“CHILDLIKE FAITH”
LUKE 18:15-17

I. Introduction
I have three questions for every Christian parent here this morning. Is there anything of greater importance to you, as a Christian parent, than the salvation of your children? Is there anything for which you, as a Christian parent, pray more fervently than your children coming to saving faith? And as a Christian parent, could there be anything that cuts you more deeply than a child, regardless of their age, who coldly and callously rejects our Lord and Savior?

As your children grow up and begin the inexorable process of separating themselves from your daily influence and control – a separation that must eventually come – Christian parents often find themselves thinking, or maybe even saying, things like this:
“We don’t like some of the things they say and do. We don’t like some of the people they hang around with, or some of the habits they’ve developed, or some of the places they go. We don’t like his or her spouse, or how they handle and raise their children. We don’t like the church they attend (or don’t attend), but in the end, none of that really matters. What really matters is their salvation. Are they saved?”

And yet, when it comes to family and friends, we often think more about the need for the older folks to hear the gospel and receive Christ than we do about the younger ones. I mean, the children don’t seem to be in any immediate danger of being eternally lost. After all, the little ones haven’t even reached the “age of accountability,” have they? But before we can assume that a child has or has not reached that mystical point, wouldn’t we be wise to find out what the Bible says about such an age?

It doesn’t! At least it doesn’t give a specific chronological age at all. Why would it? Don’t children mature at different ages from one culture or society to the next? In fact – and many of you can attest to this – even within the same family different children mature at different rates, don’t they? For us to say that when a child has attained a certain age that he or she has automatically become accountable to God is impossible for us to know with certainty.

And even though we don’t know the exact age, it is probably reasonable to say that such a moment takes place in nearly everyone’s life around the age of puberty. But God knows. He knows the exact moment when every soul becomes accountable to Him. He knows the exact moment when conscious, deliberate, and willful rejection of Him and His truth occurs.

In the OT the Jews identified that age as twelve. That’s when Joseph and Mary took Jesus to the temple. It’s the age when He was found asking some pretty profound questions. But regardless of a child’s age, when they ask questions about God or eternal things, they should be encouraged to believe in and commit themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ. How do you know that those questions aren’t the initial steps toward saving faith and salvation?
If you say, “Oh, they don’t really understand what they’re doing,” and ignore or play down their interest, you may well be undermining the first steps in God’s plan to bring that child to Himself. No Christian would want to stand before the Lord and have to answer for that.

But whenever the question of the so-called age of accountability comes up, there is another question that always seems to come right along with it. What if a child dies before he or she comes to that point of being held accountable for their sin? They were born in sin, weren’t they? Will they go to heaven? And what about the millions of babies who are murdered in the womb? They were conceived in sin, weren’t they? Will they go to heaven?

When we tackle a subject like this we find that our emotions can be so powerful and affect our thinking so much that they can overcome our desire to search for truth as it is revealed in Scripture. But I believe the truth about children who die before they have become accounta-ble to God can be found in at least two places in the OT.

First, the Bible refers to young children – both living and dead – as “not guilty.” Psalm 106:37-38 speaks of the Hebrew babies who were “passed through the fire” and sacrificed to pagan gods. (abortion) Those children are called “innocents.” Even though they were mem-bers of a fallen race, even though they were conceived in sin (their parents being sinners), they had not yet become accountable to God for their sin, and in His magnificent mercy, He dealt with them as if they were innocent. So we take comfort in knowing that the millions of “innocents” being murdered today are safe and well, and as the crime of abortion on demand continues, they are all being delivered into the hands of our merciful God.

The second place where it is made clear that young children go to heaven when they die is found in 2 Samuel. David has sinned. He has confessed his sin. God has forgiven his sin. But there will be consequences for that sin. God will take the boy, the innocent child, who was born as a result of David’s sin. David pleads with God not to take the boy, but the Lord does take him. Then David says this:
2 Samuel 12:22-23
22 “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who knows, the LORD may be gracious to me, that the child may live.’
23 “But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”

David knew he was going to heaven when he died, and he knew that his innocent son – the boy who had died before he became accountable for his sin – would be there when David would arrive in glory.

What is the point of all this? It is that God loves children! Their souls are precious in His sight. But in today’s passage in Luke’s gospel, it is clearly evident that Jesus’ disciples do not yet grasp that fact. They are ignorant of God’s plans for the souls of little ones. Today we find similar ignorance, even among professing believers. Just consider the following:
• Some people think that children must be baptized because if they die before they are baptized they cannot be saved.
• Some people think that children are saved because of their baptism.
• Some people think that children cannot receive any of God’s grace until they are old enough to join their church.
• Some people think that children are to be treated as unbelievers until they profess faith.

But despite all of man’s ideas and church traditions, there is no scripture that teaches child-ren are incapable of receiving God’s grace. It just isn’t there. There is no evidence that children cannot receive the Holy Spirit and be saved. But Jesus’ disciples don’t understand this truth, and so He will teach them.

And there will be more to learn than the fact that Jesus loves children. We will also see that children have something to teach us, and in this morning’s passage, we will see the second of the three things the Lord is teaching us about those who will enter the kingdom of God.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

II. Review
What are the divine standards for entry into heaven? Or, asked another way, what are the characteristics of a true Christian? In Luke 18 Jesus speaks of three such standards or char-acteristics. We looked at the first of them last Sunday. In the parable of the Pharisee and the tax-gatherer we saw that genuine humility before God is an absolute necessity. We must see ourselves as God sees us. Only then will we humble ourselves and beg for His mercy. Do you remember what Jesus said was the result of the tax-gatherer’s plea for mercy?
*Luke 18:14
14 “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted.”

Next Sunday we’ll consider the third standard. Jesus’ encounter with the rich young ruler will teach us that we must be willing to lay aside this world and its riches. But today we’ll look at the second divine standard, the second characteristic that is required of anyone who would enter into God’s kingdom. In His encounter with a group of little children Jesus will teach us that a childlike faith and trust is one of the marks of a true Christian. Without it we will never see the kingdom of God.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

III. Text
That brings us to this morning’s text.
*Luke 18:15-17 (Please stand with me in honor of reading God’s Word.)
15 And they (the multitudes) were bringing even their babies to (Jesus) so that He might touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them.
16 But Jesus called for them, saying, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
17 “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it at all.”

It is obvious from everything in this short passage that the specific people involved here are babies, and as they’re described in Matthew and Mark, “children” or “little children.” But there is a larger truth that becomes clear when we consider the overall context. Jesus isn’t talking exclusively about someone’s chronological age.

Rather, He is talking about the childlike qualities of simple faith and trust, openness, and the absence of pretense that should be present in all of God’s people, regardless of how young or old they might be. When they are present in God’s people, it is such qualities that bring Him honor and glory. We’ll want to keep those qualities in mind as we look at these verses.
*Luke 18:15
15 And they (the multitudes) were bringing even their babies to (Jesus) so that He might touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them.

The disciples must have thought that these babies and little children were not only a distrac-tion, but also a waste of Jesus’ time and energy. Beyond that, they may well have thought that these little ones could derive nothing of value from being near Jesus. They were wrong on both counts because Jesus has compassion on both infants (“brĕphŏs” in v. 15) and toddlers (“paidiŏn” in v. 16).

It isn’t hard to understand why these people would want Jesus’ blessing for their children. He was healing the sick and the lame. Some of them would have heard of His raising people from the dead. By this time in His ministry many people were coming to believe that He really was the promised Messiah. But when the disciples saw what was happening they tried to stop it. They began to rebuke the parents, but their rebukes went unheeded because the Greek implies that they were unsuccessful in their attempts.
*Luke 18:16
16 But Jesus called for them, saying, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

In the parallel passage in Mark’s gospel, we see something more than Luke tells us.
*Mark 10:14a
14a But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant…

The word translated “indignant” is “aganaktĕo,” a compound word meaning much afflicted and greatly displeased. Clearly, at this moment, Jesus is not at all happy with the conduct of His disciples. Listen, please. There is an important lesson for us here. Keeping children away from Jesus is a grievous error, one that the Lord does not take lightly. Certainly what the disciples are doing is wrong, but it does not rise to the level of leading a child into sin.
Turn to Matthew 18. The same disciples were questioning Jesus about who is considered to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. In answer to their question, Jesus called a child to Himself and said…
*Matthew 18:6
6 “…whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea.”

“…to stumble” does not refer to tripping a kid in the hall. The word used in Mathew 18:6 is “skandalizō.” We get the word “scandal” from it. In Matthew 18 it speaks of deceiving children about God, causing them to commit sin, or in some way damaging them spiritually.
Again, in Luke 18:15, the disciples are not doing that, but you can readily see why Jesus is much afflicted and greatly displeased with their efforts to keep the children away from Him.

So He says, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them…” Why? Because children need to be brought to Him! In R. Kent Hughes’ commentary on Mark’s gospel, he tells of an incident when D. L. Moody returned from one of his evangelistic meetings with the news that there had been two and half conversions. He was asked, “Two adults and one child?” To which Moody replied, “No, two children and one adult. The children gave their whole lives. The adult had only half of his life left to give.”

Do we sometimes think that because children can’t understand as much as adults that there’s little point in giving them the gospel until they are older? I admit I thought that way in the past. But it’s obvious that Jesus doesn’t think that way. Who are we to assume that God can’t plant a seed in any child of any age, or that He doesn’t do so whenever it pleases Him?

“Permit the children to come to me and do not hinder them…” That is a simple, direct, and straightforward command to all of Jesus’ followers. There have been numerous studies over the years which conclude that as many as 90% of the people who have come to saving faith and received Christ have done so before age 20. That’s an amazing statistic, isn’t it? But even if that number is overstated by 20%, it should still be enough to give us pause.

Yet we often argue that children just don’t get it. Really? Don’t they get the basic concepts of doing something wrong (sin), someone else taking their punishment (Christ’s death), and the need to believe in and trust Him (salvation)? How old does a child have to be to begin to get hold of those simple truths? (Stacey’s profession of faith and her valentine to Jesus)

Charles Spurgeon said that we should be less inclined to doubt a child’s profession of faith than an adult’s, because a child is less prone to hypocrisy. Ouch!

Now look at the second part of Luke 18:16 – “…for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Notice that He does not say, “…these individual children who are standing here around Me now.” The kingdom is for all who have hearts like these, regardless of the age.
The kingdom is for all who have simple childlike faith and trust in God.

How do you bring children, or for that matter, anyone else to Christ? You do it by example, right? You live out your own faith in front of them. Someone has said, “Children (and every-one else) read our lives, not our lectures.” That’s pretty good. When it comes to children, parents who preach, “Do what I say, not what I do,” lose all credibility. Ask yourself this: Is there anyone who can spot a hypocrite quicker than a child? And is there anything that will turn a child away from God faster than a hypocrite who professes to be a Christian?

Before we move on there is one very important caveat when it comes to living out your faith before your children. While it is certainly true that your life is more important than your lec-tures, it is equally true that, at some point, you must present the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You cannot just say, “Well, I’ll live a good life and someday my children will ask me about my Savior.” It is not their responsibility to ask. It is your responsibility to tell them.
*Romans 10:13-14 (Paul quoting Joel 2:32)
13 for “Whoever will call upon the name of the LORD will be saved.”
14 How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?

The salient point is that the gospel must be spoken. When it comes to our children hearing the gospel, it is not the responsibility of the Sunday school teacher, the pastor, the evangelist on television, or the Christian who lives next door. It’s ours. We will be held accountable!

And there is another point I need to make about this morning’s text. Some people use it as an argument for infant baptism. But there is no water here; it’s a dry passage. In the NT water baptism always comes after saving faith, and is itself a public testimony of that saving faith. I know that there are many who would strongly disagree, but over the years I’ve become convinced that the baptism of infants can ultimately cause far more harm than good. Why? Because it has the potential to give both parents and children a false sense of security.

• Roman Catholics believe that infant baptism automatically confers church member-ship on the child.
• Presbyterians believe that infant baptism is a “sign of grace,” but one that does not confer church membership.
• Lutherans believe that infant baptism is necessary for salvation, being the means by which a child receives God’s grace.
• Methodists believe that infant baptism gives enough grace so that the child is enabled to be saved at a later date. (prevenient grace and Arminianism)

And so it goes. When infant baptism is equated with salvation, church membership, or even somehow loosely connected to those things, what becomes of the call to personal repent-ance? What becomes of the need to consciously receive Christ and obey Him?
What becomes of the need to deliberately place one’s faith and trust in Christ’s work alone?
Obviously, some of those who believe water baptism is necessary have repented, received Christ, and trusted Him for their salvation. But many have placed their hope for eternal life solely in their baptism as a child. They are living with a false sense of security.

Where Luke 18:15-17 cannot be used to defend infant baptism, it certainly can be used to defend infant or child dedication. Thus we don’t bring children to the church to be baptized; we bring them to the church to present them to the Lord, for them to be blessed by Him, and for us to commit ourselves to obeying God’s instructions in both the OT and NT.
Proverbs 22:6
6 Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Ephesians 6:4b
4b …bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

But back again to Luke 18:16 – “…for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Let me say it again. Jesus isn’t saying that little children have an innate goodness. He is saying that little children possess a quality that we all need in order to enter the kingdom of God.
He doesn’t say specifically what it is, but when you look at the overall context of Luke 18 it becomes quite clear what He means. Humility, lack of pretense and hypocrisy, and simple trusting faith are all childlike, aren’t they? They’re the very things, the very qualities that you and I need if we are ever to enter the kingdom of God.

By the way, the world may call such traits childish, yet they’re anything but childish. On the contrary, they are “childlike.” What a vast difference exists between those two terms!
*Luke 18:17
17 “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it at all.”

Whenever Jesus says, “Truly I say to you…,” you can be sure that what you’re about to hear is important. What could be more important than this? Do you want to enter the kingdom of God? If you do not humble yourself as a little child is humble; if you do not trust Christ as a little child trusts those who feed, clothe, protect, and keep him safe and warm; if you do not put your faith in the Lord Jesus, and in Him alone, then you will never enter God’s kingdom.

Those are the things that every true Christian does. If you do not do those things, you are not a true Christian at all. It doesn’t matter what you call yourself. Now I know that these are strong words, but they are not mine, they are Jesus’ own words, and He says unless you become like a little child, wholly dependent upon Him, you have no hope.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

IV. Conclusion
What can we do? How should we respond? We can begin by examining our own hearts.
We can examine ourselves like we’ve never examined ourselves before. Is the faith that you depend upon for your salvation like that of a little child?

We have a hard time with that kind of faith, don’t we? We’re no longer little children. Do you remember a time when you trusted everyone and believed what you were told? That time did exist, you know. You were a little child. But since then you’ve learned how not to trust, haven’t you?

When you were a child and your father gave you an ice cream cone, you didn’t say, “I don’t believe in ice cream.” You didn’t ask, “What’s the catch?” You didn’t concern yourself with the calories. And you certainly didn’t worry about there being a rock or poison hidden in the bottom of the cone. It was just a gift and you gladly received it. You did so because you had simple childlike faith and trust in your father.

But we’re adults now, and we don’t trust much of anything, do we? So we often find that we’re too proud to receive a gift. Sometimes we think that the gift is coming with “strings attached.” You know, “What’s the catch? Nothing’s free.” Well, the gospel is. And it is children who will most readily hold out their hands and take it. What a shame that so few adults will. There is no catch. God has provided it all. There’s no charge to you because the price has been paid. Take Him at His word. Have childlike faith.
*Matthew 11:28-29
28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.”

~ Pray ~