Let's go to Luke 18. Our Lord is speaking here of the inhabitants of the kingdom of God, and he likens these inhabitants to little children. And I want to begin in verse 15. And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them. But when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them.

Now this word Infants here is used to describe several stages of childhood. In the scriptures, the same word can be used to describe the unborn infant. This word was used to describe John the Baptist who leapt in his mother's womb at the voice of Mary. It's used to describe our Lord Jesus Christ who was just born, an infant born, when the shepherds came to see him at night. And then it's also used by Paul to describe Timothy, saying that he, from a child, knew the Holy Scriptures. And so that covers several stages of childhood there.

And there's a companion passage to what we're looking at this morning here about the inhabitants of the kingdom of God, being little children. And it's from Matthew 19, verse 13, where we're told that then were brought unto him little children, little children, that he should put his hands on them and pray, and the disciples rebuked them. Now, this word that Matthew puts in there is a little different than what Luke uses. This word here describes children as young as infants also, newborn infants. It describes those that are young toddlers, And it's also used to describe a 12-year-old damsel whom the Lord healed. It says in the scripture, she was 12 years old. That's this same word here.

all these children, what Luke and Matthew were talking about as children, from as young as infants that have to be carried all the way up to even 12 years old that can bring themselves at the Lord's calling, that can come to the Lord. And additionally, we're told that they brought unto Him their infants that He would touch them, that He would touch them.

You should know that this is a passage that is used by some to teach us that we should bring our infants to be baptized, that we should baptize our infants. It's not directly speaking of that, but they use this passage to say, hey, this validates and gives us reason to bring our children, our infants, to be baptized, well, they would, I guess, rontize them. I'd sprinkle them or pour water upon them, but that's a notion that I disagree with. I believe that the scriptures do teach us believers' baptism, that those who are needy sinners and see Christ, who alone meets that need for our sins, that believers come to Christ and they are baptized in the Lord, right?

Baptism, we believe in believers' baptism. It's an ordinance given to the church for you that believe Christ is all your salvation, that you have no hope but Christ. We know that our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, that he was buried, and that he rose again on the third day. And that's what our baptism pictures. It pictures that hope that as he died, He died for us that when he was buried, we were buried with him. Our sins laid out of sight. All right. These things are all all put away in him. And so we believe this, and that just as he rose again, we too shall rise again.

Let me read to you this description of Paul from Romans 6, verses 3 through 6. And it explains this baptism that we have a hope in as believers. He says, know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death. That like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Now he's speaking to you that here that believe these things. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."

And so This is saying that our baptism is that we who are baptized in Christ have this hope, have this hope in his redemption, that he did this for us. We are baptized in that hope that like as Christ died, I died with him. That like as Christ was buried, my sins are buried with him. This body of sin is laid to rest. It's no more. God has forgiven us our sins. And that just as he rose from the dead, so I too shall be raised in that day.

But not only in that day, right now, as new creatures, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, we are raised again, we are born again to see these spiritual things and to have a hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, to hear his voice speaking to us, calling to us, that he has separated us apart from this world for himself.

Now, What this text in Luke, therefore, does teach, right? It doesn't teach infant baptism. But what it does teach, I think that you'll see, is that our Lord is teaching his church, by this recording here of this passage here and the other Gospels like it, a wonderful instruction in the simplicity of faith. A wonderful instruction on the simplicity of faith of those who believe the Lord Jesus Christ with childlike faith and trust in Him. We believe Him. We believe Him. We cannot not believe because He's given us that hope in ourselves to believe Him and to trust Him, for of such is the kingdom of God.

All right. Why did the people bring their infants to our Lord that he would touch them? Well, what do the scriptures mean by him touching them? Why did they bring their infants and their young children to be touched by the Lord? Well, there's two things that can easily explain what is meant here. There's two things that we can gather from the scriptures to understand our Lord's touching of the children, what the importance and significance of that is.

For one thing, we know that whenever Christ was healing someone, most often it says that he touched them. When he would heal someone that was sick, or diseased, or deformed, he would touch them. For example, in Matthew 8.3, Jesus put forth his hand and touched him, saying, I will be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed, and he touched them. And then when he came into Peter's house, Peter's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever on the couch. And it says he touched her hand and the fever left her, and she arose and ministered unto them. Sometimes it says that they would touch him. They sought to touch him that they might be healed. The woman with the issue of blood touched him. and virtue went out from our Lord and she was healed.

But oftentimes it was our Lord touching them. And so here they brought unto him also infants that he would touch them. Perhaps there were some there with cleft lips or deformities or sick with a fever, whatever it is that needed his touch, that they too might be healed as others had been healed. That's one possibility. The other possibility, and I really think that both are true, whether they were bringing them there because they were sick or for this reason, I think both are true. People were coming and bringing their children to the Lord that he would touch them and that they were seeking that he would pray for them, that he would put their hands on them and pray for them and bless them. They sought the Lord to bless their children, to be kind and gracious to their children.

We see this in the Old Testament Scriptures when Joseph came to Jacob. When Jacob came down there to Goshen, it says in Genesis 48, verses 14 through 16, that Israel stretched out his right hand and put it on Ephraim's head, the younger, and stretched out his left hand and put it on Manasseh, the older. And then it says in the next verse that he blessed Joseph. He blessed Joseph by blessing his two sons. He was blessing Joseph Because Joseph received a double portion in Israel, so that he had two tribes, two masses of land given to Joseph. He got the double portion in Israel.

And said, God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, the angel, and we'll see something of the angel in the next message, but the angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads. Bless the lads, and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. And so, in that manner, we see they would bring their children to the Lord seeking a blessing. from the Lord for their children, right? And in either case, the scriptures take no offense to either one. There's no offense there because we know it is by the hand of our Lord that we are healed.

That even to this day, we seek the Lord to heal us of our sicknesses, of our infirmities, of our diseases, to deliver us from sin, to be gracious and merciful to us, right? We seek our Lord for these things. And we know that we go to the Lord to seek a blessing from Him, a blessing of grace, a blessing of mercy, a blessing of forgiveness, to heal us of our sins.

Now, in that sense, don't we still bring our children and our grandbabies to the Lord? Don't we do that in prayer? Don't we still pray for our children when they were in the belly of our wives, right? To the time when they were born, to the time as they're getting older and teenage years and into adulthood, we still bring our children and our grandbabies to the Lord, that he would heal them when they're sick and that he would bless them. Lord, be merciful to my children. Lord, help my children, all right? When they've gone astray, we see it and we think about it, we worry about them, we love them, and so where do we go? We go to the Lord. Lord, and we bring our children to the Lord. Lord, have mercy upon them. Lord, call them. Lord, separate them unto yourself. Let your name rest upon them, Lord.

Don't we still to this day bring our children to the Lord in the same way these parents brought their children to the Lord, we still do that. And I believe it's meant to make us tender, to realize, I bring my children to the Lord. And it is meant to make us tender, because we get so hard, we get hardened in doctrine, we box God up, and we say, well, this is how it is. My doctrine says it's got to be this way. And we shut out people that we think, well, they're not going the way that I think. the way that they should go. And so we get hardened like these disciples, and we refuse many. And so, well, you can't. You can't come to the Lord. Surely you don't know the Lord, right? And we do those same things. And so I believe it is meant to make us tender. It's to humble us. It's to shut our mouths from speaking and say, Lord, you know. You know all things, Lord, and help me to not presume or assume.

And so we ought, you know, another sense is that we ought never to neglect our children. You know, I think we've all met some that say, well, I don't want to say anything to my kids, because if they're the Lord's, he'll save them, right? And so people sometimes don't say anything, don't even bring them to church. Right? When they could. And they don't even bring them to church. But we should always be bringing our children to the Lord in prayer. And to hear the scriptures, as much influence as you have over them, to hear the word preached, we ought to bring them, as well as in family devotion times, when you're just sitting down and reading the word and spending time with them. All those are very good. They're good for us. They're good for the children.

And so these are all ways that we can bring our children to the Lord, seeking a blessing from him upon them. He's teaching us also that we, too, are to remain tender as children, that we, too, ourselves are to remain tender as children, that we seek Him when we are sick. We seek Him when we've gone astray. We are to seek Him when we are troubled, when we're bad, when we're ruined, when we've messed something up. We go to Him the same way a child goes to their father or their mother. To seek help. That's how we go to the Lord, too. Lord, help me. Lord, forgive me. Lord, I don't know where I am. I'm lost. Save me. Right? The Lord is the one who helps us. And so we bring ourselves and we bring our loved ones to the Lord for him to touch them, for him to heal them, for him to bless them. Keep doing that. There's nothing wrong with that at all. Keep bringing your children and your loved ones and yourself to the Lord for his grace and mercy, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you.

And now in verse 16, we're given a sight here of our great God and Savior's grace. But Jesus, they were rebuked by the disciples. The parents were told, hey, don't bring your kids here. Stay back. Get to the back of the crowd there. Stay out of the way here. But Jesus called them unto him, the children, right, them that were brought, called the children to him and said, and I believe this was said to the disciples for their instruction and for ours today, suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God. And so it's a beautiful sight of his grace. that our Lord, His arm is not shortened, that He can save whom He will, and that He is tender toward them, and He calls them, and He teaches them, and He brings them to Himself even at an early age.

Some of us did hear at a young age. I'm not saying, like, I heard a lot of wonderful things, and I was a fairly lonely child. My brother and sister were much older, so I was basically an only child, and I was very lonely after church services. But I would muse upon, just think upon, the things that I had heard in the service that day. from the Word of God being preached, and it was made profitable to me. I'm not saying that I was saved, but to be honest with you, I can't tell you when the Lord saved me. I've been converted many times. Many times I've heard and been delivered from death, delivered from waywardness, delivered from sin, over and over and over again. The Lord constantly is revealing himself to me. There's many times where I think, I never saw you, Lord, in this beautiful light, but now I see you. The Lord does that many times for his people. And as we grow in him, less and less do we ever want to be where we don't feel like we're in him. More and more, we want, Lord, have mercy. Lord, keep me here always.

The Lord is able, bring them, because you don't know when he's planting the seeds, when he's watering the seed, when he's bringing forth the plant, when he's bearing fruit. We have no idea. Bring the children. And it's a picture of all the saints that he calls into his kingdom. For of such, he says, is the kingdom of God, like these little children. like these that struggle to hear, like these that are sick and affirmed. He's always calling us to himself. He's always separating us to himself, always delivering us and cleansing our feet, as it were, from the filth of this world. He's always doing that.

We're called, right? Paul wrote of this in the beginning of Romans, chapter 1. He speaks of us who are the called, in verse 6, the called of Jesus Christ. We're called of him, just like he's calling these children. Call them unto himself. We too, brethren, are called by our Lord to come to him. in a sweet and loving manner. Come to me, kids. You come to me. Well, he says the same thing to you and I. Come to me. Don't be afraid. Come to me. I want to see you. I want to see you at my throne of grace. That's what he's saying. Come to me. Whether we're dirty and filthy, have messed up and ruined things, come to me. Come to me. Because that's what we need. That's who we need.

And he adds, Again, in verse seven, to all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints. He calls his people to himself. And he reminds us of our calling, that we remember our calling and to walk in that calling. and to seek him for grace, to walk in that calling, and to continue in that calling. He does that. And so just the same way that you remind your children, and have to remind them over and over and over and over again. I was a child who needed to be reminded constantly. I mean, that's just how messed up I am and how distracted I am. I always was being told by my parents the same thing over and over again. because I needed it. Well, the Lord tells us, you're called. I've called you. And he keeps calling us back to him because we're like little children who need that, who need to be reminded. And to remember that he's my heavenly father who loves me. And he's my savior who gave himself for me to redeem me.

And so, another way Paul says it is in 2 Thessalonians 2, verses 13 and 14, but we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation, not our will, but his will. and Him conforming our will through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth."

Meaning the Spirit separated us unto, sanctified us out from the mass of Adam's body of sin into that body of Christ, unto Him, to hear Him, and gave us faith to believe Him. Through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. He works that in us. He gives his people his spirit and that hope of faith.

Whereunto he called you, by our gospel, to the obtaining. An effectual call. not a general call, but an effectual call to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so we see his effectual hand in salvation, his work, everything that is necessary to bring his people to him and to bless them, to bless them. He does not fail.

In this call, it's a call according to purpose. And who is it that he calls to himself? He tells us, suffer little children to come unto me. Suffer the simple. Don't stop the simple. Suffer the lame, that one who is not walking straight, who can't walk, who's lame on his feet. And I'm talking both in physical, of course, but even in a spiritual sense. All right, suffer them to come to me. Suffer the weak and the poor. Let them come. Don't stop them. You just encourage them to come. Suffer the ignorant and those that are troubled and those that are burdened with cares. Encourage them and allow them. Come, come, sit and hear that the Lord is good. Hear his word. and hear him who is most gracious and who is the savior of sinners. Come and hear Christ.

Suffer such to come unto me."

And you consider the condescension of our Lord that's being displayed here in this, right? How low he stoops for the children to come to him. The disciples are thinking, look, the days are long. We're worn out, there's a lot of people that have to see Christ, that are trying to get to Christ, and you bring these kids who don't, half of them don't even know what's going on, they don't know who they're being brought to, they're loud, they're laughing or they're crying, they're distracted or they're distracting people, they're running in the way, get them out of here. Get these kids out of here, let's go, shoot, be gone with you, right? They're just, they're trying to do what they think is right here, but Christ said, suffer little children to come unto me. Don't stop them, don't put roadblocks up to those that you think aren't qualified to be here. Don't stop them. You just encourage them, you come, because that's how we're all saved, as little ignorant children who can't add a thing to the work. You just don't know what the Lord's gonna do. I am speaking of children, but I'm speaking of us. Our Lord is teaching us. these things, that we would hear them. Whosoever will, let them come. Let them come, encourage them, even little children.

And you think of it, that's an open door. That's an open door for us when, I mean, we all know people in the world that shudder to think of ever even stepping foot in a church, right? Because they think I've got no business being, they don't want me there. No, come. You come. If you need a savior, you come. And so religion teaches us you're not worthy, you're not fit to come, you shouldn't come, clean your life up first before you come. They put all these burdens and shackles on people and weigh them down with an impossible task that none of us can bear, none of us could do, but instead of just bringing them to Christ. that He would bless them, that He would heal them, that He would deliver them from the bondage of their sin and give them life. And so, you that are sinful, you that are useless, you that are worth nothing, come. Christ loves the needy sinner because He's the Savior of the sinner. He's the only Savior of sinners. You that have nothing to give to God, no righteousness of your own, that's whom the Savior receives. believe him, and suffer them, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God." And that's what the whole kingdom is filled with, needy sinners, wayward sinners, who need a savior that suffers them, that allows them to come, and encourages them to come, and calls them to come, and blesses them in their coming, because he's called them. And so he blesses them in it. And he's very merciful, very merciful.

And this is likely why Paul, or what Paul was thinking of when he said in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, beginning in verse 26, down through 29, he said, for you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh. That's not usually something that the natural man takes to himself. We want others to think that we are wise. And he says that the Lord has called you that are not wise. Not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. And God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. and base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence."

And so, when you mess up, when you're not so smart and not so wise in this world, and you feel ashamed for it, and you feel like you've missed out or messed up or done something wrong, Don't let that bother you. That's exactly whom the Lord calls to himself. People that don't function the way they ought to in this world. We are broken. We are weak. We are sad in many ways, pitiful in many ways. Yet it pleases the Lord to call them to himself that his glory and power might be displayed in us who have nothing to boast in save the Lord Jesus Christ. It just exalts him all the more.

that you, in the simplicity of faith, believe Christ. When people smarter than us say, you're silly. You're stupid for thinking that. How dare you? Come on. Really? Yeah, really. I don't know what else to say, but I know that the Lord, He is God, He has made this earth for Himself, to the praise, glory, and honor of Himself, and He's given me that hope in Him that He should save a sinner like me. And that's what He puts in His people, that simple hope. and faith in him.

And he says to us, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly." I'm not going to shame you. I'm not going to shame you for being ignorant. I'm not going to shame you for being in darkness, and a sinner, and a wretch. I'm gonna call you to myself and bless you and receive you. Even though we're little children in the kingdom of God, that's whom the Lord delights in. He loves them and blesses them. He blesses the weak and the simple.

For my yoke is easy. He says, you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. And so there's many that are ignorant and simple that the Lord calls. Many, many who are called to him. Many taken up with the cares of this world. Many deceived by religion. And yet the Lord is pleased. If they're coming to hear the word, keep encouraging them. Keep coming. Keep coming. Bring them. to hear, because you don't know when the Lord's going to bless them. He may bless them that very day, touch them that day.

And so he calls you to come out of all these things in the world, because Jesus Christ is the Savior. of the simple. Jesus Christ is the Savior of the lost. Jesus Christ is the Savior of those that are burdened and suffering. Jesus Christ is the Savior of the helpless. Jesus Christ is the Savior of little children. He's the Savior. He saves His people. He knows who are His and He's able to save them to the uttermost.

And he adds then in verse 17, verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein. So like these erring disciples who forbade the children, it's really easy for us to get caught up in outward form, in various doctrines that we've put forth to create a system of our theology, which is good. It is good. I'm not knocking those things. But it's just we oftentimes, by what we think, constrain God.

Well, he's not constrained, but we, in our thoughts of him, constrain him and limit to what he's able to do. But he's able, right? He's able, and he overcomes in our hearts where we go astray. His grace is sufficient.

But what I'm saying is in religion, as we grow in these things and think we know something when really we don't know anything, how often it is that we've forgotten the simple things like love and faith and hope and forgiveness and gentleness and kindness and mercy. Those are fruits that he bears in his people who had that simple hope and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and seek to serve him and love him.

And so Christ is calling the poor, weak, and simple child who can add nothing and don't want to add nothing to the work of Christ, who want to serve him, sure, who want to bear fruit in him, sure, but know that he's all my righteousness, all my sanctification, all my wisdom, all my redemption. He's everything.

And he tells us, of such is the kingdom of God. I pray that's a help to us.