Sermons

Well, good morning. Open your Bibles, please, to Luke chapter 18, except, oh, everybody froze there. Except if you are 11 or under, in which case I want you to come up here for a moment. If you are 11 or under, come up here for a moment, okay? You can kind of gather over here.

Man, there's a lot of you, good. Trinity, be fruitful and multiply, well done. And this is only one service. Oh, please come up, absolutely, yeah, yeah, come on. You guys can sit down in a second. Okay. There we go. Good work, Mark. Do you want to come sit over here? Yeah. You come sit over here. Good girls. That's...I know. Sometimes people are too shy to come up. I feel like that a lot, but here I am.

Guys, I've been looking for an opportunity to talk to you just for a few moments in our church to let you know how important you are to our church. And today, you're gonna see in this passage that we come to today, it makes most sense to say that now. You need to know that at Trinity Bible Church, we are so thankful that we have so many children that come here week by week.

And we have a wonderful, good news message that tells us in the Bible that you don't have to be 70, or 50, or 20, or even 12 to be a Christian. Right now, if you know that you do wrong things, you can pray and ask God for forgiveness, knowing that Jesus died so that all who trust in Him can immediately be forgiven. And the wonderful thing is when you ask God to forgive you, when you become a Christian, you are a full Christian. You're not a little Christian, you're a full Christian, with all the dignity that that brings. And because of that, also our church, we see it as a wonderful thing to have you part of it. Do you know whenever somebody becomes a Christian, they have a role in the church?

And sometimes we don't think about it, but if you are a Christian, you have an important role in the church, and we don't do a good job sometimes of communicating that. One of the things I want you to know is all week, it's a wonderful thing, I get, the church frees me up, the church pays me for my job to get to study the Bible, to be ready to explain it on Sunday. That's a really special thing.

But it's something I need your help with. So, if you're a Christian, I wanna ask that you would pray that God would help me each week to be ready to speak to you and to everybody else. And I need you to pray for, you see these guys? All these men and ladies?

They need your prayers too. So, if you're a Christian, can you pray that their hard heads would be soft? And that they would be able to hear the Word of God and to do it. Just the same way your mummies and daddies and grannies and grandas, if they know Jesus, they're praying that for you, that God would help you to hear the Word of God and to do it. Well, you need to pray for us, that God would help us to hear the Word of God and to do it. And I really need you to pray that God would help me to proclaim it, to tell people what the Bible says. So, I am so thankful that you're coming to our church.

I love it. Now, you need to know this. Whenever church finishes, and you all get excited to be around each other, and you run around like headless chickens bouncing off each other, and, you know, please don't knock over any of the, especially the older people. Don't knock them over. But please know, we love it when we hear noises and screams and laughter in our church. That's a really good sign, and so I want you to know how thankful I am.

Now, nobody has to, but I was wondering, would one of you be willing to pray for us this morning? Yeah? Look, can you pass me that microphone? One of you be willing to pray? Would you be willing to pray? Okay, now, if you just pray, because we're going to hear God's Word in a moment, and if you would pray for us that God would help us all to listen, that would be wonderful.

[Prayer] Dear God, thank You for this day. Please help us to understand Andrew Curry today. Thank You that we're all a good church, in Jesus name I pray, amen. Amen. [End}

Thank you. Okay guys, you can all get a seat. Thank you very much. We do need to pray that God would help us to understand Andrew Curry. I know what is right, Adam. Thank you. Thank you to the boys and girls for coming up.

I know it's a little different this morning, but you'll see why it's so important when we come to our passage.  Would you all stand, please, as we read the Word of God? Luke chapter 18, and I want to begin reading at verse 15. Luke chapter 18 and reading from verse 15.

[Scripture reading] "Now they were bringing even infants to Him, that He might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to Him, saying, 'let the children come to me. Do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And a ruler asked Him, “good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?' And Jesus said to him, “why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments. Do not commit adultery. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Honor your father and mother.”

And he said, “all these I have kept from my youth.” When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “one thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.” But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” But He said, “what is impossible with man is possible with God.”” [End]

Let's pray one more time.

[Prayer] Heavenly Father, again, we thank You for the wonderful stewardship You have given to us as a church with these children that were up at the front. Lord, we are so thankful that You have brought families to our church, and especially these little ones, and we pray, Lord, that You would help us as a church to be a support to mums and dads. We thank yYou for those who teach so faithfully in our nursery, in the elementary Sunday school class, in the middle school and high school class. Lord, we thank You that week in, week out, they are willing to go, to give up that opportunity to be in an adult Sunday school class and to go and to serve those who we see in Scripture Christ was so eager to serve. We just pray that You would bless them even in their ministry today. And we do thank You for these little ones.

And we pray, Lord, as You would speak to all of us, especially this morning, You would speak to them also and help them to see the beauty of the gospel. We pray for us who are older, Lord, and we realize that older doesn't mean more mature in the faith. And so, we ask that you would give us the grace to come like a child, knowing that we have a Father in heaven who loves us, a glorious Savior who embraces us, and a great helper who comforts us. So, we pray that You would work amongst us by the power of the Spirit, through the ministry of the Word, for the glory of Christ Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen. [End]

Have a seat.

Well, I want you to imagine you leave church, maybe you have some lunch, and somebody notices that aura that you have, okay? You know that Shekinah glory that, you know, marks you, that little halo above your head.

And so, they come over to the table and they ask you, what do I need to do to go to heaven when I die? What would I need to do to go to heaven when I die?" How would you answer? What would you say? That question sounds like an easy one, doesn't it? What do I need to do to go to heaven when I die? But actually, this particular passage that we come to this morning shows how hard it is to actually answer what sounds like a simple question.

Well, you know, you've got to show interest in Christ. But this passage makes clear that's not enough. Well, you know, you've got to want to follow Him, to be committed to Him. This passage would indicate that's not enough. Well, you've got to live life His way. You know, His Lordship, you've got to embrace that. But this passage would indicate that's not enough.

Well, you've got to know the love of Jesus. It's so important you know. It's all because He loves you first. But again, this passage, and especially when we cross-reference it with Mark's account of the same episode, would make very clear that's not enough.

So maybe as you wrestle with it, what do I need to do to go to heaven when I die? Maybe right now, in these moments, the confusing preacher at the front that we do need to pray would be understandable. Maybe you are left sitting there squirming and saying, who then can be saved?

I want you to notice in the text, because we so quickly dismiss them, I want you to notice the eager seeker that we find, the eager seeker at the heart of this text. It's an interesting encounter, because remember last week, we thought about the Pharisee and the tax collector.

Well, this guy isn't either. He's not a notorious sinner like the tax collector, nor is he described as a Pharisee that immediately, because of the hostility that we've seen between them and Jesus, we would automatically dismiss. He's not labeled either way. He doesn't have a life marked by sin. He's not called a Pharisee. He doesn't seem to have a life that's marked by self-righteousness, at least at the beginning.

He's not trying to deliberately trip Jesus up. There's a genuineness to the question that he brings. He's not looking. Remember he said that so many of the Israelites in that day were looking for a political leader to kick out the Romans and to establish a kingdom there in Jerusalem at that particular time. This guy, from the text anyway, doesn't give any indication of any of those things. In fact, as he looks at the disciples and the type of life that they live, he's not put off.

He actually comes closer. And he seems willing to do so much in order to be part of the troop. There's actually a lot about his approach that's really commendable. Like, he came with a good question. He came with the right question. Look at verse 18. Good teacher. What must I do to inherit eternal life? What must I do to inherit eternal life? What a good question. What a good focus. What a good aspiration. So many people get caught up in questions.

Oh, how am I gonna lose some weight? How much should America inject itself in all of these foreign affairs? How should I think about the economy at the moment, and what should I be doing to look after my money? What should happen with all of the Epstein files and disclosures and all of that? And people naturally get obsessed by questions. That's the way we're wired. That's the way we think.

And in Jesus' world, that Jewish world, they love questions too. When we read about their history, we read about the dialogue that was taking place amongst the Jewish people at the time of Jesus, it's full of questions. Should we be paying taxes to Caesar? Who could lead a political uprising against these Romans? For the Jewish people especially who were dispersed across the Roman Empire, that they were wrestling with, how can we live in a Hellenistic culture and still retain our distinctiveness, our purity as a Jewish people? And so those questions the people who are asking in Jesus' day, just like so many of the questions we ask today, they're concerned with immediate issues, things of today, issues of power, and they dominate at the public conversation.

But here is a man in verse 18 who stands out. Here's a man who broke the mold. Because his question is actually important. It's concerned with the eternal. It could be argued it's one of the most important questions to ask, certainly one of the most important things to think about. What must I do to inherit eternal life? That's a good aspiration, isn't it?

I wish I could stir up some emotion in the church here today to have that concern. I think most of us have turned up wondering what will we have for lunch. Maybe we've turned up thinking about, I wonder how we'll worship today. I hope I learned something today. But it's still so immediate, whereas here is a man who rightly understands there is an eternity ahead. And he's concerned with being ready.

Some of us need to think more about the reality that there is an eternity to face. You know, Spurgeon, when he was talking about how to stir up a spirit of evangelism in the heart of the individual, he said the best way to "develop a passion for souls;" that's how he would describe evangelism, a passion for souls is by "pondering the destiny of lost men and women, where they are headed, and what will happen if no one cares enough to confront them with God's love and their lostness." But when he looked at the church of his day, Spurgeon said, the great weakness that stops people from sharing the gospel is we don't realize there is an eternity at stake.

If we could just grasp that, we would act, we would share, we would insist on talking. And here's a man who understands that there is an eternity.

So, he comes, this eager seeker, and he asks the right question, and notice he came to the right person. He came to the right person.

He didn't go to the Greek philosophers of his day. He didn't go to the Jewish scribes. He didn't go to those Pharisees. Rather, who does he go to? Well, he comes to Jesus. He had an eternal question, and so he goes to the Eternal One. He had a question about life, and so he goes to the life-giver. He had a question, ultimately, about salvation, and so he goes to the Savior. Do you not see how right his approach is? This eager seeker went to the right person with the right question.

And we can add, especially when we cross-reference this text with Mark's account as well, that this man was loved by Jesus. He was loved by Jesus. And the man told Jesus that he had kept the law since he was young. And Jesus knows that what's coming out of his mouth is not a pharisaical, boastful statement.

These words are sincere. They're the sincere words of a man who's trying to do what is right. I don't think we should be demonizing him There's something greatly lacking here, but we'll see that in a moment. But I think he sincerely thinks he's done a good job. He sincerely thinks he's in the right realm, that he's in the good books, that he has a place. He's like so many here in Texas.

If you were to go and ask them, you know, how do they know they'll go to heaven? They'll say, well, I'm a good person. And they mean it. Like, they mean it. I think that's this guy. He genuinely means what he said. He's not trying to deceive Jesus. He means it. In his own personal assessment, he says, I've kept the law. All these I've kept since I was young.

And Mark adds an important clarification to Jesus. Jesus immediately starts to respond with kindness to the man. But Mark chapter 10 verse 21 says, at that point Jesus looked at him and loved him. He looked at him and loved him. Now here's a man who's deceived, self-deceived. Here's a man who hasn't got it yet. Here's a man who hasn't acted in repentance and faith, and yet our Savior looks at him and loves him, and that shapes the interaction Christ has with him. This earnest seeker came with the right question to the right person, Jesus Christ, who loved him. But notice how he left. Look at verse 22. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, one thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me. But when he heard these things, he became very sad for he was extremely rich."

The man left at the end of the story very sad. Well, we don't read about him again. Maybe he comes up, and maybe there is engagement, maybe there is a genuine repentance and trust, but in terms of the revealed Word, we're ignorant of that. As far as we're concerned, as far as we're aware, as far as what God has revealed to us, this man leaves at the end of the story very sad.

You see what's happening here. He comes to the right person, and he comes with the right question, but the answer he got back crushed him. Interest isn't enough. Seeking Jesus isn't enough. Learning truth, getting answers, living out the law, none of it is enough. So, this rich seeker, he left sorrowful and lost with no eternal life, with no place in heaven. Here's an earnest seeker, but he leaves absolutely disappointed. He leaves very sad.

And so notice then the disciples. There's others watching this whole thing unfold. Jesus' disciples, and they've been exposed to so much teaching. They've heard about the unjust judge and the widow and reminded in that about how they should pray and not lose heart. They are meant to interact with God. And the Pharisee and the tax collector, God, be merciful to me, this sinner, that this man went home justified rather than the other, that they're reminded that God does hear the prayers of sinners. And yet they watched as this good man, from their perspective, who has strived to keep the law, who's from all appearances, got a good life where he seems to be blessed by God, he's leaving very sad.

And so, I want you to notice the confused disciples who remain. Think about them, these confused disciples who remain.

Here's a man that came amongst them for a moment, and he shows greater discernment than they did, greater zeal than many of them. He's willing to leave a lot behind. And remember the 12, that's what they did. They left everything to go and to follow Jesus. And I think when he comes on the scene, this rich young ruler, and he talks the way he talks, and he shows a genuine interest in Jesus that the Pharisees and the scribes and so many others didn't show, the disciples are thinking, here's Candidate number 13.

Here's a guy who could be part of our crew. Here's the perfect next disciple to join the team. But instead, look at verse 24. Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, how difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. Again, the thinking, oh, this guy would be perfect. This guy would be great for the team. Respectful, respectable. upright, moral, rich. That would be a help, wouldn't it? We'd eat better dinner if we had him in our team.

Jesus says, hard heart. Have you ever tried to thread a needle? Have you? Now, some of you, I'm sure, in this room are good at it, probably the ones that know it. You know what I'm talking about. The rest of us, that thing could take 20 minutes to try and thread.

You know, we're licking it. You know, by the time we get the thread on the needle, there's more saliva than thread there. You know, our tongue is sticking out more than the thread itself as we try and get it through. That thread ultimately that goes through the eye of the needle is tiny.

The biggest animal in Palestine at the time was the camel. It's like today, maybe we talk about going to the zoo and seeing the elephants. And the idea is very obvious. The biggest thing you can get, the biggest animal that the children can imagine going through the tiniest hole Like, it's not happening. You know, it's a very simple illustration. You don't need to unpack it or overthink it.

It's not happening. Humanly speaking, it's impossible. We can't manufacture that. We can't make that happen. We can't, you know, put that camel on an exercise regime. You know, take away all its gluten, a gluten-free diet. And somehow it's going to pop through the eye of the needle. It's just not going to take place. No matter what we do, we can't manufacture it. And the disciples understand exactly what Jesus is saying. And that's why, look at verse 26, those who heard it said, then who can be saved? If this good guy, who asks the right questions, who wants to be part of the group, if he can't, if he can't have eternal life, if he can't be saved, how's it gonna happen for anybody?

You see, as well as that, they lived in a culture that taught, if you do the right things, God will bless you. You know, you will know that God's favor is upon you because your life is trouble-free. And the disciples, most of that society, thought that if you're rich, that's a sign that the favor of the Lord is upon you. I think a lot of people today still think that way. You know, if you're able to, without worry, write a check and pay the bills, it's a sign that the favor of the Lord is upon you.

And so, in the mindset of the disciples, if this rich—emphasis on rich—blessed-by-God, eager seeker, if he doesn't qualify for eternal life, what chance have I? You know, if you could see the disciples' bank account, it wouldn't look as rosy. So if that person who seems to be enjoying the blessing of God, if they have no chance, what chance have I?

And Jesus knows that they are concerned, and so he immediately replies, look at verse 27, but he said, what is impossible with man is possible with God. What is impossible with man, you're not getting that camel through the eye of the needle, is possible with God. God is able to do what we cannot. In fact, God is able to do in you what you cannot do for yourself. These confused disciples are reminded when man can't, God can. where man can't, God absolutely can. And when we can't solve the eternal issues, the point is the divine, God Himself, is able to do as He wishes.

When you can't save yourself, when you can't grasp eternal life yourself, God is able to grab it to give it to you. When a man tries, it's like trying to squash that camel through the eye of a needle. It's just not happening. It's absolutely impossible. But where man can't, where man can't ever save himself, God is able to save him, because God can do anything. What a reminder, where we cannot still our God saves.

I think sometimes in church we're too used to the good news message, that the glorious message of the gospel declares that we are fallen, that we are sinful from birth, sinful from the time our mother conceived us, that out of not society, but out of this heart, flows every kind of vice, every kind of evil and wickedness all the time. That the heart is the wellspring, not of life, but of wickedness. That's the verdict of Scripture. And it's deceptive. And it tricks us, like it tricked a rich young man into thinking we're better than we are, but we're filthy. What the Bible describes us as a slave to sin; we're chained to sin. It's what we do, it's all we know. In fact, the Bible says we're dead in our sins and transgressions.

Do you know what happens when somebody dies? If someone, I hope it doesn't happen, died in church this morning, it's a terrible illustration. That one just came to me; you know that because it shouldn't be in the sermon. If someone died in church this morning in the first row, unless somebody moves them, they're not moving anywhere. They're stuck. Dead people don't get up and run around. That would be terrifying. And that's the point. We're dead in our sins and transgressions. We're stuck. We're not going anywhere else. We're helpless and hopeless.

But God...God, rich in mercy, sent His Son who lived as none of us could. who actually did keep the law perfectly, not just in action but in mind and heart and motive and every, every detail, absolutely perfect. And yet the spotless Lamb of God, He came, the Bible says, to take away the sin of the world.

He died. And he was punished, punished by the Father. And the guiltless Son of God died for the guilty. In that moment upon the cross, my sin, the wrath that should have poured out on my head for all of my transgression, my sin, past, present, and indeed even future, in that moment, it was taken off my head and it was laid upon His, and He bore the wrath for me. The punishment that should have fallen on me was placed upon Him. He drank that cup fully, not one drop was left. The Bible says, by His wounds am I healed. And the glory of the gospel, John 3, verse 16, is that now, because of that great act, because of that great sacrifice, whosoever believes, It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor.

It doesn't matter if you were born here or you've immigrated to here. It doesn't matter what type of job you have or if you have no job. It doesn't matter what age you are. It doesn't matter what sex you are. It doesn't matter about any of these things.

Whosoever believes, shall not perish, but have everlasting life. It's a glorious, inclusive gospel in the best sense of that word. Glorious because Jesus died in a way that paid it all, and inclusive in the sense that it doesn't matter what background, what sin you've committed, what folly you've chased, in that moment of repentance and faith, you are fully embraced into the family of God, and even more importantly, embraced by God himself. Mercy is received as a free gift, an undeserved gift.

And yet the story reminds us that there is a hurdle. From a human perspective, God is the God of salvation, but from a human perspective, there is a great hurdle in the mind of men and women. in the mind of this rich man that prevents us from grasping, from receiving this glorious gift of forgiveness.

And that great hurdle is me-must-do paralysis. Me-must-do paralysis, a sinful mindset that comes and says, what must I do? to be saved. There's something good in the objective of the question, to get eternal life, to experience salvation, but you see the folly of the question? What must I do? It's this concave perspective. I'm looking not to the Lord, I'm looking inward. What can I contribute? It's a bent-in self-focus that destroys millions and damns them to hell.

What in me would make me worthy, a worthy recipient of the free gift of grace? And yet that's the natural way sinful minds think. What am I going to do? Or what have I done that makes me a worthy candidate to receive grace, makes me deserving of this free gift?

And that produces a distortion of the gospel. It twists and contorts it in a way that it becomes something altogether alien from being saved by grace alone. And yet it is all too often the way people think, and especially people who come to church on Sunday. That the gospel instead is a paradox, because the gospel declares it's the one who can do nothing that God saves. It's the one who brings nothing to the table, who receives everything. There is a way to receive eternal life. There is a way to be saved, and it's in the text.

Did you see it? Did you see the clue that is presented to the disciples who are still struggling, I think, to grasp it themselves? Look at verse 24 and 25. There's a phrase that's repeated. Verse 24, how difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter, he tells the disciples, the kingdom of God. In the very next verse, verse 25, for it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.

Now, when you see repetition and close succession like that, that's normally an indication to you as you study the Bible that here's something I'm going to catch, that Jesus wants them to see something or to remember something. And the something He wants them to remember is concerning the kingdom of God. Jesus, in order to answer that question that hangs in the air, what must I do to enter the kingdom of God, to have eternal life, to be saved? He wants to remind them of something that happened just a few moments ago.

Look at verse 16, because the language repetition is there too. After the children are brought to him, Jesus called to them, saying, Let the children come to me, do not hinder them, for to such belongs—look, it's the same phrase—the kingdom of God. Verse 17, Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive, there it is again, the kingdom of God, like a child shall not enter it."

That repetition ties those ideas together. Why do we not just preach in verses 15 to 17, which would have been time well spent this morning? Why do it together with the rich young ruler? Because the disciples were meant to tie the two episodes together, and so are we. If we're going to understand the answer If we're going to understand the hope, we need to see these things tied together. In fact, again, I've mentioned a few times, Mark's account of this is even more pointed.

In Mark chapter 24, when the disciples come to him in that panic, oh, who then can be saved? Jesus immediately calls them children. Children. He wants you to connect these stories together. So now we have to ask why. Why are verses 15 to 17 so important when it comes to entering the kingdom of God, being truly forgiven? I think everybody gets the first part of the story. Look at verse 15. Now they were bringing even infants to him. Mark's account says children in general. The emphasis in Luke is even infants. In other words, we're talking about the most vulnerable, the tiniest.

That's the world, not just Jewish society. The whole world at the time had an extremely high infant mortality rate. But today, there are even individuals in our church who have lost little ones. And it's very hard to imagine a greater pain, humanly speaking, that the heart has to endure. But in Jesus' society, that was a normative thing. We should be so thankful for the type of medical care that's available today.

In a world that didn't have that privilege, infant mortality was so high. And so here are these desperate mothers who just want to know the child will make it, who are doing anything they can, any good luck charm, anything, any prayer, any blessing, anything you got will take it if it's going to give it a better chance for this child to survive. And it's that spirit, I think, that drives these ladies to bring to Jesus their infants. Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them.

And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. These Jewish parents, they heard a lot about Jesus, the famous rabbi. News about him was spreading. He taught as nobody taught. He was doing these miracles nobody else did. And so there's nothing really that unusual about these parents wanting Jesus to interact with their children. Why would they not?

There was a tradition in Jewish society where often they would have brought their children to notable rabbis, hoping that the rabbi's prayer would bring a blessing of protection upon their child. And so as people hear about Jesus, the rabbi, who teaches like nobody else, who heals like nobody else, of course they're gonna want his blessing upon their children.

And the disciples, oh, they can't put up with it. They're like the church, you know, congregant, the one who sits out there that complains every time a child sneezes. You know, if a child coughs, they're annoyed. You know, oh, what a distraction. A crying baby, oh, disgusting. In the house of the Lord. It's just such a gross mentality, isn't it? And it's one you just can't imagine marking our Lord. Everything about him loves and cherishes the little ones. Which is why as a church we must strive for that ourselves.

But here these disciples, they rebuke him. That word strong, that's the same word that Jesus, is used to describe Jesus rebuking the evil spirits. To rebuke the storm. But as strongly as the disciples rebuke those bringing the children, Jesus immediately rebukes them.

Now, Luke's gospel is subtle. He immediately speaks, but Jesus called them, saying, and he talks. Now, sometimes we read that in isolation and we think he's talking in a very soft, gentle tone. But if you read the other accounts, Mark says he was indignant.

Like, there were certain things made Jesus furious. Furious. And his disciples disparaging children wanting to be near him made him furious, furious. And he's furious because it's the opposite of how he expects his children to act. He rebukes that attitude in his followers.

Oh, kids being kids. We love kids being kids. Jesus says to these disciples, and indeed to us today, that their thinking is wrong. For these kids whose society had no time for were to be warmly received by Jesus and His followers, so do not stop or hinder them.

Now, I think all of us can track with that. We see what's going on. We get the story. But it's at this point that I think a lot of sermons in this particular passage lose their way and die. They're killed by an overzealous moralizing of the text. It kind of goes something like this, as the preacher tries to apply it, notice how Jesus is so nice to the children, and we must be nice to children also, like I just said. Now believe me when I say that there is an element of truth to that. Jesus is so nice to the children. And if you're gonna follow him, you should learn how to be nice to children too. That is, I think, implied. It's at least the disposition that we see in our Lord.

But that's not the point that Jesus is spelling out to the disciples. He wants them to learn something more than just follow my example here. So, what does he want them to learn? Look at verse 16, "'But Jesus called to them, saying, Let the children come to me, do not hinder them, for to such belong the kingdom of God.'" Verse 17, "'Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.'" Here, Luke is no longer describing the scene. He's highlighting Jesus' teaching point.

And the teaching point is the kingdom, eternal life, relationship with God, it belongs to such as these. And whoever does not receive the kingdom like a child cannot enter it. And so, in contrast, to the Pharisee last week who prays of his achievements, we need to understand the kingdom of God belongs to the weak, helpless, and unimportant. The kingdom of God belongs to the weak, helpless, and unimportant.

I was really helped in preparation for this sermon by listening to a sermon that Alistair Begg preached on the same passage. One of the things he indicates in that sermon was that today we have forgotten the nature of the child. Our society today loves, in a weird way, little children and puts them in charge of the roost. We treat children like the whole world revolves around them.

They're little innocent snowflakes with the whole world being here to serve them. That little prince or that little princess, depending on what they want to be. Such a messed up way of thinking because if we're gonna understand Luke 18, We need to see that Jesus isn't saying children are cute, cuddly, and innocent, and the center of the universe, and so if you're going to enter the kingdom of God, you need to be cute, cuddly, and innocent as well. For some of us, that would be very deflating, because it would give us no hope. If we're gonna understand Jesus' point, you need to understand how children are viewed in that world. Children, let's think about them even today.

They're small. They're weak. They're helpless. They're at the bottom of the social order. We don't let children vote. We don't let them make life decisions, important life decisions by themselves. Even if they're going on a school trip, the parent or the guardian needs to sign a form to let it happen. They don't book an appointment with the doctor. Somebody else does that for them. They're pathetic.

Now, I don't know how it works in your house. We had a conversation just the other night. Just last night, actually about the nightlight. Nobody is getting the children in the bedroom. If someone broke into the house, they're going to hit me first. They're so safe. The house is so secure. There couldn't be anywhere more cozy and secure than their bed, and yet they need this little, tiny light. to comfort the soul and enable them to fall asleep.

They're so without claim, no merit. Believe me, they don't contribute to the financial accounts of our family. They're small, they're helpless, they are supremely in the need of others, and that's exactly why Jesus is so drawn to them. They are entirely needy, entirely dependent on the undeserved love and kindness of those around them.

I think that's why Jesus loves them so much. And so, Jesus says the kingdom belongs to people like this, that the saving gospel is for those who know they are weak, who are needy, who have nothing to offer, they have no claim to make, they have nothing to give. Verse 16, let the children come to me, do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Jesus is saying it's for these sorts of people, people who are like children, not children, but who are like children in this sense.

They come with no status, no merit, no sense of I do. They are the ones welcomed into the kingdom of God. But then he adds the next point, that unless you receive the kingdom on this basis, you will never enter it. Look at verse 17, "'Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.'" Jesus' words are simple, but the point drives right at the heart of our problem.

To receive forgiveness. To receive the kingdom, you need to be willing to—this is not rocket science—receive! Receive! Being forgiven is not a reward you get for doing a good job. It's not a bonus for going over and above. Jesus is saying you need to receive it like an undeserving child.

Emmanuel Baptist, where we were before, when Isla was five, she kind of lost that gift she used to have. She had this remarkable gift where she knew every old lady who had candy in their bag. It was instinctive. And she would put her hair in little pigtails, and she would tote her up, and she would hit every one of them. And she got more candy on Sunday morning than a kid should eat in a month. It's ridiculous. We're worried she's gonna get diabetes in the future because of it. Why did she get so much? Well, because she was really good back then at receiving. Really good.

Now, you try and give the candy to an adult, Have you ever watched the donuts, the little donut holes? Like, children are really good at receiving donut holes. Adults, not so much. If an adult confronts another adult, they engage at all around the donuts. There's a dialogue that goes on, and it's the same dialogue all the time. Oh, I don't know if I'll have one. Oh, I'm not sure. And the other one goes, oh, go on, go on, take it. Oh, well, do you know what? I did go for a walk yesterday.

This whole hullabaloo just to eat a donut hole. They're not good at receiving. But this is where it gets really serious. Jesus says the gospel is only received by receiving. He's not saying you need to be like a child in the sense of cute and cuddly. He's saying you need to be like a child in the sense that you realize you're totally dependent on the kindness and goodness of another to receive this gift. You need to realize you have nothing to offer. Your best deeds are as filthy rags in his sight. Begg says the gospel is not about achieving, it's about accepting. That's the point.

The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord, the Scriptures proclaim. This is why the gospel is always a stumbling block for those who have pride in their heart. who have stature in their own mind and thinking on what they have done and what they have achieved and how well they think, they're stuck in that mindset that says, what shall or what have I done? What shall I do? Thinking that they are capable of doing anything. There is no room in the gospel for pride. Because our gospel is gloriously a gospel of grace. True religion declares, I am nothing. I can do nothing. I am wholly dependent on His grace.

It's not good news about what you can do to be saved. It's good news that despite your inability to do anything of worth, despite your complete helplessness, Jesus came down and made a way to save. Sinful flesh could never hope to raise its hand to God, but the glory of the gospel is God himself took upon himself flesh and came down to reach sinful men and sinful women. It took the Lord becoming an infant to save us, which is why no one is forgiven without first becoming like a little child. The kingdom of God is only for those who humbly recognize they have nothing to bring to the table. But God is so kind and so generous that Jesus paid it all, in that alone I hope.

We condition our children from no age that if they do a good job they get a reward. And that discipline and everything else, there's good in it, absolutely. But sometimes as we get older, we slip into the trap of thinking that's how eternal life works.

It's the opposite. It's not a reward for doing the good thing, the right thing. It's a gift, given though you don't deserve it, because He is so kind. You don't get it because you are good. You get it because God is good, and He offers His free gift to all who come.

Let's pray.

[Prayer] Heavenly Father, we are so thankful for the simplicity of the gospel that Jesus paid it all. And yet, Lord, you know the pride in our heart that still wants to think we are something and have made the difference. Lord, strip that away and cause us to leave with the renewed thankfulness that Jesus paid it all. Lord, for those who have come for years trying to earn their way to heaven, break the heart remove that deception, and help them to see that unless they come like a child, they shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Work amongst us, we pray, for the glory of Jesus Christ, in whose name we ask it. Amen. [End]