In previous sermons, the correct attitude of prayer based on two parables in Luke 18 were discussed. The first was on the parable of the widow; our attitude when coming before God in prayer ought to be persistent and not discouraged. The second was on the parable of the tax collector; our attitude when coming before God in prayer should be humble and grateful. This sermon will cover the third parable in Luke 18.

Luke 18:15-17
Then they also brought infants to Him that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.”

After Jesus spoke on the parable of the widow and the tax collector, people carried their infants to Jesus so that He might touch them. This was to seek His blessings. But when they came before the Lord, the disciples inhibited the people from bringing their children before the Lord. Why did they do so? The disciples rebuked them because based on their understanding of Jesus, they saw Jesus as someone who would revive Israel to be glorious again; that Jesus would lead them to overthrow the Roman Empire. Who would have wanted to be a slave? If the Messiah was there to build the earthly kingdom, was there anything else more important than this? It was because the disciples had this great expectation that an incident happened in 18:35-39. A blind man sat by the road begging, crying out to the Lord Jesus to have mercy on him. v39 records that those who went before rebuked him to be quiet. They didn’t allow anyone to prevent the Lord Jesus from reaching Jerusalem.

Perhaps they thought children were insignificant and immature. They should not get in Jesus’ way from getting to Jerusalem. But in reality, we know the Lord Jesus’ purpose of going to Jerusalem was to be nailed on the cross and die. He intended to submit to the will of God so that He would be able to complete the great will of salvation. What the Lord Jesus thought about and set out to do was starkly different from what the disciples envisioned.

v16 But Jesus called them to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.

The people were wrong in their concept of forbidding the children to come before Jesus. Sometimes we have wrong concepts when we come before the Lord. We have to remove incorrect attitudes. This is so that we won’t prevent people from coming before the Lord to receive blessings. More importantly, we see the Lord Jesus wanted little children to come to Him. As parents, we should bring our children before the Lord. The Lord Jesus is not pleased when adults prevent children from coming before Him. Some members have shared with the speaker that bringing children is very troublesome and they would affect others while in church. But let’s remember the Lord Jesus didn’t think in this way. We should know the Bible clearly tells us we should bring children to the Lord ever since they’re young.

Today we are still unable to go to church, but this shouldn’t prevent us from bringing children before the Lord. When having service af home, bring them with us to worship God, sing hymns and pray. Let’s not belittle them and think because they’re young, they can’t flip the Bible. We know coming before the Lord is not just to receive blessings but also to know Him. As adults, do we have the heart of a child who yearns learning the word of God? Through the word of God we understand the heart of God. It’s only when we know the Bible are we able to teach our children so they are able to receive blessings too.

“Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.”
Being like little children doesn’t refer to age but the characteristics of it. As Christians we should have the characteristics of little children.

Matt 18:3
“Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
We have to be humble to be like little children, or we will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven. To be like a little child refers to their purity and humility; their reliance on adults and their willingness to submit.

Today when we listen to the words of God, do we do so with a simple and pure heart?

Most adults pay attention to the outward appearance e.g. rich and poor. Therefore we tend to honour one, and despise another. When Elder James wrote the epistle to their church then, he said, “My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?” (Jas 2:1-4) To treat people based on their outward appearance is not good. Let’s remember the God we worship doesn’t hold such a concept.

Sometimes we pay more attention to our own interests and forget about the interests of others. Sometimes when we belittle and despise others, we wouldn’t want to bring them before the Lord. Therefore we have to be careful so we don’t remain in our own thoughts and ideas. When we come before the Lord we ought to have a correct attitude, to have the humility of a child.

When we talk about children, let’s look at their main points. When comparing a child to an adult, see both their strengths and weaknesses. When we extract teachings from the Bible, take in the good and throw out the bad. If we’re like a child unable to discern good and evil, that is not good.

We next discuss the weaknesses of a child. When Jesus told His disciples to be like children, He wasn’t referring to the aspect being unable to discern, but rather to adopt the purity and humility of a child. If the spiritual development of a person is likened to a child who has not grown up,

1 Cor 3:1-3
“And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?”

Paul used the concept of a child to tell the Corinth believers they had not grown up spiritually. They were carnal and could only drink milk (and not eat solid food) in terms of their handling of the word of God. It’s not good if we are unable to discern what’s good and evil.

Eph 4:14
“that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting”

If we’re unable to discern, we would be carried about by every wind of doctrine. When we receive the truth, we would deny it; be suspicious about it. The True Jesus Church has had the truth for almost 100 years. If someone were to tell us one day that the truth we have is not complete while they actually have the complete truth, what does that mean? Our early workers were wrong the whole way? The Lord only reveals the truth to us after 100 years? We would be like children in our spiritual development.

Heb 5:12-14
“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

God doesn’t want us to be spiritually immature like children. While God wants us to be humble and pure like children, to feeling we’re small and relying on parents, willing to submit and listen to Him, this is what pleases God. We ought to ask God to help us to be as such so we can receive blessings. But we also ought to be mature.

1 Cor 14:20
“Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature.”

Paul teaches us not to be like children in understanding, but to be babes in malice.

1 Cor 13:11
“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”

Put away childish things. As Christians, we ought to be mature like an adult.

There’s another characteristic of a child we should not adopt. As Christians, don’t act like a child but naturally be like a child. Don’t be a hypocrite. What does that mean? Take away false humility. Sometimes we can be overly humble, it becomes hypocritical. When we’re learning to be like a child, don’t hold on to our old conversations. We have to accept the teachings of God so we can grow spiritually; so we can remove our old man; so we can become a spiritually grown up new man.

What’s worrying is when we’re neither an adult nor a child. It’s not that we don’t know anything, but it’s not that we know everything. Sometimes we’re numb and lazy, and no longer want to pursue spiritual growth. We’re content with our current state. When we bring children up, we know they should be able to independently do certain things. It shouldn’t be the case where an 18-20 year old still asks for milk to be made for him by his mother.

Our spiritual age does not depend on physical age. It is natural for a person who was baptised when they were 40 years old not to be so spiritually mature yet, while one who has been baptised as an infant might be spiritually mature when they reach 20 years of age. Humble ourselves, come before Him, rely on His words to grow. So we don’t stop growing. In this journey of growth, maintain the innocence of a child. Study the words of God. Like little children, listen and do according to the will of God. Such is an attitude we should have when we come before the Lord. If not, despite believing in Christ, we don’t grow up. Our growth is half-hearted; we are neither a child nor an adult. As Christians in our spiritual development, we ought to pursue after growth. The Bible also tells us we ought to yearn for spiritual milk. This spiritual milk isn’t telling us we shouldn’t grow up. The milk doesn’t mean we shouldn’t grow up. Rather it’s likened to yearning for the word of God like a baby yearning for milk. With such a desire, the word of God helps us grow and we continue growing. We’ll be able to discern good and evil, true and false, and also separate/consecrate ourselves. We shouldn’t be in a state where we constantly need help from others and can fall anytime. When storms and winds come, we’d be blown here and there. The Lord Jesus wants us to come before Him like a child with a simple faith to believe His words.

Why’re there so many different denominations today? We like to use our own wisdom to understand the word of God. Take for example: footwashing. “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” This is a simple saying. But if we think it’s easy to understand, we’re wrong. Many people don’t believe this shows footwashing concerns salvation. There are many different explanations. A simple commandment but the many discussions about it lead it further away from the truth. When we men rely on our own wisdom, we change the word of God and move away from it. This isn’t a person who humbles himself before God; we wouldn’t accept Jesus and emulate Him.

The Lord Jesus was like a child when He came before the Heavenly Father. “I have come to obey My Father’s command.” He was the most humble child. Because He humbled Himself, God raised Him to be ruler of all. Why? Because He was a child who obeyed. He came to do the will of God.

Jesus left behind a good example. Today we ought to emulate Him as well. We ought to have the humility of a child. Don’t look at the outer appearance. Look at the heart. Put off the old man and put on the new. In malice, be like children. In Christ, be like adults able to discern good and evil. Be mature spiritually. If we listen and submit to the word of God, we would become people of the Kingdom of God.

Children are very innocent. When the speaker was in Thailand, there was a child who was 8 but was the size of a 5 year old because he was malnourished. His parents had to work and had no time to care for him, so they left him with a relative. When this child came to the door of the church, the speaker told him, “Later on we’re going to pray for the Holy Spirit. You can say, ‘Hallelujah, praise the Lord.’ and tell God whatever you. But importantly, pray for the Holy Spirit.” The boy stared at the speaker with big eyes and nodded. The moment he came to the front and knelt down, he spoke in tongues.

The Lord Jesus loves little children. With a simple faith, children believe. People of the Kingdom of God ought to be like this - simple but not childish.