If you turn again in your Bibles
please to the passage we read, to Matthew's Gospel chapter 18. I'd like to draw your attention
to the first few verses in this chapter, Matthew chapter 18 reading
from verse 1. At the same time came the disciples
unto Jesus saying, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the
midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, except ye be
converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter
into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble
himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom
of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such
little child in my name, receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one
of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him
that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were
drowned in the depth of the sea. Particular, point you to verse
three where Christ says, Verily I say unto you, except you be
converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter. into the kingdom of heaven. As little children. Several times
throughout the New Testament scriptures we read the phrase
little children. John obviously speaks of little
children in his first epistle. He writes to fathers, he writes
to young men, and he writes to little children. Paul in Galatians
in chapter four speaks of my little children, of whom is travailed in birth.
God's people are often referred to, of course, as the children
of God. And here in chapter 18 of Matthew,
Christ tells us that except ye be converted and become as little
children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Little
children. What does this mean that we should
be as little children? How can we be as little children?
What is it about little children which is so important that Christ
should say that we must become as little children in order to
enter his kingdom? Well, little children are not
great. They're not mighty, they're not independent. They're not
strong. They need the care of their father
and their mother. They're weak by themselves. Left alone, they would perish.
They are dependent. They are not full of knowledge.
They are not full of wisdom. But they are young and they are
growing. They are teachable. They are corrected. They are
led and they are cared for. They are not the mighty. But they are small. And they
are in the care of their parents. And this is how Christ says we
should be. if we're to enter into the kingdom
of heaven. Humble yourself as a little child. It is a humbling matter. Man
by nature is proud. A man would seek to attain unto
things in his own strength. That's what we are by nature.
We're proud and we're strong. We will We will decide. We will do. We will go. We will worship as we choose. We will seek the God that we
want to worship. We will be saved according to
our terms. We will. But Christ says unto such a say,
we will. I will not. You will come my way and you
will not come at all. You will become as little children
if you shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. He did not come to
save the rich. He did not come to save the mighty.
He did not come to seek the righteous. But he came to seek and to save
sinners. He came to find the poor and
the weak and the lowly, the helpless, the hopeless, those who've come
to see that they've got no strength, that they've got no ability,
and that nothing they can do is going to get them into glory, the lost. Christ in the same
chapter illustrates this in various ways. He speaks about the lost
sheep. And the shepherd leaving the
ninety and nine to go and seek this lost sheep. Of such is the
kingdom of heaven. Christ came for the weak and
the poor. He came to save sinners. Man by nature does not think
of himself as a sinner. You by nature do not think of
yourself as a sinner. We're proud. If confronted, we
will say, well, no, I'm not perfect. Who is? But we think ourselves
no worse than any other. Pretty good really. Fairly moral. Not a criminal. Fairly upright. Surely if there's a God, he will
favor me. The kingdom of heaven is not
of such. No one in such a state will enter
this kingdom. Humble yourself as this little
child. We must be converted and become
as little children. This is cut into us by nature. For this truth and the truth
of the gospel will cut us down to nothing. It strips away all that we are. all that we have grown up to
be, all that we have our confidence in, our self esteem in. We know
much, we've learnt much, we've done much, we take pride and
confidence in this. But before God it's all worthless. We may think of ourselves as
fairly moral and upright, We may look at our good deeds and
think they count for something. But God says of these deeds that
your righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Not your unrighteousnesses. But that which you think is good
before me is as a filthy rag. It's not just your sins that
will keep you out of my kingdom. but it's that which you think
is good, that which you think is deserving. Your prayers, your
church attendance, your reading of the scriptures, your baptism
perhaps, all those things you've done in religion, all those things
you've done in the community, all that which you look at and
think that you have something good in. That it's to your credit
in God's eyes. That is filthy rags. We must be as little children. All this might, all this pride,
all this in which we trust must be set aside. And the spirits work. spirit
of God's work when the gospel comes and when God begins to
speak to us in our condition, when he comes and finds us wherever
we may be and instead of just speaking to us through the letters
of words on a page, or through mere outward words of men that
go in our intellect and go no further when the Spirit of God
begins to speak and begins to take of his gospel and to take
of his truth and begins to teach us what we are. He begins to
show us that all that we were, all that we are is nothing. And
he begins to teach us that we need to be as little children.
We need to go back to our beginnings. All that we are in the flesh,
all that we have grown up to be from the day we were born,
all that we trust in needs to be ripped aside. Well, this is humbling, isn't
it? This is humbling. But it tells us that we're nothing. Tells us that we're nothing.
Not the great, not the mighty, not the powerful are those who
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but those who are
as little children. The dependent, not the independent. The needy, not the self-sufficient. Sinners who need cleansing, not
the self-righteous. Those who know they're blind
by nature. Not those who think they see,
like the Pharisees of old. But those who've been brought
low. Those who've been taught that they have a need. They need
salvation. They need salvation. For they are nothing. And their
sins are multiplied. And all they can see, having
been taught by the Spirit, is not their righteousnesses, not
their good deeds, but all they can see is the filthy stain of
sin upon their hands. And they look upon that which
they once thought was good and they recognize that it's no good.
And even that will damn them. These are those who are brought
to Christ humbled as little children. How small are you? How helpless
are you? How needy are you? Do you know
your need? Do you know your need of God?
Do you know your need of his salvation? Has God taught you? Children are teachable and correctable. Most adults increasingly are
not teachable and are not correctable. So Christ would take away the
proud man. He'd cut away at our pride. He'd chip us down. In answer
to this impertinent question the disciples had, who is the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven? It shows them that they should
not be seeking great things, but they should be happy to enter
the kingdom of heaven as a child. And indeed it's not the great
in men's eyes who will be great in the kingdom of heaven, but
it's the least in men's eyes who Christ favors. whom he wraps the arms of grace
around and picks up and puts upon his knee. We must be as
little children. But how can we be as little children? How can men and women, grown
men and women be as little children? How can we undo all that we have
done? How can we unlearn all that we
have learnt? How can we truly be childlike
before God? How can we be shown our dependence
and our need? How can we cry out to him as
a babe cries to her mother? There's only one way. Christ
says, accept ye be converted and become as little children.
Ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. There must be a change,
a radical change. Something which takes us as we
are by nature and transforms us, converts us, makes us into
little children. Something which takes the proud
rebel and shakes him up and puts him to naught. and transforms
him. Something that takes the black
and the hardened heart and puts in its place a new heart. Something
that takes a sinner and washes him from his sin. Something that
takes a proud man and makes him humble. Something that takes
our knowledge and our wisdom and sets it aside and puts in
its place the wisdom of God that comes from above. We must be
converted. And how will this conversion
come? How can we be made into children? Well, we must be born again. We must be born again. We can't
just be corrected. We can't just be altered. We
can't do it to ourselves. We can't transform ourselves
into something. There's no pretense here. This
is not about adults pretending to be childlike. This is not
about men transforming themselves and walking a different way.
This is a total change. This is a change that comes from
above. This is what must be done unto
us. Except ye be converted and become
as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of
heaven. Something must happen to us. We must be born again. We're not born again in our decision. We're not born again when we
decide no more than we were born when we first were born. We didn't
choose the date of our first birth. It wasn't in our hands,
it was in the hands of our mother and father. And if we're born again, it will
be in the hands of the heavenly father. It must come from above. Ye must be born again, Christ
says in John 3. Ye must. And you can't bring
it to pass. There must be a change. And what brings about this change? God brings about this change.
And God alone brings about this change. For salvation. is not of man, is not of man
in the slightest. Salvation is not of man in any
part. Salvation comes from above. It is God that saves, it is God
that purposes to save, it is God that chose to save. The kingdom
of heaven comes from above and its citizens are born from above. In all eternity the Father gave
to His Son, the Lord Jesus, a people, a people chosen, a people named,
a people elected unto salvation. He gave Him those names. Those names were written upon
the Son's heart. And the Son of God in the fullness
of time, when time was ready, came into this world. He took
upon Himself human flesh. He was made of the seed of David,
made a man, made a little lower than the angels. He was born,
He took upon Himself humanity, that He might come into this
world to suffer as a man in the place of those names, that people
whom the Father gave Him. To suffer that he might save. To suffer what they deserved
to suffer. Because they, by nature, were
proud. Because they, by nature, were
rebels. Because they, by nature, had
turned their back upon their God and their Creator. He came to save that people.
and he could only save that people by dying for that people. He suffered that they might live. He suffered that they might be
saved. He suffered that he might take
those who were sinners and wash them clean in his blood. He suffered
that He might take the unrighteous and make them righteous. He suffered
that He might take the black and the guilty and make them
perfect. He suffered that He might take
those who hated Him and set His love upon them and bring them
unto His Father, that they might love Him who first loved them. he suffered that he might save
their souls. And he suffered that he might
take those who were born of their father Adam, born by nature,
sinners, offspring of the first man who turned and rebelled against
God. Born in sin, he suffered that
he might take those who were born of Adam and cause them to
be born again. by his spirit from above. He suffered that he might take
the proud and the arrogant and make them into little children.
He suffered that he might bring a company of children, of babes,
of the children of his father, under his father, the children
of God. He must be born again. You must
have this birth, this birth that comes from this cause and this
cause alone. This birth that has its origins
in Christ from all eternity and in his death upon the cross to
take away our sins. This birth. Only this way will
we be as little children. if God causes us to be born again. All that is of man by nature,
all that we inherited from Adam in the flesh, All our natural
learning, our intellect and our pride must be done away with. It must be set aside, it must
perish. All that is of the flesh is fleshly. It's earthly and it's riddled
with sin. It cannot be improved, it cannot
be patched up. And it cannot enter into the
kingdom of heaven. So we must have a new birth.
We must be new man. with new hearts, new life, everlasting
life. We must be the sons of God if
we're to enter heaven. And it's through Christ and his
death that we can be born again. For he took all that his people
were in Adam, all that they were by nature, and he took it to
the cross. all that they are their sin he
nailed it to the cross he nailed them to the cross and in him
they were crucified they were slain they were done away with
and having been crucified on the third day they rose again
in him as new creatures born again new in christ As Paul says in Galatians 2 of
himself, he says, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. Paul was nailed to the tree with
Christ. All that he was before, all he
was in Adam, all his old man, all the old soul was nailed to
the tree. Mysteriously he and Christ became
as one. Christ became him that he might
be nailed to the tree, that he might be judged in Christ, that
God might judge Paul and his sins and take him out of the
way. All that was Saul was crucified
and slain and all that rose in Christ on the third day was Paul,
a new man. He who was in Christ, in the
loins of Christ from all eternity. He whose name was on Christ's
heart from that time that Father gave him to him. He was in Christ. And at the
cross, having had the old man taken away, Paul rose again,
and in time, the appointed time, when God was pleased to come
unto Paul, that rebel, that religious rebel, that proud man, not a
wayward wicked sinner in the world, not a crook or a criminal
but a religious and upright man according to the law of God and
yet far off from God. At the appointed time that man
who went about thinking he did God's service when he had Christians
followers of Christ put to death when he thought he was doing
God's service God came unto him as he traveled to Damascus and
appeared unto him in the way and spake unto him from heaven
so so why persecutest thou me? And he saw a shining light and he
heard the voice and he was transformed he was born again He became as
a child. And for the next few years he
learnt on his father's knee. He learnt the gospel, he learnt
of Christ, he learnt who his saviour was. All that he knew
in religion before was done aside. It was worthless. Paul counted
it as worthless. He says in Philippians that he
counted it as dung. It was no good to him. It didn't help him. You might
think it was an aid to him to know the scriptures as he did. Yet he says, but what things
were gained to me, those I counted to be loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless,
and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things, and do count them but done that I may win Christ,
and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness which
is of the law. but that which is through the
faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. That
I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the
fellowship of his sufferings be made conformable unto his
death. That I may know him. All was
set aside. Paul was born again, he became
as a little child. as a child, and we must be born
again as Paul was, as a child, born again from heaven, we must
hear the same voice that he did, the Lord Jesus' voice crying
out to us, by name, why persecutest thou me? We must hear that voice. And if we hear that voice, and
that voice comes to us in the Spirit, We too will be born,
born again, transformed, renewed, our old man done away and crucified,
our sins blotted out, never to be remembered again, never to
be remembered again. because Christ died in our place. Should we hear that voice, we
will hear it because Christ died in our place and he blotted out
all of our sins and is not one of those sins that will ever
come unto his father in remembrance again. There will not be one
who can come and say unto his father, but don't you know what
they did? He will turn to them and say,
it says he are not guilty. They have been washed, the price
has already been paid. My son has paid it. My son has washed them clean. This one is one of my little
ones. This one is one of my little
children who shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one of these
little children, in Christ's name, he says, receives him.
Such as these are rejected and despised by the world, but they're
received by God's children. For God's people know one another,
and they recognize those who are born from above. They recognize
the humility in their brethren. And they gladly receive those
who are washed by the same blood they've been washed by. And they
gladly forgive those who transgress as they've been forgiven. But
the world will have them not. The world has no place for such
children. It cast them out as it cast out
the one who saved them. It cast them out as it cast out
their father. The world despises them. And
yet they have a heavenly father to watch over them. What does
it matter if the world despise you? What does it matter if the
world cast you out? What does it matter if the world
mock and jeer? What does it matter if the world
trample you underfoot? If you have had this new birth,
if you've been born again, if you've been made as a little
child, You have a father in heaven. You are his child. His child,
you have one who watches over you. One who leads you, one who
cares for you, one who guides you, one who corrects you. A
father, a heavenly father. Do you know this father? Have
you been born again of this father? Is He your Father? Do you know
what it is to walk before Him? Has He shown you your sin? Has
He led you to the One who died for sinners? Has He washed you
in His blood? Have you been born again? Is
He your Father? Do you know what it is to walk
before Him as your Father? You do, you'll know what it is
to cry out to Him each and every day. You'll know what it is to
walk before Him to cry out, Abba, Father. With the dependence of
a child on his parents. To walk before Him as little
children. You'll know what Christ means
when He says, you need to be as a little child. For the kingdom of God is not
made up of the proud. Not made up of the intellectual. Not made up of those who are
proud in their knowledge. God doesn't save the mighty and
the great, he saves the little children. Those who are in God's
kingdom are not proud of their knowledge. Salvation does not
come through head knowledge. You can know the scriptures inside
out as Saul knew the scriptures inside out. But like he said
he counted that but loss. That won't save. And being saved,
that alone won't be what makes you strong. Read the scriptures. but you need your father to reveal
Christ to you in the scriptures. Be ever before him as a little
child. Take not pride in what you know. Take not pride in your wisdom.
Walk before your father as a child. The child has a childlike trust
and dependence. It cries out to its father and
its mother. It cries out, it needs help. A child may, as it grows, try
to do things on its own. And the father will help him. But when he falls, the father's
always there to pick him up. And when he goes wrong, the father's
always there to correct him. He needs his father. And this
is the walk of the child of God. this communion with God, this
constant communion, this constant crying out from the heart Abba
Father, constantly seeking the one above, constantly knowing
his need of the one above, constantly crying out from the heart and
the depth of his spirit to his God. This is the walk of a Christian. Without it, it's all just in
the head. Do you know this inner walk? External religion will do you
no good. You can know all these passages,
you can know all these facts, but it's outward. That which
will do you good is this inner walk. This prayerful walk. this walk as Christ had with
his father on this world. Christ was a man of prayer, when
all around him raged against him, when all around him scorned
him and mocked him and derided him, when men took up stones
to stone him, when the religious, the scribes and the Pharisees,
those who should have received him, rejected him. Where did
he gain his strength? How did he stand? Where did he
go for comfort? He had the disciples yes, for
small comfort they were at times. In the hour of his greatest need
when he was taken up by the authorities, when they came, when the cross
approached, when they came unto him in the garden of Gethsemane,
when they came to take him, and he knew that his death awaited,
he knew that the cross was before him, in that hour of need, his
closest companions on this earth slept as he prayed. And when he was brought unto
the council, when he was brought for the mock trial, they scattered. Where did Christ go for help?
Did he go unto man? No, he went unto his father.
He prayed. He prayed every day. He was sustained
by his walk through this world, by his inner communion with his
father. He walked by faith, he walked
with a trust with his father. He constantly looked by faith
under his father. He walked with this inner communion. And all around him could be raging
against him. All around him was dark and contemptuous
of him. All around him would stone him
and put him to death. And yet he lived and walked with
his father who watched over him and kept him. So too as with
the master, so too with his children. As with the shepherd, so too
with the sheep. They walk with the Father. They live in the Father. They
cry out to their Father. He cares for them. They are in
Him, in Christ, and Christ is in them. And the Father is in
Christ, and the Father is in them, and they in Christ are
in the Father. They are one with Christ and
one with the Father. They walk with Him as children
with their Father. They are in their master's arms.
They are in his care. They are not independent, but
they walk with him. And they walk with his children.
They walk with the flock gathered by him, gathered with him, who
dwells in their midst. What of you? Is this your walk? when troubles and trials come
your way, when the path becomes hard, when opposition increases, when
the trials of this world come upon you, sickness, financial
worries, whatever it may be, when there's bereavement, when
there's death, when everything seems to crush down upon your
shoulders and you know not where to go, do you run to man? or
do you run to your father? Man may be a help at times, we
value our friends and our family, we value the brethren in the
church, but ultimately the best of men can let you down. Cease
ye from man whose breath is in his nostrils. Thank God for his
children, thank God for the brethren, But don't go to them before you
go to him. Rest in him who cares for you.
Be as a little child. For of such is the kingdom of
heaven. Of such is the kingdom of heaven.
And this father who cares for these little children, there's
no greater care and no greater father with no greater love. Men speak of love. Men sing of
love. Men and women in this world,
godless men, look upon love as the greatest force that they
can have, their greatest joy. But their love and what they
speak of love is nothing, nothing compared to the love, the everlasting
love that this father has for his children in his son. His love caused him to give his
son for them. If you are his, his love caused
him to offer up his son for you. and his son's love caused him
to die in your place. This love will give everything
for one lost sheep that's gone astray. This love will pay the
greatest of price. This love paid the greatest of
price to wash his people from their sins. then this love can
take care of every trial and every difficulty and every woe
that comes your way. For this is a mighty love. a
strong love, a powerful love, the love of a father who was
stronger than any other, the love of a father who conquered
every foe at the cross, the love of a father who did everything
necessary to save his people and to keep his people unto the
end, the love of the father who will never let them go who will
never let one of his sheep be plucked from his hands, the love
of a father who will never let one of his children perish, the
love of a father who will never turn aside from his children,
who will never leave them nor forsake them. This love, this
love he loves his own, if you are his he loves you with a jealous
love. And as we see here in Matthew
18, you can see the strength of this jealousy and this love.
For he says in verse six, that whoso shall offend one of these
little ones, which believe in me, it were better for him that
a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned
in the depth of the sea. He is jealous for his little
ones. And you may feel that there are
many who lift up their hand against you in this world if you are
one of his little ones. and you may feel few and weak,
and they may seem great and mighty, and they may seem to increase
in strength, not decrease, and their numbers may seem to increase,
and their voice might seem to get louder, and you might wonder
how you will ever stand against them. But the One who watches
over you says of them, that it were better for them that a millstone
were hanged about their neck, and they were drowned in the
depth of the sea. For he is jealous for his little
ones, and he will watch over his little ones, he will care
for his little ones to the end. And everyone that this day, in
this hour, in this world, ever lifts up one hand against his
little ones, They have a day coming when they will pay the
price forevermore. There is a day coming when justice
will be done. There is a day coming when vengeance
will be wrought. There is a day coming when all
wrongs will be righted. When all justice will be brought
to pass. When all righteousness will be
seen. when all God's little ones will
be gathered into eternal glory, when all His sheep will be separated
from the goats, when all those who have opposed them will be
judged forevermore, and He will be seen to be right. Oh, there's
a day coming when He will gather in His flock forevermore, and
no more will any rail against them. Yes, He loves His own. He loves his little ones. He
loves his children. Are you one of these children?
One of these, have you become as little children that you might
enter into the kingdom of heaven? Have you? Except you be converted
and become as little children, you shall not enter into the
kingdom of heaven. But should you be converted, and should
you become as one of these little children, then of such is the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And you have as your father,
the heavenly father, the Lord God Almighty, and you have one
who watches over you in all regards, who will bring you into an eternal
inheritance that fadeth not away. For he loves his own with an
everlasting love. Praise God.