The lesson this morning will
be taken from Luke chapter 18, verses 15 through 17. Although the subject matter continues,
I wanted to try to concentrate on these, kind of separate this
from the general study. And the subject of these verses
and the title of the lesson this morning is Bringing Babies to
Christ. Let's read these verses together.
Luke chapter 18, verse 15. And they, that is the multitude
that followed him, brought unto him also infants that he would
touch them. But when his disciples saw it,
they rebuked them. But Jesus called them unto him,
and said, suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them
not, for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, whosoever
shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall
in no wise enter therein. Now if you look, You'll find
in Matthew 19 and Mark chapter 10, the separate accounts of
this as they're recorded in the word of God. If you want to go
over there, they're very similar. There's hardly any difference
in the accounts. And I won't say this. There has
and is an ongoing debate over influence in religion. Always have been. made a profession of faith, and
even as a small child, I can remember in the church, I can
remember my dad was an elder in the church, and as such, they
were always discussions about children. They'd have vacation
Bible school, and then these children were watching these
adults, and they wanted to make professions of faith, and then
the church, some of the churches were actually using that as a
means to get them to make professions of faith. So there always has,
there has and is an ongoing debate over how infants and small children
fit into the scheme of salvation. Some religions baptize babies. I think the Catholics do. I know
for sure Trinity Lutherans do. A lot of the reformers do. And there's just a constant debate over how these small children
fit into this thing of salvation. What are you going to do with
them? Are they innocent? What about
these children? How are you going to deal with
these children? And the arguments include innocency
of small children. That's what we'll do. We'll just
say they're innocent. And they're not responsible until they reach
the age of accountability. Find that in the Word of God.
You won't find it anywhere. You won't even find a hint of
it in the Word of God. And then at what age do they
become accountable? Are you gonna put an age on it?
The Jews didn't even consider their children adults until they
were 30 years of age. Anybody under 30 years of age
was a child. I can identify with that. And then what about these decisions
concerning faith? And what about the ordinances?
Here's a little three-year-old child and he sees you take the
bread and the wine. Should I give him the bread and
the wine? You see how these Now, if I'm going to submit him to
salvation, I'm going to have to give him the bread and the
wine. It's for save men and women. It's for people of faith. Does
he have faith? Then give him the bread and the
wine. But no, we're going to debate about it. We're going
to go back and forth, and we're going to try to write out rules
and all these things. Should we make special provision
for the children? There's just a lot of things
that religion debates about when it comes to small children. And it's basically false religion. What I want us to do this morning
and every time we're presented with controversial subjects like
this is to pause and consider what we're reading. Who's doing
the talking and what's he talking about? What brought, we got to
find the context of this. You can't just grab it out of
the air and go running with it. So first of all, let's look at
the occasion surrounding what's being said. Our Lord was followed
by multitudes of thousands. We have no concept of that in
our day. Thousands. You look at these
megachurches on TV and that doesn't even show how massive they are.
What is that, Trinity? We went over to the graduations
when Luke's boys. You get inside that place, it's
mammoth. But if you see it on TV, it don't
look that big. It looks like there's a little
audience out there and a little bit up here, but you go over
there and you're completely surrounded. They're huge. Can you imagine?
On the day he fed the 5,000, there was 5,000 men plus women and children. So what
do you, look, you're probably looking at 20,000 people. That's
double the population of the city I was raised in. The whole
city. And they followed him. Listen
to this, Matthew four, verse 24. And his fame went throughout
Syria, and they brought unto him all sick people, that were
taken with diverse diseases and torments, and those which were
possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those
that had palsy, and healed them. And there followed him great
multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from
Jerusalem, and from Judea, and even from beyond Jordan. Massive,
massive multitudes of people following them. And most of them
were there to be healed. They were sick folks. Now I don't know why these infants
were brought to Christ, at least from their, if I'm going to project
my mind to why their mothers brought them or their nurses
or whoever was their caretaker, I don't know why these infants
were brought to Christ from their perspective. But from the Lord's
part, they were brought there for the same reason every chosen
sinner is brought there. Why does he bring people to Christ? All that the Father has given
me shall come to me. And they started murmuring. He
said, don't murmur. No man can come to me. You can't
do it. If left to your inability and
sin and ignorance, you can't do it. It's not even in the realm
of possibility. But my father, which sent me,
he'll draw them. That's how he's gonna come. They
were brought there because they needed what Christ could give
them. That's why they brought these
infants. They were brought there because there was no one else
who could give them what they need. They were brought there
because God arranged his providence for him to be there. If he didn't, he wouldn't have
rebuked his disciples. And they were brought there to
teach us about his kingdom and those who shall be a part of
it. Of such, that's how he words it here, of such is the kingdom
of God. And to every mother who's ever
lost an infant in death or suffered a miscarriage or even a young
child to a disease, let me offer you this comfort. That child
is blessed of God. That's one child you'll never
have to worry about. That's one child that you need
not be awake all night, every night, worried about this child
and its future. This child is blessed of God. God opened his arms and took
that child to himself, embraced that child. Why? Because he was
his. He's just ours on loan. We belong
to Him. We're not going to own our children
in heaven as our children. They're His children. Is that
right? There's no marrying or giving
in marriage and glory. If I see my wife or both my wives
in glory, they're not going to be my wives. There's no marrying
or giving in marriage. We're going to see our children.
They're His children. His children, they're blessed. Blessed of God. Loved of God. Embraced by the
Lord of glory. And maturity, I want you to think
about something. Maturity in good health is like
riches. It's not always a sign of blessing. This guy was blessed. It never
had to suffer persecution, temptation, and all the things that God's
children suffer in this life. It didn't have any of that. He
just took it home to glory. God has a people he chose in
Christ, and one of the evidences of that election is infant death. In 2 Samuel 12. You might wanna
read this this afternoon when you go home. It's recorded the
death of David's young son. You remember the story. He killed
Uriah to have his wife. And he got her. And he had a
young son by her. And God killed him. And David
just, when this child got sick, and the prophet told David, why?
why he was gonna take the son. You gave the enemies of Christ
reasons to blaspheme me. And I'm taking that child. You're
not gonna have that child. And David mourned and prayed
and fasted and threw himself on the ground and oh, can you
imagine? Can you imagine the guilt and
the weight that he felt on him as this child was just sick and
suffering and about to die And when the child died, everybody
started acting different. And they're afraid to tell him.
They said, oh, the way he's mourned and fasted and just, if we tell
him that child's dead, he'll kill himself. He'll die. He won't live. And David said,
did the child die? And they said, yes, he's dead. Well, they expected him to be
worse, but he wasn't. David, here's what it says, David
cleaned himself up. He went in, took a shower, you
know, shaved, got himself fixed up. Then he went down to the
house of the Lord and worshiped. Huh? Could you do that when the
Lord takes from you? Some of you have lost some of
you. Did you go into the house of the Lord after that and worship?
David did. He did. And then he came home,
went in the house, and he said, I want something to eat. And
they said, what's going on? What's going on? You've been
mourning for weeks over this baby. And now you're ready to
go and worship? Come in here and eat a big meal. When asked concerning these things,
he said, while the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept. For I said, who can tell whether
God will be gracious to me that that child may live? But now
he's dead. Wherefore should I fast? Can I bring him back again? Now I want you to listen. I want
you to listen. Don't ever let anybody ask you
a question about where small children are. I'm gonna show
you where they are. Listen to this. I shall go to
him. This is a man after God's own
heart. This is a man with Christ in
him, the hope of glory. He knows where he's going. His
heart, he said, my soul panteth after thee. like a deer. My soul thirsteth for thee, O
God. He knew where he was going, and
he knew where this child was. He said, I can go where he is,
but he can't return to me. He shall not return unto me. There was no hesitation in his
voice, no question whatsoever that this baby was with the Lord. Well, let me ask you this, in
whose arms will they be loved the most, yours or his? I love my children, but I tell
you, I don't love them like the Lord loves his children. In whose presence will they be
cared for the most, yours or his? When you pray for your children,
Is that how you pray, Lord take care of my children? Why you
pray that? Because you know he can take
care of them better than you can. In whose house will they
be blessed the most? Yours or his? In whose kingdom shall they be
secured the most? Here or there? Think about it. I tell you that the death of
infants and small children is a blessing if we look at it from
the standpoint of salvation. It's a blessing. I know you hurt
for them, I know you want them back. I know that. But now listen to this, verse
17. I say unto you, whosoever shall
not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no
wise enter therein. You won't have to debate about
it, because you're not going. Isn't that what he said? You see this little infant? You
see this little child? Until you become like him, you're
not going. You're not entering my kingdom.
When you enter my kingdom, you enter like this infant. You enter
like this little tiny child. Whosoever shall not receive the
kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein. And by many, the character of
small children was given as an example of how we're to come
to Christ in modesty, love, sincerity, teachable, forgiving, not envious,
and so on and on and on it go. And while these things are true
enough in some respect, it's not what our Lord's saying in
these verses. Salvation is all of grace and
all according to the purpose and power of God. And children
are examples of how the kingdom is received, not in their qualities,
but in their lack of them. Why did the disciples reject
these children? Why did he rebuke them? Why did
he rebuke their mothers and tell them not to break? Were they
hard-hearted against children? Were they baby haters? No, they
were not. They were disciples of Christ.
They loved one another and they loved these people or they wouldn't
have been there. So why did they rebuke them? Because they're
an annoyance. You've never been annoyed until
you have children. Children will annoy you to death. I look back
on myself as a child, and it's a wonder to me my parents didn't
just boot me out the yard. They're an annoyance. They always
want something. They cry when they don't need
anything. They're an annoyance. And can
you imagine, out in this blazing hot sun in that part of the country,
out in this desert environment, Here's these mothers and small
children. Now everybody out there is sick
and hurting and tormented, he said, and lunatics, and here
they are. You think these babies were all
still and quiet? No, they were screaming at the
top of their lungs, I guarantee it. And they were bringing them
to Christ. These are examples of salvation
in their character as helpless, Hopeless sinners. Is that what
he's saying? That's exactly what he's saying
in this verse. When the Holy Ghost would convince Jerusalem
of her abomination, he paints a picture of their infancy. Read about it in Ezekiel chapter
16. He said, thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan. You're a heathen when you're
born. Isn't that what he said? You born a heathen. Thy father
was an Amorite, thy mother was a Hittite. In the day thou wast
born, we ain't talking about him now when he's 35 years old,
went out into the world and did this and did that and suffered
the influence of, no, we're talking about when he was born, in his
infancy. In the day thou wast born, thy
navel was not cut, you weren't cared for, neither wast thou
washed in water to supple thee, and you wast not salted at all,
nor swaddled at all, you weren't wrapped and held. None I pitied thee to have compassion
on thee. When a child born in a hospital,
grandma comes in, picks that child up, holds it close, There
ain't one grandma in 150. When she picks that child up,
thinks about what this child's gonna have to go through and
what may happen to it if the Lord don't save it. That's what he's talking about
here. None I pitied thee to have compassion on thee. You is cast
out into an open field. What's that? That's the world's
what he said the field was in. Field is the world. You cast
out in an open field to the loathing of thy person in the day thou
was born. And when I passed by thee and
saw thee in all of your good qualities, I ain't what he said. When I passed by thee and saw
thee in thy blood, polluted in thine own blood. I said unto thee, when I was
in thy blood, live. And here's the example our Lord
set forth in these babies, helpless sinners. Helpless sinners. Well, how is this example in
babies? Well, let me give you several
things. First of all, he cannot come to Christ, he must be brought
to him by another. Is that right? Babies ain't gonna
walk the aisle. They ain't gonna get in the car
and drive over here to church. They gotta be brought. They gotta
be brought. He said, no man can come unto
me except the Father which has sent me. Draw him and I'll raise
him up at the last day. You have to be brought. The Holy
Spirit of God has to intervene in your life and bring you. Babies
can't do anything for themselves. They're a living testimony of
man's depravity and hopeless condition before God. Cast out
in an open field, a world without God, a cursed and evil world,
a world ignorant of God and his promises and covenants and redeemers.
He has to be brought to Christ. And then secondly, he examples
the receiving of the kingdom of God as he cannot arrange even
the meeting. A baby didn't sit home and say,
now Dad, I really need to go see Christ. No, he just laying
there whining and crying. Being a baby, that's what he
is. Didn't want to go, probably fought the whole way. Oh my. Every man that receives
the kingdom of God does so by an act of God's sovereign providence. Thousands, thousands have been
left to themselves dancing around a totem pole over in Africa somewhere
or in this country, same thing. But he said, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. And he'll come according to the
means and methods purposed and ordained of God. Isn't that what
Paul told the Thessalonians? God chose you unto salvation
from the beginning through sanctification of spirit and belief of the truth,
whereunto he called you by our gospel. And how come you'd even
be there to hear it? Huh? God's providence. How's
he gonna hear without a preacher? How's he gonna preach if he hasn't
been seen? How you gonna be there if he don't bring it? Babies can't arrange or create
opportunities. These things are arranged for
them. Thirdly, these babies are examples
of how men receive the kingdom of God as they're held out to
the Lord. They couldn't hold themselves
out to the Lord. They were infants. Now he uses
the word small children in Mark and Matthew, but here, Dr. Luke says infants. I think you
knew what he's talking about, don't you? They were infants. Only way they could come to the
Lord is for somebody to bring them and hold them out to the
Lord. Just like that man they brought
and tore a hole in the roof and lowered him down. He couldn't
get there, he couldn't do anything. Babies, infants don't approach
the Lord of themselves, they're held out to him. And we hold
sinners out to the Lord by prayer, don't we? Hold him up before
the Lord, pray for him. Asking for them who cannot and
will not ask for themselves. And we hold men out to the Lord
when we bring them with us. Come and go with us. Come and
go with. Well, I don't want to. And we hold sinners out to the
Lord when we invite them to come to where the Lord's speaking.
I have no power over providence, election, means, or opportunity,
but I can, by the grace of God, recognize these things and take
advantage of them. And then, fourthly, infants and
small children are brought out of need. These infants were sick
and tormented. No caring mother would have exposed
her child to leprosy. Think about what's in this crowd
of people. Every one of them's sick. I just
read it to you in Matthew's account, Matthew 4. They're all sick.
A bunch of them were lunatics. Can you imagine, mad men, crazy
men, men who can't think straight, men who just, their mind has
been destroyed. There was lunatics in this crowd.
Leprosy in this crowd. They were sick and tormented,
and no caring mother would have exposed her child to leprosy,
demon-possessed men, lunatics, and who knows what other dangers
they faced. These children were sick. And if children were innocent,
they wouldn't have been sick. Is that right? They were needy sinners. They
were desperate sinners, and they weren't just extra baggage. They
were there on purpose. They were there on purpose. God
saves men on purpose. These weren't just silly women
who on a whim presented their babies to the Lord. They brought
them there because they were needed. And then fifthly, these
babies exemplified how the kingdom of God is received and their
total dependence upon the mercy of God in Christ. There was no
guarantee. That mother had to fight her
way through that crowd. I can't imagine. I just can't
imagine. It's difficult just to bring
a baby to church, isn't it? It whines and it cries, and you
have to go back to the nursery, and then you hold it back there
and feed it and stuff. Gets home, it's fine. Can you
imagine out in that hot sun in this big crowd trying to fight
your way through that crowd? Everybody had to get to him.
Everybody there was desperate. And these mothers fighting their
way through that crowd. They were desperate. And they were totally dependent.
There was no guarantee when they got there that the Lord was going
to heal them. Just hope. Just hope. But it was a good
hope, wasn't it? He healed others. He healed others. Oh, our Lord said, you go learn
what this means. I'll have mercy, not sacrifice. I'm not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. And babies were not left at home
with a babysitter. Being safe in their innocence,
they were brought in full dependence upon the sovereign mercy of God
in Christ. Ain't that why you bring your
children? Ain't no hope in the world. Don't leave them to the
world. Bring them where they may hear. I'm not gonna guarantee you they
will. But they might. Others have. But I guarantee
you they ain't gonna hear out there. It's not gonna happen. And oh, what a hope he is. See
our Lord in his mercy throwing his arms open to receive these
little ones. I can almost feel the affection
and tenderness with which he held them and touched them and
blessed them and prayed for them. And then, sixthly, they were
brought where they were convinced Christ was in active presence. Active presence. Oh, I've heard
all my life, you know, boy, Christ is in that place. Why ain't you
bringing your children? Why ain't you bringing your neighbors? Because you ain't convinced that's
where he's at. I tell you, these people weren't just convinced
that the Christ was out there. He was actively engaged in saving
sinners. He was an active Christ, one
dispensing mercy and grace to sinners, saving souls, justifying
sinners, reconciling sinners to God, cleansing filthy sinners
in his blood. Oh, Lord, make this place a place
where you're active. Don't you long for his active
presence? When we know where our Lord is
actively engaged, we'll bring our needy children. And we won't
need any laws. We won't need any church regulations
telling us you have to bring your children. You have to do
this. You have to do that. No threatenings of any kind.
Love and necessity will be sufficient. Don't you think? And see here
that they were those who would resist even the Lord's disciples
to get their babies to Christ. These disciples were saying,
no, you can't come. You think that stopped them women?
Uh-uh. No, they were pushing against
those disciples the same as they were pushing against that crowd.
And then lastly, these babies were examples as to how God's
kingdom is to be received as they came without expectation
that they should contribute anything to our Lord's power and work. Being a child is not a help in
the salvation of a sinner. He requires in them the same
blood as the vilest sinner. the same righteousness as the
most wicked sinner, and the same powerful working of the Holy
Ghost in them. Oh, babies came here. You better
read the account of John the Baptist. When Mary gave that salutation
to Elizabeth, she was still carrying John in her womb, the baby leaped
for joy at the news. Indeed, those babies might very
well be the clearest picture of true saving faith I've ever
seen in the scripture. Here they are, totally dependent
on him. Our Lord said a little child
in their midst, Matthew 18, and he said to the multitude,
here he is, he got this little two-year-old, three-year-old
sitting up on his knee. And he said, except you be converted
and become as little children, you shall not enter into the
kingdom of God. Whosoever therefore shall humble
himself as this little child. Take your place as a depraved
sinner, helpless, hopeless before God, fully depending on his mercy
and his grace. Whosoever therefore shall humble
himself as this little child, the same, now listen, is greatest
in the kingdom of heaven. In the kingdom of heaven. Oh,
to walk in full dependence upon the mercy of God in Christ and
to find myself complete in him. To find his touch, the touch
of tenderness and love. and to find open arms for a poor
sick son. Lord, help us to take our place
as these little babies before the Lord. Thank you.