Matt. 18:3 - 3and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless
you are converted and become as little children, you will by
no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
As I read this passage, this time, I was struck by its import.
A. In the original Greek, the word that we read as,
“converted” does not appear....but two things DO
APPEAR.
1. He is telling the listeners that they need to
REPENT......the word is strajhte ...a word
which means to, “turn around”....to change
a person’s life....I believe that this is where
someone interposed the words, “be converted”
(or changed).
2. The second thing that is contained in this
verse is the idea that we must become like a
little child...if we are to enter the Kingdom of
Heaven.
We pretty much have the idea of repentance understood,
but I wonder if we really understand and have applied the
idea of becoming like a little child.
A. This is not an optional thing....nor is it an
unimportant thing.
1. If we do not fulfill this part of the verse, we
are assured of not being able to enter into the
Kingdom of God.
a. We read John 3:3 and make the
connection between being born of the
water and the Spirit....and salvation
(“see the Kingdom of God).
1.) Is not being able to enter into the
Kingdom of God any more
desirable to a Christian, than not
being able to “see the Kingdom of
God”?
I would have to place great importance upon the words of
Christ in regards to become like a child.
A. It would be good, then, to note what attributes of
a child that we need to obtain.
1. There are many things that a child is...or will
do, or not do.........we need to see good
attributes that a child has in common with
what God’s word tells a Christian.
I. A child is totally dependent upon his father.
A. He is trusting.
1. A child knows that he doesn’t know very
much and needs to trust to his wise father’s
guidance.
a. It is when the child starts to think that he
knows more than the father that he gets
himself in trouble.
1.) The wiser the child becomes...the
more he realizes how much he
doesn’t know and how much his
father does know.
B. He asks his father for everything that he needs.
1. The father doesn’t begrudge the son for asking
him for food....or clothes....or a warm, dry,
house.
a. The father wants his son to look to him
for his needs.
1.) No father would be pleased with a
son who decided to eat grass,
rather than ask his father for some
food.
a.) In truth, it would be an insult
to the father if the son didn’t
ask his father for his needs.
b.) It would also bring discredit to
the father for others to think
that he would not love his son
enough to give him what he
needed.
C. A child learns to wait...he learns that he can’t
have everything he wants...when he wants it.
1. He may not understand this, but sometimes
he will not get what he wants because the
father has determined that it would not be best
for him.
a. Many children have been injured in some
way, when they have decided to take
things, “into their own hands” and try to
fulfill their own desires against the
father’s advice.
II. A child is expected to be obedient.
A. A father expects his child to obey him
immediately.
1. Without argument.
a. Even if he may not fully understand...
why?
B. A father expects a child to obey him without
fussing, complaining, or murmuring.
C. A father expects the child to obey with respect for
the father’s greater wisdom.
1. Even if that wisdom is not apparent or
understood.
III. A child does not think that he is the important one in
the family.
A. He submits his will to the will of the father.
1. The child knows that there is an order of
submission and that he must submit for his
own good.
2. He also understands that the father will
punish him if he refuses to submit.
a. Even though it displeases the father
greatly, he will punish the child for
trying to make himself equal with the
father.
IV. A child must grow.
A. He will grow slowly, at first....
1. He will have to be fed and watched after for
his every need.
a. Even if he doesn’t know that he has a
need, the parent knows and will supply
it for him.
2. As time goes on, the father expects that the
the child will learn from the father and be
able to do the right things on his own.
V. The child will look like the father....act like the father...
imitate the father more and more as he grows.
A. Indeed, people will know what son belongs to
what father by how the father and the son act.
1. A son will be happy to be like the father...as
a matter of fact, the son ought to strive to be
like the father.
a. Certainly, with human fathers...there are
some traits that would be better not to be
imitated.....in this the analogy breaks
down.
1.) With God and His children, there
is nothing that we do not want to
have as a part of our lives.
VI. A little child would always want to know that his
father was close by.
A. He would grieve if he thought that he was
separated from his father.
1. This child’s security doesn’t come from
knowing that we have a standing army or
that the police are on duty.
a. This child’s security and safety are
directly linked to his father.
1.) His peace of mind....comfort....
and security are dependent upon
his close relationship with his
father.
CONCLUSION:
With all of this information to go on.....let us see if we can
draw some conclusions, make some personal
applications.....and ask some pointed questions.
A. Remember, if we don’t become as little
children....we will not ENTER INTO THE
KINGDOM OF GOD!
First.....Are we truly totally dependent upon and
completely trusting in our Father?
II Cor. 3:4-5 - 4And we have such trust through Christ
toward God. 5Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to
think of anything as being from ourselves, but our
sufficiency is from God.
Prov. 3:5-6 - 5 Trust in the Lord with all your
heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He
shall direct your paths.
Matt. 6:31-32 - 31“Therefore do not worry, saying,
‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What
shall we wear?’ 32“For after all these things the Gentiles
seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all
these things.
Psalm 27:14 - 14 Wait on the Lord; Be of good
courage, And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!
1. Is this really how we live and function?
a. Is our sufficiency truly from God and
we are satisfied and content with what
God gives us or doesn’t give us?
2. Do we acknowledge Him in everything?
3. Do we lean on Him and not on our own
admittedly limited understanding.
4. Do we really ask our Father for everything
that we need, or are we content to eat grass.
a. Does God provide our needs, or do we
provide our needs?
5. Are we content to wait on the Lord, or do we
insist on having a temper tantrum....when we
don’t get what we want....when we want it?
** The measure in all of this is......”Do we do this with the
abandon of a little child”?
Secondly.....Are we truly obedient....I mean, obedient as a
child would be.
A. Are we obedient in everything...or only in the
things that we want to be obedient in!?
Heb. 5:8 - 8though He was a Son, yet He learned
obedience by the things which He suffered.
I Cor. 10:10-12 - 10nor complain, as some of them also
complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11Now
all these things happened to them as examples, and they
were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of
the ages have come. 12Therefore let him who thinks he
stands take heed lest he fall.
Prov. 3:5 - 5 Trust in the Lord with all your
heart, And lean not on your own understanding.
1. Are we only obedient when we can
understand all of the “why’s and wherefor’s”?
a. If we can’t understand why God would
put us in this position or ask us to do
this.....we just won’t do it until we can
understand WHY!
2. God expects our obedience....without our
fussing, grumbling, and complaining!
3. Do we trust in the Lord....with all of our heart
a. Our trust must not be as an adult...IT
MUST BE AS A CHILD!
4. Christ had to learn obedience in the things
that He suffered.....do we think that we are
privileged characters....that God will let us
“off the hook”...that He really doesn’t expect
us to obey EVERYTHING?
** Again...our obedience and trust needs to be as a child...
not in all of our self-righteous adult reasonings.
Which brings me to my third point....A child does not think
that He is the most important one and that his will should
be supreme....even over the Father’s
A. A child understands that he is the child and the
most important consideration must be that he do
the will of the father, at all times.
Rom. 12:3 - 3For I say, through the grace given to me, to
everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more
highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God
has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
Luke 22:42 - 42saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this
cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be
done.”
I Cor. 6:20 - 20For you were bought at a price; therefore
glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are
God’s.
1. Do we expect God to do what we want...even
if and when that is not the Father’s will?
a. Worse yet....do we seek to do our own
will and then insist that the Father
approve and bless our rebellion?
2. Do we, the children....place ourselves in the
position of leadership in our own lives?
3. Do we feel that we are “the boss” and we will
follow God....only in-as-much-as God follows
us?
Fourthly.....Have we continued to grow...are we growing
now.
A. As a child, can others see our growth...in the
Lord...and do they comment on that growth.
I Peter 2:2 - 2as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of
the word, that you may grow thereby
1. Is the DESIRE FOR THE WORD...THERE?
a. Do we “hunger and thirst” as a baby
does, for his bottle?
2. Have we grown in the Lord, or are we still
needing to be fed....as a little baby?
3. Are we colicky....do we spit up our food?
4. In what ways have you grown this past year?
Fifthly.....Can people see God in us....can they look at us
and comment on how much we look like the Father.
A. Is God glorified in His children?
John 14:8-9 - 8Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the
Father, and it is sufficient for us.” 9Jesus said to him,
“Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not
known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the
Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Phil. 2:14-15 - 14Do all things without complaining and
disputing, 15that you may become blameless and harmless,
children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and
perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the
world.
1. Can we say that we are truly....blameless and
that we do no harm to the name of God...as
His children.
2. Do we stand out in this generation of wicked-
ness.
a. If we do stand out......is it because we are
good, or that we are just a little less
evil than the world.
1.) As God’s children, we should be
emulating.....God.
3. Could this passage be describing us when
it speaks of.......”without
fault”?
** Children are innocent....if they do things wrong, often
times it is simply because of their ignorance....not
because they purposely want to be wicked.
1. Can the same be said about us?
Sixth, and lastly.....A little child always wants his father
close by....it would bother him greatly to know that he was
separated from the father...even for a moment.
A. Do we draw near to God and see a terrible thing
in us being apart?
James 4:8 - 8Draw near to God and He will draw near to
you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your
hearts, you double-minded.
Matt. 27:46 - 46And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out
with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that
is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
1. Do we even miss the Father when He is not
a part of what we are and what we do?
2. Could we.....perhaps, do we....get along quite
well, even when we don’t include God in our
day-to-day activities?
3. Are we frightened.....as a little child would be,
if we don’t see God in our lives?
Matt. 18:3 - 3and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless
you are converted and become as little children, you will by
no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
