Does the Bible instruct us to have childlike faith?

But there were those who thought that He had a more important mission into the world than to bless infants; so they rebuked those that brought them. But Jesus called them unto Him. He shows where His heart was — that there was no part of the work that He had undertaken for which He was not constantly prepared. He says, "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God." And He not only vindicates thus these mothers, but takes occasion from their act to read us all a lesson of the deepest importance. "Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein." It was not only that there was a hearty welcome for little children with Jesus, but that we must all in spirit become little children. The wisest man on earth — the man of keenest intellectual perceptions — the man of highest attainments — must become a little child to have to do with Jesus. We must become fools in order to be wise. It may be that some one here, looking at such a passage as this, may be perplexed, and say, How is this? Are we not often told that salvation is by faith? that whoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ has salvation and eternal life? How, then, is it that these blessings are here made to depend upon my becoming a little child? They are but two different ways, my friends, of presenting the same thing. Faith is this child-like spirit that each must have if he is to enter the kingdom of God. It is not that little children are good, and that we have to become good like them in order to get blessing from God. It is not that at all. Children are sinners and need the Saviour, and He came to save children as well as up-grown people. What, then, is the meaning of the passage? Let me ask, in reply, Is there one characteristic of childhood so prominent as this, the unhesitating simplicity with which the child trusts those with whom he has to do? Try a child; offer him something that he can value and desire, something suited to him — an apple — a toy. What does he say? Does he begin to make excuses, and say he does not deserve it, that he is not good enough, that he must behave better, feel differently, or the like, before he can expect such a boon? Is this the way he treats your offer? No. His hand is out at once — he gives you credit for being as good as you seem to be, and profess to be, in holding out to him the gift.

And what is the whole matter of receiving Christ — eternal life — salvation? It is the simple faith that accredits God to be as good as He says He is, as good as He has shown Himself to be. Has He not said that He "so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life?" And yet, with such statements throughout God's word, the soul, instead of believing God when He declares how good He is, instead of receiving Christ, stands reasoning, and seeking to evade the love which still pursues us with the needed, indispensable good. Ah! the heart must be bowed to this, to receive God's word in true, child-like simplicity, just as a child accepts unhesitatingly what it is very glad to get. "Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall in no wise enter therein."

Then we get the Lord greatly displeased at the disciples sending away the children, not that there was no sin in the children, but they were the expression of what God had created - the confidingness of a child without the distrust that grows up with one. The world lives in distrust (miserable at root), but that is not the case with a child. It has no distrust, but a disposition to believe everything (it often gets cheated); and the Lord says that is what He likes. Unless you receive the kingdom as a child you will not enter it.

From the homily on lowliness in view of our sins we are now to receive another, lowliness because of our insignificance. "And they brought to him also infants that he might touch them; but the disciples when they saw [it] rebuked them. But Jesus calling them to [him] said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter into it."457 (Matt. 18:3.) The babes were of great price in the eyes of Jesus, not of the disciples, who, if not rabbis themselves, would have lowered their Master to the level of such an one in contempt of little ones. But this could not be suffered, for it was not the truth. Neither the Son nor the Father so feel toward the weak and evidently dependent. Nor is this all: "of such is the kingdom of God." Those who enter into His kingdom must by grace receive the Saviour and His word as a child that of its parents. Self-reliance is excluded and replaced by dependence on God in the sense of our own nothingness.

This is illustrated yet more by the incident that follows (v. 15-17), where they brought infants to Jesus, that He would touch them. It is the lowliness of real insignificance, as the former was because of sinfulness. Who would be troubled with beings of such little consequence? Not the disciples, but Jesus. The Lord delighted in them, and that is the spirit of the kingdom of God. And here too a general moral maxim comes out. If a man is to enter that kingdom, all confidence in self must be broken down, and the truth be received simply, as a little child hears its mother. If it is not so, God and man have not their place. When He speaks, all I have to do is to listen. This is the humility of nothingness, as the other was on account of sin.

The second principle He enunciates is the humility, the teachableness, and the confidence of a little child: such is the principle whereby one enters the kingdom.

More than this, the Lord admonishes His disciples that everyone who receives the kingdom must do so as a little child. As a little one submits to the authority of its parents, so every entrant into the kingdom must submit to the authority of the King, the Lord Jesus. These submissive little ones He therefore takes into His arms, puts His hands on them and blesses them.

Now, in this second section, added to a character humbling of oneself before God is a genuine concern for the most helpless and dependent of God's creatures, for if we lack this we do not rightly know the heart of God. The disciples exposed their ignorance of God's heart by rebuking those who brought infants to the Lord for His blessing by the touch of His hand. But it was the disciples who needed rebuke. He called those who brought the children (for it seems they were already going away because of the disciples' rebuke) and encouraged the little ones to come to Him, "for of such is the kingdom of God." So there is no question that families of believers have their place in the kingdom of God. We could not say the same of the Assembly of God, the Church, for all in the Church must be born again and indwelt by the Spirit of God.

The Lord concluded this subject with declaring that the kingdom, rather than for self-important men, is opened only to those who enter as little children. The lowliness of honest, dependent faith is imperative in the kingdom of God. In the kingdom one has to do with God, the kingdom being that sphere where God's authority is paramount, therefore calling for a spirit of unquestioning subjection and obedience.

The Lord seized the opportunity to instruct all as to the character which becomes those who shall enter the kingdom: "Suffer the little children to come to Me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say to you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein" (14-15). The disciples looked on them just as babes (Luke 18:15). The Lord saw in them a character which should be true of the children of God — that child-like simplicity and confidence so pleasing to God. With all the little ones about Him, He graciously responded to the desires of those who had brought them, and "took them up in His arms, put His hands upon them, and blessed them." Many a parent undoubtedly has rejoiced in heart over this account. Their young ones, so dear to them, are not beneath the notice of the Lord; and Mark tells us how the Lord took them up in His arms and blessed them (16). What interest did He show in them individually! What a sight to have witnessed, babe after babe taken up into His arms by the Saviour! What parents are there who care for their offspring, but will be thankful for the touches in this picture? What disciple is there who may not find this history speaks also to his heart? The parent can know that the Lord will receive a little child. The disciple may be reminded of that which becomes him as a child of the Father who is in heaven.

The disciples meant of course the kingdom of the heavens, as they understood it, that kingdom which was and is to be established in the earth, and their selfish ambition was reaching out for a great earthly position in that kingdom. They thought of the time when service, self-denial and suffering would be rewarded by the King; who then would be greatest? And the Lord takes a little child and sets the little one in their midst and through this object lesson teaches them who will be the greatest in the kingdom. What the Lord tells His disciples here is practically the same which Nicodemus heard from His lips in that night visit. The kingdom must be entered in and that means conversion, to turn about in a different direction, and become as a little child, in other words, a new life is given, a new existence begins, the believer is born again and enters the kingdom as a little child, as he entered by the natural birth into the world. He gives therefore the great characteristics of those who have entered the kingdom and the great principles which are to govern them. It is lowliness, littleness and dependence. These are the characteristics of a little child. "Whoever therefore shall humble himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of the heavens." Having entered into the kingdom by being born again, we are to act practically according to these principles and he who does so is the greatest. The new life will grow and develop, but in regard of these characteristics the believer is ever to remain a child in simplicity, dependence on the Lord and in lowliness of mind as well as self-forgetfulness. It is by the constant following of these principles that growth in Grace is attained. Nothing is more detrimental to the development of spiritual life than self-consciousness, self confidence and pride. How often the Lord has to do with His children what the earthly father has to do with his children when they are wilful. He has to discipline them, and that means to show them their true place as a little child. "Moreover, we have had the fathers of our flesh as chasteners, and we reverenced them; shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live? For they indeed chastened for a few days, as seemed good to them; but He for profit, in order to the partaking of His holiness" (Heb. 12:9, 10). Lowliness of mind, that self-forgetfulness and dependence on God, was the path of the Lord Jesus Christ in the days of His humiliation. Let this mind, therefore, be in you which was in Christ Jesus.

The story of the night revelation to the child Samuel has always appealed touchingly to devout readers of Holy Scripture. There are lessons in it of the deepest importance to us all. When the disciples asked the Lord, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" He called a little child to Him, and set him in the midst of them, saying, "Verily I say to you, except ye be converted and become as little children ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 18:1-3). He said more than this. Following up the thought He showed that the spirit of the little child is always delightful to God. Perhaps if we were more simple in our attitude, more unquestioning in our faith, and more ready to obey, we should learn the mind of God more rapidly than we do.