Let us turn to the Gospel according
to Matthew chapter 18. And our text is found here at
verses 3 and 4. Matthew 18, 3 and 4. Jesus is the one who speaks,
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 his little child,
the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Now this is obviously
a significant statement by the Lord because he prefixes it with
the Amen, the verily or truly. We do find these words several
times, of course, in the ministry of the Lord. Sometimes it's a
double verily. Well, it's a single verily here,
but it is an underlining of the significance and importance of
what the Lord declares. Verily I say unto you, accept
ye be converted. and become as little children
ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore
shall humble himself as his little child, the same is greatest in
the kingdom of heaven. To consider then what it means
to become little children. Becoming little children. We know that at this time the
disciples were disputing among themselves as to who should be
the greatest. That is quite evident from what
we are told when Luke recounts the same events there in chapter
9 and verses 46, 47 and 48. They were talking amongst themselves
and disputing as to just who was going to be that one who
would have the chief place and be the greatest in God's kingdom. And so, The question that we have at
the beginning of the chapter is not a disinterested question. At the same time came the disciples
unto Jesus saying, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Why was it that they put that
question? What was it that they wanted to know? As I say, it
wasn't disinterested, but clearly it was prized that lay at the
roots of what they were asking of the Lords. And Christ saw
this. Christ saw this. He needed not
that any should testify of man. He knew what was in the hearts
of men. Is He not that One who is spoken
of in Hebrews 4 as the Word of God, quick and powerful, sharper
than a two-edged sword, piercing to the dividing asunder of soul
and marrow, of joint and marrow, and the discerner of the thoughts
and intents of the heart. That Word, I know we often refer
to that passage in Hebrews 4 and say there's some reference to
the Word of Holy Scripture. God's Word is is a piercing word and often
comes to convict us but you will be aware that there in the context
it is clear that the word being spoken of by the apostle is really
the word of God incarnate he's speaking of Christ that word
that is sharper than the two-edged sword and comes to pierce and
to divide. The Lord knew the reason why
the apostles were asking, or the disciples were asking of
him this question, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? In that passage that I referred
to in Luke, Luke 9, 47, we read Jesus perceiving the thought
of their hearts took a child and set him by him. He could
perceive what their thoughts were. He could understand something
of what was in their hearts and he takes his child. I like the
remark of Calvin, the reformer, the Protestant reformer. He says
how a visible example affects people the more. And so, he takes
the child and sets the child there besides him as a type of
humility. Calvin is right that something
visible, something to be seen can make a much greater impression.
Isn't it Calvin who speaks of the Lord's Supper? And I like
the way Calvin describes it in terms of the gospel being drawn
in pictures. those elements that we partake
of, the broken bread and the cup and the wine poured into
the cup and it sets before us something of Christ in his sufferings,
his body broken and his blood shed well here in this particular
incident the Lord also gives them a visible example he will
make an impression upon them so he takes a child and sets
him by him. Jesus perceiving the thought
of their heart took a child and set him by him. And so here in
the text he says, 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." They had been asking the Lord about greatness. Who is the greatest, they wanted
to know. And what does the Lord do? He
speaks of the very opposite of that. He speaks of humility. Surely the first thing we have
to notice here in this whole incident is the great importance
of humility. The great importance of humility. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to be equal with God. We made some reference this
morning to that portion. in Philippians chapter 2, that
great Christological passage that speaks to us so clearly
of Christ equal with the Father. And yet, though he thinks it
not robbery to be equal with God, he makes himself of no reputation. In the covenant he becomes a
servant of God. In the fullness of the time God
sends forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.
He comes to serve God, to obey the law. and to obey it not only
in terms of all its holy precepts, but also to honour it in respect
to all its dreadful penalties. He's obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. What humility! Let this mind
be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, how He humbled
Himself. And those who would profess his
name, those who would be true followers of him must therefore
be a lowly people. Lowliness of mind will be the
mark of Christ's disciples. Now, there's a sense in which
we have to recognize that a child is not a perfect pattern of innocence. Not to think that a child is
a perfect pattern. David says of himself and his
conception behold I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my
mother conceive me or we're all born into this world as a sinful
offspring of Adam and Eve no one can bring a clean thing out
of a non-clean as sin has come down all the generations. And
all of us are born dead in trespasses and in sins. Adam and Eve, of
course, when they were created, they come pristine from the hand
of their Creator. They are holy creatures with
Adam and Eve seen. The only sinless man, truly sinless
man that has lived is the Lord Jesus and how he's preserved
from all that taint of original sin in the miracle of his virgin
birth, the great mystery of the incarnation. How the angel says
to Mary, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, the power of
the highest shall overshadow thee, therefore also that holy
thing. or that holy thing that shall
be born of thee or that holy human nature it's going to be
joined to the eternal son of God that's the mystery of the
incarnation God manifest in the flesh and that human nature is
sinless human nature he would never die but he did die, why? because he died to atone for
sins not his own he dies as a substitute A child born by natural generation
then is not innocent. We're all shapen in iniquity. We're all born dead in trespasses
and in sins. And the psalmist on another occasion
cries out, remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions. or do we not have to say that
many a time when we think back over our poor lives and the older
we get the more we tend to look back and to remember things from
long ago and those sins that we were guilty of the folly of
our youth remember not the sins of my youth in vanity I spent
my youth the thought now fills my heart with shame says Thomas
Callaghan Oh, what true words those are! The vanity of our
days when we were unregenerate and we knew not God and we sought
only to pursue the pleasures of this foreign world, this world
that lies in the wicked one. You know, in some things we're
not to be children, are we? He says, does the apostle Be
not children in understanding. We're not to be children in understanding,
albeit in malice be children, but in understanding be men.
We can't say that a child is always the best example. It's
not. We're to be those who would desire
that there might be some growth in grace. We're to grow in grace.
and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we read
that portion in that second chapter of 1st John where the Apostle
addresses himself to little children and young men and fathers there
are different stages of spiritual growth and development just as
in our physical lives we grow from bibes into children and
then into youth and then into our mature years and then eventually
if God spare us we come to our old age well as it is in nature
so in a sense it is in rice we're not however to therefore conclude
that it is right that in everything we should be as children. Think about the apostle, in a
sense, he's rebuking the Corinthians because they're not growing and
they're not developing as they ought to be. You remember how
this church was so gifted in so many ways and yet it was a
church full of so many problems. And he writes there in the third
chapter of 1 Corinthians, I, brethren, could not speak unto
you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes
in Christ. I have fed you with milk and
not with meat, for hitherto ye were not able to bear it. Yet
now are ye able, for ye are yet carnal. For whereas there is
among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal?
and walk as men. They were not growing, they were
not developing as they ought. They were not growing in that
grace of God. But the one particular point
that the Apostle is making here, rather the Lord Jesus Christ
himself is making here in the Gospel, is the importance of
humility and lowliness of mind. And this is why He takes the
little child and sets the child beside Him. 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 And throughout the
passage, from verse 2 to verse 6, he repeatedly uses the diminutive
of the noun for a child. In the original here, there is
a diminutive of the word child. And it is of course rightly rendered
here in our authorised version because it doesn't just say a
child, it's a little child. It was a little child. He called a little child. And
he says except you be converted and become as little children,
you have to humble yourself as this little child. Again at verse
5, and so shall receive one such little child. And then again
in verse 6, and so shall offend one of these little ones. It's
a little child. It's very much a tiny tot, we
might say, that He sets before them. And He is setting this
child before them as the pattern of humility. You see, to enter into the kingdom
of God you have to be very small to be very small to enter into
the kingdom of God well of course how does it begin? you have to
be born again you have to be a babe in grace that's where
it begins to enter into that narrow way
of life you have to pass through a straight gate That's a very
small gate, a straight gate. You can barely squeeze through
the gate. You have to be small. It's easier, Christ says, for
a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to
enter into the kingdom of heaven. The needle, we understand, was
one of those very tiny gates in the walls of Jerusalem that
you couldn't squeeze through with very much other than yourself. It was so straight, an opening. And all of this is speaking to
us, you see, of the importance of humility. What does the Lord say? Whosoever
therefore shall humble himself as his little child, the same
is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Now, we cannot humble
ourselves and yet that's what it says isn't
it? Whosoever therefore shall humble
himself And yet to think that we could even begin to make ourselves
humble is an act of pride. It's an act of pride to think
that we could do anything. Humility really surely is the
complete and utter denial of self. How can we become humble? Well, doesn't the Lord say what
must happen? Verily, verily, I say unto you,
except ye be converted. That's how you become humble. Except ye be converted and become
as little children. That's a consequence of conversion. You have to be converted. And so, in speaking in this manner,
isn't the Lord really confronting his disciples and confronting
us with the great necessity of conversion. We have the importance
of humility. Yes, of course, humility is so
vital because that's the very mind of the Lord Jesus Christ. Humility. But how is it that
we can be humble souls only by conversion? Can the Ethiopian
change his skin? Or can the leopard change his
spots? Therefore may ye that are accustomed
to doing evil do good." What is the implication of what Jeremiah
is saying there, Jeremiah 13.23? Well, he's saying if the Ethiopian
can change the color of your skin, if the leopard can change
his spots, well you who are accustomed to being evil, sinful men and
women, You'll be able to change yourselves. We cannot change
ourselves. We cannot change ourselves. We need to be changed. We need
to be born again. We need to be converted. None can make a Christian, but
he that made the world, says Joseph Hart in that preface to
his hymn book. only the God who made the world
and that's a mighty work and the world isn't just referring
of course to this planet on which we live our lives it's referring
to the whole of what God has created only the God of creation is able
to make a Christian you have to become a new creature, a new
creation in the Lord Jesus Christ. From whence does our faith come?
This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath
sent. It's the work of God, even to
believe. Oh, we cannot give ourselves
humility, we cannot give ourselves faith. The very notion of duty,
faith, it's nothing more than a notion. We need that faith,
that saving faith, and that faith comes by the operation of God,
Colossians 2.12. It's that faith that is the gift
of God, Ephesians 2.8. It's not something that we can
do, it's not something we can give ourselves. Now we need that
the Lord Himself comes and works motally and effectually
that great work of conversion in our souls except ye be converted
and become as little children ye shall not enter into the kingdom
of heaven says the Lord all by nature you see we're we're the very opposite aren't
we of this humility that the Lord is clearly setting before
his disciples who were reasoning amongst themselves as to which
of them was going to be the greatest in God's kingdom by nature we
are so full of that pride and unbelief what is the root of
sin? well the root of sin is unbelief
we have it there in the fall, don't we? when our first parents
transgressed. What was it? It was unbelief. It was rejecting God's truth,
denying God's truth, and embracing and believing the devil's lie. And as it's unbelief, so there's
a great deal of pride bound up in that unbelief. God does know
that in the day that ye eat thereof ye shall be as gods. knowing
good and evil, and the woman sees that this is a treat to
be desired, to make one wise. Oh, if we take of this fruit,
we'll be like God, pride and unbelief. It is pride, accursed
pride, that spirit by God abhorred, do what we will, it haunts us
still. It keeps us from the Lord. Against
its influence pray, It mingles with the prayer against the preach,
it prompts the speech, be silent. Still it's there. Or do we not
feel it? It's there, it's in our own nature,
in our foreign nature, unbelief, pride. We are truly the children
of Adam and Eve. Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world or that is in the world, the
lust of the flesh, and the pride of the eyes and the pride of
life he's not of the father but he's of the world oh we have
to be converted and what do we have to be converted to? we have
to in a sense be converted to to nothing that's what we have to be converted
to we have to venture to be noughts in the language of the hymn 708
but venture to be nought to be a nothing or we have to be converted and
be as little children insignificant Paul speaks of his experience,
how the Lord dealt with him, how the Lord humbled him. He
was so exalted, of course, caught up to the third heaven, he saw
things that were inexpressible, unspeakable. He was so favoured,
so blessed, but then there's that thorn in the flesh. And
now he's beseeching the Lord to remove it from him. But he
has to learn that God's grace is sufficient. And what does
Paul come to? He's prepared to be nothing.
I be nothing and it has been observed that there in that 12th
chapter of 2nd Corinthians what the Apostle is doing is setting
forth that humiliation which accomplishes or is part and parcel
of the real experience of the grace of God if we know the grace
of God it will humble us True faith is a weakening and an emptying
grace, isn't it? True faith is really the denial
of ourselves. It's total trust in another. Even the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Look at what Paul says in that
remarkable chapter. 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 and there at verse 7 he says
lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance
of the revelations there was given to me a thorn in the flesh
the messenger of satan to buffet me lest I should be exalted above
measure twice he says this in the verse doesn't he the beginning
and the end lest I should be exalted above measure and then
again at the end, lest I should be exalted above measure if the
Lord favours us and surely if we're the Lord we want to know
the favours of the Lord we want the Lord to make himself so real
to us we want to find something new we want new discoveries of
the grace of God or we want to know the Lord Jesus that I may
know Him says Paul his great burning desire to know Him the
power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings
be made conformable to his death well the Lord will see that we're
not going to be exalted above measure where the Lord exalts
us he will also humble us that's the way of the Lord that's the
way of the Lord we need that continual humbling, that was
Paul's experience I should be exalted above measure. It's not
just humility at the beginning, is it? It's that life of humility
because we follow Him who is the very pattern of humility,
the mind of the Lord Jesus Christ. What does the Lord teach us in
here, in this portion? the importance of being little
children, the importance of humility, the need of that great work of
conversion in our souls only the Lord can bring us to that humility
of spirit. But then there's one other thing
I want to mention here and that's isn't the Lord teaching us the
simplicity of salvation? You have to be converted and
become as a little child. The Lord doesn't despise the
children. Remember what we read in the
next chapter, chapter 19. There at verse 3, the Pharisees
also came unto him. I've got the wrong passage, haven't
I? I think it was chapter 19. It is chapter 19, but it's later
on. That's verse 13. Verse 13 in chapter 19. Then
were brought unto him little children, that he should put
his hands on them and pray, and the disciples rebuked them. But
Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not to come unto
me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven. and he laid his hands
on them and departed then. So, these little children, you
see, are an example of those who are of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is made
up of little children. Now, that doesn't mean that true
religion is only for children. I'm sure there are people in
the world who would say, well, what you Christians have and
what you say you believe, that's for the Sunday school. But we
outgrow the Sunday school. We want something more. That's the unbeliever, of course.
He thinks he's going to find his oyster in this world. That's
the foolishness of men. But when we say that the kingdom
of heaven is made up of those who are childlike, little children,
does it not remind us of the simplicity of salvation? We read back in Isaiah, there
in chapter 11, a little child shall lead them. led by a little
child what does it remind us of? well earlier today we were
looking at the great gospel invitation there at the end of chapter 11
come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden I will give
you rest take my yoke upon you learn of me for I am meek and
lowly in heart and you shall find rest unto your souls and
isn't that invitation so plain and so straightforward that even
a child, a little child can understand that the Lord is saying that
if you're burdened and troubled you to come to Him and He'll
give you rest it's so plain a statement so plain an invitation the way
of salvation is very simple that a child can understand what the
way of salvation is. Now, as I said before, when we
say that salvation is simple, we're not to confuse that with
easy-believism. We do not say that the way of
salvation is easy, and it's easy to believe. We don't say that.
There's a difference between easy-believism and the simplicity
of salvation. Because the Bible is quite a
simple book, isn't it? I think sometimes the commentators,
when we consult them, they may be confused. Sometimes one thinks
in the course of preaching, am I really helping the people,
instructing the people, opening the word, or am I simply confusing
them? What is the Bible? Well, it speaks
of God, and it speaks of man. It's a very simple message really.
It tells us who God is and it tells us how God made man in
his image after his likeness. But it doesn't just speak of
God and man, it speaks of sin. How man has sinned. And then it speaks of salvation.
And how does that salvation come? Well, it speaks to us of God's
law. but it also speaks of God's Gospel. When you analyze what the Bible
is, it is quite simple. But while the doctrine is simple,
and we can understand it because it is so plainly set before us,
however the way is hard. We're told there in that 11th
chapter, we were looking at the end of that chapter earlier,
but we're told there at verse 12 in chapter 11, the kingdom
of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. And what does that violence have
to do with? It has to do with the way in
which we enter. It's by prayer, it's by cries,
it's by calling, it's by seeking. ye shall seek me, God says, and
find me when ye shall search after me with all your heart
it's a simple way of salvation but there must be those cries
to God, that calling, that seeking, that earnestness that we might enter in at that
straight gate and walk in that narrow way and then we find that
it is indeed a narrow way or but how it begins, the simplicity
of it, the little child and the Lord says verily, truly, Amen! that's what it is, that's literally
the word that's used, the Amen, the so be it I say unto you,
except ye be converted and become as little children you shall
not enter into the kingdom of heaven Whosoever therefore shall
humble himself as his little child, the same is greatest in
the kingdom of heaven." They spoke of greatness. And what
is greatness? It's being like Christ. It's
having that mind of the Lord Jesus Christ. Or that one who,
though rich, became poor. that ye through his poverty might
be made rich that one who thought it not robbery to be equal with
God and yet made himself of no reputation and took upon him
the form of a servant and then as he served God what did he
do he humbled himself and he humbled himself unto death even
the death of the cross or that we might be those then who know
what it is to become little children May the Lord bless His word to
us. Amen.