We have been continuing our verse-by-verse journey together through the Gospel according to Mark.
! We have come to chapter 10.
And Jesus has, about halfway through chapter 8, summed up his Galilean ministry, which was largely his public ministry.
There are certainly some other public things he does as we continue through the Gospel account.
But in large part, he's ceased this public ministry, and he's now narrowed his scope to the teaching of the disciples.
We see that in chapter 9, verse 30 and 31.
He passes through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know, for he was teaching his disciples.
He has about six months left now before his death.
He is summing up his earthly ministry, and he wants to be sure that the disciples understand the things they're going to need to know before he leaves them.
And we've seen in this sort of second act a number of lessons taught, beginning with a blind man healed at Bethsaida in varying degrees,
to show us that Jesus is in fact the Lord, both over physical blindness, but more importantly, as we see these samplings, these paracopes, these different stories,
that he's also the Lord over spiritual blindness.
This section is summed up at the end of chapter 10 with the healing of blind Bartimaeus in an instant.
And so we see that Jesus reigns over these things, and he's teaching the disciples all of these various lessons.
We come now to a very short paracope, one that seems a bit insignificant and could be easily read past,
but let's be sure that we don't do that this morning.
Mark chapter 10, beginning in verse 13.
And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them.
But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them,
Let the children come to me. Do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.
And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.
This is God's word to us. It was written for his glory and for our good.
We would all do well this morning to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.
Let's pray together.
Father God, we do thank you for your word to us this morning.
Father, I admit, and I admit on behalf of this congregation that we are not sufficient for such things.
That we can, in no way, under our own power, understand your word rightly.
And so, Father, I would ask that your spirit would be active in me to preach it well.
To speak with clarity and with conviction.
And that we would all hear it.
That it would saturate our hearts and it would change us for your glory.
And we pray this in Christ's name. Amen.
Now, as I mentioned, it's kind of an easy little four verses to read right past.
To maybe make some improper assumptions about and move on.
The next story is the rich young man, which I'm massively looking forward to getting to preach through.
But this little story is contained in all three of the synoptic gospels.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
Much with the same detail.
And they all three contain the phrase,
To such belongs the kingdom of God.
We need to wrestle with this.
We need to really understand what it means.
These three gospel writers, under inspiration,
thought it was important to include this teaching in the scriptures.
In fact, we ought to pay attention any time Jesus talks about the kingdom of God.
Mark 1, verse 15.
This was the message he was bringing.
He said the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent and believe in the gospel.
What is this kingdom of God?
And how is it that we get to be a part of the kingdom of God?
And once we are a part of the kingdom of God,
how do we operate properly underneath the rule of the king?
This is the great question,
the thing that ought to captivate all human minds.
How do we live in subject, proper subjection to the king?
And here we see a story that teaches us that what it looks like to be part of the kingdom of God
is to have faith like a child.
God, to have faith like a child.
Now let's understand some of the aspects of this.
This would be called the exegesis.
What does it mean as we're reading through this story?
What are some of the details involved here?
And we see at the very beginning that there are people, it says,
and they, a larger crowd, it's safe to assume that they were children.
I would hope that these are not people who have kidnapped children
and for the sake of the children and bring them to Jesus,
but they are their parents.
So that he could do what?
That he would touch them.
And this was the way that Jesus' ministry was largely being carried out.
All of the healings that he was doing, he was doing by touch.
He wanted to be sure that people knew that the power to heal was coming from him,
that he was Lord over this.
And so it made sense that they were bringing them to him to touch them.
And we see a sharp rebuke.
The disciples rebuked him, this incredibly strong verb here,
which means in the noun form to punish them.
They reprimanded them when they came.
Now in Luke's account, Luke 18, 15, it says,
now they were bringing even infants to him.
Luke uses a different Greek noun here.
And so they were very small children, likely even infants.
In the verse 16, we see the summation.
He gives us a teaching, but in the summation of this,
he then rebukes the disciples and then he takes them in his arms
and he blesses them, laying his hands on them.
Now what the parents were asking of him was something that was consistent in this culture.
It was a tradition of the elders that when somebody had a new child,
fathers would come to the elders and they would lay their hands on the child
and the elders would join in laying their hands on the child
and they would pray for them.
Similar in a lot of ways to the way we do dedications
when a family would like to do that in our church.
We come together and we collectively pray for the child.
They would pray specifically for three things.
They pray that they would be famous in law.
They would know it well and expound upon it well.
That they would be faithful in marriage.
And that they would do good works.
These were the things that were asked of a Jewish child
to be responsible by their understanding to their God.
They also, in asking these things, were asking for salvation for the child.
The Jewish people had an understanding
that to be saved, they had to walk in the ways of God.
They had to be saved from the condemnation of the law.
The unfortunate thing is that it was misguided.
It was just simply misguided
because they thought it was works that brought them to that point
and not their faith.
They were asking, as they came to Jesus,
that Jesus would bless them,
that He would lay His hands on them
and set them on the right path
that they might merit their salvation by works.
Now, maybe this is why the disciples rebuked them,
although I think Jesus' response gives us a clue
that this is not the reason why.
This sharp reprimand that they give to them.
Likely, Jesus' sharp response back to them
is that they've already forgotten the lesson we observed
from chapter 9
concerning the excellence of service.
Turn back to verse 33.
And they came to Capernaum.
They're traveling back through Galilee.
They came to Capernaum.
And when He was in the house, He asked them,
what were you discussing on the way?
But they kept silent.
They were ashamed.
For on the way, they had argued with one another
about who was the greatest.
Which of us is going to be best in the kingdom of God?
And He sat down and called the twelve
and He said to them,
if anyone would be first,
he must be last of all
and servant of all.
And then in verse 36, what does He do?
He brings a child into the situation.
He says,
whoever receives,
verse 37,
one such child in My name receives Me.
Whoever receives what would have been perceived
as the lowest human subject.
Children have very little,
no worth in society in this day.
If anyone would be first,
he must be last of all
and servant of all.
And here we see now a group of parents
who want to bring children
to the midst of Jesus
and the disciples have already forgotten
this important lesson.
And so Jesus is indignant with them.
Angry would be a synonymous word here.
He was angry with them.
And then says to them,
let the children come to Me.
Do not hinder them,
for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
To such belongs the kingdom of God.
And then He goes beyond.
He goes a little further in verse 15.
He says,
truly I say to you,
whoever does not receive the kingdom of God
like a child shall not enter it.
I want to show you four things
from the text this morning.
First, I want to show you two things
that the text does not mean.
Those common things
that we might misunderstand about it
and would cause us to read right past us.
Two things that this text does not mean.
And then secondly,
two things that this text does mean.
So firstly,
it does not build a case
for some sort of special salvific category
for children
or for the baptizing of infants.
It's not some special category
that we see here.
Jesus says,
verse 14,
not that the kingdom of God
belongs to these children
or these children belong
to the kingdom of God,
but that to such belongs
the kingdom of God.
To people like this
belongs the people,
the kingdom of God.
He reinforces that in verse 15.
Right?
Not saying that there's a special
salvific category.
In fact,
the Bible speaks very little
to what happens to children,
young children,
babies in the womb.
What happens to these children's souls
when they die?
They haven't been able to receive
and respond to the gospel.
What happens to them?
What happens to mentally handicapped
children and adults
who don't seem to be able
to comprehend
or to understand the gospel?
The Bible doesn't speak
explicitly to it.
I do believe
that a case can be made
implicitly
that children
and mentally handicapped people
have an eternal dwelling with God.
I do believe that.
For another day
and another time.
But I cannot
in good conscience
make this text
mean that.
Again,
the reinforcement.
Whoever does not receive
the kingdom of God
like a child
shall not enter it.
This is not some
special salvific category
he's talking about.
He's talking about
those who will be part
of the kingdom
and what characterizes
their faith.
What their faith
must look like
to be included.
in that kingdom.
It follows then
that this also
is not a case
for infant baptism.
Interestingly,
on Friday,
in fact,
I picked up a commentary
by J.C. Ryle
who's a 19th century
Anglican bishop.
On this text,
he says,
I respect J.C. Ryle
so you're clear.
Of course,
it is not pretended
that there is any
mention of baptism
or even any reference
to it in the verses
before us.
All we,
meaning Anglicans
who practice
infant baptism,
all we mean to say
is that the expressions
and gestures
of our Lord
in this passage
are a strong
indirect argument
in favor
of infant baptism.
It is on this account
that the passage
occupies a prominent
place
in the baptismal
service
of the Church
of England.
This text
from Mark
chapter 10,
13 through 16
has a prominent place
in the baptism service
of the Church
of England
and I discovered
in many other
denominations
that celebrate
infant baptism.
It is certainly
not taught here.
By J.C. Ryle's
own admission,
it's not taught here.
And,
for that matter,
anywhere else
in the pages
of Scripture.
It is a troubling
thing to me
that so many
people who we love
and respect,
people who we love
to partner with
in advancing
the Gospel,
who we agree with
on so many
finer points
of Gospel truth,
embrace
the false doctrine
of infant baptism.
It's not taught
anywhere
in the Scriptures.
I read to you
before this
wonderful quote
from A.T. Pearson's
biography of George Mueller.
I think it would be
well read again here.
George Mueller,
19th century
pastor,
operated children's home
as well as
a missionary society.
If you hang around
here long,
you'll know he's
one of my spiritual heroes.
While at Sidmouth
preaching in April,
1830,
three believing sisters
held in his presence
a conversation
about believer's
baptism,
which proved
the suggestion
of another important
step in his life
which has a wider
bearing than at first
as a parent.
They naturally
asked his opinion
on the subject
about which they
were talking,
and he replied that,
having been baptized
as a child,
he saw no need
of being baptized
again.
Being further asked
if he had ever yet
prayerfully searched
the Word of God
as to its testimony
in this matter,
he frankly confessed
that he had not.
Now catch here,
he's the guest speaker,
right?
He's the visiting pastor
come to speak,
and these three women
asked this question
of him.
At once,
with unmistakable
plainness of speech
and with rare fidelity,
one of these sisters
in Christ promptly said,
I entreat you then
never again to speak
any more about it
till you have done so.
We would do well
to take a lesson
from this rather embarrassing
moment in Mueller's life,
and A.T. Pearson
goes on to say
that Mueller
not willing to back down
such a challenge did.
He read the Bible
cover to cover
with the topic
of infant
and what we would call
credo-baptism
in mind
and was promptly
on his completion
of that study
baptized as a believer.
Now there is so much
to be said
on this topic,
and I know that I've made
some incredibly strong
statements that
potentially have offended
some of you.
In fact,
I set out this week
to talk a lot about this
because it would seem
that the text
is so grossly misused
that that needs
to be set straight.
However,
in my work on that,
I realized that I was
going to neglect
what the text
actually does mean,
and that would be
a shame as well.
So we're going to leave
it at that
this Sunday.
But next Sunday,
I'm going to expound
upon this.
Right?
Part two of this text.
We're going to step away
from it,
and we're going to look
more holistically
at the Scriptures
at what they have
to teach about
infant baptism
or paedo-baptism
versus credo-baptism.
Beloved,
this is something
we should set straight
in our minds.
It's important
to what we believe.
So it doesn't mean that.
It's not some special
salvific category.
It's certainly not a case
for infant baptism.
It also
does not mean
that we are to have
ignorant,
uninformed,
blind faith.
This is sometimes
the way people teach this
or understand it,
that to have faith
like a child
is this simple,
naive type of faith.
Many people use it
to make an excuse
for their lack
of knowledge.
Right?
Well, I just think
it's enough to have faith
like a child.
There's a great
jars of clay song
that I no longer like
after studying this
as a result of this.
Now, recall
in 1 Corinthians 14,
Paul exhorts Christians
not to be like children
in our thinking.
And we so quickly
want to divorce
our heads
from our hearts.
It's enough that
I feel a certain way.
It's not.
God calls all of us
into the worship of Him.
Our head and our heart
and in fact,
our head is a conduit
for our heart.
The way you think
affects the way you feel
and therefore act.
1 Corinthians 14,
20,
Brothers,
do not be children
in your thinking.
Be infants in evil,
innocent in that way,
but in your thinking
be mature.
He exhorts us
in 1 Thessalonians 5,
21,
to test everything
so that,
in order that,
we can hold fast
to what is good.
2 Corinthians 1,
20 states
that all the promises
of God
find their yes
in Jesus Christ.
You must know
these promises
in order to live
by them.
That's the thing
I've been saying
week after week now,
and I intend to say it
every single Sunday,
why the Word of God
was written.
God's glory
and our good.
We would do well
to listen to it,
to believe its promises,
and obey its commands.
We are meant
to be a thinking people,
a people of the book.
C.S. Lewis famously said
in Mere Christianity,
it needs no special education
to be a Christian.
Christianity is an education
itself.
This is not a call
to high-minded Christianity
that has no action at all.
Head and heart.
The two must be combined
together.
We must delve in.
We must know.
Have you ever heard
somebody say,
oh, I don't really like
being theological.
Well, then you don't like God.
If you love God,
you want to know God.
The great evidence
of the love for my wife
is that I want to know
who she is.
I want to know
what she experiences.
I want to know
what hurts her,
what makes her happy.
I want to spend time
with her.
The same is true
of our God,
that we want to know Him
because we love Him.
We delve deep.
This isn't a naive,
a blind type of faith
that God is calling us to.
Now remember,
God doesn't require
of us perfect faith,
but rather sufficient faith.
So I'm not suggesting
that you have to know everything
and learn everything
and you have to be
so deep and theological
and be able to expound
upon anything
that God might accept you.
That is not what I'm saying
right now.
He requires of us
sufficient faith.
Remember the story
back in chapter 9,
verses 14 through 29,
when Jesus heals
the demon-possessed boy?
It's in response
to the faith
of the Father.
Remember verse 24,
He says,
I believe.
Help.
My unbelief.
This expression
of imperfect faith.
I think you can do it.
I'm pretty sure
you can do it.
Please help me believe
is the response of faith
of this Father.
This is the type of faith
God requires of us.
A sufficient faith.
But then we are
to go deep.
To know God.
I appreciated
what Stan had to read
this morning.
It was not planned
on our part.
This is the most important thing
about who we are.
What we think
and therefore how we act
concerning God.
So read.
Beloved, we have a book.
We have a book.
A book that's been given to us
that we might know our God.
What a phenomenal,
phenomenal thing.
Right?
Written by men
under the inspiration
of the Spirit,
the words of God
to us.
The Almighty
condescended
to become an author.
We should read that book.
That's an important,
important book.
Now here's some fun stats
for you.
I love statistics.
In another life,
I should be a statistician.
The average person reads
250 to 300 words per minute.
Okay?
Average.
You guys are all above average.
I'm sure of that.
The average person reads
250 to 300 words per minute.
The average page of my Bible,
not necessarily yours,
but the average page
of my Bible
contains 750 words.
Right?
My copy has just over
1,000 pages.
1,042 pages
to be exact.
Okay?
Now catch this.
If you read for 30 minutes
per day,
and I'm talking about
sitting down,
distraction-free,
actually reading.
Right?
If you read for 30 minutes
per day,
five days a week,
just five,
I'm going to give you
two off in my example,
for the entire year,
you could read
the entire Bible
two and a half times
per year.
30 minutes a day.
Five days a week.
Two and a half hours
a week.
Two and a half hours
a week.
You could read
the entire scriptures
through two and a half times.
That's apart from
meditation on it.
I'm not suggesting
that everybody needs
to read the Bible
two and a half times
a year.
Please don't hear me
saying that.
Right?
Soak in it.
Spend a day on a verse.
That's okay.
Spend a day on a word
in the scriptures.
It'll affect your life.
But just to give you
an idea of the capacity
that we have
as a people,
how about this?
Same example.
If you read
for 30 minutes a day,
five days a week,
for the 52 weeks
of the year,
the average book
contains 300 pages,
which means you can
read 26 books
in a year.
26 books
in a year.
Right?
Now catch this.
The average college student,
and again,
you guys are all
above average.
I am sure this is
not true of you,
but the average college
student spends
106 minutes per day
on social media.
106 minutes per day
on social media.
Now,
social media itself
is not evil.
I'm not suggesting
that at all.
However,
if you devoted
five days a week,
52 weeks out of the year,
that 106 minutes
instead to reading,
you could read
92 books.
Average books
in a year.
92 books
in a year.
Or,
and I would encourage
the Bible
8.8 times.
That's a worthy trade.
It's a worthy trade.
Set aside Facebook
and Twitter
and Instagram.
I don't know what else
is happening out there
these days.
And read.
Get to know
our God
through the wealth
of knowledge
that is out there
concerning Him.
In 1 Corinthians,
as Paul is exhorting
the Corinthians,
as they're putting
themselves under
the leadership,
I belong to Paul,
I belong to Apollos,
he flips that around
on them to say
that Paul and Apollos
belong to you.
Right?
That they are in service
to you because we are
Christ and Christ
is God's.
Right?
Which means
that all the saints,
all the people
in the present
and in the past
belong to us
for our benefit
because we belong
to Christ
and Christ belongs
to God.
As do they
to our service,
to our sanctification,
to our holiness.
holiness.
Which means
we should access
these things
that I know of.
No one in this church
writes deep theological books.
Please let me know
if you do.
I don't think
that's the case
but men throughout history
have written
wonderful reads.
You can sit down
at dinner
with some of these
phenomenal men
and hear their mind
on a particular topic
concerning God.
I started out
making a huge list
of people you should read.
It would have been
a waste of time.
Ask me some time.
Let me just give you
the Johns.
It's sort of
really like recognizing
there are a ton
of phenomenal theologians
that are named John.
Ready?
The Johns.
Read the Johns.
Piper, MacArthur,
Edwards,
that was Jonathan,
but Edwards,
Wesley, Murray,
Flavel, Calvin,
Owen, Bunyan,
Knox, or Gill.
And there's probably
some more.
Read the Johns.
I've set it as a goal
for myself,
and I know that
I've got a little more time,
which I love and appreciate,
and I thank you all
for supporting me
so that I can do
these types of things.
As a goal for myself,
in addition to the other
reading that I do,
to my scripture reading,
in addition to that,
I'm going to try to read
50 books this year
starting this Sunday.
I'll be making a stack.
There's 50,
and I'm going to try
to go process through them.
Because we can do this.
Average.
If you're 25% of average,
25% of average,
you could easily
read through the scriptures
in a year.
You could easily
read five or more books.
Right?
The call here is not
to an ignorant faith.
Right?
Uninformed.
Blind.
I exhort you to the opposite.
You will not be disappointed.
All right.
Two things that this text
does mean.
Two things that it doesn't mean.
Two things that it does mean.
It does mean that Jesus
gave special attention
to children.
And so should we.
Verse 16.
He takes them in his arms
and he blesses them
laying his hands on them.
The Greek here
just paints for us
such a beautifully tender moment.
Jesus embraces the children.
The Greek word means
he enfolds his arms
around them.
He scoops them up
and it would seem
in a group
he does it with them.
All these little babies
and these little children.
He scoops them up.
Jesus loved children.
We should do the same.
Do we?
Do we love kids?
Our society doesn't really
seem to love kids.
Our society seems to think
of children more as a burden
than a blessing.
It kills me.
It absolutely just
just wrenches my heart.
When I go someplace
with somebody who owns a dog
and we've got our kids with us
and you like go to the park
and people come up to you
and they want to pay attention
to the dog
and they don't give any attention
to the kids at all.
People in our society
love animals.
Right?
Soulless beings.
Sorry to disrupt
your thinking at all.
Right?
Non-eternal beings.
There's no dogs in heaven.
I'm sorry.
Right?
More than my kids.
How dare you?
My kids are precious
and eternal.
We should love.
And dogs are fine.
I'm okay with dogs.
But we should love.
Love children.
Listen to what God
has to say about children.
Psalm 127.
Behold,
children are heard
from the Lord
the fruit of the womb
a reward.
Not a burden.
A reward.
A blessing.
A gift.
Like arrows in the hand
of a warrior
are the children
of one's youth.
Blessed.
Happy.
Joyful is what that means.
Is the man who fills
his quiver with them.
Some of us in this church
have fuller quivers
than others.
But kids are
a blessing.
They're hard.
Right?
They're sinful.
They're a challenge.
Expose our sinfulness.
I am selfish
at my core
and my kids often
show me
how really
evident that is
in my activity.
with them.
They're a blessing.
They're precious.
We ought to be
about children.
We should love them
and because we love them
we should minister
the gospel to them.
Psalm 78
verse 1-4
Give ear, O my people,
to my teaching.
Incline your ears
to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth
in a parable.
I will utter dark sayings
from of old.
Things that we have heard
and known
that our fathers
have told us.
We will not hide them
from children
but tell to the coming
generations
the glorious deeds
of the Lord
and His might
and the wonders
that He has done.
We as a society
spend so much time
entertaining
with the fantastical
our kids
and we don't often
give to them
the very best
possible thing
we can give to them.
The most amazing,
the most miraculous story
that we can ever tell them.
God and His redemptive work
in this world.
It is a phenomenal,
phenomenal story
that has eternal consequence,
that has the power,
the ability
to captivate their hearts
and change who they are
with eternal purpose.
We need to teach our kids.
We need to pour into our kids.
Why?
I mean, I really wasn't prepared
for this morning
but I read
Our House is Like a Little Church
for that reason.
This is the best thing
we can do for our kids,
parents.
Feed them,
clothe them,
these things matter
but they don't primarily matter.
What happens to their souls
is what matters most.
Have you ever considered
that we can fix
the problems
in the church
in just one generation?
Have you ever thought about that?
Let me just use for an example
the way that Christians
these days
tend to be so consumeristic.
They have such a poor view
of what church is.
They just want to show up,
consume the show,
entertain me,
give me a little life lesson,
let me go home.
They don't want to show up to serve.
They don't want to be transparent.
They don't want to get to know.
They don't want to be part
of a faith family.
They just want to go
to a big conference
every Sunday.
This is a disease
in our churches.
The me, me, me
kind of mentality.
If we come to realize this,
fight against it,
push out our culture
and what our culture
has to say about that
and begin to embrace
the truth of what church
really is
and how it is
we're meant to live together
in the faith,
we've got to battle
with the wrong understanding.
We've got to battle
with our history
and our upbringings,
but our kids don't.
We could teach them
what it really looks like
to be in fellowship
in a church
and in a generation
it could change.
Isn't that a phenomenal idea?
All the things
that lament us
about the way
that Christians live
in this world
could be changed
in a generation.
We should be about that work.
Jesus loved children,
do we.
We let the kids
sit in the service with us
and I know
that that's not always easy.
Some Sundays
better than others.
I'll tell you right now
that we have a group
of phenomenal kids.
There's not a lot of kids
that can handle and do
what happens
in our service together.
It serves the parents
to get to have their kids
with them.
It serves the children
to get to sit
and listen,
pay attention,
see that this matters
to their parents.
But those of you
without kids,
it serves you too.
It really does.
To not think
that you have to have
a perfect vacuum
of silence
to be able to pay attention,
to learn to pay attention
regardless,
and it teaches you
to love children.
Do you love kids
even when they're
a little bit disruptive?
And let's be clear,
it's always a little bit disruptive.
It's never a lot disruptive
in here.
A little bit disruptive.
Do you love the children?
Went to a graduation
yesterday at North Georgia
to see Daniel Swanson
and Ash Harris
who were both here
this morning with us
as well as Cody Klinker.
Klink?
Is it Klinker?
Okay.
Sorry.
Sorry, Cody,
if you hear this recording.
I don't know your last name.
I love you though.
Graduate.
And, you know,
and it's silent-ish
in the gymnasium
if you've been to
the graduations there
and they're calling the names
and there's these kids
crying out
and you know
it's just the most miserable
place they could possibly be
and parents trying to hush them
and deal with that kind of a thing
and it was not a distraction
to me at all.
Praise God
that we do this here.
It didn't bother me a bit.
In fact,
I wanted to go hang out
with the kids.
Ah, that kid just needs
somebody to have fun with them.
Let's go do it.
Was the cry of my heart
in that setting.
Plus, it was really long
and boring.
it would have been better.
Right?
So, it's good.
It's good.
I think it's good for everybody.
I think it's good for all of us.
Not that it's the only way
that church can be done.
I would not argue that.
I wouldn't draw that kind of
a line in the sand
but I do think
it's the best way
for us.
If you don't have kids,
what can you do?
You can help us love our kids.
Right?
You could use your help.
You can babysit.
Healthy parents are good.
When they're good together,
they're good for kids
and we need time away
from our kids sometimes
to be good together.
Offer your services
and that whether you're
a young person
or an older person.
Your kids are out of the house.
Spend some time
with the kids.
It'll help you appreciate
not having kids in the house.
Spend time with some
of the older kids
in our church as well.
Young people,
college students.
We've got upcoming
young people
who would love
to spend time with you.
The young adults.
Right?
I'm losing cool.
I'm trying.
I'm really working at it.
You guys are cool
and you can spend time with them
and you can point them to God.
You can reinforce the things
that their parents are doing
at home with them.
Right?
Keep the distractions down
in the service
the way that you can love kids
and love parents.
Show the children
how they're supposed to act
in the service.
That could be helpful.
Talk to each other.
Pass notes.
Draw.
Right?
Sit.
Pay attention.
Be an example for them.
Right?
You've got to go to the bathroom.
Go to the bathroom.
Please don't suffer.
But if you don't have to go,
don't go.
Stay.
Stick around.
I do it every Sunday.
I think you can too.
Right?
What we do in the service together
is important.
It matters.
It matters to Jesus.
He enfolded his arms around them.
Right?
Secondly,
what it does mean.
Right?
And here's the primary point
of the text.
It took us a while to get to it.
But here is the primary point.
Right?
If you don't hear anything else
I said,
if you don't take anything else
away from this,
this is the primary point
of the text.
That we must come to the kingdom
with humility.
Right?
What does childlike faith
look like?
Right?
It means that we come to the kingdom
with nothing to offer.
We recognize that we have
nothing of ourselves
to offer
to the kingdom.
Again,
remember all the misconception
about what the kingdom even meant.
They thought that Jesus,
that the Christ,
was going to come
and he was going to reign
militarily.
I think that the disciples
are still getting this understanding
out of their heads.
Jesus is continually giving them
passion predictions
and they keep misunderstanding
what that's going to mean.
We're going to see that again
in a couple of weeks.
About halfway through chapter 10.
Again,
he foretells his death.
Again,
they don't get it.
It's common misconception.
What does a child
have to offer
to the army of God
who's going to come
and set them free
from Roman rule?
Nothing.
Luke says that they're infants.
Whether or not they're infants,
they're little
and the parents are the ones
that bring them to Jesus.
They didn't come under
their own volition.
They were brought to him
that he might pray for them,
that he might bless them.
This is the way
we come to the kingdom
as well,
with humility.
Knowing that we have
nothing to offer.
Knowing that we're insignificant.
That our sin has totally wrecked
our image-bearing capacity.
Destroyed it.
We come to Christ
by grace alone,
through faith alone.
no merit
of our own.
Ephesians 2,
8 and 9.
For by grace
you have been saved.
Through faith.
And this is not your own doing.
It is the gift of God.
Not a result of works
so that no one
may boast.
We cannot be proud
of what we have done.
We do not trust ourselves
for salvation.
Oh,
if that was the call
of the gospel,
I would be lost
again
and again
and again.
We rather trust
in Him,
in Jesus Christ.
We recognize
that there's no thing
or massive things,
massive pile of things
that we could possibly do
to merit our own salvation.
We see that
Jesus' perfection,
His holiness,
His righteousness
can be ours
through faith.
We simply believe
that that is the case.
this gift
of faith
that is given to us.
This is what Jesus
is communicating
in this text.
This is what He means
when He says,
whoever does not receive
the kingdom of God
like a child,
a little one,
an insignificant one,
one who has nothing
to offer
shall not
enter it.
Children,
perk your ears.
I wholeheartedly
agree
with the words
of Jesus loves me.
Jesus loves me.
This I know.
For the Bible
tells me so.
Little ones
to Him belong.
They are weak.
The point of this text.
But He
is strong.
Let's pray together.