Matthew chapter 19, I want to begin reading in verse 13, read down just to verse 15. Then there were brought unto him little children, that he should have put his hands on them, and pray, and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven. And he laid his hands on them and departed thence." As we're making our way through the Gospel of Matthew on these Sunday mornings, I am reading and studying a few passages ahead of you. I try not to get to the week before next Sunday and then look at Matthew to see what the next passage is. That would be a terrible way to prepare. And so I stay a couple of weeks ahead of you so that I can meditate and study in advance and hopefully give the Holy Spirit a chance to direct my heart as I prepare these sermons. And when I came to Matthew chapter 19, I already knew that there were two great passages in this chapter. Last week we looked at verses 1 through 12 where the Pharisees tried to draw Jesus into a debate over divorce and remarriage. Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And we looked at that subject of divorce and remarriage in Matthew chapter 19. If you just glance down in verse 16 down to the rest of the chapter there, there's a rich young ruler that comes to the Lord and he asks him a question. The question is, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And it's a flawed question because there's nothing you can do to inherit eternal life. It's already been done for you. So I knew, I knew that those two passage words were in Matthew 19 without even having to look at it. And I thought, well, the chapter would give us a chance to preach on the sanctity of marriage and then on the requirements of salvation. And so I was in a hotel room a couple of weeks ago, and I was reading through Matthew chapter 19 and just making notes down. And I was really concentrated on verse 16 through verse 26. I believed that that would be obviously the next message, and so I was geared toward that passage. But there's a passage between those two great passages, very brief, very short, almost somewhat of a passing mention, and I didn't intend to deal with these verses. It is a very simple statement about parents that are bringing their children to Jesus and the disciples rebuking them for bothering the master. But it really is not insignificant because both Mark and Luke, they record the incident as well. And though it is just a very brief section, there's nothing minor, there's nothing unimportant about bringing children to Jesus. And as much as I tried to get my heart on that rich young ruler, it seemed like the Lord kept directing my heart back to these verses and so this morning I want to take it and I want to use it to try to be an encouragement to both parents and grandparents. and bringing our children to Christ. Do you know when God blesses a home with little children, there is great responsibility that comes with that blessing. You're obviously responsible for the physical upbringing of that child. Proper care, I hope that you feed them, clothing, security, all of that, you're responsible for that. And you're responsible for the social development of that child. Learning how to talk, and learning how to walk, and going to school, and learning to read, learning obedience. All of those things that involves the social development of the child. And you're responsible for the spiritual life of the child as well. Teaching them about Jesus, and about the Bible, and eventually leading them to a salvation decision. And if we saw a home where a child was not being cared for physically, this child is malnourished, this child is being abused, this child is left out in the cold, whatever it might be, we would all take action for the well-being of that child, and we should. If we saw a home where a child was not being taken care of socially, there is no social growth, they're not giving any schooling or education, then all of us would probably try to intervene on the sake of that child. But I tell you that the spiritual is more important than the physical, and it's more important than even the social. And how sad it is that sometimes children are given everything under the sun, but they're never told about Jesus Christ. We have neighbors in our neighborhood and they never go to church and they have children. And often times I get in the car and I come to church on Sunday and I see those children outside playing and chances are they have never seen the inside of a church building and I wonder how can you raise a child and not give them any spiritual instruction? I don't see how you do that. I am sure that the desire of every Christian parent, every Christian grandparent in this church is that your child grow up in purity, that your child grow up in innocence, that one day they accept Christ as their Savior, that they grow up to be a fervent Christian. I'm always mindful of the testimony of Samuel, how that when he was born, that Hannah began to wean him and eventually took him to the temple to be trained by Eli. And in 1 Samuel chapter 2, the voice came to Samuel that night, Samuel, Samuel, and he hears the voice. He doesn't know who it is, but it is the voice of God. And I'm always struck by that, how that God speaks to little children, and little children can hear the voice of God. That's why I say don't ever discourage your children from coming to an altar. I don't care if they come twice every service, just let them come, because you don't know the time that they're going to be on the altar that God really speaks to their heart. Timothy was taught the scriptures as a child and it made him wise under salvation. He had gotten saved as a child and it was the result of a godly mother and a godly grandmother that had taught him the scriptures. I have preached here before on child evangelism and usually what I do is I go back through my records to see when did I preach on this subject last. I don't want to, you know, over where am I welcome, I don't need a particular subject, but I didn't do that when I was preparing this so I might have preached on child evangelism last week, I'm not sure, but I thought in this passage is a great opportunity just to give ourselves some reminders that are critical about teaching a child to Christ. And here's what I would say to you, that the greatest mission field that you can go to is in your home. So fathers, if you never preach a sermon, if you never teach a Sunday school class, if you never go to a mission field, the greatest ministry that you'll ever have is within the four walls of your home. And your greatest concern ought to be the concern for the salvation of your children. By the way, I believe that children can be saved at an early age. The statistical chances of a person getting saved decrease dramatically the older that a person becomes. So little children can be saved. And we begin praying for that as soon as we bring them home from the hospital, if not sooner. But I have talked to parents and I have been alarmed at how little they perceive about salvation and how to direct a young heart toward God. One of the questions that comes up often is how early is too early? How young is too young to be saved? I believe that there is an age of accountability. I don't know what the age is, but I believe there's an age of accountability when that child understands the concepts of sin, the concept of judgment, the concept of the gospel, And I don't have time to talk about what happens to a child who dies before the age of accountability. I believe that they go to heaven. That's another sermon for another day. But what's the age of accountability? How early is too early? What if they want to get saved, but I don't believe that they understand? What do I do? And I'm going to offend somebody this morning. I know that I am, and I don't mean to be offensive, but I want to tell you the truth. I have heard a mother saying that, you know little Susie or Johnny got saved when they were you know, two years old or three years old or something like that, but just because I can tell my child a Bible story, ask them some leading questions and get them to say a prayer, does not mean that they understand the gospel with their heart. I could very easily go into the primary Sunday school class or whatever the class is below that, the toddlers or whatever they are, the little sprout beans, I could go into that little class, And I can get every one of those, I can get Paisley, I can get every one of those kids for a two-year-old to say a profession of faith. That doesn't mean that they are sane. There must be understanding. There must be conviction. There must be confession. There must be faith. There must be that in an adult. But the way of salvation is not different for a child. It should be in that for a child as well. And when I hear a parent say that my little child got saved and there's no way that that child understands, it makes me wonder, do you even understand salvation yourself? And I know that the age of accountability is different for every child and we pray for their salvation and we preach the gospel to them, but you must not push a profession of faith, you must not coerce them into saying a prayer, you must not manipulate them into making a decision before God has dealt with them. There's a difference in me dealing with them and God dealing with them. So what we do is we pray for their salvation and we trust God to speak to their hearts and we keep them under the gospel influence and we teach them the truths of the word of God and we pray. And we pray. And nothing would worry me more if I didn't have confidence in the salvation of my children. Paul said in Romans 10, he said, I could almost wish myself accursed for Israel's sake. And I almost believe that I would rather go to hell than to see my children Go to hell. That'll be the desire of every child or every parent. I just jotted some things down and if I've given this to you before, just act like that I haven't, but dealing with children. And there are several things that I think would help us. One is don't play God. Never pressure, never coerce into a premature profession. Don't ever jump to a conclusion by assuming that they're saved. Don't ever plant seeds of doubt in their mind by telling them that they're not saved just because you're angry with them. That's playing God is what it's doing. And don't ask leading questions. A leading question is a question where the answer is in the question itself. The answer is implied. So if I ask a little child, you want to be saved don't you? Well I just asked the question and gave him the answer. So you ask a question like, well what does it mean to be saved? Well how do you get saved? That reveals their level of understanding. You don't oversimplify, but you don't complicate the matter. You need to explain the doctrines of salvation, but I don't know if they have to know what propitiation means. I think they can learn that later on in a doctrines class. You preach the gospel to them, and you preach all of it to them. And a child can understand and believe in childlike faith. You don't push for a decision right now. You give them the opportunity, but it must be their choice. It is best for them to come to you. So there's a lot of ways that we can say that you've got to be careful in dealing with children. And you don't tell them that they're saved. You don't tell them that they're not saved. That's between them and God. But you teach children the truth. I believe that children should be taught the doctrine of sin. Why do you need to be saved? It is because that you are a sinner. That's what you get saved from. Now, you don't need to scare them with vivid descriptions of hell. But you need to tell them why they need to be saved. We tell our teachers, you got to be careful the language you use. You don't say something, now if you don't read your Bible, you're probably not saved. Well, it's not true. You're manipulating their mind is what you're doing. So you need to teach them the nature of sin. You need to teach them about the person and the work of Christ. Salvation is not in a plan. Salvation is not in a prayer. Salvation is in the person of Jesus Christ. Christ is the central theme of the gospel. And you can't be saved. You can't be saved by baby Jesus in a manger. You have to know something about the cross and the blood and the resurrection. That's the gospel that saves us. In your home you keep an environment that is conducive to spiritual matters. I believe the best place for children to be saved is in the home. So make the home a place where it is easy to bring up the subject of salvation. Make them comfortable talking about spiritual matters. Make it natural to talk about those things. And then you pray and you wait on the Holy Spirit. And one day, one day, God, God in His grace and mercy will speak to those tender little hearts and they'll understand and they'll come to you and they won't let it go and it'll be a great joy in your life to one day to be able to bow with an understanding child and watch them trust Christ as their Savior. What a wonderful thing that is. And so this week I was looking at this passage and I couldn't get away from it. Bringing children to Jesus. What a wonderful thing that is. And so yesterday morning, God gave me the outline. And I'm going to give you three little thoughts this morning. So simple, so simple. Three little thoughts. And here's the first thought that I get out of this. That there is a heart for bringing children to Jesus. Look in verse number 13. Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them and pray. Now it doesn't say that there's anything wrong with these children. It doesn't say that they're sick or they're lame or anything like that. It's just that the parents wanted him to touch them and pray for them. And I'm not even going to make them into super spiritual parents. But that is the desire that they have. Bible historians say that that was actually a customary thing in Jewish society. The Talmud taught that Jewish families should bring their little children to rabbis and for rabbis to put their hands on them and to pray over them. They believed that those men were close to God. I give you a little testimony when I was a baby, when I was just a little infant. My dad, my dad used to travel a lot of meetings and all of the heroes of fundamentalism of a generation past that names that you might be familiar with like a Bob Greene, a Harold Sightler, a Jack Haas, and a Russell Rolloff, and a John R. Rice, and Maze Jackson, and men like this. My dad would go to meetings, and my dad would hear these men, and my dad would always take me to these men, and my dad would ask those men to lay their hands on me and to pray, and ask God to bless me. Then when we started having children, we started doing the same thing. I don't know how many preachers that have come through here that I've stopped them and said, I want you to put your hands on my children, and I want you to pray that God will bless them. I just believe that somehow God honors that. So here's my question to you this morning. How concerned are you about the spiritual life of your children? You know, I've known some parents that get that first baby and they're so finicky. They don't want their child to get a scratch, a dent, a ding, a cold, nothing. And they're so protective, so protective. You know, there's no nursery clean enough for their baby. You know what I'm talking about. And they're super, super protective. I've known other parents that were so proud of their baby. They could just tell obviously from day two that this baby is a genius. And so they pour everything that they can into making sure that this child comes home saying they're ABCs. And we're going to go not to pre-K-5 or K-4 or K-3. We're going to K-2. And we're going to just make sure. Because my baby obviously is a genius. I've known some dads who failed at being a great ball player but thought that they would relive their felt dreams as a boy and they would relive that in their boy and so when the baby comes home they've got a ball glove and a bat and a soccer ball and right there in the crib and my boy, my boy is going to grow up and he's going to be a ball player and he's going to learn to catch before he's able to walk and all that, whatever. But the greatest desire that you can have is for your children to know Christ. That's why if I had children in the home, I wouldn't be unfaithful to church. Yeah, that's why if I had children in the home, you ought to pray with those children every day at the home There ought to be a Christmas reminder that this is a Christmas home and you Christian home and you teach them about Jesus and you teach them Bible stories that and you don't feed them cartoons all day long because none of that is gonna get them to Jesus. Do you have a heart for bringing your children to Jesus? Tell you one of the foolish most foolish things I've ever heard Well, preacher, I don't believe that you ought to force religion upon your children. I'm going to let my children make their own decision about God and church and religion, and I'm just going to let them get of age, and I'll let them decide what they want to do. You wouldn't do that with potty training, would you? Well, my boy, he's eight years old, but he's just never decided yet for himself. That wouldn't work, would it? No. I say that you ought to teach your children about Christ. Now listen, listen. I know a lot of 18 year olds that have grown up in church just like these guys here. And they got up old enough to make their own decisions and decided, I don't have anything to do with God. And I don't have anything to do with church, and I don't want to have anything to do with the Bible. I want to do my own thing. I know a lot of 18-year-olds like that. But I don't know any 5-year-olds like that. Every 5-year-old that's sitting back there in children's church this morning, they are excited about whatever you are excited about. There's not one child back there that would balk at you reading the Bible to them, or praying with them, or memorizing verses, or teaching them to do right. And you can never say, well, I tried to teach my child about God, but my five-year-old didn't want to have anything to do with it. No, they'll be in love with what you are in love with. And if you are in love with amusement and entertainment and money and all the rest of it, don't be surprised if they grow up that within their heart. It is hard for you to teach them to love Jesus if you don't love Jesus. And if you're in love with the Lord, they'll catch that in their heart. There's a heart for bringing children to Jesus. Now look at the text. There's something else I see. There are hindrances in bringing children to Jesus. Look at verse 13. Then there were wrought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray. And the disciples rebuked them. Did you know that there are people, even in the church, who believe that children are a nuisance? Shouldn't spend any money on the youth group. You shouldn't spend any money taking all these trips, mission trips and camps and conferences, just a waste of money. Get bothered if they sit in your chair or tear something up or make something dirty or spill something on the floor. There are some people, I call them curmudgeons. curmudgeons. There are some curmudgeons in the church that they are bothered and they think that children are a nuisance and these disciples have gotten too big for their britches and they see these parents coming to Jesus with their children and they say this is a waste of time and they would have prevented them. Jesus said suffer the little children, permit, allow, let them come to me, don't prevent them, suffer the little children to come unto me. I get amused. I consult a lot of commentaries, all right, to see if there's anything that they can help me with. And I got amused, I really did, because I looked at several commentaries online, and then there were brought in him little children, children, but Jesus says suffer little children and forbid them not. And I was amused, I was amused, Brother Dave, at how much space was spent in trying to explain children. And so they went to the Greek word to find out what that word, to determine what the age, what the little children, and really, really, I think I understand it just in the English, little children. I think I get it. Little children. Little children. That's what they are. I think about a man named Jairus. He had a daughter who was sickened to death. And here's a man that pressed through the crowd. He humbled himself in the dirt. He ignores the naysaying of all those who say that it's a waste of time. But he's determined that he's going to get his daughter to Jesus or get Jesus to his daughter. And there's nothing going to stop him. And there will always be hindrances. Standing in the way of the spiritual growth and development of your child, but you must be determined that nothing is going to stop it. Do you know that your career could be a hindrance? Oh, yeah. You're working every hour that the boss will give you, making all the money that you can. Don't have time to bring your children to church. You're the one that's standing in the way. Or maybe you're too busy with hobbies. Selfish pursuits to have time to spend with your kids It could be for some of you grandparents that do not support the way that you're trying to raise your children Maybe it's friends. Maybe it's a school they go to Maybe it's the 12 hours of TV every day that you show them. Maybe it's the incessant video games that hinders all no amens on that that hinders the spiritual growth I'm trying to get you to see that the devil is going to throw everything against you. He may even use good people like these disciples to get you sidetracked, but nothing must stop that. I think about Hannah. Hannah and Penina. Do you know who Penina was? The other mother. And Penina had many children, and Hannah had none. And Penina mocked her, mocked her, mocked her. And finally, Hannah had a child, Samuel. And she raised Samuel to go to the temple and to serve Eli. And I know what Hannah's child became. And I wonder if Peninnah kept mocking her. Kept mocking the way that she's raising her child. But the end result of it is I know what Hannah's child became. I have no idea what Peninnah's children became. And you have to work hard at having a Christian home. And sometimes you have to reevaluate. Sometimes you have to recalibrate some things. Sometimes you look and say, this has crept into our home, and it is not good for our child, and it may offend some people. I may have to deny some things, but I'm not going to let these hindrances keep me from bringing my children to Jesus. Does that make sense to you this morning? There are hindrances. Here's the third thought. There's help. When you bring children to Jesus. I love verse 15. And he laid his hands on them. He touched them. I've prayed that a hundred times. Lord touch my children. Touch the hearts. Speak to them. Move. Holy Spirit in this service, while I'm preaching to parents, speak to children. Did you know that when you come to a church service, sometimes I had a service several weeks ago, that the Holy Spirit just gets so heavy on the place and you just know God's there. And you know when that happens, God starts speaking to people. But you know He doesn't speak to everybody. It doesn't matter how great of a church service that you have, that even this morning, God will speak to somebody's heart, and there's others that God won't. And here's my prayer, is that as you are passing by, and Holy Spirit, whoever you speak to, please sit down next to my child. Please speak to my child, because I can preach to them and I can lecture them. But when the Holy Spirit of God, very quietly begin, So while you are passing by, would you please stop and would you speak to my children? We are so blessed. We are so blessed this morning to have a church full of young people that love God, whom Christ has touched. Isn't it a blessing to see these young guys sitting on this front row? I love this. Sitting with parents and not on the back row and passing notes and sleeping and popping bubble gum. Isn't that a blessing? That blesses my heart. Well, what a blessing yesterday had all these young people had a 19 year old is that right? But this had a 19 year old trust Christ out on the street yesterday in this home What a blessing but man to see all these kids that went out yesterday knocking on doors and passing out tracks sitting on sitting in church paying attention and alert for the most part some of them and sitting there with a Bible open in their lap man what a blessing that is And it's a blessing to go away on a youth trip. Man, they come back all fired up for God. I'm telling you, there is help for your children when you get them to Jesus. And I say to you, young people, that you are so blessed. Most of you live in a very stable home. And there's love, and there's peace, and there's stability, and there's security there. All of the things that make a good home. And did you know that for most of the world, There is not there. For most of the world, children, all they know is danger and dysfunction and insecurity and abuse. But aren't you glad this morning that you're not going home to a drunk daddy? Aren't you glad that you're not going home to an abusive mother? Aren't you glad that you're not going home to alcohol and drugs and pornography and all that filth? Aren't you glad that you're not going home to gay parents? Or a mother with a live-in boyfriend? And you ought to thank God every day that you have the home that you have to go to. And I love the verse in Psalm 127 and verse 1, except the Lord build the house. They labor in vain to build it. Let me tell you, it's hard. It's hard work. It takes dedication. It takes some perseverance. And God knows that we're imperfect parents. But here's what He says. That if you'll get in there and build it, He'll come along. God will come along. And except the Lord build it, He gets in there and He builds that. And He makes it strong so that you're not wasting your time. I say to you young people, give your heart and give your life to Jesus. I'm encouraged by the young people in our church. I'm encouraged by the families in our church. You go to the mall sometime. I haven't gone to the mall in years. I hope it's years before I ever go to the mall again. You go to the mall sometimes and you see swarms of kids roaming about. They don't know how to work. They don't know how to pull their britches up. They don't have any respect for adults. They're belligerent. They're rude. And isn't it good that God gave us a Bible? God gave us a church and God gave us a way to raise our children to love God and respect one another and invest something into their life that is worthwhile. getting your children to Jesus. Some of you young parents, some of you young parents getting ready, you ought to shore some things up in your home. Boy, what a blessing. Am I allowed to make the announcement yet? Can we make the announcement? Can we say, can we say that another grandbaby's on the way in the Fuller household? Isn't that a blessing right there? Megan, in case you're wondering, Megan's expecting, Megan's expecting. Pray them for twins or triplets, it doesn't matter really. Just keep on growing. Keep on growing. Here's what we're going to do with this child. I haven't talked to him yet. Here's what we're going to do with this child. Because every year Christmas just keeps getting more expensive, more expensive. But here's the thing about it. That baby, that baby, when she's born next year, that baby won't know anything about Christmas. And I think that we should not tell that baby. I think we ought to wait 3, 4, 5 years because he'll never know. He'll never know. And just think of the money that we would save. And I'm sure that's not going to fly. I'm sure it's not going to happen, but anyway. Aren't you glad God gave you a Christian home? And you know sometimes, sometimes some of you have children that are not living right. And every time I preach something like this I feel like I'm pouring salt into the wounds and I don't mean to. And there's no use to go back and see if I did something wrong because that child made a choice. That child chooses how they want to live. But don't ever quit praying. Because God can still get a hold of the heart of that child. Just because they get away from you doesn't mean that they can get away from God. Boy, check your home out if there's some things in your home that's not conducive to getting them to Jesus. Boy, you ought to get rid of that thing. I had to get rid of that thing, baggy heads with me this morning. Getting our children to Jesus. Boy, sometimes God gives a child a set of grandparents, a godly set of grandparents, that comes in and they fill in that gap. for where that son and daughter is not. Boy, what a blessing that is, giving that child a second chance to get things right. Why don't you come this morning, you young people, you ought to come this morning. You ought to get on this altar and say, God, thank you that I'm not going home to drugs and booze and cussing, but you gave me a Christian home. Gave me a Christian home, thank you for that. Commit yourself to live a life of purity and holiness, gratefulness, living a life for Christ. Would you come this morning? Maybe you come on this altar, confess your sins, dedicate your life, set some things straight. God puts children in that home. You've got one chance at it. You've got one chance at it is what you've got. Father, I'm going to tell you something. I know you've got to work. I know you've got to make a living. I know that. No man ever got to the end of retirement and said, I wish I'd spent more time on the job. I wish I'd spent more time in the office building that career. He says, I wish I'd spent more time with my family. Sure wish I'd spent more time with my children. Heavenly Father, thank you for these families this morning. Lord, they're the strength, the backbone of this church. Grateful for it. Very simple passage, Lord, I couldn't get away from. Didn't know if I had enough material for a whole sermon. But it's what you placed on my heart. To just try to be an encouragement this morning to some mom and dads that are trying to do it right. Continue to move on the hearts of our young people. Blesses my heart to see them here. Anytime I've got a work day, visitation, don't matter what it is, they're here. They're here. They're excited about serving you. And I preach to help us just to fan that flame. Holy Spirit of God, speak to their hearts. You know their temptations, the seducements of school, friends, the pressures upon them. Lord, there comes a time when mom and dad have said everything that they can say. God, I pray that you would speak to them. I pray that you would convict them. or keep them in the right path, I pray.