2019-01-30 Mark 10
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13 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.
14 When Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
16 After taking them in his arms, he laid his hands on them and blessed them.
I. We see children as an imposition.
I. We see children as an imposition.
13 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.
A. Sin tells us that children are not as valuable as us.
A. Sin tells us that children are not as valuable as us.
13 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.
Illus: You might look at this passage originally and think, what does this passage have to do with the unborn.
It has everything to do with the unborn, because this passage points to the very cause of abortion.
Look at the disciple’s attitude towards children. Children are an imposition to them. Where children get in the way, they need to be removed.
The argument often made regarding abortion is the protection of a mother’s life.
In recent days doctor after doctor has argued that medicine has moved to a point the mother’s health is no longer a rational reason for abortion.
Let’s be truthful… children interrupt life. They are messy, they prevent you from fully dedicating yourself to an employer, they cost money. Children are in inturuption to life.
In the days of sexual freedom, or so we call it, we don’t want children to interrupt our lives. Children are a blessing if we want them, but we don’t want their cost if they are a surprise. Abortion is the get out of jail free card to allow us to not be imposed upon.
At the center of a desire to abort is a selfishness, like the disciples, that says do not interrupt me.
1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “So who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2 He called a child and had him stand among them.
3 “Truly I tell you,” he said, “unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child—this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 And whoever welcomes one child like this in my name welcomes me.
6 “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall away—it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea.
B. God does not turn a blind eye to the way we treat children.
B. God does not turn a blind eye to the way we treat children.
13 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.
Illus: Let’s look at the simple evidence, and scriptural evidence that scripture points to where fetuses are considered children.
When a friend who finds out that they are pregnant they say, I am having a baby.
When a woman miscarries, she lost her baby.
Frankly, a wanted fetus, is considered both practically and legally as a baby.
In america, is a pregnant woman is murdered the murderer will be charged with a double homicide.
Beyond even legal language, the more science we have regarding pregnancy, the more we realize that from the earliest moments the fetus inside of a woman carries the mark of an image bearer of God. It is a person.
How foolish logic do you have to use to call a fetus a baby when it is wanted, and then identify it as a clump of cells when it is unwanted.
In case all of the plane simple logic fails, look at how God views unborn children.
22 “When men get in a fight and hit a pregnant woman so that her children are born prematurely but there is no injury, the one who hit her must be fined as the woman’s husband demands from him, and he must pay according to judicial assessment.
23 If there is an injury, then you must give life for life,
24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
25 burn for burn, bruise for bruise, wound for wound.
II. We are called to be children's advocates.
II. We are called to be children's advocates.
14 When Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
A. In a time when children are discarded, we are called to be their advocates.
A. In a time when children are discarded, we are called to be their advocates.
14 When Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
Illus: We have a responsibility to speak up for the unborn. We do have a responsibility to vote on their behalf.
We have a responsibility to either foster, adopt or support the families God calls.
I know that not every family is called to foster or adopt kids, but God calls churches to support them.
All of that said, the problem is just solved by voting, politicing, or foster/adopting… it is a gospel issue.
Our country will only grow more depraved as we have neglected the gospel. People with lost hearts will pass laws that embrace death.
The greatest step in turning our city around, turning our country around is allowing God to transform the hearts and minds of people once they experience His grace.
I said earlier this week that we have a lot of work to do… our first work is gospel work.
10 “See to it that you don’t despise one of these little ones, because I tell you that in heaven their angels continually view the face of my Father in heaven.
12 What do you think? If someone has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, won’t he leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go and search for the stray?
13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over that sheep more than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.
14 In the same way, it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones perish.
B. Do not miss the immense value God sees in children.
B. Do not miss the immense value God sees in children.
14 When Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
Illus: Growing up I remember singing “Jesus loves the little children”
After getting older I thought it was just one of those cheesy songs you sang in sunday school… but if you read the bible you begin to see that God loves every person “Red and yellow, black and white” and all the children of the world…
why? every person has is an image bearer of God remakably made by him. God not only places his image on every person, but he is the creator of life in the womb.
God does not see a fetus in the womb, but a child he loves and died for.
BTW, he also sees the politicians who pass vile laws, moms who see little way out, and every person as one whom he created, loves and died for.
13 For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well.
15 My bones were not hidden from you when I was made in secret, when I was formed in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of them began.
III. Children are a blessing of the Lord.
III. Children are a blessing of the Lord.
16 After taking them in his arms, he laid his hands on them and blessed them.
A. Beyond the question of abortion, are children a blessing to you, or a curse.
A. Beyond the question of abortion, are children a blessing to you, or a curse.
Think about the way you talk about the kids at your house. Think about the what you think when a kid comes running through the worship center.
Our understanding of abortion begins in how we view kids. Are they a welcome blessing among us, or are they an imposition?
14 The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.
15 When the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonders that he did and the children shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant
16 and said to him, “Do you hear what these children are saying?” Jesus replied, “Yes, have you never read: You have prepared praise from the mouths of infants and nursing babies?”