in the midst of them, 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. Whosoever
therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same
is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive
one such little child in my name, receiveth me. Now these words, the words in
our text in verse 3, we see in these words two things and these
shall be our headings this evening. The necessity of humility and
the nature of humility. Well, these two things, as I
say, should be our headings as we consider this portion of God's
holy word this evening. May the Lord grant us grace to
truly consider these things. May these things enter into our
very hearts, for these things are so necessary, necessary to
salvation. The necessity of humility, the
nature of humility. Verily I say unto you, except
ye be converted and become as little children he shall not
enter into the kingdom of heaven so let us consider firstly then
the necessity of humility and firstly under this heading see
the authority with which these words are spoken verily I say
unto you verily I say unto you literally Amen I say unto you
these words are sure and certain and they can be absolutely and
utterly relied upon. These are words of absolute truth. These things saith the Amen,
the faithful and true witness. These things saith the Christ
of God. Verily I say unto you, Except
ye be converted, except ye be converted. Now these words, be
converted, these words mean in the original Greek to be turned
or to be turned around. And the same word, it's very
interesting to compare words in Holy Scripture and how they're
used. This same word, which is here translated converted, is
used in such places as Matthew chapter 7 and verse 6. give not to that which is holy
unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest
they trample them under their feet, and turn again. And Regius,
the same word, he converted. Turn again. See also in Matthew 16 and verse
23, but he turned literally he converted
and said unto Peter get thee behind me Satan thou art an offence
unto me for thou savest not the things that be of God but those
that be of men and in Luke 7 and verse 9 when Jesus heard these things
he marvelled at him and turned him about converted it's the
same word and said unto the people that followed him I say unto
you I have not found so great faith no not in Israel in Acts
chapter 7 and verse 39 to whom our fathers would not obey but
thrust him from them speaking of Moses of course and in their
hearts turned back again into Egypt they converted to Egypt In many other places in the New
Testament the word is simply translated turned. The disciples
we see then must be turned from their pride and from their foolish
notions and selfish ambitions. They must be converted from such
thoughts. and they desired to be the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven. Ah, but Christ here warns them
that unless they were turned from their pride they would not
be found in the kingdom of heaven at all. Verily I say unto you, except
you be converted and become as little children, you shall not
enter into the kingdom of heaven. What a solemn warning this is,
especially when one considers that amongst the disciples there
was one who was not truly converted. There was one who was not humbled.
He sold his master for 30 pieces of silver, then he went and hanged
himself. We read that Judas, by transgression,
fell. That is from his apostleship,
that he might go to his own place. Oh, what a solemn warning that
is. We see in the case of Judas Iscariot. Oh yes, he outwardly
kissed the master, but in his heart he betrayed him. How we
need humbling grace. How we need the grace of humility. Holy Spirit, heavenly dove. says Joseph, irons, holy spirit,
heavenly dove, thy sweet influence may I prove, set thy seal upon
my heart, humbling grace to me impart, gentle, teachable, and
mild, like unto a little child, pleased with all my Lord provides,
weaned from all the world besides, more like Jesus may I be, rooted
in humility, in obedience, swiftly move, happy in thy precious love. Oh, there is a heaven to be gained,
and there is a hell to be shunned. Think, where will you spend eternity? The Lord Jesus Christ spoke much
on the subject of hell. We see it in this chapter, do
we not? Verses 8 and 9, Wherefore, if thy hand or thy foot offend
thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee. It is better
for thee to enter into life haught or maimed, rather than having
two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if
thine eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee.
It is better for thee to enter into life with one eye rather
than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. Now there are some who say that
there is no eternal conscious punishment of the wicked in hell.
and some of them would even call themselves evangelical. John
Stott was one. You may know the name. He was a leading evangelical
in the Church of England. But he held to the doctrine of
annihilationism, just like the so-called Jehovah's Witnesses,
who hold that the lost simply cease to exist. eternally, but
they do not suffer the conscious eternal torments of hell. It
never ceases to amaze me how many professedly evangelical
bookshops stop John Stott's books. He's still regarded, and highly
regarded by some, as an evangelical. But annihilationists like John
Stott and like the Jehovah's Witnesses are not evangelical
at all! They do not believe the Word
of God! Thou merely repeating the devil's ancient lie, ye shall
not surely die! Dying thou shall not die! Here,
the word of the Lord Jesus Christ, verily I say unto you, except
ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not
enter into the kingdom of heaven. And if there is not an entering
into the kingdom of heaven, then there must be the entering into
the eternal punishment of hell. As the 1689 Baptist Confession
of Faith quite rightly says, speaking of heaven and hell,
besides these two places, for souls separated from their bodies,
the scripture acknowledgeth none. How necessary then is this Christian
grace of humility? It's the very opposite of pride,
isn't it? And you know what the scripture
says regarding pride. pride goeth before destruction
and an haughty spirit before a fool and what is that destruction
what is that destruction well it is the it is an eternal destruction
as Paul says regarding the punishment of the ungodly in 2 Thessalonians
chapter 1 Verse 18, flaming fire, taking
vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory
of his power. It is an eternal and everlasting destruction from
the presence of the Lord because the soul of man never dies. it will be eternally, it shall
eternally be destroyed eternally being destroyed because it can
never end the destruction can never end because the soul will
never end and the punishment will go on and on and on throughout
all eternity oh how Necessary is this grace
of humility. Verily I say unto you, except
you be converted and become as little children, you shall not
enter into the kingdom of heaven. Humility is a very necessary
Christian grace. It's one of the things that accompany
salvation. You see what it says there in
Hebrews chapter 6 verse 9. But beloved, we are persuaded
better things of you and things that accompany salvation, though
we thus speak. for God is not unrighteous to
forget your work and labor of love which ye have showed toward
his name in it ye have ministered to the saints and do minister." These Christians, you see, they
loved one another and they served one another and their humility
and their ministry to one another, their serving one another were
things that accompany salvation and note this, a believer Even
after his initial conversion, which is that great change experienced
as a result of the new birth, a believer does sometimes still
need to be converted again, as it were. We might say again and
again. These disciples to whom the Lord
was speaking, they were converted persons. They were real Christians,
they were real believers, they were following the Lord. Except,
of course, Judas Iscariot. They had been sovereignly and
divinely and effectually called. It had been revealed to them
by the Father, and they had been brought to confess it, that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Oh, but now they
were lifted up with pride, and they were falling into the condemnation
of the devil. Such is the power and deceitfulness
of indwelling sin, that a believer, one that is regenerate, born
again of the Spirit of God, may yet need converting grace again,
if he is turned out of the way, if he or she should fall into
sin, or be brought into some error. So it was with Simon Peter. You remember how he denied his
Lord? The Lord had forewarned him,
hadn't he? In Luke 22, verse 31, and the Lord said, Simon,
Simon, behold, Satan hath desire to have you, that he may sift
you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee, that
thy faith fail not. And when thou art converted,
strengthen thy brethren. And you notice that Christ says
there, when thou art converted, not if thou art converted, when
thou art converted. His conversion was sure and certain
because Christ had prayed for him. His conversion was sure
and certain because the Lord himself would give him that repentance.
And you know, when he gave it to him, he gave him repentance
when he looked upon him. And Peter went out and wept. And so it is with all the elect
of God. And we know that Peter was indeed
converted, that he was turned again, that he did and he still
does feed his brethren by means of his two New Testament epistles
which he wrote. And you know he never denied
his Lord again, never, no. On the contrary, he eventually
died a martyr's death. for the sake of the Lord Jesus
Christ we see in this example of Simon Peter that the conversion
of any sinner and the restoration of any backslider is all of grace
when thou art converted when thou art converted not if thou
art converted Him, that is Christ, hath God
exhorted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour,
for forgive repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And
so here, when the Lord says to his true disciples, except ye
be converted, there is no doubt whatsoever that they would be
converted. Christ intercedes for all his
dear elect, that their faith shall not fail, that their faith
fail not, and the Holy Spirit is given, who works that repentance,
that true repentance, in their hearts. The salvation of the
elect does not depend on chance, or on man's so-called free will,
but on the sovereign will and pleasure of Almighty God. Even so, it is not the will of
your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones
should perish. It says it quite plainly here in this chapter,
verse 14. Even so, it is not the will of your father
which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. Now who are these little ones?
Well they are they which believe in Jesus. We're told that in
verse six. but whosoever shall offend one
of these little ones which believe in me it were better for him
that a millstone were hanged about his neck and that he were
drowned in the depth of the sea they are called little ones they
are called little ones, why? because they have humbled themselves
that they should not trust in themselves or in their own works
but that they should trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and in
His finished work they are little in their own eyes Ah, but they
are great in Christ's eyes. But whoso shall offend one of
these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him
that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were
drowned in the depth of the sea. Oh, how we must be careful not
to offend one of Christ's little ones through our pride or our
folly. Well, this then is something
of the necessity of humility. Verily I say unto you, except
ye be converted and become as little children you shall not
enter into the kingdom of heaven let us go on in the second place
to consider something of the nature of humility the nature
of humility is expressed in these words and become as little children
and become as little children now we should note firstly under
this heading that the word of God does teach us that in some
respects we are not to be as little children so for example
in 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verse 20 brethren be not children in understanding
albeit in malice be ye children but in understanding be men and
in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 13. Paul says, till we all come in
the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God
unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to
and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the
slight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie wait to deceive. in some respects in which we
are not to be as little children but in other respects we are
to be as little children as newborn babes desire the sincere milk
of the word that ye may grow thereby Peter says be ye therefore
followers of God as dear children Paul says in Ephesians now that
word there in Ephesians 5 and verse 1 followers be ye therefore
followers of God the word followers there in Ephesians 5 verse 1
in the Greek is mimetai mimetai from which we get our word mimetism
which means mimicry children as they're growing up
will often copy their parents I remember standing in front
of the mirror as a child and pretending to shave like my daddy
we copy our parents And so Paul here is encouraging the dear
children of God to imitate, as it were, their Heavenly Father.
Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children, and walk
in love as Christ also had loved us and had given himself for
us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.
and as children are dependent on their parents to care for
them and to provide for them so the children of God are to
leave it to their heavenly father to supply all their need therefore take no thought saying
what shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewithal shall
we be clothed For after all these things do the Gentiles seek.
But your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these
things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness,
and all these things shall be added unto you. It is as children
that we are to come to God in prayer. But when ye after this
manner therefore pray ye, Jesus said, Our Father which art in
heaven, Hallowed be thy name. And it is as children that we
are to obey God, of course. Children must obey their parents. Well, we as the children of God
must obey our Heavenly Father. Isn't that what Peter says in
1 Peter chapter one, verse 14? He says, He says, as obedient children,
as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former
lusts in your ignorance, but as he which hath called you is
holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. In these respects
we are to be as little children. But it is of course in respect
of humility that Christ here tells us that we are to be as
little children. We see this from the verse of
our text and from the following verse. Verily I say unto you,
except you be converted and become as 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. This little child that was set
before them wasn't striving after greatness. He wasn't grasping
after honour, or recognition, or power, or applause. He had
no high thoughts of himself. He didn't think himself any better
than his friends, or indeed of any others, and he wasn't trying
to put his friends down that he might appear superior. I like Kelvin's description. and definition of the humble
man he says that man is truly humble who neither claims any
personal merit in the sight of God nor proudly despise his brethren
or aims at being thought superior to them but reckons it enough
that he is as one of the members of Christ and desires nothing
more than that the head alone should be exalted. Now that is
the true desire of the humble follower of the Lord Jesus Christ
that the head alone should be exalted. That the head alone
should be exalted. John the Baptist was one of these
little ones, wasn't he? He must increase, but I must
decrease. The Apostle John refers to believers
as little children, doesn't he? In his first epistle 1 John chapter
4 verse 4, ye are of God little children and have overcome them
because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the
world and the last verse of the epistle, little children keep
yourselves from idols, amen the true and humble follower of the
Lamb has one desire and one desire only that the head alone should
be exalted. He will endeavor by the grace
of God working in him to keep himself from making an idol of
himself. Isn't that really what pride
is? Self-idolatry. You've heard of Mariolatry? Making
an idol of Mary? Well there is such a thing as
self-olatry. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Now
in verse 5 of this chapter, Matthew 18, we read, and whosoever shall
receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. The Lord Jesus Christ identifies
himself with his little ones. Why? He is himself come as a
little child. That is in his humility. Isn't that what Paul says in
Philippians, Philippians chapter 2, that great Christological
passage? Philippians 2 and verse 6, who
being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of
a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself. and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also
hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above
every name." Yes, he came literally, as a
little child, when he took upon him a human nature, when he was
born of the Virgin Mary there in Bethlehem. And although he
increased in wisdom and stature, as Luke tells us, and grew to
be a man, Yet, you know, he continued metaphorically as a little child
in his humility. That scripture in Isaiah, Isaiah
chapter 11 verse 6, which is so misunderstood by the Kiliaths,
the Millennialists, is actually speaking of the Gospel Church
and of its being led by the humble Lord Jesus. Isaiah 11 verse 6, The wolf also shall dwell with
the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the
calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little
child shall lead them. Here is the Gospel Church led
by the Lord Jesus Christ. There are all these different
characters which naturally would be devouring one another. Ah,
but not so in Zion, not so in the Gospel Church, no. the wolf
also shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down
with the kid and the calf and the young lion and the fatling
together and a little child shall lead them that's the Lord Jesus we see the humility of our Lord
Jesus Christ throughout his earthly ministry for even the Son of
Man came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give
his life a ransom for many even after his death and resurrection
and ascension into heaven, he is still referred to as a holy
child. Acts chapter 4 verse 27. for of a truth against thy holy
child Jesus whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate
with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done. Oh he is a little child as it
were in that he is humble. You know the same dispute which
we see here among the disciples was to crop up again later on
another occasion you would have thought that they would have
learnt their lesson but they didn't, they had to be taught
this over again and so do we Luke chapter 22 verse 24 and
there was also a strife among them which of them should be
accounted the greatest and he said unto them the kings of the
Gentiles exercise lordship over them and they that exercise authority
upon them are called benefactors but ye shall not be so For he
that is greatest among you, let him be the younger, and he that
is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether he is greater, he
that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth, is not he that sitteth
at meat, but I am among you as he that serveth. I am among you as he that serveth. He is our great pattern of humility. This is what it is to be not
under the law, but under the gospel. It is to have Christ
set before us as our pattern. Not to have the rod of Moses
driving us, but to have the Lord Jesus Christ leading us. Interestingly,
in the book of the Revelation, we read of those who are with
Christ on Mount Zion, having his Father's name written in
their foreheads. And we read of them there, not as following
the Lion of the tribe of Judah, no these are they which follow
the lamb whithersoever he goeth he is our pattern of humility
you remember the occasion when the lord jesus christ washed
his disciples feet and what he said to them on that occasion
john 13 verse 12 so after he had washed their feet and had
taken his garments and was set down again he said unto them
know ye what i have done unto you what i've done to you Ye
call me Master and Lord, and ye say, Well, for so I am. If
I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also
ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example
that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say
unto you, The servant is not greater than his Lord, neither
he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know
these things, happy are ye if ye do them. if ye know these things, happy
are ye if ye do them may the Lord grant us grace then to be
doers of the word and not hearers only Peter says yea, all of you
be subject one to another and be clothed with humility for
God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble there can
be no such thing as a proud Christian it's a contradiction Or may we
then be learners of Christ? For as Matthew Henry says, the
age of childhood is the learning age. And learn of me, Jesus said,
and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall
find rest unto your souls. Well the Lord bless his word
to each one of us and may he convince us each of the necessity
of this grace of humility and may he show us more and more
the nature of it in the person of the only begotten Son of God,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Verily I say unto you, except
ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not
enter into the kingdom of heaven. Amen.