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[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word. Vacation Bible School is just something more than a time that we can have fun and drink Kool-Aid and eat cookies and play games and learn Bible stories.

[0:14] I hope you really think that too. It is a feeder program that I hope that you guys get this in your mind. We have a great job to get the gospel around the world.

[0:26] And we need men to go and we need young women to go. We need people to go and we need people to send them, right? And so how are we going to get these young men? How are we going to train these young men and women? Well, we've got to bring them into church, okay?

[0:36] And that's what Vacation Bible School is. It's a feeder program. And so I ask that you pray right now. Pray for some missionaries. Pray for some radical senders. Pray that God would send us some young hearts, some young people that He would change and would use greatly.

[0:51] That's our goal in this church. That's our goal. I hope it's your goal. I hope you enjoy serving God. I hope this was a wonderful day so far. I know it has been for me. I'm going to read you some facts.

[1:02] A company nationwide survey has determined that the probability of people accepting Christ as their Savior in relation to a person's age. The data shows that if a person does not accept Jesus Christ as Savior before the age of 14 years old, the likelihood of ever doing so is very slim.

[1:20] Based on this nationwide representative sampling of more than 4,200 young people and adults, the survey data shows that people from the ages of 5 and 13 have a 32% probability of accepting Christ as their Savior.

[1:37] Young people from the ages of 14 to 18 have just a 4% likelihood of doing so. And while the adults of 19 through death only have a 6% probability of making that choice, we realize that there needs to be a lot of emphasis and a big push on young people.

[1:54] Just to show you some people that were big or I guess God used greatly throughout history. Matthew Henry who was a Bible commentary, he was saved at the age of 11.

[2:06] Jonathan Edwards, he was saved at the age of 7. Isaac Watts who wrote hymns, he was saved at 9. Henry Drummond was saved at 9. Stanley Jones, a missionary statesman, he was saved at the age of 8 years old.

[2:19] Corrie Ten Boone asked Christ to be her Savior at the age of 5. Famous Baptist preacher W.A. Criswold was saved at the age of 10. Philip Bliss, a hymnist, was saved at 12 years old.

[2:32] William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, he was saved at 15. Henry Ironside, a preacher in New England, I believe in Pennsylvania, was saved at the age of 13. Count Zinzendorf, a man who gave a rise of the modern Protestant missions, he was saved at the age of 4.

[2:51] Chris Way, our missionary, one of our missionaries to the country of United Kingdom, he was saved at the age of 12. Stephen Underwood, another missionary on our team, at the age of 7 he was born again.

[3:04] Travis Snowed, our missionary in London, he was saved at 4. Mark Coffey, one of our own, missionary to South Africa, was saved at age 6. Josh Ewing, another one of our missionaries to Chile, was saved at the age of 4.

[3:17] Aaron Vance, a missionary we support in Columbia, part of our team, was saved at 4. Trent Cornwell, a pastor here at your church, our church, was saved at the age of 9. Aaron Bayshore, church planning missionary among the Muslims, was saved at the age of 11.

[3:32] Brennan Wong, who's hoping to go out there and join Aaron, he was saved at the age of 11. Matt Smith, helping down at the church plant in Cobb County, hopefully being a church planning missionary in Morocco, North Africa, he was saved at the age of 6.

[3:47] Jason Rischel, church planning missionary, going to Burkina Faso, saved at the age of 7. Tony Howarth, as some of you know, was saved at the age of 12. Our own Pastor Gardner, missionary, saved at the age of 7.

[4:01] David Gardner, saved at the age of 6. Chris Gardner, saved at the age of 4. We need to put emphasis on children's ministry. We need to realize that Jesus loves not just the entire world, but He loves little children as well, as we sang before.

[4:16] In this story in Matthew chapter 19, verse 14, we see Jesus, He's teaching. And I'm going to need some help, Sergei, if you would help. You look like a good Jesus. Alright, we'll have Jesus over here teaching.

[4:29] And as Jesus was teaching the masses, the Bible says that they brought their little children. We have young parents bringing their children. They were coming to Jesus, and as they were coming to Jesus, the Bible says that the disciples rebuked them.

[4:45] They tried to prevent them from coming to Jesus. Because these parents, these people, wanted Jesus to bless their children. Okay, I see Donnie coming up, so we better put the kids down, okay?

[4:57] But they wanted Jesus to bless their children. They wanted Jesus to lay hands and pray over them. And when Jesus saw this, according to Mark, the Bible says He was very displeased.

[5:10] He was upset, to say the least. And He rebuked them in front of all the people. He rebuked them. He said, suffer not the little children, and forbid them not to come unto Me.

[5:22] Can I tell you tonight, not just an attribute of Jesus Christ, but we will see from His Scripture, His actions, that Jesus not only died for all the world, but Jesus loves little children.

[5:38] Can I tell you that tonight? Jesus loves the little children. And, Sergei, if you would, go sit down. The question I'm going to pose to you tonight is, do you love little children? Do you love little children?

[5:52] Heavenly Fathers, we come to you in prayer. Thank you for your Word. Thank you for not only telling us and giving us doctrine about who you are, but, Lord, thank you for demonstrating it and showing us it.

[6:07] Lord, I ask that you would just be with me, help this text come real to these people. And, Lord, I ask that you would just do a great work, as only you can, in our hearts. In Jesus' name, Amen. The first thing I want you guys to see are the parents or the people that brought these little children to Jesus.

[6:21] I want you to see their heart. In Matthew 19, verse 13, the Bible says, Then were there brought unto Him little children, that He, meaning Jesus, should put His hands on them and pray.

[6:37] I believe that these were parents. I believe that the Bible says in Luke, it says that they were infants. I believe that the parents were bringing their children unto Jesus because they realized what a great gift they had been given.

[6:50] They realized where their children came from. They probably remembered the psalmist as he tells that children are a heritage of our Lord. If you have your Bibles in Psalms 127.3, the Bible says this as they get it up on the screen.

[7:03] It says, Lo, children are an inheritance of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is His reward. They probably, as they were bringing their children to Jesus, they probably remembered the story in Genesis when Rachel was begging and she was crying out to Jacob to give her a child.

[7:21] And you guys remember the story or the response of Jacob. He realized that he doesn't open and close the womb, but it's God that gives the children. It's God that gives us children.

[7:33] And 1 Samuel, you know the story of Hannah, how she wept bitterly before the Lord, and she was begging God for a child and begging God for a child, and she wept so bad that Eli, the prophet, came up to say, Why are you coming to God's house drunk?

[7:48] And she said her heart was so sore that she was wanting of God, she was desiring of God that He would give her a child. You see, these people, when they were coming to Jesus, they realized, when they were bringing their little children to Jesus, they realized what a great gift they have.

[8:03] They realized where these children come from. Tonight, do you realize where children come from? It's not just an accident. It's not just by chance. Children are a gift from God.

[8:16] And not only are they a gift or a great gift from God, but when God gives parents children, He gives them a duty to fulfill. Do you get that? In His book, He gives us a duty.

[8:29] He gives us what we need to do with these children. In Deuteronomy 4, verses 9, the Bible says, Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest thou depart from thy house all the day.

[8:44] But teach them, with the things that you've seen, with the things that I've done in your life, teach them to thy sons, and thy sons' sons, and their sons. You realize you have a responsibility, if you're a parent, if you're involved in children's lives, you have a responsibility to train these children.

[9:05] In Ephesians, as Paul talks to the church in Ephesus, he says, Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but to bring them up. To bring them up. Ephesians 6, 4. Bring them up in the nurture and the abomination of the Lord.

[9:19] You have a responsibility to train your children. To train your children, and to teach them about God, and the things of God, and what they should be doing, and how they should live.

[9:30] But not only are we supposed to train, but we're supposed to tell our children of all the miraculous works that God had done. In Exodus chapter 10, verses 2, the Bible says, And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and thy sons' sons, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs, which I have done among them, that ye may know that I am the Lord.

[9:57] Psalm 78, 4 says it like this, We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generations to come the praises of the Lord, of His strength, and His wonderful works, what He has done.

[10:10] We have a job, a responsibility, not only to realize where our children come from, but we have a responsibility to tell them all the great thing God has done in our lives.

[10:22] And that's what these people were doing. They realized what great gift they've been given. They realized what a great responsibility they gave. They realized that they were to provide for their children.

[10:36] And so it was not only a great faith that they had in order to bring these children to the Lord, but it was also almost a sense of responsibility. Think about it. These people probably have heard all the wonderful works that Jesus has done, and knowing that Christ was just something more than a man, but something divine.

[10:54] They sought to get their children to the source of all these blessings. They said, I realize there's a man out there, and he's just no ordinary man.

[11:04] There's something different about this man. He's of God. He's done miraculous things. He's done healings. He's done great things. He calls himself divine. And it's my responsibility as a parent that I need to get my kids to this man named Jesus.

[11:19] Look at their heart. Put yourself in their shoes. What would you do if you had children during that time? What would you do if you heard of a great man named Jesus claiming to be the Messiah?

[11:35] Would you push? Would you strive to get your little children to the one that they call Messiah? I'll never forget the first time when I became a dad.

[11:46] And after that happened, the baby was placed in my arms, a sense of emotion I can't explain went through me. I don't know if you guys felt that, but when I saw that kid, I was like, wow.

[12:01] Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. That's all I could think about. Thank you, Jesus. And then as time moved on, I thought, man, what a great responsibility God has given me.

[12:12] That I need to get my child to the point where they have an encounter with Jesus Christ that He would save their souls. What would you do during that time? What great love was displayed by these people.

[12:28] What great faith they had to bring their children to Christ. Now, I don't want to magnify the actions of these people, but I want to show you that their actions was because they realized that Jesus was there.

[12:41] They wanted Jesus to lay hands on their children. They wanted Jesus to pray over their children. They realized that He was the giver of blessings.

[12:52] And that He was kind and compassionate and that He would make their children different. They realized by getting their children to Jesus, something miraculous would happen.

[13:04] Something that they couldn't do on their own. They needed to get their children to Jesus. Look at their heart. My question is for you. Do you realize that your children, that children, whether they're yours or someone else's that they're given of God, do you realize if you have children, the weight of responsibility that's been given to you?

[13:32] Do you realize that you can't give their children, you can't give your kids all that they need? You've got to get them to Jesus. You've got to get them to Jesus.

[13:44] You can't save your child's soul. You can't save your child's soul. Do you realize you have to get them to Jesus? Are you doing whatever it takes to take these precious gifts to the Lord so He can love them?

[13:59] In this story, we see people taking the greatest asset they have, their children, and seeking that God might lay hands on them and bless them.

[14:11] We see the hearts of the parents. But not only do you see the hearts of the parents in Matthew 19, verse 13, but you also see the disciples rebuking. Verse 13, then, where there brought unto Him little children that He should put His hands on them and pray and His disciples rebuked them.

[14:31] Now you might ask, why would the disciples rebuke the little children coming to the Lord? And the truth is, the Bible doesn't tell us. So, I'm going to take a little liberty, okay?

[14:45] So let me give you some personal ideas why I think that they rebuked those that brought the children to Jesus. The truth is, Jesus was on the side of Jordan. He was teaching.

[14:57] And Jesus was doing what He does best, was teaching and expounding the Word of God. And I can imagine the disciples were probably sitting around and they were listening and trying to make sure everyone else had a chance to listen, to hear the words of God.

[15:11] It seems like there was no scene change. They were at the shore of Jordan. Jesus was expounding and talking about marriage. And while Jesus was speaking, all of a sudden, parents came up seeking a blessing of the little children.

[15:25] Little kids that make interruptions. Little kids that change our attention. And all of a sudden, I can imagine myself, Jesus up here speaking, and I can imagine myself, I normally sit back there and the parents coming through there and I know what I would do.

[15:39] I'd make a beeline right for them and I would stop them and say, hey, hey, don't you realize what's going on is really important right now? Don't you realize what's going on is important? Jesus is talking. Jesus is giving Scripture.

[15:52] I've read to you that the disciples were doing their best to make sure that there were no destructions, no interruptions, no distractions. I can imagine myself trying to stop these people from coming to Jesus because I believe something more important was going on.

[16:11] It seems like the disciples were so caught up in their ministry that they rebuked the people that they should be ministering unto. I know I've fallen in this category many times.

[16:26] Children's ministry, it's not real ministry. I want to work with adults. And I've heard arguments, not just with myself, I've heard many other people say it's not real ministry. What a terrible distortion of Jesus' love.

[16:39] love. Jesus loves the little children. Jesus loves the little children. I know the disciples brought people to the Lord.

[16:50] I know Andrew brought his friends and families. I know Levi had a big party to bring all his friends to Jesus. but they probably didn't have a heart and a love for these children.

[17:02] That's why they rebuked them. That's why they sternly withhold them and said, don't come to Jesus. The disciples probably had the mindset that the children weren't as important as the adults were.

[17:14] But isn't that the opposite of what we see with Jesus? Jesus is always taking those whom the disciples and others didn't think were worthy or belonged to come to Jesus.

[17:30] And Jesus always turned that theory upside down. The woman at the well, she was a Samaritan. She was a woman. She was an adulteress.

[17:45] And when the disciples saw Jesus talking to her and said, you're talking to her? You see, God's plan is greater than ours. We know that God has a heart for the world.

[17:56] We know that God loves all the world and included in that world are little children and God loves the little children. The Gentile woman that begged the crumbs off the table Jesus was a friend of drunks and tax collectors and now little children.

[18:14] Those who were probably to be seen and not heard. Those who didn't even get the respect of those who were mentioned before. Now I know if you take all the arguments that I just gave and you were to put them before court that it would have been thrown out because I have no proof to know the disciples' motives.

[18:34] But this thing I do know is true. the disciples didn't do what Christ wanted them to do. The disciples in rebuking the parents or the people that brought these little children to Christ they weren't doing what Christ wanted them to do.

[18:53] And actually it wasn't just a mistake because look at Mark's account when Jesus sees what the disciples are doing in Mark chapter 13 or Mark chapter 10 verses 13 the Bible says and they brought young children to Him Jesus that He Jesus should touch them and the disciples rebuked those that brought them.

[19:16] Verse 14 Jesus saw it and He was much displeased just a chapter before in Matthew chapter 19 just a chapter before in Matthew 18 Jesus warned what He thought if you would offend one of those little ones what one could do He said if you were going to offend a little one if you're going to offend a little child it's better for you to go jump in a lake and before you jump in a lake go tie a millstone around your neck because Jesus loves the little children and the disciples didn't get that the disciples didn't see that they were too worried they were too caught up in their ministry to realize the heart of the Savior they were caught up in I got to make sure that everyone is listening everyone is paying attention everyone is listening to Jesus there is a possible distraction let me stop them and Jesus says it's my heart I love these and it displeased him

[20:16] Jesus was angry with them and Christ response to the disciples shows His displeasure with the disciples now I have some questions for you how busy are you with your ministry that you forget or you hold back the little children from coming to Jesus is it a step down to work with little kids that don't understand is it not worth your time is it not worth your time I'm pretty sure it says in scripture Jesus says suffer not the little children to come on to me Jesus says bring them on don't stop them bring them on let them come but yet with the adults he tells us to go out and compel them try to pull their arm twist their arms so they come unto me is it lesser Jesus loves the little children is it a nuisance is your work in the nursery is that not real ministry I think Jesus would have something other to say that is the

[21:19] Sunday school class that you have with the little kids or the older kids is it not really important to you as it should be not with Jesus because Jesus loves the little kids the little children why I ask you a question why did God in heaven wedge this story in three of his four gospels why did he put this story right in the middle of the gospel why did he put that story in three out of the four gospels was it to show us his love for little children not just a doctrine that we hear not just something in paper that we read over but rather a story where we see the heart of God displayed and his love for children it's because God wants you to see how important he views little children we see the parents heart we see the disciples rebuke but I want you to notice

[22:19] Jesus response in this story we get to see God's character displayed and not just heard about we not just get to hear about his character but we get to see his character we have heard that Jesus loves little children but now we get to see it in action notice Jesus response to disciples in verse 14 of Matthew 19 but Jesus said suffer little children and forbid them not to come unto me for such is the kingdom of heaven leave those children alone and don't prevent them from coming unto me that's what Jesus would say in modern terms leave them alone and don't you ever prevent them from coming unto me it's pretty harsh isn't it not only is it pretty harsh but Jesus didn't even take his disciples aside and say it he said it in front of everyone else he says leave them alone and don't prevent them from coming unto me we we we see Christ openly display his discontent with the actions of his disciples in front of everyone he tells them to stop what they're doing and don't ever let it happen in the future we can see

[23:32] Christ's response because his love for the children we see Christ's compassion and I start to realize this that when God wrote his word that he tells us to teach our children and he cares and he loves them at the end of the story Jesus lays his hands on them and he blesses them in Matthew 19 15 he says he lays his hand on them and departed thence Mark 10 16 he says he took them up in his arms and he laid and put his hands upon them and blessed them our God cares for the children of this world our God died for all so I'm going to leave you with this closing how do you view your children how do you view the ones that God gave you are they a nuisance do they get in the way of your ministry or are they your ministry how do you view other children that might not be your biological children before you answer that let me ask you something else how does your heavenly father how does

[24:58] Jesus Christ view those children that might not be his biological children how does he view them then answer the question how should we view other children do you try to find ways to get little children to Jesus this is not just a story we get down there and we just look and see oh that's great story I want this to hit home with you I want it to sink into your heart that your heavenly father loves little children and he wants them to come to him so my question to you do you have the same heart do you have the same heart does your actions display your heart are you actively involved in trying to get young children to

[26:01] Christ at that formidable age where they can make a decision in their life and they can use the rest of their lives to live for Jesus are you actively involved in getting young children to Jesus how do you view VBS vacation Bible school is it just an inconvenience is it not real ministry what are you doing to show that you love the children of the world last question I know I know Jesus loves little children do you heavenly fathers we come to you in prayer thank you for the story thank you for your word thank you for allowing us to see who you are and what you've done Lord thank you for setting the example

[27:03]  Lord I ask that you would challenge the hearts of the people here help us to realize and understand that you love children and Lord help us to do the same Lord help us not only to reach the entire world but help us to reach the little children here in Alpharetta and Forsyth County Lord ask that you would do a great work as only you can in Jesus name this message was recorded at vision Baptist church in Alpharetta Georgia for more information log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times location contact information and more audio and video recordings