Luke
18:15-17 Then they also brought infants to Him that He might touch them; but
when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to Him
and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do
not forbid them; for of such is the Kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you,
whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child will by no means
enter it.” NKJV
The hour is 3:00 a.m. on a Wednesday morning and
Craig (25 years old) feels an elbow in his side and it is his wife (Kathy) who
says, “Craig will you get my suitcase and the other things I believe it is time
for me to deliver our twins.” Craig had his alarm clock set for 5:00 a.m. so he
could awake and prepare himself for work as a Building Inspector, but his plans
have taken an abrupt right turn. Craig gets all of the things together and
calls their Doctor and the Doctor tells them to go on to the hospital. Craig
plans to call his office as soon as it opens to inform them about his wife
going into labor. The young couple arrives at the hospital and Kathy is given
her room. After about 15 hours of labor Kathy gives birth at 3:00 p.m. to twins
Abigail and Aaron.
These two little babies have now entered into the
world and their relationship with their earthly parents Craig and Kathy at the
moment of their physical birth pictures how every sinner must see themselves. These
two babies Abigail and Aaron are completely helpless without their parents
Craig and Kathy. This is the state or condition where the heart of every sinner
must be brought. Only the Spirit of God can bring the sinner to this
realization. The sinner must first see himself as helpless and bound in and by
his sinful condition. These two babies Abigail and Aaron cannot communicate
with their parents. So is every sinner unable to communicate with God because
God is holy and no impenitent sinner will ever have his words or prayers heard
by The Holy God.
Example, I heard someone speak about Conan Obrien
taking a pause in his TV show to say that his prayers are with the families
that were affected by the Boston bombing incident. Unfortunately, if Conan
Obrien is not born again (and the life or fruit from his life would suggest
that he is not) the One True God is not hearing any of his words that he deems
as prayers. The Conan Obrien’s of the world are just like the two babies
Abigail and Aaron and the words they call prayer sound just like those two
babies trying to communicate with their parents to the One True God (indiscernible
gibberish). Therefore, to summarize; first every sinner must realize that they
are helplessly trapped in their sin as the two babies Abigail and Aaron are
trapped in their physical bodies at birth and unable to move about in order to
feed, cloth, or clean themselves. Second every sinner must realize that they
cannot communicate with God at all without a mediator (1 Timothy 2:5-6 “For there is one God and one Mediator between
God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to
be testified in due time” NKJV). Because of their sin the One True God will
not hear them.
Now it is unclear if these little children (brought
to our Lord) were new born infants as our two fictional babies Abigail and
Aaron or whether they were of the ages of say 5-7 years old. The English word infant used in Luke 18:15 equals the Greek word brephos, which means infant, babe, or young child. If these little
children were of the ages of 5-7 we find the normal disposition of such little
children with their parents characterized by love, adoration, following their
parents everywhere, humble, dependent, obedient, thankful, and completely
trusting of their parents. Little children obey their parents and are not arrogant,
prideful, or boastful in their presence. Little children find much happiness, delight,
and joy just to be continually in the presence of their parents. One has to
just go to any public park or ball game or shopping mall or any other public
place and just observe most little children how they follow their parents every
turn mimicking their every step desiring to be just like them.
Proverbs
17:6 Children’s children are the crown of old men, And the glory of
children is their father. NKJV
So is every true regenerated born again disciple of
the Lord Jesus Christ desire to follow all of His footsteps mimicking His every
step even the steps that lead to rejection by others and persecution for their
love for our Lord Jesus Christ. It pictures what the Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 5:1 “Therefore be imitators of
God as dear children.” This is what our Lord meant when He said, “For of such is the Kingdom of God.” Little children
fear their parents while they love them at the same time and little children
want direction, guidelines, and barriers from their parents. Little children
want to be acknowledged and seen by their parents and not ignored but heard and
loved unconditionally.
This is the perfect snapshot of the relationship of
Christ Jesus with His followers every moment of every day they are left down
here on the earth as pilgrims, sojourners, and aliens. The true follower of Christ
knows that he is never alone no matter where he or she is located or what they
are doing whether it is for good and Christ glory or whether it is them doing
something meaningless with no eternal value or something that will bring
reproach to Christ Name. What a complete and utter opposite disposition this is
to that shown by the Pharisee (proud, haughty, and self-righteous) in the story
our Lord told prior to having the little children brought to Him. Like the
earthly little child never feels alone, alienated, or aloof from his or her
parents even when they are away from them in a different physical location
(because you can be sure the child is always thinking about their parents) even
much more does the true disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ never feels separate from
Him not one moment of any day and always has our Lord in their thoughts and desiring
to bring every one of their thoughts into captivity to the obedience of Christ
Jesus our Lord. This is the heart/mind of all our Lord’s faithful followers.
1
Peter 2:1-3 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy,
and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that
you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is
gracious. NKJV
“I am so weak that I can hardly write, I cannot read
my Bible, I cannot even pray, I can only lie still in God’s arms like a little child, and trust.” Hudson Taylor 1832-1905
“All that God asks is that the heart should be
cleansed from sin, full of love, whether it be the tender heart of a little child, with feeble powers of loving, or of the full-grown man.”
Duncan Campbell 1898-1972
“When our Lord says, we must be converted and become
as little children, I suppose he means also,
that we must be sensible of our weakness, comparatively speaking, as a little child.” George Whitefield 1714-1770
“A little child often runs to its mother
and exclaims: ‘Mother! Mother!’ Very often the child does not want anything in particular, he only wants to
be near his mother, to sit upon her lap, or to follow her about the house, for
the sheer pleasure of being near her, talking to her, hearing her dear voice.
Then the child is
happy. His happiness does not consist in asking and receiving all kinds of
things from his mother. If that were what he wanted, he would be impatient and
obstinate and therefore unhappy. No, his happiness lies in feeling his mother’s
love and care, and in knowing the joy of her mother love.” “It is just the same
with the true children of
God; they do not trouble themselves so much about spiritual blessings. They
only want to sit at the Lord’s feet, to be in living touch with Him, and when
they do that they are supremely content.” Sadhu Sundar Singh 1889-1929
If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ
and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus
Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I
am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died
for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are
God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord
Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my
Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...
Sincerely in Christ,
Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
Author of “Silent
Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can
be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and
Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available
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Reader Store for Sony Reader, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and
eBookPie…
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