Childlike Faith
Introduction
Last week, we introduced a subseries to our series of sermons following the life of Christ and His ministry, and this subseries is called Childish Behaviors. That series will take us through Matthew chapter 18 and its parallel passages in Mark and Luke. It is a discourse, a sermon, that Jesus preached to His disciples.
The sermon is brought on by the disciples arguing about something very childish. Who remembers what the argument was about? Who would be the first/greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
So Jesus, in response to that, sits down and begins to teach them. And what He teaches them is that the greatest in the kingdom is the one who will be the servant of all men, even to the least of them.
it is a lesson to them in humility. It is a lesson to them that they should place themselves in last place, behind all others. It is a lesson to us as well. It is a lesson in humility for us, it is a lesson to not seek the preeminence, but to allow the Jesus to be preeminent.
We discussed last week that the greatest in the Kingdom is Jesus Christ Himself. Therefore, we must give all deference to him. He is the King. And, so Jesus sets the expectation for citizens of the Kingdom — to be the servants of all men, not just of others in the kingdom, but of everyone.
Immediately after pointing this out, Jesus begins to teach the disciples about the conditions of entering the Kingdom, and He does so, not by pointing out a childish behavior, but childlikeness.
Childlike Faith
We find in Matthew 18 that Jesus calls to himself a child to illustrate this point of childlike faith. Matthew 18:2-3
Matthew 18:2–3
2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
The word for little child is one word in the Greek that means a very young child or even an infant, a baby. Likely, this child was a toddler, as Jesus calls the child and the child is able to come to Him. Mark 9 implies that the child readily approached Jesus and says that Jesus took him up in His arms.
Children loved Jesus and Jesus loved children, and as we progress through more of His ministry, we see this in more passages.
So as you think of this child, think of a toddler, someone that is around Andi or Emmett’s age (2-3 yrs old). And Jesus takes this child and says, “Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.”
So what does it mean to be converted and to become as a little child? Well, it certainly does not mean that you must de-age. It means that you adopt certain qualities of a childlike faith. Later, Jesus tells the disciples that anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, then they cannot enter into the kingdom. The word He uses for receive means to receive, as in a gift, but also to receive, as in an idea.
How do children receive ideas? Pretty easily, especially when they come from someone that they trust. You tell a kid that when the sun sets, it lands somewhere off the coast of California, he’ll likely believe you. Why? Because they accept these things readily, and more importantly, they accept them readily because they trust the person that it is coming from. That is why children will jump to their father’s arms when he puts them on a ledge and says, “Jump!”
Little children, the tiny toddlers, they are, generally, trusting.
So entering the kingdom of heaven is to trust Jesus’ words about how to enter. Just in Matthew, we find a systematic exposition of the components of genuine, childlike faith.
The Components of Childlike Faith
- 1. Repentance
In Matthew 3:2 we have the message of John the Baptist in which he said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Matthew 3:2
KJV 1900
2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Then, in Matthew 4:17, we have Jesus identical message.
Matthew 4:17
KJV 1900
17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
The initial call for people to enter the kingdom was for them to repent, to change opinions, to be converted, to turn around in their philosophy. People need to recognize and turn from their sin toward Jesus. Our natural path is away from God, to repent is to change your mind, to turn around and move toward God.
- 2. Recognizing Your Spiritual Bankruptcy
The second component of a childlike faith is the recognition of our spiritual bankruptcy. The Beatitudes begin with this concept, Matthew 5:3
Matthew 5:3
KJV 1900
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
It is only those that understand that we bring nothing to the table that will earn us salvation that can enter into the kingdom of heaven. It is not Jesus and me that saves me. It is not Jesus and the church, Jesus and good works, Jesus and prayer, or any combination of things. It is only Jesus that can save.
Outside of Jesus, and before Jesus, there is nothing, absolutely nothing good or worthy in our own selves. Ephesians 2:8-9
Ephesians 2:8–9
KJV 1900
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
- 3. Meekness
Another component of childlike, saving faith is meekness. This is another part of the Beatitudes mentioned. Matthew 5:5
Matthew 5:5
KJV 1900
5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Meekness is a quality of humility. It is willingly putting yourself under the authority of another. We must be meek, willingly submitting ourselves to the King of this Kingdom — Jesus. It is to make no claims or demands for ourselves. This goes hand in hand with the quality of obedience.
Coming into the kingdom of heaven assumes by the very term that we come under the rule of the King.
- 4. Public Confession of Faith
Matthew 10:32–33
KJV 1900
32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
Entering into the Kingdom of Heaven is not a private matter. It is a public one. Those that enter must be willing to make their faith a public faith. Those that do not, never had the faith to begin with.
- 5. Childlike Trust
Lastly, the fifth component of faith that we see in the book of Matthew is this childlike faith. This is a faith that receives, acknowledges and fully believes in Jesus even though they do not fully understand.
For example - the little child that jumps from the ledge to his father’s arms does not understand how muscles work, how weight and gravity work, nor even that it is necessary for the dad to be paying attention in order to be able to catch him. All he understands is that Dad said, “Jump.” He has no doubt that he will be caught. This little child fully trusts his father to catch him. Why? Because it is Dad. Dad is trustworthy.
That is the kind of faith that is necessary for salvation. In essence, saving faith is a faith that understands these very basic things:
- 1. That I exist in a sinful state. And that that sin deserves a punishment of eternal judgement. (Romans 3:23)
- 2. That I cannot erase or absolve myself of my own sin. In fact, that besides Jesus, nothing and no one can forgive that sin. (Titus 3:5; Ephesians 2:8-9)
- 3. That Jesus is able to forgive us of our sins because He willingly paid for them on the cross. He, being God and being perfect and sinless, died, taking upon Himself the payment for sin (Romans 6:23) Hebrews 9:22 “22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.”
- 4. That Jesus rose from the dead three days after His crucifixion, just like the prophecies of the OT said He would, and just like He said He would, thus proving that He was, in fact, the Messiah, the one sent to forgive the sins of the world.
- 5. Understanding and believing these things, accepting, receiving Jesus as your savior. This is done by both verbal acknowledgment and by calling on Jesus to save you.
It is simple. You do not need to understand the deep theological things of the Bible. In fact, you CANNOT understand them prior to salvation. Growth in that area starts with the new birth that happens at the moment of salvation.
This is childlike faith. A child is simple, dependent, helpless, and unambitious. He is naive and trusting of others without having ambitions of grandeur. Each person must take the same approach to Jesus in their faith for salvation. Simply taking God at His word about what He says both of our need for salvation and His path to salvation, and accepting His Son, Jesus, as the savior or our souls.
This first part of this message has been generally for those that are here that may not be saved. But there is one more principle Jesus deals with as He has this toddler in His arms during His sermon to the disciples.
Childlike Humility
In Mark’s account we read that Jesus says also Mark 9:37
Mark 9:37
KJV 1900
37 Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.
These words are deep, and the teaching is profound.
Throughout Jesus’ teachings, and throughout the NT, toddlerslittle children are commonly used as examplesmetaphors/or similes from Christians.
Jesus has a little child in his arms, and uses this child as an example. He has just talked about the necessity of childlike faith to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Now, he says, “Those that have entered the kingdom of heaven through this childlike faith, they are like this child. And whoever receives a child such as this in my name, then they receive me and the one who sent me.”
This is a sobering statement of how Christians ought to treat each other.
A friend of mine once told me this, “There exist no more deadly enemies than Christian friends.” In other words, Christians make worse enemies than anyone else. And he is not the only person I have heard say this. I don’t know if you realize it, but saying like these are way too common among Christians, and I tend to agree with them.
This is not the way it should be though. This has been a problem from the very beginning of the church. If you read the book of 1 Corinthians, you will find a church whose members are constantly at each others’ throats in such a way that unbelievers noticed their cruelty toward each other. And Paul rebukes them for this.
But this has been a problem even before the church at Corinth. This was a problem at that moment, among the disciples, and that is why Jesus is addressing it. The disciples were not treating each other in humility. Their argument was born of pride.
What this passage is teaching us is that the way we treat other Christians is the way we treat both Jesus Christ and God the Father. Think about that for a minute. Let that sink in. The way you treat other Christians, Jesus receives that as though you were treating Him that way.
The way you receive a fellow Christian, literally, the way you greet them, the way you receive them in the church, the way you talk to visiting Christians, the way that you talk about them. Jesus is taking that personally.
The way you receive them figuratively, how you love them, how you encourage them, how you pray for them, how you connect with them, Jesus takes that personally.
This means, that if I bad mouth, gossip about, am rude to, refuse to forgive, refuse to reconcile, don’t encourage, don’t pray for, or behave in any other way that is ungodly toward a fellow Christian, Jesus takes it personally as well. How sobering is that thought?
And parents, we can relate. If someone is rude to our toddlers, to our babies, if someone is mean or cruel, we feel it as a personal attack on ourselves.
How are you treating your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ? Are you holding grudges? Are you being disingenuous with someone? Do you put on a front? Are you truly interested, or are you just being “polite”? Do you gossip about other others? Do you bad mouth others and complain about them to people who can do nothing about the situation nor give you godly advice about it?
Because the way that we treat other Christians is the way we are treating Jesus. If I gossip about someone, I’m gossiping about Jesus. If I speak ill of my brother in Christ, then I am speaking ill of Jesus. Etc.
It all goes back to humility. Jesus said in Matthew 18:4 “4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
How is it that toddlers are humble? Well, if we look at the cultural context, it will give us a bit more insight. Little children are weak, they have no power, no honor, and no accomplishments. They have achieved nothing, are fully dependent on their parents. Toddlers aren’t critical. They seek joy in things.
We ought to be like that. We ought to be humble, not standing on any personal accomplishments, not seeking honor or trying to wield power. Not boastful of our accomplishments, not critical of everything and everyone. We should be fully dependent on Jesus for everything and should put our utmost trust in him for our lives.
