Is not that I did choose thee? Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nibert. I want to speak to you this morning
on this subject, receiving the kingdom as a little child. Our text is found in Mark chapter
10, beginning in verse 13, and they brought young children to
him. Luke's account says infants,
that he should touch them and his disciples rebuked those that
brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was
much displeased and said unto them, Suffer the 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, he
shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms,
and put his hands upon them, and blessed them." Perhaps infants being brought
to Christ by their parents. Their parents wanted the Lord
to touch their children. Now, who can blame them? I sure
want Him to touch my children, and I want Him to touch me. We
greatly desire the touch of the Lord Jesus Christ. I can't blame
the parents for wanting the Lord to touch their children, to be
touched by Christ. I can't help but think of the
leper whom the Lord touched. He was full of leprosy. And he
came to Christ and said, Lord, if you will, you can make me
clean. He was aware of his uncleanness. And the scripture says, And Jesus
moved with compassion, reached forth his hand, and touched him. I'm sure he hadn't felt a human
touch in many years. But not only is this a human
touch, this is a divine touch. Jesus reached forth his hand
and touched him, saying, I will be thou clean. Now, the disciples rebuked these
parents for bringing their children. They censored them sharply, and
we know this was wrong because the scripture says Jesus was
much displeased when he heard the disciples rebuke the parents
for doing this. Now, what they were doing was
unknowingly keeping these children from coming to Christ. Look what
verse 14 says, but when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased
and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto
me, and forbid them not. for of such is the kingdom of
God." Now, my question right now is, what were the disciples
thinking when they rebuked these parents for bringing these young
children to Christ? Well, first, perhaps they thought
the children were too insignificant and unimportant. After all, what
could they do? What ability did they have? What
could they contribute? I dare say if some rich people
or community leaders were brought to the Lord, the disciples wouldn't
have rebuked them for bringing them, but these children they
thought were insignificant and unimportant. Now, here's my question. What could
these children contribute to the kingdom of heaven? Same thing,
me and you can contribute. Nothing. Same thing, me and you
can contribute. Nothing. Now, isn't this the
kind of people he saves? People who have nothing. People
who have nothing to contribute. People who have nothing to bring
to the table. Now, if you have anything that
you can contribute, you're disqualified. You see, Christ does not need
my contributions. Christ does not need my talents. Christ does not need my money.
Christ does not need my influence. Christ doesn't need anything
from me. I love that scripture in Psalm 50 where he says, if
I were hungry, I wouldn't tell you about it. The cattle on a
thousand hills are mine. Christ doesn't need me. I need
him. and how desperately I need him."
Now, the kingdom of God is the only society where unworthiness
and having nothing is the inference requirement. You see, the only
way Jesus Christ the Lord will be all to a man is if that man
is nothing and has nothing. Only to that man who is nothing
and has nothing is Christ Jesus all. Now, if He's all to you,
you have all you need. If He's not all to you, you have
nothing. But perhaps they thought these
children were insufficient to bring anything to the table.
Perhaps they were thinking they didn't have the capacity for
such things as belief and repentance. They were too young, they had
no experience, and they didn't have the capacity to do what
you needed to do. They were incapable of understanding. Well, so am I. So are you. You see, this thing
of faith and repentance and love, these are the gifts of God. It's
not something that you're capable of. If you have these things,
if you have faith, it's because God gave it to you. It's the
gift of God. By grace, you save through faith. And that's not
of yourselves. It's the gift of God. not of works, lest any
man should boast. If you have repentance, that's
the gift of God. God hath granted to them repentance
to the acknowledging of the truth. It's a gift. And you can't look
at these people and say, well, they're unable to do these things
because you and I are unable as well. Somebody may think, well, what
kind of life experience have they that would make them candidates
for coming to Christ? Same as me and you, nothing.
Nothing. Oh, as I said, the disciples
did not know this, but they were actually preventing these people
from coming to Christ. This is the age-old error. Listen
real carefully. This is the age-old error. It's
a belief that some prerequisite must be fulfilled before you
can come to Christ. There must be so much conviction.
There must be such and such level of understanding and spiritual
experience. And if you haven't given up sin
and forsaken sin, you certainly can't come to Him. There's a
lot of things you need to do first in order to make it to
where you can come to Christ. Now, that's not coming to Christ
at all. If that's my attitude, if I think
I need to do this and do that to prepare myself to come to
Christ, if I need to start being this way and quit doing that,
that's not coming to Christ. Doesn't have anything to do with
coming to Christ. If I'm doing that, I'm not coming to Christ. I'm
still in some kind of form of salvation by works. That is not
coming to Christ. Now the scripture says, and I'm
so grateful for this scripture, In Revelation 22, 17, whosoever
will, let him take the water of life freely. Now what a blessed word whosoever
is. I'm a whosoever. Whosoever will,
are you willing to be saved by Christ? Are you willing to be
saved on his terms in a way that gives him all the glory and none
to you? Salvation by grace, are you willing? That's the question.
The Lord said to the man at the pool of Bethesda, will thou be
made whole? Are you willing to be made whole?
And that's the question. Whosoever will, Let him take
the water of life freely. Somebody says, but I still have
such struggle with sin. Am I called upon to take the
water of life freely? Well, it doesn't say whosoever
no longer struggles with sin. It says whosoever will. Let him
take the water of life freely. But somebody else objects, but
I'm afraid I don't have enough understanding. Well, it doesn't
say whosoever understands enough. It says whosoever will. Let him
take the water of life freely. But I'm afraid my feelings don't
line up. I don't feel my need of Christ
enough. I don't feel my sin enough. I don't feel, oh, I need more
feelings. Well, it doesn't say whosoever
feels properly. It says whosoever will. Let him
take the water of life freely. But are there no conditions?
Yes, there is one condition. You've got to take it freely.
If you have anything to bring to the table, you're disqualified. The only way you can take the
water of life is if you do so freely. Now, you see, this thing
of coming to Christ, and this is what the disciples were preventing
them from doing, the Lord said, suffer the little children to
come to me. For of such is the kingdom of God. This thing of
coming to Christ is the act of spiritual life. It's what those
who live do. Our Lord said in John 539, you
will not come to me that you might have life. Coming to Christ
is the act of spiritual life. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. Now, somebody says, didn't the
Lord say, no man can come to me except the Father which has
sent me draw him? Yes, he did. But still, you and I are commanded
to come. I realize you can't come unless
the Father draws you, nor can I. But the command is for you
and me to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's God's command. God commands all men everywhere
to repent. Now, you're in that group. God
commands all men everywhere to change your mind. Now, just as you are, just as
I am, with all of the bad stuff about us, I'm called upon to
come to Christ. Don't try to do anything. Don't
try to be anything. Don't try to wait until you're
changed. Don't wait for anything. He says,
him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. If you come, you will be received. He said in Matthew 11, verse
28, Come unto me, all and are heavy laden, laboring
under the burden and sins of sin, crushing you down, a burden
you can't get off. He says, come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Now that's a command, come to
me. He said in John chapter seven,
verse 37, if any man thirst, let him come to me. Are you thirsty? Then you're commanded to come.
I love the scripture in Hebrews chapter 7 verse 24 where it says,
wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come
to God by him. Now, the only way I come to God
is by him. I don't come on my own. I don't
come alongside of Him. It's only when He comes to the
Father that me being in Him, I come to Him. He said, no man
cometh to the Father but by me. And the only way you or I will
ever get to the Father is by Him. Not along with Him, but
by Him. When He comes, He brings you.
You are in Him. Now, does someone ask, What does
it mean to come to Christ? That's a very important question
because it's not a physical coming. There's nothing you do physically
to come to Christ. He's seated at the right hand
of the Father. I can't just walk up there. What does it mean to
come to Christ? It doesn't mean come to religion.
It doesn't mean to come down to the front of the church and
make some kind of public confession. That's not what it means to come
to Christ. To come to Christ is to do so in the heart. Now,
in John chapter 6, verse 35, listen to the words carefully.
The Lord said, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me
shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst."
Now, coming to Christ and believing on Christ are the precise same
thing. Now, what does it mean to believe
on Christ? I think one of the clearest illustrations
of believing on Christ would be to Think of a little boy in
a burning house on the second floor. He is stuck and he hears
a fireman outside say, jump and I'll catch you. Well, First,
he's gonna believe in that fireman's ability to catch him, and then
he needs to jump out the window, committing all of his salvation
to that fireman's ability to catch him. Now, he doesn't have
anything to do with it. He's just trusting that fireman and his
ability to do it. Now, that's what it is to believe
on Christ. You're believing on his ability to save you with
no help from you. It's simple trust. In John chapter
six, verse 28, They said, what must we do to work the works
of God? And the Lord answered, this is the work of God that
you believe on Him whom He has sent. Now, here's what you do
when you come to Christ. You rely completely on who He
is and what He did as all that's needed to bring you into the
Father blameless. Now, we're commanded to come
to Christ. Now, let me give you four irrefutable
reasons for you to come to Christ, and these are the four reasons
why I come to Christ. Now, here's the first reason.
I come to Christ. That means I believe on Him.
This is not a physical move. It means you believe on Him.
You trust Him to save you. Now, here's why I come to Christ.
First of all, because I am commanded to come, and my right to come
comes with the command. Now if I'm invited somewhere,
I can turn down the invitation and it's not necessarily a bad
thing. I may be invited to someone's
house and I can't make it. But if In that invitation, it
says, if you don't come, you will be shot to death. I believe
I'd probably come and feel like that's what I need to do. It's
a command. This is not an invitation. I'm not invited to come to Christ.
I'm commanded to. Beloved, listen to me right now
while you're hearing this. You are commanded to come to
Christ and trust him as all in your salvation. I come to Christ,
secondly, because I have a need. of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh,
how I need Him. I don't have any personal righteousness.
I need His righteousness. I need His precious blood to
put away all my sins. I need His intercession to represent
me. I love what the songwriter said. He said, I need the precious
Jesus for I am full of sin. My soul is dark and guilty, my
heart is dead within. I need the cleansing fountain
where I can always flee. The blood of Christ, most precious,
the sinner's perfect plea. I need Him. You know, the scripture
says, or the Lord said this, He said, well, that's the scriptures
too, but He said, the whole need not a physician, but they that
are sick. I'm sick. I'm sick with the disease
of sin. Lord, how I need you as the physician
of my soul. How I need you to do for me that
which I cannot do for myself. I need the Lord Jesus Christ. And I know this, when I am in
heaven, I will be a trophy of his grace, the grace of the great
physician who could save one who was so needy. Nothing I have
to bring, but oh, how I need him. Thirdly, I come to Christ
because I'm afraid not to. I know what'll happen if I don't.
I'll perish. I come to Christ because I'm afraid not to. And
here's the fourth reason why I come to Christ. I really don't
have any other options. It's not like I have a choice.
It's not like I have a, well, you can go this way or go that
way. No, there's only one way to go. I think of what Peter
said when the Lord looked at The disciples, after the 5,000
left him, he said, will you also go away? Peter said, Lord, to
whom shall we go? It's not like we have any other
options. You're the only place of safety. There's no other place
we can go. Lord, to whom shall we go? Understand,
faith is not a decision. You don't decide to believe.
You believe because you have no choice. You don't decide to
come to Christ. You come to Christ because you
really have nowhere else to go. No other hope. You can't go back
to your works. You can't go back to human religion.
You can't go back to the world. You really have no choice but
to come to him. You really believe what he said
when he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes
to the Father but by me. Now he said to the disciples,
forbid them not. These infants, these children,
we don't know if they were six-month-old infants. We don't know if they
were two or three-year-old toddlers or five or six-year-old children.
Whatever he said, suffer them to come and don't forbid them,
for such is the kingdom of heaven. Verily I say unto you, whosoever
shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, as
an infant, he shall not enter therein. Now, what's that mean? What's that mean to receive the
kingdom of heaven as a little child or as an infant? Well,
we're going to look at it in both ways, as an infant and as
a five or six-year-old child. First, let's consider receiving
the kingdom of heaven as an infant. Now, I don't think the Bible
makes definitive statements about the salvation of infants, but
I believe the Bible does teach the salvation of infants. And
I see the wisdom of the Lord in not giving us a direct statement
about it, because if the Bible definitely said all infants who
die will be saved, somebody would be crazy enough to think, well,
we need to start killing the infants. That's the best thing
we can do for them. And if the Bible made a statement saying,
well, infants are not saved, can you imagine the despair that
would create with people who lost children in their infancy?
Oh, I see the wisdom of the Lord in not making a real definitive
statement about it, but He gives us scriptures that imply that
infants are in fact saved. The first example I think of
is David's infant child that died after one year. And he said,
remember he was mourning while the child was sick, but after
the child was taken by the Lord and died, he got up and washed
his face and he said, well, he can't come to me, but I'll go
to him. Which implies that when he died and went to heaven, he
would go to this child. Now, with regarding the salvation
of infants, how would an infant be saved? Now, an infant would
not be saved because it was morally innocent, because Scripture doesn't
teach that. Scripture says concerning all men that they're by nature
born in sin. David said, Behold, I was shaped
in an iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. The wicked
are estranged from the womb. They go about as soon as they
be born speaking lies. So if an infant dies, it's not
going to be saved because it's innocent. If an infant dies and
is saved, it's going to be because God elected him and chose him
to salvation. He was included in the company
of God's elect. It's going to be because Christ
died for his sins and put them all away so that he has no sin.
It's going to be because he was born again of the Spirit and
given a new nature. You see, flesh, just like it
is, can't enter the kingdom of heaven. He'd be given a new nature. Now, how is an infant saved?
The only way an infant can be saved is for God to do it all,
for Christ to do it all, for God the Holy Spirit to do it
all. That's the only way an infant can be saved. They're not saved
because of moral innocence. They would be saved by the grace
of God. Now, if I'm saved as an adult,
here's the only way I'm saved. God elected me. Christ died for
me. God the Holy Spirit gave me life. God the Holy Spirit gave me faith
and repentance, love. He regenerated me. He preserves
me, and He brings me into heaven. Well, that's the same way an
infant would be saved, except you receive the kingdom of heaven
as an infant. Are you willing to be saved in
a way that gives God all the glory, salvation completely by
His grace? Well, that's how an infant is
saved. That's how every believer is saved. But let's take a five
or six-year-old little child, whosoever shall not receive the
kingdom of God as a little child, he will not enter therein. Let's
think, what's that mean, receiving the kingdom of God as a little
child? Well, here's what it means more than anything else, the
childlike capacity to believe. You see, when you tell a child
something, they believe what you say. Their depravity has
not sufficiently grown to where they're skeptical and read between
the lines and doubt what you say. A little child just believes
what you say. Now, that's the way faith works. It simply believes what God says. I think perhaps the best illustration
of childlike faith is the faith of Abraham, the father of the
faithful. Now, Abraham was an old man.
His wife was an old woman, and she was barren. And the Lord
says to him, can you count the stars? No, Abraham said, I can't. And then God said, so shall your
seed be. Now, Abraham didn't have any
physical evidence whatsoever that that would take place. All
he had was the naked Word of God. And the Scripture says he
believed God. He simply believed what he said. And it was counted to him for
righteousness. A childlike faith is absolutely
necessary, simply believing what God says in His Word. Here's an example. Romans 6,
verse 11, Paul says to likewise reckon yourselves to be dead
indeed to sin. Now you know what I'm called
upon to do? Believe what God said, even if I can't see it.
I can't see that I'm dead to sin because I still sin, and
you do too. I can't see that I'm dead to
sin, but if God says I'm dead to sin, I am in fact dead to
sin. Sin has nothing to say to me.
It's been put away. It's been blotted out. It's been
canceled by what my Lord did for me on Calvary's tree, and
I stand before God holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in His sight
according to the scriptures. Colossians 1.22, I believe God. To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness." Now to receive the kingdom of God as a little
child is to simply believe what he says. And then in Matthew
18, verse 4, the disciples had been arguing over who would be
greatest in the kingdom of heaven. What a ridiculous argument. It
shows how ridiculous we are that we would even think something
like that. There's only one who's the greatest in the kingdom of
heaven, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven. To make this argument about one
man being greater than another, they were making this argument.
The Lord said this to them. He said, except you be converted
and become as little children, you won't even enter therein.
You're to humble yourself as this little child. A childlike
faith is a humble faith, not a sense of entitlement or great
expectations. They're humble. I, the chief
of sinners, am, and Jesus died for me. It's a humility. It is a capacity to believe,
and it is a humility. So if I'm going to enter the
kingdom of heaven, I'm entering it the same way an infant does.
saved completely by the grace of God, the same way a child
is, with this childlike capacity to simply believe what God says
and this humility that receives what God says. May the Lord enable
us all to be children entering the kingdom of heaven. To request
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