WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.319 Turn to the Gospel of Matthew. 00:00:03.439 --> 00:00:05.120 You have your scriptures with you this morning. 00:00:05.280 --> 00:00:07.200 You want to grab the Bible there in the pew. 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:08.960 Matthew chapter 19. 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:11.359 That's the first book of the New Testament. 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:17.120 We're going through this gospel together, inspired by Matthew. 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:32.320 Three verses for this morning, Matthew 19, verses 13 to 15. 00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:37.600 This is God's word. 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:47.439 Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:52.799 But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. 00:00:53.679 --> 00:01:00.240 Jesus said, Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them. 00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:04.079 For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. 00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:09.519 When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there. 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:18.719 We come to your word. 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:35.840 We pray like newborn babies, desiring, craving the sincere milk of the word, and also acknowledging that we need the very Spirit of God to be giving us growth in the Word, understanding of the Word. 00:01:36.239 --> 00:01:41.280 So help us, O Lord, help us, our Abba Father, as we hear your word today. 00:01:41.439 --> 00:01:42.640 In the name of your Son. 00:01:42.959 --> 00:01:43.599 Amen. 00:01:46.079 --> 00:01:48.239 Children are learners. 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:54.480 You will often hear parents say, My child is a sponge. 00:01:54.879 --> 00:01:56.719 What do they mean by that? 00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:01.120 They probably don't mean my child is just so soft and squishy. 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:05.680 What they mean by that is my child just learns and learns. 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:07.519 They just soak up everything. 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:10.479 They're always watching and learning. 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:12.479 This starts at a very young age. 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:19.360 You hear these stories about young children who have a preference for the kind of music they heard in the house while they were in the womb. 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:21.439 How does that work? 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:30.560 I have no idea exactly how little ones learn so much from us, but they do. 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:35.039 Can we learn anything from them? 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:40.800 According to Jesus, yes. 00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:42.960 Yes, we can. 00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:46.800 Little ones have a lot to teach us. 00:02:47.039 --> 00:02:52.479 And our passage for today little ones teach us about the kingdom of heaven. 00:02:52.800 --> 00:03:03.199 The very kingdom that Jesus came proclaiming, the kingdom that Matthew writes so much about, little ones can teach us about the kingdom of heaven. 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:05.439 Are we willing to listen to them? 00:03:07.919 --> 00:03:18.639 The passage here, these few verses, sometimes people will use this passage to kind of emphasize beliefs that the passage isn't really about. 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:22.400 There's a story I heard about Charles Spurgeon. 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:24.400 I tried to find the source for it this week. 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:25.919 I couldn't find the source. 00:03:26.159 --> 00:03:31.599 Maybe it's not original to him, but it sounds like something he would say, so I'm going to go ahead and share it anyway. 00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:40.319 So as I had recalled the story, Spurgeon was debating another minister on the subject of infant baptism. 00:03:40.560 --> 00:03:47.360 Now, he was a Baptist pastor, and so he didn't think the Bible taught that you should baptize infants. 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:58.240 And as these two men are going to have this public debate, friendly, the moderator says, I'm going to let each of you start by giving one Bible verse just to kind of summarize your position. 00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:01.919 And so he had the other minister go first. 00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:13.120 And the man said, Matthew 19, 14, suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for as touch is the kingdom of heaven. 00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:15.599 Then it was Spurgeon's turn. 00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:23.040 And Spurgeon said, Job 1.1, there was a man from the land of Uz whose name was Job. 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:28.079 And the other guy said, Well, what does that have to do with baptism? 00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:31.040 And Spurgeon said, Funny you should ask. 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:33.519 I was wondering the same thing about your verse. 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:45.040 It's not a verse about baptism or other kinds of various, you know, church, church programs per se. 00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:54.560 In fact, it's not even primarily a passage about children, but about what we can learn from children. 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:57.680 And that something is very important. 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:02.639 The title for the message this morning is A Kingdom for the Little. 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:04.800 A kingdom for the little. 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:07.360 And I've got two points. 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:10.639 The first point is a subordinate point. 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:14.079 So it's valid, but it's there to actually support the main point. 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:21.680 So we'll start with the first subordinate point, and that is this: Jesus teaches us how to receive little ones. 00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:25.120 Jesus teaches us how to receive little ones. 00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:30.399 Verse 13, you can see the contrast between Jesus and his disciples. 00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:38.720 Little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them, but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. 00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:47.600 When you first read this, the disciples sound kind of ornery, don't they? 00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:49.279 Like, who let the Grinches out? 00:05:49.360 --> 00:05:51.360 I mean, why not let the kids come? 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:55.439 But put yourselves in the disciples' shoes. 00:05:55.759 --> 00:05:59.519 They've left their professions to follow Jesus. 00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:02.000 They're on a mission from God. 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:05.199 The Son of God is there with them. 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:13.199 I mean, you could understand why they would think they need to be lovingly direct with these parents and say, look, this is Jesus. 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:16.720 This is not just your average parish pastor. 00:06:17.680 --> 00:06:19.920 This is the Son of God who's come to save the world. 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:24.639 He's got more important things to do than shake hands and kiss babies. 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:28.319 But in this case, they got it wrong. 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:30.639 They got it completely wrong. 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:35.279 Jesus at times does withdraw from crowds. 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:38.000 At times he'll have solitary occasions of prayer. 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:40.720 He doesn't say yes to every single person that comes to him. 00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:47.839 But Jesus was often on the lookout for those who were of little account in the eyes of the world. 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:51.199 We saw that just recently with the Canaanite woman. 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:53.519 Lord, even the dogs get some of the crumbs. 00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:56.800 And Jesus says, How great is your faith? 00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:04.800 Jesus didn't think he was above ministering to little ones. 00:07:05.680 --> 00:07:07.759 He was eager to do it. 00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:15.519 Some of you are part of what's been called the silent generation, those born in World War II or just before World War II. 00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:18.879 Sadly, there's fewer of those people around. 00:07:19.279 --> 00:07:22.079 But why the silent generation? 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:30.000 Well, one idea behind that descriptor is because children were to be seen and not hurt. 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:33.920 You can imagine dad comes home from a hard day at the factory. 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:37.120 He wants to read the newspaper and understand the world's affairs. 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:39.600 He doesn't want kids clambering all over him. 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:43.360 And we can understand a hard day's work and caring for children. 00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:50.800 But we have to be very careful here because Jesus shows us a beautiful picture. 00:07:51.120 --> 00:08:04.000 That attending to little ones, caring for them, is not the exclusive domain of stay-at-home moms while the rest of the folks go on with bigger things in the world. 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:09.600 No, in some sense, attentiveness to little ones is for all of us. 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:14.639 Notice, too, here the way that Jesus cares for them. 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:21.920 Verse 13, they were brought for Jesus to place his hands on them. 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:27.199 And then in verse 15, he does place his hands on them. 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:32.480 Jesus gave these little ones undistracted attention. 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:39.840 You could pray for 20 kids, but you can't gather up 20 kids in your arms at one time. 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:42.799 That's going to require individual attention and care. 00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:44.320 That's what Jesus does here. 00:08:44.639 --> 00:08:48.320 He was, before his public ministry, a carpenter by trade. 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:55.840 You can't build a table and can you can't construct a table and then hold a child at the same time. 00:08:57.519 --> 00:09:01.200 Jesus chooses to give these children his undivided attention. 00:09:01.679 --> 00:09:03.120 So what about us? 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:10.000 Are there times when you're willing to give little ones your undistracted attention? 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:12.639 Say, well, I can multitask. 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:18.240 I mean, I can scroll through news articles while I'm listening to kids drone on about their childish things. 00:09:19.279 --> 00:09:23.440 But then you're not learning from them the way that you could be. 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:26.879 So not to say there's never a time to multitask. 00:09:27.039 --> 00:09:29.840 When you're driving a car is not the time to hold a baby in your arms. 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:33.440 That's, and you can have good conversations while you're driving a car. 00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:38.720 But I just kind of put the question there: are there ever times when you're not multitasking? 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:50.879 Are there ever times when you're willing to stoop down and consider a little one and how you might care for them and maybe what they could offer to you? 00:09:51.919 --> 00:09:53.360 Jesus was the Son of God. 00:09:53.440 --> 00:10:04.240 I'm sure he very well could have done other things along with receiving these little ones, but he chooses to give them the full heart of his presence for this particular period of time. 00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:06.960 And there's a reason for that. 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:09.679 He wasn't just trying to be a nice guy. 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:16.159 He knew that little ones help show us what is required for the kingdom of heaven. 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:24.559 So you, the disciples, they seem to be thinking, we're proclaiming the kingdom of heaven. 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:27.360 We don't have time for the little ones. 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:30.240 And Jesus says, no, no, no. 00:10:30.799 --> 00:10:35.279 Because we're proclaiming the kingdom of heaven, we have to take time for the little ones. 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:37.360 Because of what they show us. 00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:40.879 And that brings us to the main point of the passage. 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:48.879 So, yes, Jesus teaches us how to receive little ones, but there's a because or a for. 00:10:49.039 --> 00:10:51.200 And you see that in verse number 14. 00:10:51.679 --> 00:10:57.840 Let the little children come to me for or because, and then he gives you the reason. 00:10:59.679 --> 00:11:03.840 Let the little children come to me because they're so cute. 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:06.159 I just want to squeeze their chubby cheeks. 00:11:06.720 --> 00:11:08.159 That might be true. 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:10.320 Not the reason he gives here. 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:16.159 Let the little children come to me because you know how families are. 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:19.519 If you make the parents upset, it ruins the whole family. 00:11:19.759 --> 00:11:22.960 You don't have a kingdom program for the kids, they're going to leave. 00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:25.759 Not the reason he gives right here. 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:33.840 He says, Let the little children come to me because the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. 00:11:35.039 --> 00:11:36.480 This is the main point. 00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:40.080 Little ones teach us how to receive the kingdom. 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:45.759 Little ones teach us how to receive the kingdom. 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:50.000 Jesus is making a comparison here. 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:55.519 So for those of you in the adult Sunday school class, and if you're not, why not? 00:11:56.080 --> 00:11:57.039 You should go. 00:11:57.600 --> 00:12:00.559 You've been talking about figures of speech. 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:04.399 In our passage, Jesus is making a comparison. 00:12:04.559 --> 00:12:15.679 There's something about little ones that characterizes them that should also characterize people of God's kingdom, citizens of his kingdom. 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:34.879 He's not saying here that babies get a free pass into the kingdom of God, that they're somehow able to be saved no matter what, apart from anything they do later in life, or how they trust in Christ or not. 00:12:35.360 --> 00:12:36.320 He's not saying that. 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:39.919 And we know that because of what the Bible so clearly says in other places. 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:45.440 In Psalm 51, 5, David confesses he was conceived in sin. 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:51.519 Ephesians 2, 3, were by nature children of wrath, just like the rest. 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:56.559 Romans 5 tells us all are born guilty in Adam. 00:12:57.200 --> 00:13:01.279 So it's not that little ones are completely guiltless. 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:11.679 They're innocent in the sense that they haven't experienced all the trauma of the world that often adults have, but they contribute their own sinfulness. 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:14.879 So it's he's not saying they get a free pass here. 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:17.600 But what is he saying? 00:13:17.840 --> 00:13:22.159 What should we put down from our hands and give attention to with the little ones? 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:24.879 What can they teach us about the kingdom of heaven? 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:30.080 Is he saying that we should be almost gullible? 00:13:30.159 --> 00:13:34.480 You know, children are so trusting, they're so willing to believe what you say. 00:13:34.559 --> 00:13:40.399 And you've got to be trusting to the point of being gullible if you're going to be in the kingdom of heaven. 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:48.159 I was on vacation recently with my family, and my nephew really enjoys watching baseball. 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:50.320 He loves baseball statistics. 00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:55.039 I feel like he should have been born in the 1950s or something like that, the way he rattles off statistics. 00:13:55.279 --> 00:14:07.519 But I'm talking to him one day and my little nephew, and I say, Yeah, you know, uh, this year when Aaron Judge got hurt for the New York Yankees, the Yankees called me and they said, Micah, we we need an outfielder. 00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:10.960 Could you come and help us out, please, for a few months till Aaron Judge gets back? 00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:14.000 And I had to tell him, look, I'm really busy at my church. 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:16.480 I appreciate the offer, but I can't do it. 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:20.639 And his eyes got really big. 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:22.720 And he said, Really? 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:26.000 And I felt bad. 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:29.679 I I thought he would know that I was teasing, and I felt horrible. 00:14:29.840 --> 00:14:32.240 I mean, there's only one thing you can do right then and there. 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:34.799 I had to double down and say, Yeah, they that's what they did. 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:35.759 No, I didn't do that. 00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:37.200 I didn't do that. 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:40.559 I I had to say, I no, I'm I'm teasing. 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:41.759 I was just joking. 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:48.399 And so I just wanted to think I was a funny uncle, and now he thinks I was the greatest uncle and now the meanest uncle in the whole world. 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:50.399 So that was total failure. 00:14:51.039 --> 00:14:52.639 Children can be a little bit gulable. 00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:54.720 Is that what Jesus is saying here? 00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:55.440 No. 00:14:56.639 --> 00:15:02.879 It's important for us to trust, yes, but the Bible tells us search the scriptures. 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:09.039 The Bible says, give an answer for the hope that you have, give a reason with meekness and fear. 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:13.360 So we're not supposed to kind of just bury our head in the sand and believe whatever some old book says. 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:16.480 No, we're supposed to engage our mind with the things of God. 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:19.840 But but what is it about children? 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:22.399 What's the point of comparison here? 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:26.080 Turn back to Matthew 18. 00:15:26.159 --> 00:15:28.559 So you got your fingers here in Matthew 19. 00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:36.799 We've got a clue because Jesus gives a very similar illustration just in the last chapter. 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:40.799 Matthew 18, verses 1 to 4. 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:49.279 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:52.480 He called a little child and had him stand among them. 00:15:52.559 --> 00:16:00.639 And he said, I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:03.039 It's very similar to our passage from today. 00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:04.559 There's a comparison. 00:16:05.279 --> 00:16:14.639 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child will be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:18.799 Whoever humbles himself like this child. 00:16:19.759 --> 00:16:22.159 We don't always think of children as humble. 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:34.080 They do sometimes brag about their accomplishments, but there's some kind of childlike humbling that is necessary for us if we're going to be in the kingdom. 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:42.000 Keep in mind, again, the context of this passage, the disciples were concerned about their status. 00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:45.279 Who's going to be at your right hand and left hand? 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:47.600 We know we're going to be in the kingdom. 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:51.200 We just want to know how important we will be in the kingdom. 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:53.600 And Jesus says, No, no, no. 00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:54.960 You've got it wrong. 00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:59.360 With that attitude, you're in danger of not making it in the kingdom. 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:06.880 Pastor Duck had pointed out how children in the New Testament didn't have a lot of status. 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:16.559 One commentator puts it, children in Judaism were deeply cherished, but they were thought in some ways to be negligible members of society. 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:19.440 Their place was to learn, to listen. 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:21.839 They were the original silent generation. 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:29.279 Children, as Pastor Doug put it, they they show us our spiritual bankruptcy. 00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:36.880 That we are nothing from one vantage point. 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:45.920 The scripture reading for today, the Beatitudes, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs the kingdom of God. 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:53.119 Do you see yourself as helpless like that before the Lord? 00:17:56.559 --> 00:18:08.000 If children are in some sense low on the status poll and nothing, when we recognize that, we're gonna want to cry out to God. 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:13.759 We're gonna see our need and lift up our hands to Him. 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:19.920 And here in Matthew 19, you can turn back to Matthew 19. 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:23.440 So are you spiritually bankrupt? 00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:27.440 Are you as destitute as a child coming into the world? 00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:31.119 Back in Matthew 19, we'll take a look again at this passage. 00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:42.000 Bibi Warfare, that's a theologian from about 100 years ago, he argues that Jesus here is emphasizing the objective condition of children. 00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:47.839 It's not so much how arrogant they feel or don't feel. 00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:51.599 Jesus is saying, look at them. 00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:54.720 They're of little account in the world's eyes. 00:18:54.880 --> 00:18:55.440 Look at them. 00:18:55.599 --> 00:18:58.480 They have nothing and they need everything. 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:01.039 That's you. 00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:04.079 Whether you like it or not, that's your condition. 00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:08.240 But the difference with kingdom citizens is we don't object. 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:12.720 We don't start putting pointing to our own list of accomplishments and our own works. 00:19:13.039 --> 00:19:14.000 We agree. 00:19:14.640 --> 00:19:17.200 We say, Yes, I am nothing. 00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:20.000 Yes, Lord, I do need everything. 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:25.359 And here in Matthew 19, there's a slight difference. 00:19:25.599 --> 00:19:32.640 Back in Matthew 18, Jesus has a child come and stand before them. 00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:36.400 Here it says the children were brought to Jesus. 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:40.799 Almost even more helpless and dependent. 00:19:41.359 --> 00:19:49.039 The word that's used here is a word that is used not always, but sometimes for very young children, even infants. 00:19:49.279 --> 00:19:53.599 It's the word that's used as the wise men are looking for little Jesus. 00:19:54.400 --> 00:20:02.160 In Matthew 19, our passage, it says that Jesus places his hands on the children, but doesn't give a lot of detail. 00:20:02.559 --> 00:20:13.839 In Mark chapter 10, Mark's recording a similar story, and Mark says that Jesus took the children in his arms and placed his hands on them and blessed them. 00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:17.839 What kind of child would you take in your arms? 00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:20.240 Probably not a 10-year-old. 00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:26.559 In the Gospel of Luke, Luke also talks about presumably this same story. 00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:32.079 And Luke uses a different word that specifically refers to infants. 00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:40.480 Now, Matthew doesn't give us the exact ages of all of these children he's blessing, but this is probably not Jesus with the youth group. 00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:50.640 As much as I love the youth group, I do, but Jesus here is dealing with very young ones, many of whom could have even been babies in their mother's arms. 00:20:52.880 --> 00:21:00.400 See how that just amplifies the littleness, and then correspondingly the magnitude of the need. 00:21:01.200 --> 00:21:04.319 You turn a teenager out on the street, they can get by for a while. 00:21:04.559 --> 00:21:07.519 You turn a one-year-old out on the street, they're not going to make it. 00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:15.599 Some of you that are parents may say, but I don't want my children to stay infants forever. 00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:17.680 I want them to grow and become strong. 00:21:17.759 --> 00:21:20.079 And don't lose the metaphor. 00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:29.039 Jesus is not saying that every single feature of a little one should match every feature of your Christian life forever. 00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:35.440 In the book of Hebrews, the writer there speaks of children and he scolds the people. 00:21:36.079 --> 00:21:37.759 You should be more mature. 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:39.440 You shouldn't be like children. 00:21:39.599 --> 00:21:42.079 But that's a different point that he's making. 00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:45.920 Keep on track with what Jesus is saying here. 00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:48.319 Are you willing to be nothing? 00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:58.000 Are you willing to come to God as a child, naked before him, recognizing that he is all, not you? 00:22:01.119 --> 00:22:07.759 Warfield says this the kingdom of God comes to men, they receive it like a little child. 00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:12.960 That is to say, they bring nothing to it and have nothing to recommend them to it. 00:22:13.759 --> 00:22:18.880 The baby on the mother's breast is the true type of the Christian in his relation to God. 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:21.440 Salvation is purely a gift. 00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:30.160 He who will not humble himself and enter it as a child enters the world in utter nakedness and complete dependence shall never see it. 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:46.000 And then Warfield points out that Matthew, Mark, Luke, all of them that have this account, all of them follow this account of Jesus blessing the children with the story of the rich young ruler. 00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:48.640 We'll come to that story next week. 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:51.519 What's going on with the rich young ruler? 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:56.160 He loves his possessions more than he loves God. 00:22:57.039 --> 00:23:01.599 His possessions may well have given him quite a status in the world. 00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:04.160 And he didn't want to let go of that. 00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:08.640 He didn't want to become little to enter the kingdom. 00:23:21.039 --> 00:23:22.960 They don't really need other people. 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:33.200 And when it comes to marriage, they're thankful to recognize that, as they thought, we sort of have control over when we divorce our wives and when we don't. 00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:34.880 We have our wives under our thumb. 00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:38.079 There's a little debate about how much and exactly when. 00:23:38.400 --> 00:23:41.200 And Jesus says, no, no, no, you've got it all wrong. 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:43.200 It's one flesh. 00:23:43.440 --> 00:23:45.599 You give yourself up when you're married. 00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:51.839 You don't use that authority to domineer, but to serve and become nothing like the Son of Man did. 00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:57.039 And the disciples are hesitant to receive that, aren't they? 00:23:57.279 --> 00:24:01.279 If this is the case, wow, that sounds very hard. 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:05.920 We've got to give ourselves up in one flesh, and maybe you just shouldn't be married. 00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:10.000 Jesus, now you're understanding what kingdom living is all about. 00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:15.039 It's not yourself in the headlines, it's becoming little. 00:24:16.319 --> 00:24:20.880 Eunuchs in the world of Judaism were not thought well of at all. 00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:23.440 They weren't allowed to enter God's assembly. 00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:27.759 And Jesus can say, be a eunuch for the kingdom of heaven? 00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:30.079 Disciples, why would anyone want that? 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:32.160 No children, no legacy. 00:24:33.039 --> 00:24:35.599 Now you're learning what kingdom living is all about. 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:40.400 Not you, but something greater than yourself, the kingdom of God. 00:24:43.200 --> 00:24:54.480 It's almost as though in our passage for today, that Jesus takes this idea and just keeps stripping it down and down and down. 00:24:57.680 --> 00:24:58.559 Jesus. 00:24:59.119 --> 00:25:03.839 So there's only two options marriage and celibacy. 00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:06.559 There's no mistress option, there's no friends with benefit option. 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:15.759 Like, wow, those are like one person for life, and giving yourself to them, that's there's gonna be many times I'm gonna need a lot of help. 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:16.640 Yeah. 00:25:17.680 --> 00:25:21.920 Not engaging in sexual activity at all, that's who could live like that? 00:25:22.079 --> 00:25:25.440 I'm gonna have to need a lot of divine help. 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:26.720 Many times. 00:25:26.799 --> 00:25:28.960 Yeah, now you're getting what Canaan Living is all about. 00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:31.519 But Jesus says, you're not there yet. 00:25:31.839 --> 00:25:36.000 It's not sometimes or many times. 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:38.400 Look at these little ones. 00:25:38.880 --> 00:25:41.440 You've got to be nothing all the time. 00:25:42.240 --> 00:25:48.559 You've got to be willing to be like a like a baby every day, 24-7. 00:25:49.759 --> 00:25:53.359 And when you see yourself there, you'll see how much you need the Lord. 00:25:53.920 --> 00:25:56.079 And you'll come crying out to him. 00:25:58.960 --> 00:26:06.079 So this this whole section of scripture is a beautiful, as Pastor Doug put it, a guard and a guide to kingdom living. 00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:08.400 Not this, but this. 00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:17.200 The kingdom of God is so much greater than our petty jealousy and our sense of self-importance. 00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:23.920 The kingdom of heaven requires supernatural fuel. 00:26:24.319 --> 00:26:27.839 We're not gonna make it there with the gasoline of self. 00:26:31.359 --> 00:26:36.480 And there's good news because we receive it as a gift. 00:26:36.799 --> 00:26:47.920 Philippians tells us that Jesus Christ didn't count equality with God, something to be held on to, grasped, but gave himself up and took the form of a servant. 00:26:48.400 --> 00:26:50.240 He did that so we could be saved. 00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:57.920 We could be saved in our helplessness, in our sin, in our littleness. 00:26:58.240 --> 00:27:00.400 Christ came to save sinners. 00:27:00.720 --> 00:27:02.400 So take joy in Christ. 00:27:02.559 --> 00:27:04.640 We sang that song again today. 00:27:04.960 --> 00:27:08.160 Jesus said, If I am weak, I should come to him. 00:27:09.920 --> 00:27:13.680 Jesus said that if I thirst, I should come to him. 00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:17.200 That song has a certain childlike quality to it. 00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:18.640 I don't mean that in a negative way. 00:27:18.720 --> 00:27:29.440 It's a very simple song, but it's good to have these rhythms of reminding ourselves, Lord, not I, but Christ in me. 00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:35.119 Not my prestige, but your will be done. 00:27:35.440 --> 00:27:38.640 Not my name, but the name of Jesus. 00:27:38.880 --> 00:27:42.880 That's that's the wonder of being a kingdom citizen. 00:27:45.119 --> 00:27:47.920 So do we have a lot to learn from little ones? 00:27:48.240 --> 00:27:49.440 We sure do. 00:27:49.839 --> 00:27:51.039 We sure do. 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:58.640 Jesus teaches us how to receive little ones because little ones teach us how to receive the kingdom. 00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:08.880 And there's such a freedom when we give up that sort of clamoring for status and our self-reliance. 00:28:09.279 --> 00:28:11.039 Look at how happy little ones often are. 00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:23.680 Now, I know they often cry, but a baby in her mother's arms doesn't care if she's the president or the homecoming queen or the chair of hospitality in the church. 00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:28.559 She's just happy to let the parent be all in all. 00:28:29.039 --> 00:28:30.480 That that can be us. 00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:36.559 We can just bask in the glory of God and the fullness of Christ and let him be all in all. 00:28:42.480 --> 00:28:54.720 It's terrifyingly emptying, but it's also joyfully liberating all at the same time to recognize our littleness. 00:28:59.039 --> 00:29:06.079 The way that we treat little ones might even reflect something of our own hearts and our own selves. 00:29:07.759 --> 00:29:14.240 When you really want to learn from someone, you tend to give them really close attention. 00:29:15.519 --> 00:29:31.920 When you're kind of doing other things and like kids are here, and when that's always marking your life, again, I'm not saying never, but I'm when that seems to be always marking your life, that kind of suggests, well, yeah, I can kind of pay attention to them, but I couldn't really actually learn from them. 00:29:32.079 --> 00:29:34.960 I've got something more important that I could do. 00:29:35.599 --> 00:29:42.000 And then if we're not careful, we can carry that attitude into other realms of our life. 00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:51.519 We can carry that sense of self-importance that we think I'm I'm the mature one here, the little ones can learn from me, into our prayer life. 00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:54.240 Lord, I just I want to pray for Joe. 00:29:54.319 --> 00:29:55.279 I've been trying to talk to him. 00:29:55.440 --> 00:29:58.079 He just, he doesn't really see the wisdom I have. 00:29:58.559 --> 00:29:59.759 Show it to him. 00:30:01.839 --> 00:30:04.799 Sunday school, wow, Sunday school's for the kids. 00:30:04.960 --> 00:30:06.880 I mean, why would I go to Sunday school? 00:30:07.039 --> 00:30:09.039 I got straight A's in English class. 00:30:09.119 --> 00:30:14.079 I know all about figures of speech, but for those that really need it, I'm happy it can be there for them. 00:30:14.319 --> 00:30:26.799 You see how we we, when we're not careful, we carry that sense of self-importance into not just with children, but other arenas of life, and that can come to characterize us. 00:30:27.920 --> 00:30:39.200 Let's have it not be so, because the kingdom of God says we humble ourselves before the Lord, and the little ones have so much to show us about humbling ourselves. 00:30:41.039 --> 00:30:47.440 As I was meditating on the passage this week, Bill Landhauser came to my mind. 00:30:47.599 --> 00:30:54.880 I know not all of you know him, but he was a man who never walked around with his chest out. 00:30:55.440 --> 00:31:04.559 He did walk around with his heart out, ready to serve, ready to be the lowest of the low, just to be a doorkeeper in the house of his God. 00:31:05.279 --> 00:31:07.200 And what a wonderful model that is. 00:31:07.359 --> 00:31:09.759 He's no longer with us, he's passed on. 00:31:10.319 --> 00:31:13.440 But you know, we do have examples. 00:31:13.599 --> 00:31:22.079 We have spiritual examples among us, and we've got tangible physical examples with all the little ones who are here. 00:31:23.359 --> 00:31:26.160 Listen to these words from Paul. 00:31:27.759 --> 00:31:31.759 Brothers, think what you were when you were called. 00:31:32.079 --> 00:31:42.480 Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were influential, not many were of noble birth, but God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. 00:31:42.720 --> 00:31:45.680 God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 00:31:45.920 --> 00:31:54.559 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. 00:31:56.000 --> 00:32:05.680 It is because of him that you're in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God, our righteousness, our holiness and redemption. 00:32:05.839 --> 00:32:12.240 Therefore, as it is written, let him who boasts boast in the Lord. 00:32:14.799 --> 00:32:22.480 Maybe for some of us, it would be helpful to volunteer with little ones. 00:32:22.640 --> 00:32:28.240 Now, again, I'm not saying this passage is about how many hours a week you spend in the afterschool program. 00:32:28.319 --> 00:32:33.359 It's about our hearts and what's going on in our hearts if we're willing to be accounted as little. 00:32:34.319 --> 00:32:41.359 But maybe it might be helpful for some of you to go up and find Jen Ebert or Diane Anderson and say, you know what? 00:32:42.400 --> 00:32:46.720 Over the next six months, put me on nursery duty a few times. 00:32:47.039 --> 00:32:50.480 Not just so the parents can take a break. 00:32:50.720 --> 00:32:55.599 I need it for my own soul to know what it's like to be a part of the kingdom of heaven. 00:32:55.839 --> 00:32:57.119 Let's pray. 00:32:57.920 --> 00:33:05.200 Lord God, how we thank you that the kingdom of heaven is for such as these. 00:33:06.480 --> 00:33:28.160 Lord, please be at work in our hearts to change us, that we'd have the freedom and joy of being able to let go of the way we tightly clench on to our possessions and our time and our sense of self-importance, that we might be willing to be considered nothing. 00:33:28.559 --> 00:33:33.279 And indeed we are nothing, but Christ is great, Christ is all in all. 00:33:33.759 --> 00:33:50.240 Lord, give us a sense of humility before you that we would be crying out in our great need, crying out in dependence and with true trust, a living faith. 00:33:50.960 --> 00:34:02.720 Give us this childlike spirit as we carry on conversations at lunchtime today, as we interact with people in the church this week, that we have so much to learn from one another. 00:34:02.960 --> 00:34:07.599 And most importantly, you, God, have stooped down to rescue us through Jesus Christ. 00:34:07.839 --> 00:34:12.639 You have drawn near to little ones and brought us to yourself. 00:34:12.880 --> 00:34:14.480 Thank you for your kindness, O Lord. 00:34:14.559 --> 00:34:17.679 We thank you that the Savior is indeed both strong and kind. 00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:26.159 And though we are poor and needy, we come and we find all the resources we need and all the joy we could ever hope for. 00:34:26.239 --> 00:34:27.119 In Jesus' name. 00:34:27.360 --> 00:34:28.000 Amen.