Some of you live upon the brink of hell, flirting with eternal damnation
with every breath. The wrath of God is upon you. Hell shall be your everlasting
portion if God finds you outside his son. And I've been sitting here praying
for you. That this very hour, God, the
Holy Spirit. I grant you. Faith in the Lord
Jesus. Will you listen now? To the word
by which he communicates this blessed gift of life and faith
in Christ Jesus. Open your Bibles to Luke, chapter
18. Luke, the 18th chapter, and I
want to give you a brief summary of this blessed, blessed chapter. In the first eight verses, our
Lord Jesus gives us a parable of an unjust judge, a judge who
had no regard for God or men. But because a poor needy soul
kept badgering him, he heard her complaint and gave what she
wanted. And thereby, he teaches us that
God, the God of all grace, the God of heaven and earth, who
is no respecter of persons, will open the windows of heaven and
pour out the treasuries of his grace upon every needy sinner
who seeks Him by faith in Christ Jesus. In verses 9 through 14,
the Lord moves from this unjust judge to another parable and
tells us about a Pharisee and a publican. Both went up to the
temple to pray. And the Pharisee prayed thus
with himself, God, I thank Thee that I'm not like other men.
And he went on Talking about how good he was. How good he
was. Most people, most of you, most
of you, who do not know our Redeemer, all of you, really think you're
very good. Very good. You might admit to
having done some wrong and having done some things that are wrong,
but you really think you're good. You have reason to. Everybody's
told you you're good all your life. Everybody's bragged on
you all your life. The only place you ever go where
somebody doesn't brag on you is when you come here to hear
me preach. You think you're good and you kind of swell in your
chest when you see folks walk by who aren't as good as you. And you'll go to hell thinking
you're good unless God shows you something of how wicked and
vile you are. And our Lord spoke of Republican
Who would not lift his eyes toward heaven? But being broken before
God with a sense of his sin He beat upon his heart the source
of all evil and said God be merciful to me the sinner That is God
Look on Christ and pardon me the word merciful refers to the
mercy seat God be propitious God, look on the sacrifice of
your son and pardon me. And so our Lord, by this Pharisee
and this publican, tells us of the swift and sure judgment of
God against all self-righteousness and assures us that none are
beyond the reach of God's saving mercy. There's no such thing as a sinner
too sinful for God to save. No such thing as a wretch, too
wretched for God to call. No such thing as one so undone
that it can't be saved by God. God saves poor sinners like you
and me. Desperately needy, wicked sinners. All of them who look to his son
in faith. Then in verses 15, 16, and 17,
people were bringing little children to the Lord Jesus to be healed
of him. And the Lord Jesus' disciples,
they rebuked these folks. Why they rebuked them, we don't
know, but the master saw what was going on, he said, oh, no,
no, no, no. Suffer the little children to come to me and forbid
them not. And teaches us that all who come
to him must come to him in simple, unquestioning, childlike faith. I'm going to tell you something
that will surprise some. God Almighty will never answer
your questions. God Almighty will never answer
your questions. He won't do it. Preachers will
bow and scrape, they'll do it. Preachers who think they're smart,
they'll try to do it. God Almighty will never answer your questions.
You'll come to him in simple childlike faith trusting his
son or you'll go to hell and faith in Christ Answers the questions,
but God won't answer them then in verses 20 18 through 27 We
see a rich young ruler who comes to the Savior and he says good
master What good things shall I do that I may inherit eternal
life? presuming as all being due by
nature that If I'll just do something, God will save me. There's something
I've got to do. Doing is a deadly thing. Will you hear me? Will you hear
me? All false religion says, do something. The gospel of God says, done. And when this rich young ruler
saw that God requires perfect obedience, Perfect obedience
that only God himself can perform and God himself can give that
rich young ruler went away sorrowful clinging to his riches and the
disciples said If this man this man Man, I've I've known him
all his life. I remember the day he was born.
I remember the day he was born Okay, so I remember the day you
were born. I remember it well known him all his life. And you
know what? I've never known that young man
do anything reprehensible. Now, I'm not talking, asking
Mark about it. I'm just, I tell you, I've never known anything.
I've never known anything. I've never known any deceit come out
of his mouth. I've never known him to speak an evil word. I did get a little upset because
he used to wear his hair real long until I found out he was
giving away folks make wigs out of. But I've never known him to do
anything, anything wrong. Shelby brags on what a sweet
fellow he is. Well, man, if he's going to hell, who can be saved? That's exactly what the disciples
said. If this man, if this man's lost, who then can be saved? And our master answers, with
me and it's impossible. With God, all things are possible.
Salvation is God's work. Salvation is God's work. Salvation
is God's work. And then in verses 18 or 28 through
30. Peter saw this rich young ruler
going away, he asked who then can be saved. Master said with
men it's impossible, with God all things are possible. And
Peter said, well, come to think of it, Lord, we've left all and
followed you. Come to think of it, we did what
this fellow wouldn't do. We've given up everything. What
shall we have therefore? And the Lord Jesus looked at
him with the tender eyes that only he can and said, Simon, you leave all and follow me and
you will have a hundredfold in this world and in the world to
come. You will suffer no loss. by following
me. You will suffer no loss by following
me. And then our Savior told his
disciples again in verses 31 to 34 that he must go to Jerusalem
and there he must suffer and die being put to death by the
hands of wicked men upon the curse tree and rise again the
third day. thereby declaring to them how
that he would accomplish redemption as our substitute by the sacrifice
of himself. And they did not understand what
he said. They didn't understand. They didn't understand. Now, if I were to say to you,
if I were to say to you, In order to get out of this building,
I must go out that door, and I'm on my way out the door. You'd
have no difficulty understanding that, would you? Preachers used
to walk out the door. That's the only way out the building.
He's going out the door, that way. Everybody here understand
that? Because all men have the ability
to understand natural, carnal things, but spiritual things
no one can understand. The reason they didn't understand
his words, Merle, is because God blinded their minds for the
time. Now, the words just went, psst,
just passed right through their ears and never took lodging anywhere
because God didn't cause them to understand. All spiritual
understanding is the gift of God. All light and all knowledge
is the gift of God, the work of His Spirit. When you read
this book, read it carefully, study it diligently, seek to
understand it, but understand that you cannot know what's written
here unless God, the Holy Spirit, teach you. You will not understand
anything I'm preaching to you unless God the Holy Spirit takes
his word and makes it effectual to you. And then our Lord Jesus
is going to he's going to Jerusalem. And he's he's on his way now.
He's on his way to offer sacrifice to God for his people. Most important
thing that's ever transpired in the history of the universe.
He's on his way to redeem us. And as he goes into Jericho,
on his way to Jerusalem, he hears the cry of a poor blind man,
Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And the son of God
was stopped dead in his tracks by the cry of a needy sinner
seeking mercy. And he teaches us that nothing
on this earth is so important to the Lord Jesus Christ, God's
darling son, as the salvation of poor, needy sinners. I'm come to seek and save that
which is lost, he said. He came down here to save sinners.
The reason he's going to Jerusalem to die is to save sinners. The
reason he assumed our flesh is to save sinners. The reason God
became a man is to save sinners. The reason he sits on his throne
unfolding the wonders of providence day by day is to save sinners. That's the purpose of the Son
of God. He's come to seek and save that
which is lost. Now, back up to verses 15, 16,
and 17. My subject today is babies in
the church. or infants in the kingdom of
God. Oh, wait a minute, preacher.
We don't have babies join the church. We don't have infants
in the kingdom of God. Let's see. Let's see. Infants
in the kingdom of God. Look at verses 15, 16, and 17. And they 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. In this short passage of scripture,
our Lord Jesus teaches us some of the most important lessons
you'll ever learn. He teaches us that all who enter
the kingdom of God, all who are saved by the grace of God, must
come to Christ in simple, childlike faith. Turn back to the book
of Isaiah again, Isaiah 65. I'll tell you what the Lord used
spurred me in this direction toward this message. Isaiah 65. Shelby and I were having our
coffee the other morning. She had gotten up earlier than me and
came back to the bedroom, brought coffee, and we were sitting there
drinking coffee and she called my attention to this text. Isaiah
65 verse 20. There shall be no more thance
an infant of days nor an old man that hath not filled his
days. For the child, the infant, shall
die an hundred years old. Now that's an old baby. The child shall die an hundred
years old. The child shall die an hundred
years old. But the sinner But the sinner,
being a hundred years old, shall be accursed. The sinner, being
a hundred years old, shall be accursed. The child, the child,
if that child dies as a child, as a baby, or that child lives
to be a hundred years old, or a thousand years old, he's as
full of grace the day he's born into God's kingdom as is the
day he leaves this world. right for glory on the day he's
born again as he is on the day he's taken to glory as an old
man and the sinner the sinner is just a sinner a cursed from
his birth and a cursed forever all right back in Luke chapter
18 Blessed as this portion of Scripture
is and good as the instruction is there a There's probably very
few portions of scripture that have been more twisted by men
to make it teach what it does not teach and to miss that which
it does teach than these three verses. Papists, papists, that's
what our forefathers used to always speak of, speak, say when
they speak of Roman Catholics. They say the word Catholic simply
means universal. Papists, folks who follow the
Pope, that old man dressed up in drag in Rome. Papists, those
folks who bow down and do this nonsense. Papists, folks who
worship idols. Papists, folks who follow such. They teach that children are
brought into the kingdom of God when a godfather stands before
some priest and he sloshes a little water on his head or pours a
little water on his head makes a little sign of a cross on him
and goes through some mumbo jumbo and thereby the child is saved,
baptized and saved. Well, you know better than that.
You know better than that. But many Protestants following
the papist, many Protestants following the papist, and I mean
following the papist, continue with the papal ritual. And they
bring children, little babies, before a preacher who acts like
a priest and sloshes a little water on the baby's face. And
by that, they presume that the child is put in a covenant relationship
with God, made to be a child of the covenant. Now, I know
a very few, there are a few, but I know a very few who would
say the child is regenerated. Would you please tell me the
difference? between saying a child is an heir of the covenant and
regenerated. Please tell me the difference
between saying a man is saved by baptism and a man or a baby
is saved by baptism and a baby is brought into God's family
by baptism. That's nonsense. That's nothing
on this earth, but papal doctrine passed on and clung to by many
Protestants because they think that by putting a little water
in a religious ceremony on a baby's head, it puts him nearer to God
and does something spiritual for him. And by that, they teach
their children. By that, they teach their children
that they are saved until they go to hell. They teach the children to practice
religion and to act religious and to presume that they're gods. What a horrid, horrid thing.
I can think of nothing amongst all Protestant deviations from
the gospel more damning to the souls of men than the practice
of infant baptism. Besides that, there's no such
thing as infant baptism. Baptism is not done by sprinkling
water on your face. Baptism is the immersion of God's
people upon their faith in Christ Jesus, following the Lord in
believers baptism, by which we symbolically confess to men our
faith in Him who lived and died and rose again for us, in whom
and by whom we lived and died and rose again. Now, if God's
given you faith in Christ, If God has saved you by his grace,
you ought to confess Christ in believers' baptism. Identify
yourself with this God, this Savior, this gospel, and his
people. But this blessed ordinance of
baptism is for believers only. Only for believers. Now, we know
that these disciples did not bring, or these people did not
bring their children here to the Lord Jesus to be baptized.
Had that been the custom, Had that been something that he had
normally done, the disciples would not have forbidden folks
to bring their children. But the disciples, for whatever
reason, said to these folks who were bringing their children,
no, no, don't do that right now. They were simply bringing their
children, just like others brought the sick to the Savior. They
brought their sick children to Him that He might touch them
and heal them. That's all. That's why you and I as believers
bring our children to the house of God. That's why we bring them
to our Savior in prayer. That's why we call their names
before the throne of grace. That's why we endeavor by instructing
them to bring them to the Savior that he might touch them with
the hand of his mercy. and save them by his grace. Another
perversion that is commonly practiced, and this is sometimes commonly
used as passage of scripture to support it, is this insane,
barbaric, spiritually barbaric, spiritually cruel thing that
churches do, trying to get little children to make a decision for
Jesus. We want to get them when they're young. And so churches
and preachers and Sunday school teachers con little babies, little
children, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 year old children into making a profession
of faith. Scare them into making a profession
of faith. Scare them into getting saved. Don't do that with your sons
and daughters. And don't expect me to. Not going
to happen. Not gonna happen. We preach the
gospel to folks and God the Holy Spirit gives faith to whom he
will. He saves his elect at the appointed
time of love each of them by the power of his grace through
the gospel. But we don't try to con people
adults or children into making a profession of faith. Salvation
doesn't come by your decision. Remember when I decided for Jesus
He remember when you went through a little religious doodad. That's
all I Remember when I let the Lord save me You you what I I went down to
the church house and got saved Ron that stuff is just as horrid
as the practice of infant baptism whether by papist or by Protestants
We don't give altar calls. We don't try to get folks to
come to the front. We don't try to get you to do
something. We preach the gospel, ask God to save you and send
you home. Well, don't you care? Alan, that's the reason we do
so. That's the reason. Salvation is God's work and God's
work alone. All right. Now, let's look at
these three verses for just a few minutes. And they brought unto
him also Infants. Infants. That word infants, the
word that's translated infants is translated in the scriptures
to refer to unborn children. Children still in the womb. It's
used in the scriptures to refer to newborn children and little
children. And it's used in the scriptures
to refer to young children. That is, I presume, preteens
anyway. It's used in scriptures to refer
to children from the womb right up to young adulthood. So the
word does not necessarily mean infants as we commonly think
of the word infants. They brought unto him also infants. Brought these sick children that
he would touch them. They brought these children to
the master. that as His custom was, He might be gracious to
them. We bring our children to the
Savior for many things. We bring our children to the
Savior for many things. Call on Him when various things
happen with them. God give us grace and teach us.
God give us grace and compel us to bring our sons and daughters
to the Lord Jesus upon His throne of grace that He might touch
them. That He might save them by His
grace. commit them to him and wait.
But when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. They rebuked
these people for bringing their young children who were sick
to the Lord Jesus. I don't really know why they
rebuked them. They apparently had some fairly
reasonable reason for doing so because the Lord Jesus does not
in any way scold them or reprimand them for the deed. He simply
says, oh no, don't do that. Allow the children to come to
me. Allow them to come to me. And so the Lord brings these
children and sets them on his lap. But Jesus called them unto
him. He called for the children who
were brought to come to him. That fact tells us they weren't
infants. He calls them to come to Him. Each one to come to Him.
They were not infants as we commonly think of infants. They were obviously
young children. When the Lord called these children,
He stretches out His arms to them. I can just picture it.
It says, Suffer the children to come to Me. Now, He calls
them to come to Him. He says, Little children, you
come to Me. Our Savior was such a gracious, humble, accommodating
man. that he readily seized the opportunity
to tenderly embrace young children, to take them up on his lap, to
minister to their needs. And he was so gracious, so gentle,
so kind that young children were perfectly comfortable in his
company. They weren't afraid of it, they
were perfectly comfortable in his presence. Now watch this. is the kingdom of God. It is
as though our Lord Jesus said, don't drive these children away
from me. Let them come and I'll teach
you something. These children are a good picture
of what I require of all my children. I require that you come trusting,
dependent, harmless, inoffensive. Come to me free from bitterness
and malice. meek, modest and humble, without
pride and arrogance and ambition, having no desire for greatness. Just children. Just children. Come to the Savior. Oh, God,
give you grace to come to him as a child. He says, Verily I
say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God,
Whosoever shall not receive Christ the King, believing his doctrine,
bind his authority, obeying his will as a little child in simple
faith, be clear, humbly trusting him as Lord and Savior, shall
in no wise enter therein. In a word, this is our Savior's
doctrine. There is no true faith except that which is exemplified
in childlike qualities. There is no true faith except
that which is exemplified in childlike qualities. What a profound,
needful, vital message this is. May God give us grace to receive
it. Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom
of God as a little child, shall in no case, no wise, enter therein. Let me show you four things in
this. First, understand that when the
Lord Jesus comes in saving power and grace into the lives of chosen
sinners, he comes as a king into his kingdom. When the Savior comes in saving
power, He comes as a king into his kingdom. He enters into the
strong man's house. He doesn't ask permission, he
enters in. And he binds the strong man,
and he casts him out, and he sets up his throne in the heart
of the chosen sinner, so that the first time you know anything
about him, he's already on the throne, ruling. Ruling. The Lord Jesus doesn't beg your
permission to do anything. He doesn't stand at your heart's
door and knock and ask you to let him do anything He comes
as the king and when he comes you gladly bow to him Thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power second If we're to
come into the kingdom of God we must be brought to Christ
the king and Brought into the kingdom as little children Of
such is the kingdom of heaven. John Newton once said, the majority,
the majority of persons who are now in the kingdom of God are
children. I wouldn't argue that. When I think of all the multitudes
of babies who have died in infancy throughout the centuries, of
all the innocents slaughtered from the womb, and in the womb,
who are now swarming the streets of glory, I rejoice in God's
great wisdom and goodness. Though adults generation after
generation die in rebellion and unbelief, countless multitudes
of infant children have entered into the kingdom of heaven. Saved
by God's free grace, through the death of God's dear son and
forever seeing the praises of our Redeemer. Now, I know some folks have a
problem with this. I have no hesitancy, no hesitancy
whatsoever in asserting to you and asserting to you as forcefully
as I know how, that all infants dying and infants sick all dying
as infants are saved by God's free grace they're chosen of
God redeemed by Christ and regenerated by God the Holy Spirit and if
you ask that fella right across the street about Don Fortner
and Grace Baptist Church they say well those fellas are high
for Calvinists they believe babies go to hell not this fella Not
this fella. And the fact is, will-worshipping
Armenians must, of necessity, believe that babies go to hell.
Because they believe babies must exercise their free will in order
to be saved. Oh, no such thing taught here.
No such thing taught in the Word of God. Oh, no, no, no, no. Sinners
believe because they're born again, not in order to be born
again. Infants are saved exactly the
same way as you're saved by the blood of Christ being chosen
of God Regenerated by God the Holy Spirit given you life by
God's free sovereign grace in Christ. How can you say that?
When David spoke of his son, you remember when David's son
was dying that son that was born from his adulterous relationship
with Bathsheba a son that was a I don't reckon you could call
him a covenant child, could you? I don't reckon you could call
him a specimen of a sure thing to be fitted for Sprinklin to
join the church and all that stuff. This son is born from
Bathsheba's womb, the womb that David defiled in his adultery,
but David Worships God while that boy is sick. He paces the
floor and he prays and he paces the floor and he prays He knows
God has said the child shall die but he cries to God for he
doesn't know maybe God will yet spare the child And when he found
out the boy was dead, he washed his face sat down to dinner and
went to the house of God and worshiped and Everybody in this
house of what we don't understand this while the child was alive
You were distraught Now that the child is dead, you're worshiping
God and acting like everything's all right. David said, everything
is all right. Everything is all right. He shall
not come to me, but I shall go to him. That sounds to me like
he was confident of God's mercy on his son. Confident. I'm going
to him. And he sure wasn't talking about
going to the grave. He's talking about going to glory with his
son. God saves sinners, and God saves sinners by His grace, only
by His grace. But aren't those children born
depraved? Yes, just like you are. They come forth from the
womb speaking lies. Well, don't they have to be redeemed?
Of course they do. Their sins must be paid for, just like yours.
But don't they have to be born again? Yes, they must have a
new nature. But that's God's work, not theirs. That's God's
gift, not theirs. Saved by God's grace. Besides
that, the testimony of David, I have this assurance from God.
Nobody is going to hell because of Adam's transgression. Now you can write that down and
you put Don Fortner down as being the one from whom you quote it.
Nobody is going to hell because of Adam's transgression. It is
not going to happen. God says the father shall not
bear the sin of the son and the son shall not bear the sin of
his father. That's God's Word. That's God's
Word. But if we're born depraved, born
with a corrupt heart, born in need of redemption and grace,
how can you say that nobody's going to hell because of Adam's
sin? You'll go to hell because of your own transgressions. Every
man shall be judged for his own sins and his own transgressions.
When you meet God in judgment, Adam's fall won't be the problem. It'll be your transgressions,
your iniquities, your rebellion. This child then, this child called
by God's free grace, brought into the kingdom of God. And
that's how everybody who's born of God must be brought into the
kingdom of God. Some years ago, I had a friend
who wrote to me. She and her husband got married
later in life. And you can imagine their ecstasy
when they found out she was pregnant. And she did fine for a few months.
And then the baby died in her womb. And you can imagine how distraught
they were. And she wrote to me, she said, Brother Don, I've just
got to ask, when did my baby, or when does a baby become a
person? When it's born, in the womb,
when it gets to be a certain age? And the reason I'm asking,
I want to know, is my baby in heaven? And I wrote her back. One of the things I didn't have
to stop and think about, Rex, I wrote her back immediately with great delight. informed her clearly the scriptures
teach. The scriptures teach. And if
the scriptures teach it, I don't care what scientist denies it.
The scriptures teach that that child in the womb is a child. Now for all of these folks who
want to talk about a woman's right to choose and do with her
own body what she wants to, you murder that baby in your womb.
You're not doing it to your body, you're doing it to the baby.
Did you hear that? You murder that baby in your
womb. You're not doing it to your body. That's not a piece
of muscle tissue. That's a baby. It's a baby. And I proceeded
to explain to her how it is that God saves sinners. This is not
a matter of speculation and theory. This is a matter of great comfort
and delight and joy. God's people are saved by his
free grace, just as these infants were saved. If you would come
to Christ, the Lord Jesus says these infants were brought to
him. You got to be brought by his spirit. And then the Lord
Jesus called them to come to him, and they came to him. God brings sinners to the Savior,
and when he brings them, they gladly come. They gladly come. They come to the Savior in utter
dependence on him. What does a child bring to God? What does a child bring to God?
What's he got? What's he got? Brother Don, don't
you understand that infants, little children depend on their
parents for everything? Isn't that remarkable? That's
just how you come to the Savior. Or you won't come. Children are
humble modest unassuming the child knows That he's just a
child and being a child he owns nothing faith comes to Christ
as the absolute Lord and King Giving up all things to him willingly
acknowledging that all things are his Possessing nothing faith
looks to Christ as for everything. His blood is our only atonement.
His righteousness is our only righteousness. His provision
is our only provision. His protection is our only security.
A little child is tender and loving. The younger the child,
the more this is true. You who are grandparents experience
this with your grandchildren. I suppose we experienced it with
our children, but I... No, I didn't with faith. You might otherwise.
But grandchildren soon get to the place where they're embarrassed
for you to hug them in public. They're embarrassed for grandma
to kiss them on the cheek. Get too big for that. Get too
big. Not when they're little. Not when they're little. Oh,
no. Little child is tender and loving, and he can't get enough
affection. This can't get enough. So it
is with those who come to the Savior, craving Him, craving
His approval, craving His smile, desiring nothing like the desire
acceptance with Him. Desiring nothing like the desire
to please Him. Can you bear me to tell it one
more time? Long time ago, Faith was four or five years old. I'd
been away in meetings for a while. I came home on the way home,
stopped and called Shelby and told her about when I'd be there.
And when I got home, pulled up in the driveway, and there sat
that beautiful little blonde-headed girl on the front step right
in front of my office. And before I could get the truck door open
and get out, she came running. She came running. And when she
got close to me, I reached out my arm to pick her up. She pulled
out her package from behind her back and stuck out a beautiful
bouquet of flowers she'd picked for me. They were just dandelions. And by the time she got to me
and handed them out, all the fuzz was gone. And she started
to cry because they lost all that gave them appeal to her.
And I started to cry. Cause there's the prettiest flowers
I've ever seen in my life. I'd give a thousand dollars for
them right there. Wish I'd have kept them. How come? She did it just cause she wanted
to. Just for me. Just cause she loves
her daddy. And she wanted to see her daddy
smile when she handed them to him. That's the way God's people serve
Christ. Not because they have to. Not
because they gain back. Just because they know the love
of God shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost. Come to Christ as a little child. A little child is teachable,
anxious to be taught. Teachable. You just absorb stuff. Just just absorb it. You know
why they learn so much so quick They don't ask any questions
When they when they get me four five six years old start to ask
some questions and learning process starts slowing down But those
first couple of years they just just take it in. Let's take it
in Because they trust daddy and they trust mama who's doing the
teaching when we'll was This boy, Doug had been telling him
about God creates everything. God made everything. God made
everything. So they're out at Lowe's one
day shopping for doors. And Doug was looking through
various things, and Will said to his dad, he said, God made
the door, didn't he, Dad? And Doug started to explain,
well, God made the trees, which men cut down and started talking
about the process, about how they took the lumber and fixed
it, and other men had some skills God gave them to make the door
and this is what came out. Because God taught me in these
things, gave me these skills. And Will says, what I said, isn't
it? God made the door. What had been taught with utter
simplicity, believing. And so it is with God's children.
Read the book, what God says we believe. We bow to him, seek his will,
seek to follow him, seek to trust him, and walk before him with
sincerity. Sincerity. A little child seems to be so unaware of dishonesty,
so unaware of pretense, that the little child just, you're
not allowed to hear him say anything. You're not allowed to hear him
say anything because he hasn't learned yet that he's supposed
to be a hypocrite. He hasn't learned yet that he's
supposed to put on a show. He just speaks to God in prayer
and he doesn't try to tell God what all he knows and all the
theological stuff he's learned and how profound his thinking
is. He just speaks his mind. Tells God what's on his heart.
Speaks with sincerity. And the little child, little
child's full of forgiveness. Did you ever notice two children
playing? Two little boys in the neighborhood, they'll be playing
and they'll have a little spat. I mean just Come to blows. Just come to blows. And if mama
and daddy will stay out of it, if mama and daddy just keep their
mouth shut and stay out of it, give them 30 minutes. They'll
be back playing again. How come? Because they forgive readily. Be ye kind one to another, forgiving
one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven
you. Come to Christ. as a little child. Come to Christ as a little child
and as soon as that little child comes, he's as ripe for heaven as he
will be if he lives to be a hundred years old. As ripe for heaven as he will
be if he lives to be a hundred years old. And that child, as long as he
lives with Christ, lives in this world as a little child. God, don't let me grow beyond
trusting my Redeemer as a little child. Amen. Then let's sing
Jesus I Come. I think it's 242.