Jesus Blesses Little Children, Part 1

Introduction and Prayer for Illumination

0:02 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, January 4th, 1987, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:14 And will you follow, please, as I read verses 13 through 16. Mark chapter 10 and verse 13. And they were bringing unto him little children, that he should touch them. And the disciples rebuked them.

0:38 But when Jesus saw it, he was moved with indignation and said unto them, Suffer, or permit the little children to come unto me. Forbid them not. For of such belongs the kingdom of God, or more literally, for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God, as a little child, he shall in no wise enter therein.

1:17 And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands upon them. Now let us again seek the face of God in prayer, that the Lord will come and open to us this portion of his holy word. Our Father, it is pleased you to bring us, into existence at this point in history, when our Lord Jesus is no longer here upon the earth, in his physical bodily presence. Though we have expressed the wish of our hearts in the hymn we have sung, we know that it is not your will, that we should be present to have his hands laid upon our heads, to have him take us up into heaven, into his arms. And yet we thank you that we lose nothing because of this fact. For he himself said it were better for him to go away, that the church might have the abiding presence of the indwelling spirit. And so we rejoice in our privileges this morning, that as the text has been read,

2:40 we may now come to it believing that the Holy Spirit, will tell us, make this very picture of Christ, and fill it with the living presence of Jesus, that we may see him, that we may hear him, that we may in grace respond to his voice. O Holy Spirit, gift of the ascended Christ, do your work of testifying to Jesus, here in this place today. We ask these mercies, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The General Setting of the Incident

3:17 Now as we take up the incident read in your hearing, let me remind you of the general setting in which this incident occurs. According to verse 1 of chapter 10, our Lord has left the upper regions of Palestine, up in the Galilean section, and has made his way southward and eastward into the area called, Perea, just east of the Jordan River, and parallel, as far as the placement in Palestine, to Samaria, or the northern part of that section of Israel. And at this time, though our Lord is continuing his ministry to the twelve, in preparation for the time when he will soon leave them, he does engage, again, in a ministry to the multitudes. For verse 1 of the chapter tells us that the multitudes come together unto him again. And as he was accustomed, he taught them again.

4:32 Mark places the emphasis upon this teaching ministry of Jesus to the multitudes in Perea, whereas Matthew, in the parallel passage, places the emphasis upon his healing ministry. No sooner though, do the multitudes come to be taught and healed, but those constant and bitter enemies of our Lord appear on the scene, the Pharisees. And we read in verse 2 that once again, they attempt to ensnare our Lord in his words. They attempt to ensnare him with a view to handing him over either to the civil or religious authorities because of their desire to be rid of him.

5:17 And so they raise the debatable question and subject of divorce. And we have studied our Lord's response to the question which they raised. Now it's in that general setting that we read in verse 13, and they were bringing unto him little children. Now whether this incident happened immediately after this encounter with the Pharisees, if so, then it may well have happened both inside and outside of the house referred to in verse 10.

The Activity of the Unnamed Adults

5:55 For it was in the house that the disciples privately asked the Lord concerning this matter of marriage and divorce, and our Lord gave them some additional instruction on that vital subject. Verse 17 tells us, as he was going forth, into the way. So it may well be that this incident is to be understood as an incident which transpired in and near to the very house in which the Lord gave some intensified instruction to the disciples. So much then for the general setting of this passage as we attempt to grasp the facts that it contains. Will you notice with me first of all, what I am calling in the first part of verse 13, the activity of the unnamed adults. The activity of the unnamed adults. The passage simply states, and they, not telling us precisely who the they are or were, were bringing unto him little children that he should touch them.

7:13 Three very simple questions addressed to this part of the text. Who were these people? Well, as I have already intimated, the text does not tell us. But most likely they were fathers and mothers, possibly grandparents, maybe an old widowed aunt, some other close relative, someone who would have a natural bond to these little ones.

7:39 These unnamed adults are the people whose activity is described in verse 13. So question number one, who were they? We don't know with any precision. Second question, what were they doing?

7:56 Well, the text tells us that they were bringing unto him, that is unto the Lord Jesus, their little children. Now the word used here for little children and in the parallel passage in Matthew 19, can mean anything from a newborn infant all the way to someone that we would call an adolescent or a preteen. It is a broad word. We use the word children that way.

8:31 There may be times when in prayer someone will say, Oh Lord, save our children. Well, that could mean anything from a 30 or 40 year old down to a one day old babe who has just been born. However, in the parallel passage in Luke's Gospel, chapter 16 and verse 15, the word brephos is used, translated there and rightly so, they were bringing their babes also. And so not only are we to understand that these adults, be they parents or grandparents or close relatives, whoever they were, were bringing little ones of all ages and descriptions, but Luke may well be informing us that they were a particular class of children, namely, they were babes in arms. This word is used of the unborn infant in Elizabeth's womb when she speaks to Mary and says, At your coming, the babe, brephos, leaped in my womb. And it could be that Luke is telling us in more technical language that these little children were not little children in general, all the way ranging from babes in arms to adolescents,

9:58 but that they were really babes in arms. And there is some indication of that in the passage where we read later on, that Jesus took them in his arms. Yet again, we cannot be dogmatic because Luke says they were bringing also brephos, little children. So he may be saying that along with the little children in general, there were the babes or the infants in arms as well.

10:33 But be that as it may, they were bringing these children, these babes, unto the Lord Jesus. That's what they were doing. They were carrying them or leading them by the hand with a view that they might present them in the presence of Christ. Question number three, why were they bringing their little ones to Jesus?

11:00 Mark tells us that he should touch them. That he should touch them. And some have concluded from that that they were filled with superstition. They had heard the amazing reports about the miracle-working power of Jesus.

11:18 Perhaps they had even seen some of those miracles. Perhaps they had listened to some of his sermons and were captivated with the spiritual energy and power that was exuded in the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus. And in a kind of magical, superstitious way, they hoped that if Jesus would touch them, some kind of virtue would flow into them. Well, obviously, if that was in their mind, Jesus would not have accommodated to that kind of superstition.

11:48 He would have rebuked it. Matthew tells us, in a fuller account, precisely what this touching involved in their minds. In Matthew 19, verse 13, we are told, Then there were brought unto him little children, that he should lay his hands on them and pray. Why were they bringing their little ones to Jesus?

12:21 They were bringing their little ones to Jesus that the little ones might receive a blessing from the hand and heart of Christ, a blessing that would come by our Lord, invoking the intervention and grace and blessing of his Father in prayer. Now, words could not be plainer than are the words in Matthew's account. They were bringing them to Jesus that laying his hands upon them he might pray, that he might seek the face of his Father for the conferral of blessing upon their children. Now, how much did they understand about the mission of Jesus? We don't know. How much did they believe about his unique identity? We do not know.

13:13 How much did they understand the true condition of their children and the blessing which they needed above all else was the blessing of saving grace? We do not know. All we do know is that the activity of these unnamed adults was one in which they were bringing little ones to Jesus that he might lay his hands on them and might pray for them, pronounce blessing over them or upon them. Now, notice in the second place the reaction of the twelve to this activity of these unnamed adults.

The Reaction of the Twelve Disciples

13:53 We've looked at the record concerning the activity of the unnamed adults. Now, what is the reaction of the twelve to this activity? It is succinctly stated in the last part of verse 13, and the disciples literally were rebuking them. As often as they were coming, the disciples were rebuking them.

14:19 And here's where we get a hint of what the actual physical circumstances may have been. Verse 14 says, but when Jesus saw it, now that word saw could mean observed by all of the faculties of observation, hearing as well as sight, or it could be that the disciples had gone outside of the house, seeing people approaching, they were acting like a secretary to an important executive who tries to filter out access to that executive. Well, it may well be that out of real concern for their Lord, they were desirous of protecting him from unwarranted intrusions upon his time and unwarranted expenditure of his energies. He was teaching multitudes again. He was preaching to the multitudes again. They had seen their Lord in previous situations become weary.

15:15 And so the twelve are there rebuking them. And this is that strong word that we've encountered several times already in our study in chapter 9 in verse 25. It's the word used to describe what Jesus did when he cast out the unclean spirit. He rebuked the unclean spirit.

15:38 It's what Jesus did when Peter tried to hinder him from his determination to go to the cross, chapter 8 in verse 33. But he turning about and seeing his disciples rebuked Peter. So you see the word has in it the very sense of the stern reproof, this firm censure. In no uncertain words they made it plain to these unnamed adults, we don't want you bothering our master to give a blessing to your little children.

16:15 Now why did they do this? Well again, no clear answer is given in the text, but most likely, as I've already suggested, it was a desire to protect their Lord from what they regarded as nuisance demands upon his time and his energies. You see the Lord was busy teaching and healing. Now they are bringing little ones, no indication that they are afflicted with serious disease or illness.

16:47 No indication that they are bringing deformed and seriously ill little ones. They're bringing healthy babes in arms. Fat, red cheek, chubby, gurgling little babes in arms. The Lord doesn't have time for that.

17:04 There are sick babies to be healed. There are sick adults to be healed. And if they are bringing just the brephos, the babes in arms and little toddlers, he's busy teaching the great issues of the kingdom. These are too young to even understand his words.

17:21 He's on a mission of teaching and healing. And you parents and aunties and uncles and grandmas and grandpas, you come with your little ones to take up our master's time. No! We have no time for that.

17:34 And they rebuke them. And the tense is used, clearly underscored, that as often as they were attempting to bring their little ones to Jesus, they were met with the rebukes and the rebuffs and the reproof of the twelve. Now that's the reaction of the twelve to the activity of these unnamed adults. Now notice thirdly, and this is the heart of the passage, not only the activity of these unnamed adults, the reaction of the twelve to that activity, but thirdly, notice the response of Jesus to the activity of the twelve.

The Response of Jesus: Emotional, Verbal, and Physical

18:14 We are told in verse 14, but when Jesus saw it, the moment our Lord became aware of precisely what was happening, the unnamed adults bringing their toddlers and babes in arms or bringing exclusively their babes in arms, the moment He becomes aware that there was a pattern of serious effort to approach Him with little ones, continually met by this rebuke and reproof and resistance on the part of the twelve, Mark describes in graphic detail the way Matthew and Luke do not, the response of the whole Christ to this situation. He describes first of all His emotional response, what He felt, His verbal response, what He said, and His physical response, what He did. In other words, Mark describes the response of the whole of the humanity of our Holy Lord to what His disciples were doing. Now let's look then at that response.

19:31 First of all, His emotional or inward response, verse 14. But when Jesus saw it, He was moved with indignation. Now on previous occasions I have quoted to you or given a paraphrase of a tremendous principle articulated by B.B. Warfield in his masterful essay called The Emotional Life of Our Lord. And in that essay, Warfield makes the point and I believe indisputably makes the point that the gospel writers never played junior psychologists. They didn't try to read into the inner life of our Lord and penetrate areas that they could not penetrate by mere natural faculties. Whenever they describe anything of our Lord's emotional responses, they did so in terms of being able to read those responses in the look of His eye, in the tone of His voice, in the actions that they observed.

20:40 They reasoned backward to the inward state from the outward manifestation of that peculiar emotional response. It's when Jesus was observed weeping at the grave of Lazarus that they said, behold how He loved Him.

21:02 Now that principle being so, Mark tells us and no doubt learned this from Peter who was there and never forgot that look on our Lord's face, that tone in our Lord's voice so that when he is passing on to Mark the facts of the history of the life of His Lord, he could never think of this incident without adding this stroke omitted by Matthew and by Luke, that when Jesus saw it He was moved, He was vexed, He became perturbed and indignant. Now this is the word that is used later on in this very chapter, verse 41, when two of the disciples are arguing about who's going to be number one in the kingdom. Verse 41, and when the ten heard it they began to be moved with indignation, concerning James and John. How do men become agitated and perturbed when moved by common carnal ambition somebody stands in their way to frustrate their plans to promote themselves? Well that agitation is deep.

22:20 That agitation at times becomes all-consuming. That's the very word used here. It's the word used in Matthew 21, 15 and in Luke 13, 14 to describe the agitation of people who are irritated with our Lord. Irritated at His healing on the Sabbath.

22:39 Irritated that the children are praising Him in the temple. They're moved with indignation, perturbation, vexation. That's the word. Now Mark tells us that our Lord's first response to His awareness of what the unnamed adults were attempting to do and what the disciples were doing to negate that effort was a response of true inward vexation, indignation.

23:15 And the marvel of it is that if we may put it in physical terms if our Lord experienced a hundred pounds of vexation and indignation there wasn't one millionth of an ounce of sin in it. For our Lord to be holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners not only meant that in His outward acts and words He never deviated from the law of God but that in the deepest springs every emotion He ever felt it was holiness right to the very depth of that spring. And what was sinful in the disciples in verse 41 of this chapter a sinful indignation fed by the springs of sinful ambition? What was a sinful indignation in the leaders who beheld our Lord in the temple receiving the praise and worship of little children? What was sinful in them in its essence in its roots in its attendance?

24:34 Was in our Lord a pure and holy emotion as pure and holy as the throne of Almighty God from which He came and upon which He now sits? You see the relevance of this to some of the studies you've already engaged in on the subject of anger? The word orgy is not used here the word most frequently used to describe the anger of God but the very word of God used to describe our sinful anger the works of the flesh are manifest which are anger. So God uses a word which in most of its usages describes a sinful attitude. In another form of it it describes the virtue that attends true repentance in 2 Corinthians 7-11 yea what indignation that's the word used part of true repentance is a holy vexation an indignation against God against our sin and that's a holy virtuous disposition of the soul and so our Lord is vexed He doesn't take this in a blase way He wasn't quote always laid back feathers were ruffled

26:00 but it was a holy ruffling and all that it expressed was holy but we are given to understand in this text that whatever our Lord said with His words was tinged and flavored to choose to change the imagery thramblesated with the passion of holy vexation and righteous indignation. So much for His emotional or inward response then note His verbal response and Mark describes it in three parts His verbal response started with a two-fold command or imperative notice the language notice the language He was moved with indignation and said unto them unto the disciples suffer or permit the little children to come unto me forbid them not here are two imperatives first of all an imperative that commands them to put down this wall of resistance permit them to come to me that is in the context no long more bid these adults who are bringing their little ones to me for a blessing

27:27 do not go on prohibiting them permit them to come to me and then the second imperative stop hindering them a present imperative the very word that He gave to them in chapter 9 and verse 39 with regard to that unnamed disciple who was casting out demons Jesus said forbid him not same construction same word and so the first thing the Lord does when the disciples obviously see something upon His countenance reflecting this vexation and indignation is to speak to them may I say it reverently like a drill sergeant to some unruly person he says permit them to come stop hindering them there is His two-fold command or imperative that is the first part of His verbal response the second is a striking explanation look at this word for forbid them not for literally of such ones the kingdom of God now the wording is clear the translation in most translations is poor our Lord says

28:56 ones the kingdom of God and by using that terminology and tying it together with the word for He is giving a striking explanation as to why He is upset why He is indignant why He is vexed and why He commands them immediately to cease and desist from hindering and positively commands them to permit them to come unto Him and He says in His striking explanation for of such is the kingdom of God in other words He says if your thinking is wrong about how I will respond to helpless needy babes in arms defenseless dependent little toddlers then it is most likely that you have yet to come to clear views of who it is that comprises my kingdom if you would really come to understand who it is that is in my kingdom of whom is the kingdom comprised then surely knowing that the spiritual qualities wrought in every member of the kingdom

30:25 find such a clear expression in little helpless babes you would not have this hostile distant negative attitude to these little ones permit them stop hindering them for of such that is for of those who bear for those objective condition of these little ones is the kingdom of God in a very helpful commentary on the book of Mark one that I constantly refer to in my preparation by a man called William Lane commenting on this verse he writes the kingdom belongs to such as these because they receive it as a gift the ground of Jesus' surprising statement is not to be found in any subjective quality possessed by children but rather in their objective humbleness and the startling character of the grace of God who wills to give the kingdom to those who have no claim upon it in other words

31:52 the little one in arms and surely we have constant vivid multiplied reminders of this reality in this place must be fed with the bottle or breast placed in its mouth it can't even go and get its own bottle it roots around in the arm of its father doesn't know the difference many times when it's a very young infant hoping somehow to find in the father what only the mother can give him every father here of a nursing child has had that humorous experience it must be changed and bathed and clothed and laid to rest and protected it is the very essence of dependant-ness the very essence of receptiveness everything is done for it it does nothing for itself and Jesus in his striking explanation says don't forbid these little ones from coming to me that is don't hinder these unnamed adults from bringing them to me that I might touch them take them in my arms and pray for them and pronounce a blessing upon them for in their objective condition as children

33:19 is mirrored the subjective grace in every true member of my kingdom do you see that in the passage of the kingdom of God the kingdom of God like people and surely that cannot be referring to inherent grace in a child for we know from our bibles that in Adam all of us are condemned all of us are conceived in sin we are by nature children of wrath but he is speaking of that objective condition of the little one that mirrors perhaps more accurately than any other reality that passes before our eyes the internal spiritual state of every true member of the kingdom and then the third part of our Lord's verbal response is what I'm calling his magisterial pronouncement he first of all gives the two-fold command permit them stop hindering them the striking explanation for of such is the kingdom of God and then he makes one of his magisterial pronouncements verse 15

34:46 verily I say unto you whenever you find this construction Amen Lego our Lord is as it were drawing attention to his own person and position as the great and final prophet to his people and he's about to make a magisterial pronouncement Amen Lego verily I your Lord and Master I the greater than Moses I the final prophet to my people I say unto you what he had said earlier in connection with sorting out this dispute about who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom the words recorded in Matthew 18 13 except he be converted and become his little children he shall in no wise enter the kingdom he now makes it statutory law in the kingdom of God and of grace look at the language verily I say unto you whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child he shall in no wise enter therein now the key is this receiving the kingdom as a little

36:15 child now in the context the meaning is plain and I labor this point because God willing next week I will enter into some of the polemics of how this passage has been abused to justify the practice of infallibility in the kingdom to justify the practice of infant baptism to justify the assumption and presumption of infant salvation by nature not infant salvation by sovereign grace and I am not going to get into those polemics this morning but I do want you to see what the text says verily I say unto you whosoever and our Lord uses that construction as a canopy and encompasses all of the inhabited earth whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child in other words if we are to receive the kingdom we must receive it in the objective condition of these little ones these babes in arms these toddlers these dependent helpless recipients these receptive infants who were being brought to the Lord Jesus by these unnamed adults and he says if you do not receive

37:44 the kingdom as a little one you shall in no wise enter therein as we have already underscored there is the babe brought to the Lord Jesus in all of its dependentness helplessness vulnerability as then so now everything is done for them they do nothing for themselves and B.B. Warfield in his masterful treatise called children in which he treats of this very passage says what is particularly to be borne in mind with respect to the blessing of the little children and then he cites this text is that these little children Paideia in Matthew and Mark chapter three babies brefe Luke eighteen verse fifty therefore they needed to be received by Jesus in his arms and only from this circumstance can the details of the narrative be understood it is from this for example that the inference of the disciples which called out the master's rebuke let the little children come to me to open up the passage and then says this wherein this child lightness in which alone the kingdom

39:13 of God can be received consists lies on the face of the passage certainly not in the supposed innocence of childhood as if the purpose were to announce that only the specially innocent can enter the kingdom you see he said that would Declare that he came to call the righteous, not call sinners, not the righteous. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. Neither can it consist in the so-called humility of childhood, if indeed we can venture to speak of the most egotistic age of human life as characteristically humble. Nor yet in its simplicity, its artlessness, directness, etc.

39:56 We cannot even suppose it to consist in the trustfulness of childhood. Although we assuredly come much nearer to it, and no image of the children of the kingdom could be truer than that afforded by the infant lying trustfully upon its mother's breast. But in truth, it is no disposition of mind, but a condition of nature, that we must seek the characterizing peculiarity of these infants whom Jesus sets forth as types of the kingdom. Infants.

40:33 The infants of days, brevet, have no characteristic disposition of mind, and we must accordingly leave the subjective sphere and find the child-likeness which Jesus presents as the condition of reception, not acquisition of the kingdom. We must find it in an objective state, in a word, in the helplessness, or if you will, the absolute dependence of infancy. What our Lord would seem to say, therefore, when he declares, of such as the kingdom of God is briefly, those of whom the kingdom of God is made up, are relatively to it as helplessly dependent as babies are in their mother's arms. The children of the kingdom enter it as children enter the world, stripped and naked. Infants for whom all must be done, and who are capable of doing nothing.

41:37 Now look at the text. Look at the magisterial pronouncement. Verily, amen, I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom, whosoever shall not be found in the posture of receptiveness, the receptiveness mirrored in the dependantness of the child, he shall in no wise enter therein. Now after describing our Lord's emotional or inward response, giving us a record of his verbal response, then notice finally his physical response in verse 16.

42:27 And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands upon them. What we have here is, what we might call the central activity, the primary verbal emphasis falls upon his blessing. And he did so in a context in which Mark tells us that he took them up into his arms and laid his hands upon them. The only other place we have this verb, take them into the arms, is verse 36 of chapter 9.

43:03 Again with a little child. He took a little child and set him in the midst, and set him in the midst of them and taking him in his arms. Here the little ones who were brought then to Jesus are taken up into his arms. And while in his arms, Jesus does what Mark describes as blesses them.

43:27 But he uses a word again found only here in the New Testament. And here you have again that pressure of Peter the eyewitness. No doubt he had seen our Lord pronouncing, blessing at meals and in other situations in his years with him. But there was something peculiar about these blessings pronounced over and upon and in the presence of these little ones.

43:50 He takes the word for blessing and he puts a preposition in front to make a compound word that really should be translated, he was intensely or wholeheartedly with heart and soul engaged. he was continually blessing them and while doing that he was placing his hands upon them now I pondered that for a long time if he's got them in his arms how does he take his hands unless he calls them to levitate and put both hands on them well that surely isn't what Mark is saying I believe what we are to understand is this that as he would take one child after another into his arms as he would pray as he would perhaps pronounce blessing over them in terms of some Old Testament scriptures he would take first one hand and place it on the head of one little one hand it back to its parent or to its auntie or uncle take another and perhaps this one received from the left side would be in the crook of this arm and he'd lay this hand upon it as he prayed over it pronounce blessing upon it hand it back to its rightful guardian take another until Peter who saw the scene said that I know of no way to describe it but that he was taking the little ones into his arms intensely and earnestly blessing them

45:17 while all the while laying his hands both upon one and then upon another what a study and contrast between the activity of Jesus and that of the disciples they were forbidding prohibiting raising a roadblock but no sooner does Jesus level it but that he shows by not only his look and his disposition expressed as vexation and by his words but by his physical response his attitude to these little ones as best I understand it that's what the passage tells us now what does God intend us to learn from it well as I've already intimated God willing next week I want to bring three lines of application one doctrinal what we're to understand in this passage regarding the vexed question of infant baptism since it is often pressed and has been for centuries into the service of defending infant baptism then I want to make an application ecclesiastical what does it say to us about a church if the church is the body of Christ and is to reflect the mind and the heart of Christ what does it say to any church that Christ is the body of Christ and claims to be a church of Christ with reference to its attitude and actions

46:44 in the presence of little ones then I want to make a familial application that is an application to the family for surely in the bringing of these little ones to Jesus there is the prototype of that activity of all who have a godly concern for little ones that they bring them to Christ for that which only he can give them but this morning I want to make a application ecclesiastical I want to make only one application and it's not the doctrinal the ecclesiastical the familial but it is the personal and I make that because that's where the text shines its brightest light for you will notice that Jesus seizes this whole incident to give that magisterial pronouncement of verse fifteen in which he clearly indicates that unless we come to that condition of these little children we will never receive the kingdom and furthermore that the disposition in wrought by grace in order to enable us to enter is the disposition that must govern us while within the kingdom for of such is the kingdom of God and that's the primary application of the passage

Personal Application: Receiving the Kingdom as a Little Child

48:08 and in bringing our meditation to a close the s morning it is there that I want to make my primary and soul the case IPO want to do so in terms of asking you a very simple and yet very vital quest the questions I have you person yeah I forgot you're why he was the mom dad uncle I'll friend to brash have you personally man woman boy or girl sitting here this morning have you Have you personally ever been brought to a posture that could be described in terms of a babe in arms? That posture with regard to this great question, what must I do or become or have in order to enter the kingdom of God now and be found in that kingdom when Jesus the King returns in glory and power? Have you ever been brought to a condition that could be described as the condition of the helplessness of a babe in arms?

49:26 Or do you still view the matter of entering the kingdom as something that you can climb into on the rungs of your good breeding and your Christian heritage?

49:42 Paul once thought that. You read the record of it in Philippians chapter 3. And he said, my bloodlines were impeccable. If bloodlines can form the rungs of a ladder to enter the kingdom, surely I would have entered.

49:57 But he said, I count all of those noble bloodlines with all of their religious privilege. I count them but a pile of refuse.

50:08 Maybe there are others of you that think you can make a ladder whose rungs are constructed of your own deeds and doings and virtues. The thinning. The things you do not commit. The virtuous things you perform.

50:27 That was the error of the Pharisee who stood in the presence of God and said, I thank you. I'm not as other men. I do. I do. I do.

50:36 And Jesus said he did not go down to his house a member of the kingdom. No, God must bring us to that place where we say, oh God, in terms of anything that can commend me to you for acceptance. In terms of anything that can merit my entrance into the kingdom. I take the posture of a helpless babe. I have nothing. I can do nothing. I can bring nothing. I must receive as a gift that which you have done and that which you alone can do for sinners.

51:17 See the emphasis. Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive. Receive the kingdom. It is a matter of the receptiveness.

51:29 Isn't that what Jesus was talking about when he said, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven? Poverty of spirit is just another way of describing this very thing that's in our text. Of such is the kingdom. Except you receive the kingdom as a little child.

51:54 You'll never enter. And you see, that's why the doctrine of the cross is such a stumbling block. To tell people who feel, well look, I'm not as bad as the guy down the street. I'm here in church this morning.

52:08 You mean to tell me that all of these things I don't do and these things I do perform count for nothing in terms of acceptance with God? That is precisely what I'm telling you.

52:23 Now I didn't say they count for nothing in terms of society. In your family. Thank God you've not been as wicked as you could be. Thank God you've been decent and moral and upright.

52:33 Yes. In common grace. Yes. But my friend, listen to Jesus.

52:39 Except you take the posture of a little child. Of a breath-hate. Of a helpless babe in arms. And say, oh God, I stand in all the nakedness of my Adamic nature.

52:57 In all the foul wretchedness of my inherent sinfulness. In all of the stain and pollution of what I am. As a vile, helpless sinner. I stand under the canopy of your wrath against me in my sin.

53:14 Oh God, for the sake of who Jesus is. His perfect life. His death upon the cross for the likes of me. His promise to receive sinners, oh God.

53:27 I plead nothing but the righteousness of your Son. The virtue of Jesus. You see, that's why the doctrine of the cross is a stumbling block. Because it cuts the nerve of human pride.

53:42 It cuts the nerve of human accomplishment. It cuts the nerve of all pompousness. And all attempts to build our own ladders into heaven. You have the very word of Jesus.

53:58 Who at this point is on his way to the cross. We'll see later on in this chapter, verse 32. And they were on their way. Going up to Jerusalem.

54:10 Jesus knew he was on his way to lay down his life to die. Why? Because you can't build a ladder to heaven. He is that ladder.

54:21 He is the way as well as the truth. And no man comes to the Father. But by him. I ask you the question, my friend.

The Ongoing Posture of Dependence in the Kingdom

54:32 Have you ever been brought to the babe in arms condition? Jesus said, until you are, you'll never enter the kingdom. And dear people who can say yes. Yes, how well I remember when God stripped away all of my vaunted religiosity.

54:54 And all of my self-righteousness. And brought me by the word in the Spirit. To see what I was and what I needed. And how it could only be found in him.

55:05 Oh, my friend, listen. The disposition which marked your entrance. Must grow and develop within the kingdom. For Jesus said, of such is the kingdom of God.

55:18 And oh, how quickly we move from that posture of dependantness. I mean, the worst thing someone can say to you. Is, hey, you're acting like a little baby. You kids, you know how that feels when someone says to you, you're acting like a little baby.

55:35 I mean, those are fighting words, aren't they, guys?

55:38 Well, dear people. May God, may God ever be able to say, you're acting like a little baby. That's how we're supposed to act. Oh, Lord, I'm as dependent as a babe in arms.

55:53 Without you, I can do nothing. I cannot think one righteous thought. I cannot do one righteous deed. I cannot move one inch in the direction of true biblical holiness.

56:06 Lord, I need your grace. I constantly need the virtue of Jesus. The cleansing of the blood of Jesus. The strength and power of the Spirit of Jesus.

56:19 The illumination of the Word of Jesus. Lord, wherever I turn, I am a mass of need. But you have treasured up in your Son all spiritual blessings. Oh, Lord, enable me to take, to receive what is so freely and graciously offered in Him.

56:42 Well, may the Lord take this portion of His Word, burn it into our hearts. And if that question has found us this morning and left us confused, feeling that someone has shaken the very pillars of our religious experience, my friend, don't resent that shaking. I've spoken to you as a friend who loves your soul and who does not want to see you go deceived to judgment, thinking you can enter because you've woven a fabric on the loom of your own performances with which you will dare to appear in the presence of God. That fabric will whither with one glance of His eyes that there is a flame of fire. Oh, friend, come in all your dependantness, in all your need. Take the very Word of Jesus and bring it to Him and say, Oh, Lord Jesus, I take the posture of obeying, prepared to receive what I cannot earn, prepared to take what I cannot achieve in myself. And you have the Word and pledge of God Himself that those who come thus to Him, He will in no wise cast out.

Exhortation and Closing Prayer

58:06 Let us pray.

58:14 Our Father, how we thank You for Your Holy Word. We thank You for this Word of our Lord Jesus, couched in the spiritual dullness of the disciples. And yet we thank You honestly set before us that we might with them learn these vital lessons. And we pray that the Holy Spirit will even now write this Word upon our hearts for those who have never entered the kingdom because they have never received the kingdom as little children.

58:50 Oh, Lord, put pressure upon them. Give them no rest nor peace until as little children in all their vulnerability and helplessness they receive the kingdom. Even by receiving the King Himself and all of the grace, the grace that is in Him. We pray that You will help us who by grace are in the kingdom.

59:17 Lord, we confess with shame how quickly we move from the posture of little ones. Oh, humble us. Lord, deal with all of our creature confidence and bring us again to that posture which was so pleasing in Your sight. We plead that You will write Your Word upon our hearts and bring blessing to us and glory to Yourself from its fruit.

59:47 We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.