At this time, we'll now turn in the Bible to Mark chapter 9. And we'll begin the scripture reading at verse 30 of Mark chapter 9. The scripture reading will begin at Mark chapter 9, verse 30. The text for the sermon will be verses 33 through 37. I won't read the text again a second time, but the text will be verses 33 through 37, and then we'll read to the end of the chapter, of Mark chapter nine. There we read this word of God beginning at verse 30. And they departed thence and passed through Galilee. And he would not that any man should know it. For he taught his disciples and said unto them, The Son of Man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him. And after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him. And he came to Capernaum, and being in the house, he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? But they held their peace. For by the way they had disputed among themselves who should be the greatest. And he sat down and called the 12 and saith unto them, if any man desired to be first, the same shall be last of all and servant of all. And he took a child and set him in the midst of them. And when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, 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. John answered him saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us, and we forbade him because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, forbid him not, for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part. or whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward. And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea. And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off, It is better for thee to enter into life maimed than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched. For their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter halt into life than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched. where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out. It is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. where everyone shall be salted with fire and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good. But if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will you season it? Have salt in yourselves and have peace one with another. May the Lord bless us in the reading of that portion of Mark chapter nine. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, according to their earthly and carnal conception of the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the disciples were arguing about something, about the kingdom. Perhaps the better word is competing. They were arguing about who would have the chief and the highest positions of power in the kingdom of Jesus, who would have control over the army, who would be in the highest position, the right-hand man of Jesus, like Joseph under Pharaoh. Perhaps you can recall as little boys when we were playing, When I was a little boy playing on the playground, we would argue with one another about who would be the general, who would be the two-star general, the four-star general, and then we continued to make higher positions of power, competing for greatness in that little kingdom we were trying to create on the playground. That expresses our depravity, doesn't it? who will have the highest and greatest position of power in the kingdom? The disciples argued about. And thus Jesus needed to correct them and also needs to correct us too, needed to correct his disciples in the story here in the house of Capernaum about what they were doing. He asked them, what did you argue about on the way? What did you dispute about? And he asked that question not because Jesus did not know, but he is our chief prophet and teacher, leading his disciples first to understand and bring out to light the problem, then in his wisdom to teach them what they should be thinking, what they should believe, how they should behave. Having brought out the problem, Although they didn't tell Jesus what it was, he brought it up into their minds. Then Jesus corrected them, corrected his servants. He corrected them with that wisdom when he said, if any man desires to be the first, the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, the same shall be servant, shall be last of all and servant of all. Then after declaring his wisdom about his kingdom, then Jesus demonstrated that. By calling to him in the house there, one of the children of the families nearby called the little boy to him, set him upon his lap, and said, 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. And it's through this word that Jesus called his disciples and calls us to repent from those errors to which we are prone about the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom which comes also in the church, in our families, calls us to repent from those things, to turn from those things, and by faith, place our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, about our place, and even the place of our covenant children in his kingdom, and to put our trust in that King of the kingdom of heaven with regard to the vows which we made concerning our baptized children, that we, say that promise a little differently, but it means the same thing, to serve those baptized children, to our utmost, in the fear of God's name and the truth of our true prophet and teacher, our Lord Jesus Christ. So we call your attention to the text under this theme, Receiving Such Children in Jesus' Name. We'll notice, first of all, doing what? We'll answer that question, and answer the next question, how possible? And then having answered that question, we'll move on to the last question, what the blessedness of that duty of faith, receiving such children in the name of Jesus. The Lord makes clear that the object that must be received is this little child on his lap. That boy came to Jesus when Jesus called him. Jesus knew him, did not need to have him introduced to Jesus. Jesus knew him, just like he knew Zacchaeus up in the tree. Didn't need Zacchaeus to wear a label on his coat to identify him. Jesus knew him. Jesus calls this little boy to his lap, puts his arms around him, sets him on his lap, There sits that little boy of those Old Testament parents who were also in the house. The parents were part of the Old Testament church at that time. They had the Old Testament scriptures from Genesis all the way to Malachi. They had heard the preaching of Jesus. They were in the house as those disciples of Jesus. And that identifies the boy as one who was raised in a covenant home, raised under the Old Testament administration of the covenant, one that was taught about the Passover, taught about the Day of Atonement, all of the different feasts in the Jewish calendar of the year. He had been taught to memorize the scriptures, to memorize the psalms that you children memorize, Psalm 23, Psalm 100. Very important. Learn the Ten Commandments, just as you must memorize the Ten Commandments. He did too. Or was being taught to memorize those things since he was a little boy. And thus by the behavior and then what Jesus says concerning this boy, the boy is identified as one of his little lambs for which he would die on the cross and rise again the third day. Yes, Jesus called him to his lap. Well, that earthly interaction reveals something that already was happening in eternity. Jesus knew this boy, Christ knew this boy from eternity, and was calling him by his spirit as one of his little children, working in him by the Holy Spirit, the engrafting of faith, and then the manifestation of that bond of faith and believing, learning about Jesus, confessing him, knowing the redemption and salvation that we have in him. And Jesus had the same gracious attitude, gave the same blessings to this boy as he would do to the children in Mark chapter 10, upon whom Jesus laid his hands and blessed. Jesus so loved that little boy and all little children like him who are his lambs, he warned his disciples. a little later in the passage. Don't offend these little ones. In fact, it were better that a great big millstone be tied to your neck and you be cast into the Mediterranean Sea to the bottom to perish than you ever offend my precious little children like this boy that was on his lap. And then Jesus, connected to this little boy, and all such children like him to his name, to himself and to the father who sent him to die for these little ones like this little boy and the little boy himself and to rise again the third day. That means, beloved, today Jesus also continues to know his little lambs. He knows them by name. Parents bring their covenant children to be baptized, to receive the means of grace from Christ at God's right hand, through the minister, sent and ordained for that purpose and sent by Christ. The parents do not need to introduce their child to the Lord. He knows them by name. And he shows us in baptism the sign and the seal of what he did to the little boy on his lap and to all who are like him. He gathers them in his arms of everlasting mercy. He smiles upon them in his grace. He gives to them his spirit, works in them the riches and treasures of friendship with him and a place in his kingdom. Those are the children of believing parents according to God's promise in Genesis chapter 17 and Acts chapter 2 verse 39. Now it's true, unlike Jesus, we as earthly parents do not have divine understanding of all of the children of God's people in the New Testament. Jesus knows his lambs by name according to election. We don't have that divine knowledge concerning each and every child of a believer who has been baptized in the history of the church throughout the New Testament. No, we don't. Nevertheless, the children of the text, the boy of the text, and as it applies to us as his people today, and with our baptized children, The text does apply to those children upon whom the sign and the seal of baptism has been given, has been administered. The sign and the seal is a picture of what God does to our children out of our generations. He gathers, like that little boy on Jesus' lap, those precious jewels, which he will show the power of his grace and the glory of His name. These are the children whom we must receive, Jesus teaches. Jesus teaches that's what we must do against the background of what he did. Jesus received that little boy and such who are like him. What did that mean? Does it mean that Jesus simply took the boy and put him on his lap and that's the idea of receiving him? We just, now we have them and hold them and that's about it? No, that word receive is full of meaning. When Jesus received that little boy, as we indicated earlier, it includes his attitude towards that child of grace. His behavior towards that child. dealing with him in that grace. It also refers to something even more important. Jesus, when receiving the little boy, shows that Jesus had taken, he had taken hold of, taken possession of the responsibility of the salvation of that boy. He had willingly taken hold of taken possession of the duty to redeem that little one from death, from sin, from original sin, from his own sin and sinful nature, given to him by his parents and from his parents, and to redeem him into that life and salvation which is only in him. And Jesus embraced the duty to care for that child, to hold that child in his hand of grace, never to let him go, to protect and preserve that sheep all the days of this life until finally Jesus would receive that little boy, when a grown man, into glory with him, after his work in this life is finished. When receiving that child, Jesus shows that's what Jesus has embraced, not only regarding that boy, but all that are like him. From eternity, Jesus took possession, took hold of, in God's counsel, his decree, your redemption, your salvation. When He came into our flesh, He took hold of that work which the Father sent Him now to do, so that in our flesh, coming under that humiliation, with the load of our sin upon Him, He embraced that work to be cursed by God, to be banished from His presence for us. And he fulfilled it. He embraced an entire life of 33 and a half years faithfully until finally he hung upon the cross and was forsaken by God for all of his sheep and that little boy even on his lap. And in the resurrection, took hold of immortality and life everlasting and body and soul for all of his sheep and the little boy on his lap too. And sits at God's right hand ruling over all things in heaven and earth, even among the children of men, so that our salvation, which is his responsibility, he will fulfill in you and me by his spirit, whom he sends upon us and makes his word, makes his blessings upon us effective, a reality. When you saw the baptism of a little girl this morning, one of the lambs of Christ, Christ signifies and seals unto us that he has received us and our seed, received into that covenant of grace. And he holds upon his shoulders, according to the love of his heart, the weight of our redemption, and salvation, all of it. And he fulfills that work and that need. That teaches us, beloved, what we must do when we receive these children as covenant parents, we receive these children from our Heavenly Father. Now, we need to clarify that, of course, we do not receive them exactly as Jesus does. We don't create these children. We certainly cannot redeem them. We cannot merit from God anything for them. It's especially when our children become sick, very sick, and then we must go to the hospital, perhaps, or get medical attention. We realize, as parents, we cannot even make our own children healthy again. God must do it through the means which are provided to restore them to health. And so we learn, for all of our salvation, our children, just as we do as parents, depends upon our Heavenly Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, and His Spirit entirely. Nevertheless, as Jesus teaches us here, we must receive these little ones as Jesus does. as their servant. That's what the disciples were failing to understand about their relationship to God's people in the church. They thought, well, we can cast out devils in the name of Jesus. We are great. That's the context of Jesus' discussion with the disciples in the house there. We're great. Jesus teaches, no, to do something great in the name of Jesus is to be servant. And as servants, we as parents, or future parents, must embrace the needs of the little boy, the little girl, all such children God is pleased to give us. Embrace their needs, their spiritual, their mental, their physical, their financial, all of the needs of those children. That's a full-time work. It's a full-time work as a mother in the home, and as a father leading and spiritually guiding the home. And as parents, we must then wear those needs of our children like a coat, wear those needs, and devote ourselves to fulfilling those needs of our little children, and do that to our utmost giving our time, our possessions, our blood, our sweat, our tears to the care of those little children with the goal not that my name as a parent or your name as a parent may be published abroad and glorified before men, no. that those children may grow up in the fear of the Lord to love Him, to serve Him, as we must also serve Him. And so Jesus, explaining, teaching that, also adds this phrase, in my name. Disciples, you must, in my name, do great things. receive this little child, and all such like them. My name there, of course, refers to the revelation of Jesus Christ and all of his truth, which for us today is given to us in the Holy Scriptures, in my name. In the sphere of the revelation of the name of Jesus and his truth, in the sphere of the word, and the confessions which explain the word, in the sphere of that word and under the authority of what Jesus teaches us to do in his word with those children, according to baptism, serve those children. And that's the connection then between in my name and the receiving of those children. Under the authority of Jesus Christ, he is the Lord in our homes. not father, although we do have a position of headship in the home over the wife and the children, but the Lord in that home is not the father, it's Christ. In his name, we administer the authority, we administer the care, administer the rebuke, The discipline when necessary to expose to the children their sinfulness and to call them to repentance and to reconcile with them under the foot of the cross, covering their sins in the blood of Christ and the promise that our sins are covered in the sight of God. Loving the child in the name of Jesus. Caring for their spiritual, mental, physical needs as the word of God demands. Doing that all the days, all of the time, God places those children under our hands, whether that time be very short, shorter than we would like as parents, or for many years, until finally they arrive, years of discretion, and begin and go on to their own homes and marriages. And the goal of that isn't that our name be honored and glorified, receiving them in the name of Jesus. That establishes the goal that He is glorified. Now we may wonder this morning, especially those who do not have children, who are not even married, does this word also apply to me? This is a sermon just for the parents, especially, who brought the child for baptism this morning, and for us, especially as single in the single life, we can kind of just tune out, and this isn't really applied to us. Well, beloved, not so. Psalm 113, verse 9 teaches about those in the kingdom of heaven, and the kingdom of heaven in the church militant, that there are some in the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ who do not receive children by adoption or by birth. And verse 9 teaches us Jehovah makes the barren woman to keep house and to be a joyful mother of children. On a day like today when the world celebrates mothers, women who are married but don't have children have nothing to Nothing to celebrate? Of course not. In the church, it's not so. The childless man, the barren woman, the unmarried, brother and sister in the Lord, also receive a duty to receive these covenant children of the church. As they witness this baptism, they too, we also in the single life, are in duty bound serve those little children, that future generation of the church, the future husbands and wives, parents, elders, deacons and pastors, elders and deacons, pastors, wives, school teachers, school board members. The list goes on of all of the different places in the kingdom here below where we serve the cause of our Lord Jesus Christ, especially in our covenant children. Together in our own places, we belong to a family, a church family, and have the duty to serve the baptized children in the name of Christ. How is that possible? The human impossibility is exposed by Jesus when he brings out the argument which the disciples had. They were competing about the various positions in the kingdom. That's our human nature. And according to our human nature, for us to receive our baptized little children in all of their needs, with a readiness and cheerfulness that is like the angels in heaven when they receive the work they're called to do by the Father, that is humanly impossible. It's our nature that our children will serve me, us. My children will make me look good before men. That's the kind of relationship we have in mind. But that's not right. Jesus said, if any man desire to be first, the same shall be last and servant of all. Jesus teaches that aspiring to be great in the kingdom, that itself is not sinful. But we must understand how that works in the kingdom of heaven. To serve the Lord, that which is good and pleasing in his sight, and even great in his sight, is not according to human wisdom. Human wisdom says if you want to be great, you need to be first. Everybody must look up to you, they must notice you all the time. You must be Lord over all, that's greatness. Jesus said, no, to be great, last. To be servant, and he himself was the example of that. Jesus is the preeminent one in God's counsel. He is the Lord of lords. He is first and the last, according to what he says in Revelation, the beginning and the end. And yet as glorious as he is, as the son of God, Yet the Son of God in all of His glory became the last and the least for us in His death. And that, beloved, declares the wisdom of God concerning our positions in His kingdom too. And when we look at that, we discover by faith and by the leading of the Spirit, well, that's not my nature. As a father, when one comes home at the end of a long, wearisome day at work, that father is not prone to be servant to the little ones clamoring for his attention, not prone to be servant to the wife in humility, in love and faithfulness, and in an edifying service. Not at all. The mother, at her wit's end before mountains of laundry, piles of dishes, the yelling and the screaming of the children, perhaps, crying out for her attention or help or whatever it may be. By nature, we're not prone to be servant and love humility as a shepherd leads sheep. And to do that, faithfully, not at all. But beloved, look to Christ. He makes that possible for us and within us by his redeeming love and spirit. Through the spirit, he renews us so that we may receive all such like the little boy. For in Christ, beloved, look to him. He has redeemed us from that old nature. In Christ we have died to that old nature, died to self and selfishness and self-serving and looking at myself. He's redeemed us from the guilt of our sin by his shed blood so that we as parents look back upon how well we've done over the years. We see our sins, our selfishness, We're very sorry for that and must look to Christ for the blood that covers that sin in the sight of God. And to be assured, we do have peace with him. And that covenant which God has promised to us and to our children doesn't depend on you and me. Depends on Christ, who paid the debt. who was the last and the least as our servant to wash away our sin and establish peace with us in his own death with the Father, so that we stand now before the Father in his favor, also gathered into his arms in mercy and smiling upon us as his dear little children. And by his Spirit, he makes us more and more willing to be those servants like Jesus Christ, to receive those children and all those with needs in the church, to serve them. He's given us that new life, yes. He calls us out of darkness into his marvelous light. He works in us faith and the blessings of justification and sanctification, and all of that work in which Jesus applies to us our salvation, he's changing us. so that less and less we think about self, more and more we die to self, and more and more we think of him and the little ones who in his name are given to us to serve. And we have the assurance that along the way in this life, we remain like that little boy. the little children of our Heavenly Father who depend upon Him, even as parents, for what we need to be faithful at the end of a long day or amidst the cries of all the little ones pulling on us in all different directions with all their different needs. To be humble, faithful, to use the means God has given us to be faithful to our children. And so we learn in wisdom If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all and servant of all. That is heavenly greatness in the kingdom. Is there blessedness to that, beloved? And the answer of the scriptures is yes. The answer of the world is no. The world mocks parents and the church. in their conviction to be those servants to the children, the future of the church, and the generations of God's covenant with a view to the coming of Jesus Christ and the gathering of that church. The world says that's misery to wear the needs of the special needs children, or any of our children, for so many years, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, caring for their spiritual, physical, mental needs. That's misery. That's bondage. That's interfering with a career. That's interfering with all of the vacations we could possibly have and the great retirement we could possibly have. Oh, that costs way too much money, too much time for me, some will say, too much blood, sweat, and tears, and the giving of the body and the soul to the care of those children. That's too much. So when the Word of God teaches that being a parent and a mother is the preeminent and noblest calling for the Christian woman, the preeminent and noblest calling for a man to be a husband and father and a God-fearing home. The world looks at that and despises that and hates that because that serves Christ, that serves Jehovah, and the world wants nothing to do with that. The world wants everything to serve man, self, me, first. That we must not do, beloved, for a refusal, as Jesus teaches, a refusal to serve these little ones is a refusal to serve Jesus. And a refusal to serve Jesus is a refusal to serve the Father who values these little children as his precious jewels, whom he has purchased with the blood of Jesus Christ. And as the scriptures also teach, has assigned angels to these little ones. who stand before the face of the Father as a memorial in heaven of the number of gods elect whom he gathers into his arms of everlasting mercy, and even of those who must yet be born before Jesus comes. That's the extent of the attention and service that even the Father gives to those little ones. If that's the value and the importance the Father puts on those little ones, so must we. And be willing then, understanding the value of our covenant children, serve them in love, respect, and faithfulness. You see the grace of our Lord and His Spirit to work that understanding and to work that faithful Servant, that servant mindset and ministry to the children. The blessedness in receiving them, as Jesus teaches, is that we will serve Jesus and the Father. As we mentioned earlier, but that's important to remember, to be reminded of, serving them in the name of Christ, the chief blessedness is that God is glorified. That's all that a servant, a faithful servant, really cares about when serving his master. Not that he is glorified, but that his master is honored. That his master is glorified. And that's true for you and me, too. That our Father in Heaven, who has done such great things for us, also, now through us, glorifies himself, and the covenant children he is pleased to give us for a little while to serve. That's amazing. But then there's also blessedness for us. The fulfillment of God's covenant promises. That should astound you, beloved. When we look at our weak service, filled with sin, We ought to stand amazed at what the Lord does with us and come to the conclusion that if it were not for the grace of God and his mercy, our situation would be hopeless. Our weak service would have brought our homes to ruin by now. The Lord looks upon us in Christ and sanctified by him and his spirit, the Father is pleased to crown Our service to these little ones, like the little boy in the text, with his loving kindness and tender mercies and his blessing. Although nothing should come of our service, yet God crowns it with his blessing, with prosperity and peace in Zion for the sake of Christ. That's amazing. That's the blessedness of service. God does these great things, not only for us, but also in us, in order that the promise of Psalm 128 may come to pass. Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth Jehovah. Jehovah shall bless thee out of Zion, and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. Yea, because the Father crowns us and our work through and because of Jesus Christ, thou shalt see thy children's children in peace upon Israel. And so, beloved, may the Father keep you faithful in receiving these baptized children, these little ones, in the name of Jesus. Give you the grace to serve them all the days under your parental and ecclesiastical care, serving them with his word. In the name of Jesus, amen. Let us pray. Gracious God and heavenly Father, wilt thou bless us with the word thou hast spoken to us through thy servant, Grant that the word itself may be a blessing to us, cause us to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ. Rejoice in his work that he has done for us, the work which he continues by his grace and spirit to do in us and through us. Pray that our work may prosper as parents in the instruction of our covenant children. Cause that work to prosper by thy grace and for the sake of Christ. Forgive and cleanse all that is done in sin and evil, while thou sanctify that which we do, that our children may be directed and guided as faithful children of Thee, who love Thee and serve Thee and our Lord Jesus Christ all the days of their life. Grant this to us, Heavenly Father, according to Thy covenant promise and for the sake of Christ alone. Amen.