God Loves Childlike Faith | Mark 10:13-16 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Series)

We need the Holy Spirit. Amen? We need him. He is the gift of God. When the disciples who lived with Jesus, sat with Jesus, ate with Jesus, embraced Jesus, witnessed Jesus, heard Jesus, after all of that intensive exposure to the person of Jesus, the son of God in flesh, the Lord told him before he ascended into heaven, you need to wait.

You need to wait until the power of the Holy Spirit comes upon you. Education's important. Study is important. Gaining knowledge is important. Experience is important.

But none of that can substitute the power of the Holy Spirit. And the true minister lives with a consistent awareness that if it's not for the Holy Spirit, he will not truly know fruit and effectiveness in his preaching, in his witness, in his service. It's not that's not just true for the preacher. In that upper room, it wasn't just preachers in there. You had men and women in there who all needed the power of the Holy Spirit.

And so I say that to you in the beginning of this time so that we can seek his power together and ask that he would clothe us with his endowment and his grace so that this would not be an empty time. It would not be a vain time. It would be a time of great power. Lord, we ask you with all of our hearts, forsaking any confidence in anything else. We believe in the Holy Spirit, And we ask that the Holy Spirit would not be grieved, and he would not shrink from this place or this moment.

We ask that he would be pleased to move freely. And, Lord, we ask that the Holy Spirit would help us see Jesus Christ and to glorify and honor him. Lord, we relinquish any trust and eloquence, personality, charisma, any schemes of man, and we just ask for the pure, raw power of God. This is our longing, and thank you for a place that believes that you can do amazing things through the word preached and heard. We submit this time to you asking that we would never be the same as a result of our time.

In Jesus' name, amen. Mark chapter 10 verse 13 to 16. Mark chapter 10 verse 13 to 16. Apart from the singing, one of my favorite sounds is the sounds that I'm hearing right now. Pages being flipped.

Mark 10 verse 13. Let's read together. And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. And when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, let the children come to me. Do not hinder them for the such belongs the kingdom of God.

Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. And he took them in his arms and blessed them laying his hands on them. It is no coincidence that the Holy Spirit turns our attention to Jesus ministering to children following his strong teaching about marriage and divorce. We are all aware that the severing of a union between a man and a woman has a great price, and the greatest damage occurs to those who are the offspring of a man and a woman who have come together in that covenant. And one of the harms that come from this painful separation, at least in the life of a children, is that many of them tend to convince themselves that they are somehow the cause of their father and mother walking away from each other.

The psychological confusion and destruction that comes from the unfortunate situation of divorce is just one of the many testimonies of the devastation of it and the reason why God absolutely abhors it. Now we don't know the condition of the homes of these children who have come to Jesus, but its placement here is quite encouraging in the backdrop of what Jesus is taught about. And here's what you can take from this, encounter. There's many things to learn from this, but when you look at where it's positioned, how it follows what we just learned last week about the severity of this separation known as divorce. Jesus is the most dependable and reliable source of love.

Jesus is the most dependable, reliable source of love. Your father is prone to disappoint you. And maybe for you in this place, some of you in this place, he already has in a very significant way. It's possible for a mother to withhold the affection and the attention that a child needs. But when you look to Jesus here, you have to understand that his care for you and that his love for you is unswerving.

It is absolutely certain. You may be wondering why I'm saying that to a room that's mainly comprised of adults because you would be amazed to know that even parents today and grandparents today are still walking with a limp because of a wound that they've received from somebody who was supposed to nurture and build them. The bruise of betrayal, the sense of distrust that has come from that traumatic experience and now is projected on other things and is carried into marriages, their own marriages. What they've seen in their mother and father now is bleeding into other areas of life. And even David, David was a full grown warrior when he wrote the Psalms.

And yet through the inspiration of the spirit, he alludes to the pain that can come from disappointment from somebody like a father or a mother. What did he say in Psalm 27 verse 10? For my father and mother have what? They've forsaken me. This is a man who's gone to war.

This is a man who had battle scars. This is a man who has faced giants and yet he can attest to the severity of what it is like when a father or mother walks away, fails. Does not live up to the standard that they wish that to which they were called. But David doesn't write that Psalm as just, an expression of sorrow or woe Because in the same breath he gives the solution. He gives hope.

For my father and mother, they have, yes, walked away but the Lord will take me in. The Lord will take me in. And that's what David, yes by the spirit. Yes, God's speaking through David is saying about the Lord, but the Lord himself says something to us in a text like this in Isaiah forty nine fifteen, where where he asked the rhetorical question, can a woman forget her nursing child? Can a woman forget her nursing child that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?

Then he says, yeah, even these may forget. It's possible. It's possible even for a mother, for the baby that she's carried in her womb for nine months to be negligent, to be selfish, to care about self even at the expense of the well-being of that baby. Even these may forget. But he goes on to say, but the Lord will not forget you.

The Lord will not forget you. You know what I take from this especially when you think about David's words? David is not speaking theoretically about his relationship with the Lord. When David says, yeah, my father, my mother, it's possible for them in my life and in your life to walk away. To walk away from each other, in essence, to walk away from you.

And the same thing that you should expect from a mother or father, Personalized affection and attention from both of them. He parallels what was missing from them and he says, what what I was missing in them, I found in the Lord. Meaning, when you rehearse about the love of God, the personal love he has for you, it's actually experiential. The love of a father and a mother is not theoretical. It's not just an idea.

It's felt. It's known. It's tangible. It's observable. It's tasted.

And he's saying, what I'm missing from them, I got from the Lord. That tells me that Christ is experienced not just learned, not just taught. There's something that is actually impressed on your life as you walk with him. We believe that we walk with him, he walks with us, and he transfers and deposits his love in our lives. And it's real.

It's not just preaching points. It's not just lovely melodies. It's real. It sticks. It transforms.

And there is something about the Lord Jesus that these parents or relatives, we're not told explicitly that they were parents, but you're assuming that they are. There's something about the person of Jesus Christ that was clearly perceived for them to feel confident enough to bring them to the Lord and say, would you bless my child? Would you touch my baby? And so they approached the Lord in this way. And, you know, many crowds have come to Jesus.

Many groups of people have approached. Lord, we've seen many episodes of that and most of the time they had, what, questionable motives. But there's something about this group of people at this juncture that is quite exemplary. We should praise these parents for what they're doing here as they bring their babies to the Lord. You know why?

It's because they believe something. This is an act of faith. You know what they believed? That their children were not too young to receive a blessing from Christ. They believe that the Lord has a heart for the young and is willing to honor the faith of those who are responsible for their children to be blessed by him.

And the Lord honored that faith. How young were these children? Think they were teenagers? Think they were young adults? No.

Go back to verse 16. What do you see? And he took them in his arms. They were young enough to be held in his arms. Infants to toddlers.

And the scene here of Jesus scooping up these children. You know, if you're a minister, you should be relatable. If you're a minister, you should be approachable. If you're a minister, you shouldn't be sour and scary. Here's Jesus that children could feel safe in his arms.

And it reminds me of this verse that's often not referred to when it comes to the discussion of children in the word of God. I want you to see it with your own eyes in Acts seven verse 20. Look what Stephen says about God concerning one particular baby In acts seven verse 20, in this marvelous sermon that he gives to the religious leaders, he makes mention of the person, the birth, the destiny of Moses. And in acts seven twenty, we read, at this time Moses was born and he was beautiful in God's sight. He was beautiful in God's sight and he was brought up for three months in his father's house.

What does it mean that he was beautiful in God's sight? Was he a cute baby? Maybe. Was he adorable? Sure.

But it's deeper than that. Because notice he says, at this time. What time? Well, he says right before this, reminding the history of the nation of Israel that they were slaughtered. The Hebrew children, when they were under captivity in Egypt, they were slaughtered.

There was a massacre of these Hebrew boys. And in the backdrop of such darkness and evil and vileness, there was the birth of a baby, Moses. And that sight, I'm sure, was delightful to the Lord. And not only was it delightful for the simple fact that this is his gift into the world, this is an expression of his design and his will, but this was an expression of a faith, of a faith that came from Moses' parents who were not afraid of the king's edict and so they said, you know what? No matter what the king says, we're gonna have a baby.

And so Moses comes on the scene and I'm sure that this pleased the Lord as well. And moreover, as you know about Moses, there was a destiny connected to this baby. One that would bring glory to the God of Israel and that would liberate the people of God. All in all, you know what Stephen is saying? Stephen is saying that we serve a God who looks favorably upon children.

He looks upon a child like Moses as an example and he does not consider their existence even at the stage of life to be unimportant, insignificant. No. Even though they're helpless and vulnerable, it's a beautiful sight to God. It's a beautiful thing. And this is not the only place where Moses is called beautiful.

So you're in Acts, go to Hebrews. And look at Hebrews 11 verse 23. Now we're being told about the faith of Moses' parents. There's an interesting connection between Acts seven twenty and Hebrews eleven twenty three. In Hebrews eleven twenty three, we're told by faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents because they saw that the child was beautiful.

Hold on. Acts says that he was beautiful in the sight of God. It's a beautiful sound. Right? We're told in Acts that it it was a beautiful sight to God.

Now we come to Hebrews and we're told it was not just a beautiful sight to God, it was a beautiful sight to the parents of Moses. It's the same Greek word, by the way. It's a very interesting word. Doesn't this excite you? Saying, what do we make of this?

Any parent sees their baby and sees that it's beautiful, but it's a deeper thing especially when you connect with acts. Here's what I take from this. Moses's parents saw Moses the same way God did. They were in one mind with God. And the reason why this excites me is because it it shows that it's possible to perceive, it's possible to interpret events and people the way God does.

You see what's beautiful the way God sees it as beautiful. You see what's ugly the way God sees it's that it's ugly. And you say, well that's a nice thought. It's not a nice thought. It's necessary.

It's a necessary thought. You're saying why? Notice the wording of Hebrews eleven twenty three. By faith Moses when he was born was hidden for three months by his parents. That's a death sentence.

You're you're going against the king's edict. You're supposed to surrender those babies and they're supposed to be thrown into the Nile, but they chose to secure this child and risk their lives for this child. Why? What's the connection? Because Because they saw that the child was beautiful.

Again, not just because it was an adorable baby. Because they saw something deeper than that. They saw what God saw. When you see as God sees, it will determine so much the way you decide, the way you move, the way you react, the way you engage, the way you do anything. You see as God sees because that's how they did it.

They saw as God saw and that's what made their decision to risk their lives in faith. If you see your wife the way God sees your wife, your marriage would be different. If you see your husband the way your God sees your husband, your marriage will look different. If you see this church the way God sees this church and the church at large, your attitude towards the church will be different. If you see money the way God sees money, your attitude towards money will be different.

Any aspect of life, any facet of life, if you just see it the way God sees it, you will know ultimate blessing from it because God is perfect. And that includes the way you and I see children. Because Jesus saw children far more differently than the disciples did. You come back to Mark 10 and what do you read? We read in verse 13, and they were bringing children to him that he might touch them and the disciples rebuked them.

Rebuke the parents. So here you have these toddlers and these babies approaching the Lord, and these disciples saw them as an interruption. They saw them as a hindrance. And we're not told for the unnecessary rebuke why this happened, but we can assume, we can guess that they had they had a good reason for it. At least they thought so.

Their intention was pure. They wanted to protect their lord. They realized that their Lord was already invested in so much. Diseases and demon possessed souls and sermons. And so they saw these children coming as as just an unnecessary time of ministry.

This is not priority. And so they begin to shoo the parents away. And you can imagine what they said. Look, the master is very busy. He has so much on his plate.

We're we're running a short amount of time here. And as much your children are adorable, they're beautiful, but they're not they're not the most important thing at this time. And so just please walk away. There's there's not enough time for this this whole ordeal. Oh, how they were wrong.

You know, I read this and these are the disciples of Jesus. Like, these are the closest representatives. These are the ones who are supposed to be trained to be apostles and lay the foundation of the doctrine of the church. And you know what you and I take from this little incident here? It's very it's very encouraging because you're gonna incur you're gonna encounter this at one point or another.

Oftentimes, the disciples of Christ don't represent Christ faithfully. And you see this exemplified over and over again in the gospels. Right? The disciples who represent Christ, they didn't do it so accurately and faithfully at times. Why is that shown to us over and over again?

I think one of the reasons to prepare you to also know disappointment from those who represent Christ. And for it not to cause your heart to disregard the person of Jesus Christ. How many today are not in church because they've been hurt by the church? They're not obeying the Lord because of the failure of those who claim to know the Lord. Okay.

You have the disciples here who shunned away parents to receive blessing from Jesus. Did they turn their backs on Jesus? And but more than that, more than just looking at the disciples and saying, yeah, I know some Christians like that. Yeah, yeah. Let's look to our own selves.

And let's look at this and use this as an example to say, Lord, I don't want to do this. It's easy to look at other Christians and say, yeah, I know some Christians who are like that. Yeah. Lord, I I look at these disciples and they had good motives. They were trying to protect you, guard you, keep you, and they were wrong.

They missed the mark. And I found myself thinking this, not reading this over and over. Lord, I don't want to rebuke what you receive. And I don't wanna accept what you reject. I want to be as closely and nearly to your thinking as possible.

Please help me. I don't wanna miss it like these disciples missed it. And you know how you and I can be assured that we have the mind of Christ? You renew that mind of yours with the word of God. And you allow this word to conform you and change you and challenge you and mold you so that you can see as Christ sees.

And people get into legalism and people get into lawlessness because of that very failure to not make this the supreme filter of their lives and the determiner of their decisions and convictions. And here are these disciples who have who have turned away people that Christ wanted to come to them. And just look how different the thinking of Christ is in comparison to his own. Look at verse 14. But when Jesus saw it, so Jesus saw the disciples pushing these parents, these mothers and fathers and uncles away.

When Jesus saw it, he was indignant. That is a very, very strong word. It's the same word that was used of the Pharisees when they saw and heard the the sounds of the children in the temple receiving Jesus with Hosannas. They were very much displeased. It's the same word.

And listen to this. This is the strongest word attributed to Jesus and how he felt about his disciples in all the gospels. The strongest emotion which tells me how much this means to the Lord. This is a very important thing to Christ for him to feel this way, to to have that righteous anger toward his own followers concerning children says something about how he feels about children. It's the only place in the gospels where such strong emotion from Jesus was directed towards his followers.

And here's the mind of Christ concerning these babies. They are not insignificant to him at all. They are worthy to be ministered to with spiritual emphasis and great priority. Look at these precious words again. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, let the children come to me.

Let them come to me. Now why would the Lord say this if he did not believe that there was the ability for blessing to be transferred from him to these children? Why would he say something like this unless blessing would occur when children are exposed to the reality of Christ? Let the children come to me. Something can happen to these children as they come to me.

And one might say, well, yeah, that's obvious because this is a physical Christ on earth. This is a special segment of human history, and so no wonder there was a unique access to God in the flesh. No wonder they would be blessed, but the Bible is very much in favor of the possibility that they can still be blessed today as they are exposed to the reality of the person and truth of Jesus Christ. You know, one of my favorite examples of this is in a text that doesn't really directly teach that, but it infers that. And and and it's a text that deals with actually marriage and divorce.

And so when you go there, you'll see it. I'm sure you'll see it now. And first Corinthians seven, very important teaching about marriage, very important teaching about divorce. And tucked in there is an instruction to believers who've been saved in their marriage and their spouse is an unbeliever. What is a believer supposed to do if they've come to Christ in their marriage and the unbelieving spouse refuses to accept Christ?

You know what Paul tells that unbelieving spouse? Stay in your marriage. Because the temptation the temptation would have been, well, there's no compatibility here. This is a challenge here. This is difficult here.

It's even possible for the Corinthians to have heard from other Christians that if you as a Christian remain married to this unbelieving spouse, you're gonna be defiled. You're gonna be contaminated. And so Paul is hearing this. Right? Corinthians is a response to many questions and inquiries, and he's giving answers to these things.

And one of the things he says is, if you are an unbelieving spouse and you're married to somebody who is a believer, rather if you're a believer married to an unbelieving spouse, stay put. Now if they wanna leave because of your faith, then be at peace. But as long as they're willing to remain with you, stay. And what's his motive? What's his reason?

Verse 14 of chapter seven. For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean but as it is, they are holy. You need to stay. Why?

Because your husband, your wife would be made holy. And even your children, they would be made holy. Holy in what sense? Not in a salvific sense. Paul's not saying that if you're a wife who is a believer that your salvation is transferred automatically to your husband just by mere association.

He's talking about a sanctifying holiness. He's talking about an influence and a protection that would come from your presence. You being in close proximity, you living your day to day in one same household offers something, some spiritual blessing to those who are associated with you. That's what he's speaking about. There's something to be projected or something that would radiate from your life as a believer who's walking with the Lord.

There's a supply and a shield of grace that would be removed if you were to willfully walk away from that unbelieving home. And so it says something about the power of your walk with the Lord. That others are directly and indirectly blessed by it somehow. Blessed by it. And notice how Paul includes children as recipients of the blessing of a believer's presence.

Meaning, children are capable of collecting the spiritual benefits of a parent, of a relative who is walking with God. And even if it's just one, it doesn't have to be both. Let that inspire you. For you who are struggling, for you who are wrestling because you don't have a father who loves the Lord for your daughter, for your son. Understand that Paul doesn't speak about both parents being believers.

Just one. Just one can make that spouse holy, can make the children holy. The wisdom that you walk in because you're a Christian. The grace that you walk in, the counsel that you offer, the prayers that you pray, the inspiration of your walk with God will not be void of impact. Paul's saying there is impact.

There is some effect. There is some reward to be known for the person who does not believe the God that you believe. And though salvation is not assured, the proximity of a saint can even lead to salvation. In what sense? Well, think about it from the child's perspective as they see the life of a believing mother and an unbelieving father or vice versa.

And over time as they they're able to register and understand things, reactions, actions, all these things that take place can eventually Paul's saying to some sense some sense inspire that child to say, I want the God of my mother. I want the Lord of my father. And this situation is specific but the principle can be broadened. Children can acquire Christ centered, spirit inspired blessing. They can be recipients of it.

They can absorb it. They can register it. They can receive it. You know, so what does that mean for you and I? Very simple.

Let us actively believe and engage in faith to seek the touch of Christ for our little ones. What you teach, what you model, what you exemplify, what you posture your children to be exposed to can produce reward. Can produce is it any? Think about it. Like, Satan is recruiting them as young as possible.

Why do you think? Because they're able. They're able to be influenced. They're able to conform. They're able to submit themselves to a system of belief.

One of my favorite examples of this possibility or this inspiration about how children can be exposed to the light through your life and mine, through your decision to be faithful enough to say, Lord, I believe that my child is young as possible, just like these believers here or these people rather, coming to the Lord Jesus with their children. You can believe the same for your own. I've mentioned this before, so forgive me if I'm bringing it up again, but we can be stirred up by way of reminder. There's this scene that never fails to move me in the book of Acts. It always stirs my heart.

It's a scene where Paul comes and visits a group of believers and they're convincing him, please don't go to Jerusalem because the spirit revealed that if he goes, he's gonna get in trouble. And Paul says, look, don't make this difficult for me. I'm going. Paul was that kind of a leader. He was I sent my face toward there.

I'm I'm going. And they stopped fighting about it and they said, fine. If you're gonna go, let's at least lead you to your final departure. And so as they make way for Paul and his missionary team to leave, you get this beautiful picture of this farewell in Acts 21. In Acts 21 verse five, Luke narrates, he says, when our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey and they all so the believers that they met with.

Right? They all with wives and who? Children. Did they leave the kids at home? With wives and children accompanied us until we were outside the city and kneeling down on the beach, we prayed.

Can you imagine it? What these believers did as Paul prepared to make way to Jerusalem is that they brought their children with them. Was that intentional? You better believe it. And here's what I believe that moment did.

These children were exposed to their parents and other disciples honoring a man of God. These children witnessed the unashamed public testifying of their faith. Where were they? They were at a beach and they knelt on that beach. They were not ashamed of their God.

They were not ashamed of their Jesus. And here are these children witnessing their parents. Teach your children before you eat when you go out for lunch today, we're gonna pray for our food. Don't be ashamed. They witness their parents unashamedly declaring their faith in Christ.

Not only that, they're learning. Saying how are they learning? Well, they're learning in the power of prayer. Are they not? They're seeing that you can commit a person, you can commit a journey, you can commit the future to God on behalf of somebody else.

So here are these children standing in the presence of parents and relatives living out their faith. Don't underestimate how important it is to expose your children to these things. Everything that was just said, Jesus himself gives the qualifying reason for why these children should not be hindered from coming to him, and it's back in Mark chapter 10. And as an extension why they should not be neglected by us and cherished by us instead. He says, let the children come to me in verse 14.

Do not hinder them for to such here's the reason, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. What does that mean? For to such belongs the kingdom of God. Well, one can make the case that Jesus is saying that heaven is filled with subjects who are children. Meaning, there's a special grace that is laid upon the life of a child.

A special condition that's placed upon the lives of young ones. What do you mean by that? Well, they have a special reception in heaven if they were to die at a certain point in their lives where they cannot comprehend the difference between good and evil, where they can't make the distinction between right and wrong. In a sense, Jesus is saying here that for a child to have an early departure from the earth will be seen as innocent and will be accepted into the arms of God. And that truth has brought tremendous comfort for those who've experienced tragedy in the loss of their babies or their toddlers or their little ones.

And that truth is not difficult to see throughout the Bible. There are so many examples throughout the scriptures that teach this concept that there is a point of accountability, and that there is a a line that is drawn in the life of a person where before that line, they are not held accountable for their inability to choose or make the difference or discern between right and wrong, and then after being responsible for your actions and your decisions. So here's some rapid fire references. Okay? So put on your seat belt, take out the pen.

Number one, Deuteronomy one thirty nine. Deuteronomy one thirty nine where the Lord speaks to that generation who have not believed in God concerning the promised land, and he assured them that your little ones who do not know the difference between good and evil, they will enter into it. Notice God did not hold the little ones accountable for unbelief, for the same mistake that the parents made, who clearly had the ability and the understanding that this is right and this is wrong. God is a just judge. Your children will not be held accountable for this because they don't know the difference between right and wrong.

One of the most famous ones in second Samuel 12 verse 23, where David fasted and prayed for the life of that baby that he and Bathsheba had together, and the baby died. He gets up, he washes himself, he anoints himself, and he sits at the the table and he feasts. And the the the people in his kingdom were confused. The administrators and his servants, how are you doing this? And he could confidently say, I will go to him but he will not return to me.

I will see him again. I can't have him back. I prayed, I fastened, he's not coming back but I know one day I'm going to see him. And I've mentioned this many times in bible study before. Notice that when his son Absalom died, he was a full grown adult, he did not have the same confidence.

Did he? What did he do? Oh, Absalom, Absalom. Oh, Absalom, Absalom. I wish it was me.

Why would he react that way? Perhaps because David understood that Absalom was not in the same place as the baby was. Isaiah seven verse 16, after that famous prophecy concerning the virgin who would have a son. We're told we're told there about this child that there would be a time before he would know the choice, the difference between the good and the evil. So there you have just three texts there.

You have Deuteronomy one thirty nine, second Samuel twelve twenty three, Isaiah seven sixteen. If you want another one, Ezekiel 16. In that chapter we're told about these children who were sacrificed to Molech, who were suffering in the sizzling hands of an idol, and God says they are my children. They are my children. They belong to me.

So that's a comforting truth, is it not? That's a comforting truth but that's not the primary thing that Jesus is communicating here. That's that's not the main drive here of what he is saying by saying, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. What Jesus is alluding to here is that there are some features of a child. There are characteristics that are unique to a little one that should be and must be shared for those who would inherit heaven.

And some would say, okay, for the such, to such, such like these belongs the kingdom of God. So maybe it's the innocence of a child. Innocence? It's tough to make a conclusion based on innocence. They're not always innocent, are they?

No. And if there is any innocence, as you just heard, it's out of ignorance. And that's not to say that children are born morally neutral without a sin nature, it's just that God has a grace for those who cannot formulate or understand the difference between right and wrong. Maybe it's purity, the purity of a child. Right?

It's it's about the cleanliness of their hearts and how they they have more of a blank canvas than others who have walked in this world long enough and have been splattered with sin and all these other things that have corrupted the mind and polluted the soul. But it doesn't seem like that's what Jesus is stressing either. Because again, this is a certain kind of child he is referring to. Again in verse 16, he scooped up these these children in their arms. So when you look at the context and when you look at the type of children Jesus is referring to, the thing that makes the most sense is that he is referring to helplessness.

Helplessness. This sermon is really getting assistance from babies. I don't know why you're just hearing them over and over, which I'm not disturbed. I'm so happy that they're here. Helplessness as they're being held by the arms of the savior, dependent on him, needy of him.

A child can't feed himself. A child can't change himself. A child can't provide for himself. A child simply lives empty handed and totally dependent. And Jesus says, for to such belongs the kingdom.

In the same way a child can't do a lot, if you want to enter into my presence forever, you also have to be able to say, I can't do it. I can't do it for myself. I need it to be given to me. I need this to be a gift. I need this to be extended to me by God's mercy.

That's what Jesus is saying. And this would be a blow to those Pharisees who lived and taught this work based salvation. Jesus is saying, if you want citizenship in my world for all of eternity, you need to see yourself as helpless just like this child. And he builds on that. Does he not?

He builds on that in verse 15. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. So he says, to such belongs the king. Now he says, you gotta receive it like a child. How does a child receive things?

Our nieces and nephew from Canada were here a couple of weekends ago, and because we're not gonna see them for Christmas, we got them gifts early. And on the final night they were here before the Sunday service, and before they left after the service, we had a chance to open up those gifts. And when the uncles extended those gifts to the nieces especially, you know what didn't happen? They didn't open the gifts and say, well, this is fantastic. I appreciate it.

Thank you for the thoughtfulness of this gift. But, you know, I realized in the past few months, I've been saving up for this gift, the very same toy, and I plan to purchase this gift for myself. I realized that there is a self satisfaction that comes from earning something for yourself. So I appreciate the gift, but, this year, it's on me. One, that would be extremely strange and probably frightening.

You know, they didn't negotiate with us. You know, thank you so much. I'll I'll pay for half of it. Or you know what? I'll pay you back eventually.

Kids don't do that. They don't talk like that. You know what happened? With silent smiles, lit up faces, extended arms, and simple acceptance, they received. They received.

That's how Jesus wants you to receive his salvation. He doesn't want you to give terms. He doesn't want you to try to earn it or earn it in part. Receive it like a child. So Jesus says, don't reject these children.

You know why disciples? Because they are the ideal illustration of what it means to belong to me and how to respond to my gospel. And if a child in his neediness and his helplessness and his humility and simplicity is a example of how we are to receive Christ, then perhaps verse 16 is an illustration of how Christ responds to the one who extends childlike trust. Look at verse 16. And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

Do you know what's waiting for you as you simply give him childlike faith? Embrace. Embrace. This is not a contract. This is not a legal thing as much as our salvation includes legal procedure.

Jesus, he does more than just touch these children. He picks them up and he embraces them and he blesses them. If you were to receive Christ today, there is an embrace from the son of God waiting for you. That's what he's after. That's what he loves more than anything else.

Not your performance. Not your professionalism, spiritually speaking. Not the depth of your knowledge. You just simply saying, I need you. I need you.

I can't do it on my own. I can't save myself. I failed over and over again. I keep getting myself messy. I'm thirsty.

I'm hungry. Please receive me. I've heard many gospel presentations in my life. I'm sure you have as well. Maybe you have heard this.

Maybe you haven't. I personally can't recall a time where I've heard a gospel invitation that included receive Jesus like a child. Receive him like a child. Come wobbling to him, stuffy. Maybe not understanding much in life, but understanding, like, what a child should understand for their mother or father.

Mom feeds me. Dad protects me. No hesitation. Going to them as a reflex, realizing that you can't do it without them. Do you believe that about Jesus Christ?

Does that offend you? Good. This gospel is offensive. Surely I must do something. It's as ridiculous as my niece telling me all that I just told you earlier and receiving a gift.

Just come. Just receive it. Submit yourself. Crucify your pride. Nail yourself righteousness.

Die to yourself and come to Christ like a child. You say, what? That's not it. The words of Jesus. So shrink, would you, today?

What he's after more than anything else is a heart that realizes I can't do it on my own. I need you. Lord, we thank you that as we prepare to eat at this table, you have reminded us of our helpless state and the love that you have for us, And we pray that our hearts would be prepared to partake of this wonderful ordinance that displays the beauty of the gospel. In Jesus' name, amen.