The Faith of Children

Please turn your Bible to Luke chapter 18 Luke 18 will be looking at These verses here 15 through 17 that can be found on page 877 of the pew

Bible When you have that please stand for the reading of God's Word now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them and When the disciples saw it they rebuked them

But Jesus called to him saying Let the children come to me and 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

Amen You may be seated Dear Heavenly Father as your word has opened up for us today

I pray that we would we would receive it and that we would receive it like children With confidence and with dependence upon you in Jesus name.

Amen This context in Luke has been about the nature of true saving faith

What it looks like that it is a humble faith You see the contrast between the

Pharisee and the tax collector The Pharisee might be one who looks like he is justified, but he goes away from the temple of God without Justification because he is proud

The tax collector looks like one who is not justified and yet he walks away justified right with God Because he is truly come to the

Lord for mercy And so now this picture is given to us in a distinct way in a new way regarding children

The true faith is a childlike faith It's like the faith of a child and that has implications for us ourselves and our own faith

It also has implications for how we would treat children in their faith And so as we are we go through this we are going to look at what it would look like to reject children

What it looks like to welcome children in the faith of a child and then what it looks like to simply have a childlike faith

Begins here in this passage Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them

This is interesting here in Luke the word breathless in Greek is used to describe these infants and the other passages

It speaks merely of children here It speaks of infants and so we see that there's a range of children being brought to him not just older children

But also very young children infants even those who cannot talk or walk

They're being brought to him and they're being brought to him in order that he might touch them Once again looking at Matthew and Mark you can stitch it all together and see what's going on Why is it that he has to touch them?

He is laying hands on them to pray for them in order to secure blessings for them

Lays his hands on them praise them asked for God's mercies for the father's mercies upon the children

Children are very important we'll see this as we go through the passage, but I want to take a step back and just talk about the importance of children for a moment

And I'm thankful that last week we had a whole sermon about the importance of children Children are very important They are a blessing from the

Lord now Most Christians are willing to affirm that because scripture says it very directly that they are a blessing from the

Lord But a lot of times it is hard people find it difficult to embrace that or to live that out and part of the reason

I believe is because people tend to think of children as children, right they tend to think of children as helpless babies and This is not

I believe the primary way that we should be thinking of children when it speaks of children it's not talking merely of Potential legacy but pointing forward to an actualized legacy for example consider the words of Psalm 127 a passage that's frequently brought up in the context of children being a blessing

Behold children are a heritage from the Lord the fruit of the womb a reward Like arrows and the hands of a warrior are the children of one's youth

Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate

Now, why is it? That it speaks of these children as arrows when you think of babies.

You don't think of Strength you don't think of things that a warrior would use to his advantage

What Psalm 127 has in mind about building a house is not just the potential

But What it can be actualized which is technically potential also, but I'm trying to get you to think that it's not just talking about What things are in the early stages, but what they point to and the later stages when it says

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are the children of one's youth Why the children of one's youth

Bible also talks about the children of one's old age See the children of one's youth have the capacity to grow into adulthood

While you're enjoying your later years This does not point out the children of one's old age

Because it is only the children of one's youth that you are able to enjoy as adults

So I think that one of the keys to understanding the blessings of children is not to think of children merely as children

Merely as infants but to think more long -term to think not myopically of just what is right here

And now and the the burdens that children produce and the difficulties that they may are and the blessings only being the the giggles and coos

But to think long -term about the many blessings that God provides through children, you know,

I have a for example I have a lemon tree in my yard. I love the lemon tree I consider it a blessing but when

I consider a blessing, I'm not thinking of the tree as just the tree right now It's not

Being much of a blessing even though it is a blessing right it will be a blessing when I actually have lemons from it

Right now there are not Any lemons hanging off of it. So it's not it's not functionally a blessing to me in that way right, and so You can more further embrace children as a blessing if you do not only think of children as children and only the kind of blessings

That they give to you in their infancy, but the blessings they give as they grow old as well

This is part of the Bible's focus on on children in a legacy Children are very valuable

Proverbs 13 22 says a good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous

Those things that you have those things that you have built up These are not things that you are able to take with you and to the next life

They must be left to someone else and you have two options You can leave those things to someone who carries along your name carries along your honor or you can leave those things to one who does not and so that there is no honor in that and Through children one has the ability to to pass on that kind of legacy now

It's not just good for you as an individual or for families but for society at large society at large is very much stabilized by family units and by Substantial family units that embrace children a lot of times it's hard to See this and understand it because in the past hundred years to 200 years.

There are many ways in which Government has encroached on the role of the family and a lot of the role a lot of the stability that the family provides

The government has provided and you can think about this You can think about what people's immediate reactions are when you talk about problems in society

Right if you talk about The problem with people not being very intelligent or not being very educated.

The question is well What is the government doing to fix this? How are they going to fix this because? since 1867 in our state

There have been public schools and more and more the government considers this their role to make sure the children are educated

You look at the the homeless that exists and what's the first question everyone asks What is the government doing to fix this problem of homelessness?

Is it really the government's primary problem or is that not something that should fall on families to make sure that?

That there is a network that provides for those in the family who don't have things for themselves

And then you see this with the elderly as well, you know many people Point out that the elderly are not well taken care of what is the government doing to provide this what's going to happen to Social Security?

Etc, etc Social Security since 1935 these are things that have been included in society and have encroached on the role of the family so that You do not necessarily

Tend to think about the family as being the primary stability of The of society but rather government more and more offers itself as being the primary means of stability and So this is something that you must train yourself to do is to recognize

One of if not the primary Stabilizing factor that God has given in society is it's healthy families.

Not not healthy government, but healthy families There was a an economist in the 1700s.

You may have heard of named Malthus Malthus Posited that populations increase

Exponentially but resources increase linearly So as the population increases exponentially the resources there would be less and less and this is frequently

Emphasized in all sorts of dystopian fiction, you know Perhaps a soylent green being one of the more famous of these where there's just too many people not enough resources and this idea is emphasized over and over even though all the statistics say the opposite that the amount of food per person has increased with population increase

The amount of resources has increased as at a greater rate

Than the number of people the only exception to this possibly being real estate right now there are ways that that can be accommodated with you know, better building etc, but By and large resources increase at a greater quantity than people do because God has

Made humans in such a way that they have a creative capacity for work they're able to subdue the earth and they're able to provide the resources that need for needed so that More people is not a bad thing more people is a good thing and this is a

This is a great Great stabilizing

Feature That exists that exists in our world children are are very much

Blessing that is to be to be embraced and if you look at those societies that have

That have really embraced the Malthusian idea that resources would be at stake they're they're trying to walk it back some statistics from Japan and 2016

Japan reached a point where over 25 % of its population was over the age of 65

And they began selling more adult diapers and they were selling children's diapers from 2012 to 2022

Japan's GDP decreased from 6 .2 trillion US dollars to 4 .2

trillion US dollars now in general Countries grow in their GDP, you know, they become more productive as they as they advance and develop

Japan has only Decreased as they have a more and more aging society as they have not embraced the goodness of children

You look at China's one -child policy They're trying to walk it back with all kinds of tax incentives, etc.

In order to encourage people to have children Those societies that have embraced this

Malthusian idea have all tried to run from it So children are a are a great blessing now with that Continue considering this passage here and when the disciples saw it they rebuked them

Okay, so the disciples see that people are bringing children to Jesus in order for him to lay hands on them to pray and They rebuke him

Now there's two different responses to this one is the see, you know, the reasonableness or to sympathize someone with the disciples

I think it's I think it's very common for us to not and to see this as completely Unreasonable to give you some sympathy

You know consider what it is like for an important person to be doing work and then a child to come interrupt maybe you're familiar with that scene that happened a few years ago where that professor was on the

CNN and interview on zoom and then one child walked into his office and then the and then the toddler in the

Yeah, and the little Walker walked in afterwards and the mom has to dive in to take them and he's you know talking about The issue in North Korea, etc

You know very serious things that are happening in this very important interview and then you know children are interrupting and it it does seem

Like well, this is this is really not the place for children So if you have the most important person in the world doing the most important work in the world here, you know,

Jesus Christ Maybe you can have some Sympathy with where the disciples may be coming from when they think that it would be right to reject these children, but they are wrong

Jesus rebukes them Jesus rebukes them for this

Now there are many different ways that Children are rejected The children are rejected from coming to Jesus.

Let me go through a few examples of those with you So and this goes beyond maybe the obvious ones of not not having children of killing children, which is rampant in society but Even beyond that in the church.

There are a lot of ways that children are rejected and some of them are More intentionally by design and some are are less so right

So one is Children's Church Now if you don't know what Children's Church is that's where during the the main service where the people are gathered for worship

There's a second area where the kids are kept and they are given their own Very similar service that is different from that of the adults, right?

And so we're not talking about different kinds of teaching here. We're talking about them being Kept from the worship of God altogether.

This is something that I experienced growing up, you know being part of Children's Church Wondering when

I get to join with big church if this really is a special time where God's presence is found with us

Especially as it describes in Hebrews 12. This is not something to keep children away from Now there are other ways that churches can

Buy kids programs that are ostensibly designed to help children that are ostensibly designed to bring children to the

Lord actually end up pushing children away from the Lord a Lot of those happen with with Sunday schools that have second -rate teaching right a lot of times and I experienced this

I mean in high school I was in high school and I was put in a Sunday school class that was for high schoolers and at this point we're talking about an age that's even you know beyond the age of the

The children being described here I was put in a class with high schoolers and the teacher

That was given Authority over this class. She had us Draw like it was about this time of year.

I remember she had a straw turkeys with her hands because it was Thanksgiving and this is this is kind of the level of Teaching that I was getting in this particular

Sunday school class And it took me a while to realize That I didn't have to I didn't have to stay with that I could just go and join the 50 year olds in their class and finally

I did that and it was much more much more edifying now this this woman when

We all graduated from high school and she was very sad to see us all go she went and talked to the church leadership and she cried crocodile tears and So she made it so that she got the the college class, too

So we were in her college class as well this lady who's teaching us as though we are, you know, as though we're toddlers

Teaching a college level class, but this and now that's an extreme example, but there are all kinds of ways that the children's programs

Designed to help children can actually end up hurting children This is real common with youth groups as well Right a lot of youth groups because children are often only converted later on in life a lot of youth groups are designed to entertain children, right they're designed to Basically entertain goats instead of feeding sheep, you know

I experienced this too growing up being part of a youth group that had lots of different games and programs very little teaching

Well, all the adults are getting very solid teaching that I was capable at that age being

Being one who is regenerate and being one who was of a proper age even though considered young by the adults of a proper age to receive the kind of instruction that the

Adults were getting and so there there are various ways that That our kids are inadvertently kept away from Jesus though People think that they're bringing them near and in general age segregation is not helpful

Titus 2 talks about how older and younger are to interact both between men and between women

And that this is supposed to be an encouragement to the body and this is true of children as well But often a lot of times the way programs are set up They're designed in such a way that you don't benefit from those interactions between generations

And this is true for older ages too. This is not just true for for young children

This is true often for singles a lot of times Churches will arrange it so that you know, the midweek programs are just focused on focused on particular demographics so that singles hang around with singles to their own

To their own detriment where they're not benefiting from the wisdom of married couples So those kinds of those kinds of segregation are ways that people are kept from From Christ, but especially especially in a lot of ways often they work to the detriment of children

Now also pastoral inaccessibility, this is a common one This can happen both by the nature of the way the church is set up or by the the pastor himself

I had a pastor when I was very young probably only four who had a reputation among the other kids

Now I was a very good kid. I would keep my eyes closed I wasn't a very good kid in all different kinds of ways.

But in this particular way, I was a good kid I would keep my eyes closed while while we were praying, right?

But now the other kids wouldn't and so they would they would look around and that pastor while he was praying would

Make scowling faces at them and try to get them to close their eyes while he was praying. I don't even know how he did it

But I heard I heard that he had this reputation. So one day I decided I'm gonna open my eyes I'm gonna see and so I did and I looked and certainly he was doing it

He was he was scowling at all of the kids while he was while he was praying Now this is not to say that kids can't be so disorderly that it requires some kind of, you know correction from the pulpit

Yeah, there's there's mockery of the Word of God happening on that would be an appropriate time for for correction from the pulpit but That kind of attitude that is hostile towards children in general.

It's not not helpful And on top of that a lot of times churches can be structured so that they are so large that the pastor does not have

There's so large and the the pastoral staff is so little the preaching staff is so little that there is no time for the pastors to Help those who are younger once again in high school.

I once Wanted to ask the pastor a question There was always a line always a long line to talk to him at this church that I was

I was going to at the time that my family was going to and I felt very bad about getting in that line and Taking up his time because I knew so many adults had much more important questions to ask him

I wanted to know about the death penalty I knew that I this was not a pressing need like a lot of the other needs of the people that were talking to him

But I got in line. I asked him I was very thankful for his his answer and then You know,

I never asked him again because I knew that that was very precious time It wasn't that he didn't have a lot of time for and so churches constructed themselves in ways that the pastor is inaccessible

Kids don't don't ever feel like that with any of the pastors here. Okay. I'm not not saying bypass your parents Your father's the the primary one in your life for instruction.

You should talk to your father if you have any any questions But then feel free to come talk to us pastors.

We're not we're not inaccessible. We're not we're not too busy to To come and talk to you

Now this happens in the home as well Children are rejected in the home as well. One of the primary ways that this happens is through not having family worship now you see in Family worship being described

Family worship being described in Joshua Says now therefore fear the

Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness put away the gods that your father served beyond the river and in Egypt and Serve the

Lord and if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord choose to stay whom you will serve

Whether the gods of your father served in the region beyond the river or the gods the Amorites in Whose land you dwell but as for me in my house, we will serve the

Lord Now a lot of people hear that as for me in my house We will serve the Lord and I think of it as a matter of obedience that you will obey the

Lord along with your family But what's being talked about here? We're talking about idols. We are talking about Religious worship that is happening this word that is used here to describe worship is the same or describe service

Is the same word that is used to describe the worshipers of Baal and in second

Kings 10? Well, it describes it describes worship and we even say that sometimes ourselves

We talk about the service right or sacred service phrases like that This is describing worship.

And so he's saying if all the rest of Israel is not worshiping the Lord We will still be worshiping the

Lord. This is not talking about a worship that is happening in a larger gathering This is talking about worship that is happening the family families ought to be worshiping the

Lord together It means reading Bible means praying it means singing and if you are worshiping the

Lord together you are introducing Your children to Christ all scripture is about Christ all of it should be introducing your children to Christ Now even if you are doing family worship

There's still ways that children are rejected from the Lord a lot of times people will use children's Bibles for family worship, right?

So rather than introduce them to the real Word of God They have a picture book that has a few phrases and they choose not to Not to introduce them to the actual

Word of God. The Word of God is powerful introduce your children to the actual Word of God Moreover teach them the whole

Bible your instruction does not need to be Restricted to just Proverbs or just very small passages that you think are appropriate for children

All the Bible is appropriate for children There are some parts that they will not be able to understand until later on in their life and that is okay

But all the Bible is for children. You should be should be introducing them to to all of that now along with that says in Says in Deuteronomy six of The commands of the

Lord you shall teach them diligently to your children and you shall talk of them when you sit in your house And when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise

So there are two kinds of instruction right there's this kind of instruction that's very formal like family worship

And there's the kind of instruction that's just throughout the day that's happening throughout the day now There's a temptation to Unduly entrust others with this task.

They're gonna be sometimes when you do entrust others with this tax This is what you're doing right now. If you have your children right now You are entrusting me with the task of introducing your children to Christ as they hear the words of God Read and proclaimed and so there are times where that's going to be appropriate there's times when there's going to be extreme needs that required to rely on others to Play this role in your children, but for the parent.

This is primarily the parents role in the child's life

So there are ways that you can unduly entrust this to others now if we're talking about the formal

The formal ways that this is happening You could expect the church to do all the work and not think that is important for you to worship with your child

You could think that For the informal work it is that is something that someone else could do.

This is very common the Deuteronomy 6 7 is describing something that is happening throughout the day.

It's happening mornings happening the evening. It's happening throughout the day now if you entrust The spiritual formation of your children to a school system

Once again, there can be extreme stream needs it that leads that but will this not?

entrusting others with this unduly will that not have a Serious ramification for your children and don't think that just avoiding public schools

Is going to necessarily fix all the problems if you are trusting some

Christian school to do this you will find That your own instruction is the best

God has God has placed you in your child's life. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter Whether or not you feel like you know scripture well enough.

This is primarily your role Embrace it as much as you possibly can and do not unduly

Trust others with the work but do not be surprised if you If you give your children to others and then this is not done

In those later years right if you do not water a plant do not be surprised if the plant dies now

These disciples are rebuked as I said mark describes them Describes us as being indignant

This is something that is wrong that we might though we might understand their concern about the importance of the

Lord himself this is something where they are they are wrong for their rejection of of these children

Now what's wrong here? The problem is not that they consider Jesus too important. Okay, Jesus cannot be considered too important He is the most important person that has ever lived.

I would also argue the problem isn't necessarily that they see the children as being of Too little importance.

There's a sense in which that is true The children have souls. This is not a matter like the interview about North Korea where the children are of no concerns

Okay, the adults have souls children have souls souls are important regardless it's important to pray for children

But is It enough to say that they value the children too little if there's nothing to compare it compared to what it's not compared to Jesus Jesus is of infinite importance.

What is it in comparison to it's it's in comparison to themselves It's in comparison to themselves that they consider

They consider themselves too important to deal with the children they consider

The others who are coming to Jesus too important for Jesus to deal with the children

This is this is the real issue and it's very ironic given that the disciples especially the twelve were chosen from Such lowly positions right there being brought up from lowly positions, but they're thinking that others are too high positions

In order for Jesus to entertain the the concerns of children it's also ironic because in order to leave some kind of spiritual legacy you have to Lose the the self -importance that would that would focus only on you and you have to be able to focus on another if you're not

Able to leave spiritual inheritance you are working to your own harm. You're you're self sabotaging, right?

Your self -importance is at war against leaving a spiritual legacy so you should not be filled with any kind of Self -importance that would be at war in this way

You should instead You should instead consider the context of this passage the context of this passage being

The Pharisee and the tax collector being the fact that you are one who is not worthy

One who has no special status one who is in desperate need of God's mercy

If you realize that Then there's no reason that you would consider children less than yourself in that regard and their need for for Jesus Christ And so he says here

Let the children come to me and do not hinder them For to such belongs the kingdom of God.

So we are to Encourage children We are to encourage children in their pursuit of Jesus Christ Once again, you know many ways that this is this is not done many ways that the children are rejected.

There are a couple of Kind of Baptist specific ways of rejecting children as well you know that because we recognize that It's important not to give

Children a false assurance of faith and to really desire them to be born again there's a

There's a temptation to splash cold water on Their professions of faith right if a child professes faith in Jesus Christ It doesn't matter if that is if that's happening at a very young period in their life that is to be encouraged

It is not to be you are not to meet enthusiasm without another common way that this happens is by discouraging them to pray

A lot of people feel that is it is not right for children to praise and if they don't have Christ as their mediator first Once again, you do not know the work that God has done in the child's life

And so if you do not know if you do not have such You know those kinds of spiritual goggles you should not you should teach your children to pray not not teach them not to pray

It's very it's very harmful to them Now prayer Unlike all the other elements of worship.

It is a it's an element of natural worship What that means is that? The other kinds of worship that we are given to do are things where God has to command us in order to do them

You know He has to tell us to preach in order for it to be right to preach He has to tell us to sing in order for be right for us to sing if we were to sing without his authority

To do so in a way that is religious and ceremonial that would be That would be very sinful for us to do but he has authorized these things and so we do these things

Prayer on the other hand is an element of natural worship. That means it is so It is so natural

That if God has put his thumbprints on creation itself If we are to recognize that he exists according to Psalm 19 according to Romans 1 that even apart from the

Word of God we would We would recognize him then.

Of course. It is natural that we would call out to him in prayer So prayer is an element of natural worship.

This is something that even pagans are to be doing that They are also to be calling out to God Now whether or not that is accepted is a different question because that is something that needs a mediator

But they are to be calling out to God if they are to be and so is your child Another thing that's interesting here is a lot of parents teach their children to sing

Right almost every parent teaches a child to sing to Jesus Christ But then the same ones who teach their children to sing to him teach them not to pray often and so it's

It's hypocritical on that point if you're going to teach your child to sing to God What is singing?

It's just it's if it is to God then it is Simply prayers that are sung so if you're going to teach your child to sing you should teach your child also to to to pray

Now you are to encourage your children in coming to the faith in coming to Jesus Christ How do you do that?

You do that by identifying those things that they do that are that are to be encouraged and encourage that When a child professes faith in Jesus Christ you encourage that when a child

Expresses interest in the things of God you encourage that especially if you see them independently serving the Lord outside of your command outside of the

Something that they are already being told to do if they are independently serving him That's something that is especially to be commended on the other end of that for things where you are to You are to also discourage those behaviors that are bad, right?

If you see apathy and your child or in foreign children, that is to be discouraged now a lot of people feel that that is rather to be tolerated and Coddled a lot of people do not bring their children to church because their children don't want to go to church and they think that It's best not to force this on their child and to make it their own choice

Well one day it will be your child's own choice But your responsibility right now is to raise them up in the way that they should go so they would not depart from it

Your responsibility is to bring them to the worship of God and this This continues on so long as you have children in your home if they are under your household if they are under Your then they are under your authority in that sense and you should still be

Bring them to the worship of God and requiring that of them In order for them to continue in your home as not something that is just to be restricted to To young children.

It's not that okay you bring young children with you, but then once they're teenagers they get to make their own choice No, so long as they are in your household bring them bring them to the worship of the

Lord and Discourage any behavior that would go contrary to that now on top of that you should pray for your child

You should pray for their spiritual conversion. You should pray for Any kind of temptation that they might face it's your job in particular as a parent to know your children in the in the kind of temptations that they might be especially subject to And pray along those lines

Now, let me address a few other Categories here. What if you are one?

Who your children are already out of the home if your children are already out of the home you can still you can still

Pursue their good spiritually You can encourage them in Following the

Lord you can still pray for them You see what it says in Timothy And first Timothy it says

I am reminded of your sincere faith a Faith that dwelt first in your grandmother

Lois and your mother Eunice and now I am sure dwells in you as well Okay, so he's talking about Timothy one of the more important figures in biblical history who is led to the faith by his grandmother and his mother and So even if you if you know if your children are out of the home, you can still invest in grandchildren

So this is this is not something that ends with children being in your home But you can continue to make an investment of it and God will very much

God will very much reward these things Now what if you What if you have raised?

Children and you very much regret the way that you raise them that you feel that you did not Lead them in the way they ought to go while you still had an opportunity to do so There is a great forgiveness is available in Jesus Christ none of what

I'm saying to none of what I'm saying today Means that there is not forgiveness for you If you have not led your children in the way you want consider out what

Jesus was accused of First of all consider how he is a perfect sacrifice for this right? He is one who perfectly cared for children

Okay, so if you are guilty of the sin of not caring for children, okay, he is he is perfect in this regard

Now on top of that Why is it that he suffered? What is it that he is accused of in John chapter 11?

It said that it's best for him to die in order for the children of God to be gathered who are scattered abroad He's accused of separating the children of God of not caring for God's children

Okay, so this is what he's being. This is the sin, you know that he's being saddled with is

The sin that he is dying for is the sin of not caring for the children of God Now he is one who goes to the cross willingly

Not not speaking out against this false accusation

Being one who is perfectly cared for children Dying as one who did not care for the children of God and then moreover just to illustrate this even further

As he's going to the cross people are saying let his blood be on us and on our children

Right being crucified by people who care nothing for their children who are happy to let Jesus's the guilt of Jesus's blood be on their children

Okay, so Jesus Offers a perfect sacrifice for any who have any who have not honored the

Lord in this way You can come to the Lord you can repent today. You can begin praying for your children today

You can begin investing in in them today by encouraging them in whatever way is necessary Now what about If you are one who does not yet have a family does not yet have children

Well, you can be preparing in order to have children you can be

Praying for your future family. You can be reading the Word of God and Preparing yourself in order to know that word to explain it to children in order to draw children to Christ you can

Be looking for a spouse that would be well equipped to join in this work with you

These are things you could be doing now. What if you are past that age? You won't be having children because those those years have gone

Well, you can still invest in the children of the church consider the disciples the disciples here These are not their own children that are at stake.

These are the children of others You can encourage the children of the church You can be praying for the children of church

Something very practical and simple that you can do is you can ask the children what they learned from the message

What they learned from the teaching this day and you can that can be a go -to Question that you can ask them in order to encourage them in the faith and So all of these all of these are ways that you can you can encourage children, you know older Translations of this passage, you know what they say they say suffer the little children

Let them come to me just because it says suffer the little children does not mean it has to be difficult or painful

Okay, it can be a joy. It can be a joy to care for children Yeah, a suffer suffer less suffering.

I don't know what you would call it, but It can be it can be a great joy to invest in children now he says here

For to such belongs the kingdom of God For to such belongs the kingdom of God.

These are those who are humble. These are come those who come to him in dependence Those who have childlike faith are those who belong to the kingdom of God now there are several things that this doesn't mean and I know there's a

Danger to focus so much on what a passage doesn't mean to not talk about what it does mean We will talk about what it does mean but some things that this does not mean first This does not mean that every child is saved

Okay John 10 28 says that Jesus does not lose any of the sheep that are in his hand if every child is in the

Lord's Hand then there are quite a number that he has lost Okay, this does not mean that every child is saved

It also does not mean that every child dying in infancy is saved a Lot of people will take this verse and apply it to those dying in infancy

That's very odd Application of this text since if it applies to those dying in infancy, but why wouldn't it apply to those who are not dying in?

Infancy, why would you say that this only applies to those who die as children not those who simply live as children? I do not know

Why one would do that, but the idea that every single child dying in infancy is saved

That goes contrary to what the Bible teaches about the election of God The Bible teaches that God elects the few rather than the many and there are many many children who die before before childbirth

Maybe you're unfamiliar with the stats But it is about one third of embryos not implant in the wall the lining of the uterus so in other words there there many that you aren't even aware of who do not make it to the first stages of beginning to Be nurtured in the womb

And so if it's the case that every single every single child that does not make it to birth is saved

That would mean that God is actually electing the the many rather than the few in addition to that God is not partial it explains this many times that he's not taking a particular class of people and saying these

Are the saved ones? All right, but what would it mean if he was saved? We're saving every child dying in infancy. He would be partial

It is Election God's election is also such that it is not according to man's wisdom

He elects not as man would he does not choose the wise things of the world. He does not choose the strong things of the world

He does not choose those that we would consider most righteous most innocent This is not what he's choosing if he's doing that Why aren't all the

Pharisees being the ones who are saved? They are the ones who look the most righteous It is not According to man's wisdom, but this matter and you see so many people embrace it

Why because it is according to man's wisdom is very much according to man's wisdom that every child dying in infancy would be saved now fourth

Election is designed so that it is not through the hand of man, but through the hand of God that men would be saved

Right is not by the will of not by the will of man, but by the will of God that people are saved

But if there is a way If every child dying in infancy is saved then every one who goes to slaughter a child is guaranteeing a child's salvation

This would be the natural reality right every every abortion doctor is saving tons and tons of souls

The instrument by which far more salvations are happening the most the most churches could lay claim to These are these are all things the

Bible says about what God's plan is for his people and These all run contrary to that this idea runs contrary to that in all these several ways

Now a lot of people have ways around this right? They try to get around this with different things. They say, okay

Well, the Bible says that we're saved by grace, but it says that we're judged on the basis of our works And so since a child does not have any actual works that are sinful

They will not be and will not be judged guilty on Judgment Day If this is what you believe what you are saying is, okay, there's original sin.

It's true that we're saddled with Adam's guilt it's true that the That we're born with a simple nature that is guilty before God yet None of that guilt would ever be admissible in God's court.

So it's not really guilt in the same way What you're doing is tacitly denying original sin this is

Once again contrary to God's Word we are born children of wrath Okay, children of wrath of God's anger being honest because we are guilty in his court

There's another thing that people do where they simply appeal to God's kindness in his good nature

That's certainly he would kill it. Yes. Certainly. He would save the children and not and not permit them to To suffer.

Well, first of all, why is it the children died all and why is it that God doesn't save every single person?

Why are we not universalists that believe in the salvation of all? There's a there's a quote. I want to give you Sam Storms says the following we must ask the question

Given our understanding of the character of God as presented in Scripture Does he appear as the kind of God who would eternally condemn infants on no other grounds than that of the

Adams transgression? Admittedly, this is a subjective and perhaps sentimental question, but it deserves an answer.

Nonetheless Do you hear what he do you hear what he's saying and how naturally we would fall into this like Isn't God a very nice God who wouldn't do this to children?

Are we really saying that that their guilt is that bad? What you do when you start taking people's guilt and you saying is it really that bad of guilt?

You are lessening the salvation of God. You are making it not as valuable You are you are reducing the need for the salvation of God And the more you do that the more you the more you lower sin the more you lower salvation

And if you do not recognize that you from birth even from before birth are in desperate desperate need of the mercy of God and not owed a single thing and not simply by the by the

Broad mercy of God because it's sort of owed to you in a special way that it's not owed to older people who have lived longer

Who have done the real bad works? Then you are you are not

Contemplating the goodness and the greatness of God's salvation. Okay, so this is I know that was Wild, but that is one thing that this doesn't mean

Another thing that this doesn't mean is that we do not need to invent special ceremonies to encourage the faith of children

Okay, we do not need to give false assurances because someone repeated a prayer because someone walked down an aisle

We do not need to do baby dedications in order to invite children to enjoy the blessings of the

Lord Baby dedications are nowhere found in Scripture They're man -made ceremony that we do not we are not authorized to add to the things that God has given us

Same is true of infant salvation. This is something that is not explained in Scripture. There are all different kinds of Justifications for it that people have and there are so many that I can't really go through all of them today

But one of them is just this passage if this passage If this passage is saying that Infants should be baptized and all the passages that come before it where Jesus reaches out to the to the sinners to the sick to the lowly to the unclean

Why does it not apply that way if Jesus reaching out to the children means that children should be baptized

Why does not him reaching out to the unclean mean that the the sick, you know and the leprous all should be baptized just just because they're leprous right or or Yeah, the sinner just because they send a lot right there's there's an understanding that there has to be some kind of repentance

There has to be some being born again for this to be appropriate. This is not yeah, this is not something where we can just look at this passage and say well because Childlike faith is the kind of faith that is true faith does not mean that every child has true faith

This is also true for for youth baptism Okay So not just infant baptism But youth baptism a lot of people feel that it's necessary in order to encourage people to come to the

Lord to baptize Children who are able to give a profession of faith, but still very young and who are not able to give credible professions of faith right, so Very common, you know a child is you know kindergarten age about that right that you have encouraged them to love the

Lord They are expressing what appears to be a love for the Lord Mother and father both say it's genuine.

How capable is the church of discerning at that age? That is a genuine professional faith now.

It is absolutely 100 % to be encouraged but This is not the parents job to discern on their own.

Is it baptism the church ordinance? It is the church's job. And so it only when the church can discern these things responsibly

Is it appropriate for the church to do so and so Many churches have veered from what early

Baptists did and taught in order to bring more and more You know in order to get those numbers up When it comes to when it comes to baptism and it's not just credible professions of faith

It also has to do with the nature of a covenant, right? If church membership is a very solemn and serious covenant, you know how contracts work

You do not let a child sign a contract on their own Before some kind of notion of adulthood you always have the parents sign for them

And there are some things that are so serious so solemn you do not let a child sign even with his parent, right?

There's going to war. This is not something that parents can sign off with their child Getting married below a certain age

That is not something that parents can sign off of Church membership is one of the most serious commitments that you will make and so it is not something that is appropriate apart from a kind of Independence and maturity in adulthood and I'm not necessarily saying like 18 years old adulthood

But but a maturity that would be appropriate to enter that kind of solemn Agreement and just to throw one thing out to there the and this is this is the way early

Baptist spoke of this From the records that I'm aware of having read the history on this the youngest

Baptism there was among the early particular Baptist particular Baptist being the older phrase for what we call reform

Baptist The earliest one was a child who was 12 years old, right and at that point

It might not even be appropriate to say child because if they are, you know about their father's business if they're doing

You know if they are working etc in a culture that would encourage that kind of thing

This is this is one who is entering that kind of independent service to the Lord So that's on the that's on the very young end of the spectrum in history among early early particular

Baptist So children are to be Yeah, children are to be encouraged in this and this is not a yeah, and these are these are different examples of what?

What this is not a lot of people want to Because they desire to encourage children to seek the

Lord They very much want to add their own means not trusting the means the Lord the means of the Lord are good enough

Okay, if you have and I've done this before I speak of experience if you have like a frozen lasagna

You get the store you want it to bake a little faster So you turn it up to 500 degrees, you know instead of the 350 it tells you on the instructions what what happens?

You know, it's all burnt on the outside. It's frozen on the inside You didn't actually improve this situation, right? You should have just listened to the instructions.

God has given us instructions We don't need to add our own mechanisms our own ways. We should just trust the Lord and his ways are good

Okay, so he says truly I say to you whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it

So he explains his words right for such belongs the kingdom of God a lot of people tempted to say, okay

So kingdom God belongs to children. No, he explains his words. He interprets them You must receive the kingdom of God like a child.

So what is what is a childlike faith a childlike faith is a Dependent faith a childlike faith is a

Confident faith. Okay. It's a confident faith when I was a child My father would drive.

I'm very snowy mountainous roads and my mother would be very nervous in the front seat, right? she's just really nervous that the car is going to wreck, you know, sweating bullets and I as a child in the backseat

Never been in a wreck before everything's just fine. I am perfectly confident We're gonna make it to the destination because I I know nothing else

Right, that is a that is a childlike faith now whether or not I should have had faith in my father in that way

It's a different question. But this is this is the kind of faith child has a very confident faith

Okay, it's a dependent faith. It understands that you are dependent upon another when

I was I Guess about 12, you know, my sister is my sister's nine years younger than me.

So my sister's about three. I'm about 12 often she would stand on the sink and then jump to me and I would catch her and One time

I rounded the corner did not know she was there and she second She saw me she jumped off and launched herself right into a wall

Because she was expecting me to catch her. That's a very very dependent faith, right? She's really trusting me She really believe now once again should she have trusted me?

that's obviously she shouldn't have in that circumstance, but You can perfectly trust the

God of the universe. This is the kind of defendant pendant faith that we should have This is not a childish faith

This is a childlike faith right Jesus himself the only begotten Son of God had a perfect confident

Trust in his father. He had a perfect Dependence upon his father.

He even had a childlike faith So it's not something that lacks maturity. A lot of people think a childlike faith is a childish faith, right?

They think it's an answer intellectual faith that shuns Learning more about God's Word.

They think it is a Kind of faith that is immature This is not what a childlike faith is.

That is a childish faith Those are things to be rejected and they are at odds with with cultivating a childlike faith.

You can be very mature Christ himself has the the perfect childlike faith childlike trust in his father so these are not and there are all kinds of ways that people can have a faith that is that is childish or that Rejects childlike faith you're trusting in yourself.

You're trusting in other things. You're not you're not dependent on God You're not trusting his word These are things

I see confident I see frequently when I point People to God's Word on certain passages that are a little hard for them to hear right the the responses come immediately

Well, that would mean I would have difficulty X that would mean group Y is wrong That would mean teacher

Z is wrong right that you Come up with all these reasons that are pragmatic that have nothing to do with the authority of God's Word They have nothing to do with with searching scriptures daily to see if these things are so as the

Bereans did right and are rather Ways of approaching God's Word that is not dependent that is not placing yourself under it, but it is placing yourself over it

So this would be contrary to what a childlike what a childlike faith is

Now, why would God? Desire a childlike faith he saves whom he wills

And he has willed that he would create for himself a people who are dependent upon him Why is that why didn't he just decide to save the

Pharisees and those who have the most outward righteousness? He could have chosen to do that if he wanted to but this is the way that brings him the most glory

You know Jesus himself Struggling to find the the right word to describe his frustrations because it's certainly not a frustration with his father but a frustration with with People who are rejecting him stops and he he thanks

God when he sees all the wise rejecting me He says but blessed be you God who opens the eyes of infants and blinds the wise

There's something especially glorifying to God when those who are childlike those who are dependent who are not wise in their own eyes

Trust in the Lord There's more glory that he receives if it were those who are wise of those who are great in the world

That he were bringing to himself He would not be glorified in this man would be glorified on in this because the focus would be on them and their great works

And the great things that they have done This would be This would be the the way that This would steal glory from him now beyond that Consider consider this in context because I think this will make more sense in context show you that there is a shared identity

Between children and True believers that should drive our concern for children given that children are so predisposed to a childlike faith

Those who are people of a childlike faith should not see themselves as as higher but should see

Something similar that they value right? There's going to be a a natural

Kinship a natural affinity for children if you value Childlike faith if you have cultivated a childlike faith that drives this ethic

Okay, so this is not just about caring about children. This is about developing in yourself. Also a childlike faith

Consider the context and this this is different than how it is in Matthew Mark and Matthew Mark This comes after a teacher gone divorced

Luke has positioned this immediately after the Pharisee in the tax collector. Okay, the Pharisee The Pharisee in the tax collector this parable is told to those who trust in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt

Okay, Jesus is go and then Luke goes on to tell of an instance where people are treating children with contempt

Jesus says at the end of this for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled But the one who humbles himself will be exalted their disciples who are exalting themselves and not being humble and serving those who they ought to serve if they were to And and so what this reflects is not just the wrong attitude towards others

It's a wrong attitude about themselves and who they are in God's eyes and these things feed back and forth into one another

Right into each other if you are one who sees your righteousness as giving you your right standing before God You are going to despise others, right?

You are not going to be fond of the tax collector, right? But if you recognize that you are one who is in need of great mercy from God You will have a special concern and care for the tax collector but this feeds back into itself to if you are if you recognize a command to welcome the tax collector as you do that you will develop in yourself a

Recognition that you are in need of mercy as is the tax collector now this this all applies to children, right?

if you're one who who Thinks of their standing and their understanding as and their kind of dependence on themselves and their ability to fend for themselves and provide for themselves as Being superior to the childlike faith of children

You're going to you're going to despise children and think low of them But if you realize that your faith is one that is very dependent upon God That is not relying on your own strength on your own ability.

You will feel a particular fondness for children You will have a particular compassion in them seeing something similar

That you are cultivating in yourself. And if you practice welcoming children

To Jesus Christ pointing them to Jesus Christ. You will reinforce in yourself the understanding

That a childlike faith is to be valued that you are one who is who is lowly who is humble

So both directions both the activity of welcoming and In the heart they feed into one another and so Humble yourselves before the

Lord recognize that this is not a this is not A small matter.

This is a very serious matter that as you welcome children as you pursue real humility

That this is the kind of faith that the Lord That the Lord greatly values

And if you do not see this faith in yourself know that it is something that that can be

That can be cultivated, you know, God is God is very powerful. He's great.

He can cultivate faith and and those who are the least able to understand and those who are the least able to To Who have the least wisdom of their own right just to give an illustration the psalm 22

David speaks. He says on you was cast from my birth and from my mother's womb You have been my God be not far from me for trouble is near and there is none to help

Okay, excuse me. I meant to read the verse before that yet You are he who took me from the womb you made me trust you and you at my mother's breast

On you was cast from my birth and from my mother's womb you have been my God Right, this is this is

David describing and then foreshadowing Jesus Christ this early Faith of a child

God working miraculously in him to understand If you are one that does not have childlike faith

God can work in you a faith so that you would you would desire to To depend on him that you would be confident in his word and you ought to cultivate that by uh by praying to him he has

He has provided for us not just adoption as sons Okay. So first of all, Jesus Christ is the the perfect son and in uh in him we become sons

But this is not merely a legal status. Okay. It's not just a uh a piece of paper Signed, you know that says we're sons.

There's more than just a legal status Romans 8 15 says for you to not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear

But you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry abba father so he has given us his own spirit in order to organically imbue us with childlike faith to grant to us not just the legal status of children, but even the thoughts and feelings that a child should have

Now this is something that is not, uh evenly enjoyed among all believers, even though the spirit is given to all believers

Jesus says If then you who are evil, this is in luke 11 13 If then you are evil know how to give good gifts to your children

How much more will the heavenly father give the holy spirit to those who ask him? If you find yourself lacking in the fruit of the spirit

If if you would like the spirit to work more in you that you would more enjoy the uh the joys of childlike faith

Pray even as jesus instructed after the lord's prayer that you should pray for more of the spirit

In order that you would be fuller and fuller of a childlike Of a childlike faith that comes to the lord

Jesus said those who believe in him would be Out of their hearts would flow rivers of living water speaking of the spirit

If you have come to the lord in faith, if you if you have not come to the lord in faith It's it's the only way of salvation.

But if you have And you do not see rivers of living water if it's just a trickle

Pray that god would give you a greater and mightier stream. He has outpoured his spirit on the day of pentecost

He is not holding back if he has given his son his son. How will he not also give us all things?

people have wandered far and wide looking for A fountain of youth right all kinds of people invest all kind of money in it.

We have people today who uh Who are investing lots of money in technology to to turn back the clock on biological aging?

We have people who invest in all kinds of products and chemicals to try to make them age less Uh ponce de leon, you know went to florida went to the bahamas looking for a fountain of youth

Real fountain of youth isn't in florida. It's not in the bahamas If you want if you want the a true childlikeness that is eternally valuable

It is something that you can only find through jesus christ, uh come to him today

Pray for his spirit to work in you that you would be full of the kind of youth that god desires a

Childlike faith that trusts in him confidently dependently And even one that sees a kinship

With children who have a predisposition to that childlike faith welcoming them into the kingdom

Amen Dear heavenly father. We thank you for your word.

We ask that you would Give us grace as we implement it in our own lives. We ask that you would uh grant us

More of your spirit that he would work in us in a in a greater way in order that we would be full of a youthful childlike faith