Chapter 13: The Little Children (Or, Who May Come?)

 •  28 min. read  •  grade level: 7
 
“His holy hands were softly laid
Upon each childish head;
Those little ones were not afraid,
His arms were open spread;
'Twas love they saw in His kind face,
They felt it was a happy place."
MAT 19:13-1513Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. 14But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. 15And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence. (Matthew 19:13‑15)MAR 10:13-1613And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. 14But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. 15Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. 16And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them. (Mark 10:13‑16)LUK 18:15-1715And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. 17Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein. (Luke 18:15‑17)OUR stories are nearly all ended now: we have thought about the tenderness of Him who cares for every creature which His hand has formed, or His power called into being; we have thought of the grace of Him who came to make a safe way for us through this world of danger and darkness, of Christ the Faithful Servant, who came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many, who presents Himself now as the sinner's Friend, whose love unto death has opened a free course to the River of Mercy, and made known the blessed and wonderful truth, "God for us;" we have thought about the bright home above, that beautiful place which the Savior Jesus has gone to prepare, that blessed place where "there shall be no night," where "they need no candle, neither light of the sun," for the Lord God giveth them light, where there shall be no death, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor pain, where there is fullness of joy and pleasure for evermore. And now, Who is to be there? Who may come?
Who are they who are sure not to be sent away, but sure to be welcome?
Oh, who may come and share the love of that loving Savior? Who may come and have all their sins forgiven and washed away? Who may come and taste the love of the Father? Do you know who may come? Do you long to know who may come?
Read the question at the bottom of the name of this chapter, and then look up to the first line, and you will see the answer.
Who may come? The little children.
Yes; it is the little children who may come; it is the little children who are sure not to be sent away; it is the little children who are invited to share the love of Jesus, the loving Savior; it is the little children who are called to come and have all their sins forgiven and forever washed away in the precious blood of Christ; it is the little children not one of whom the Father wills should perish.
Is not this good news?
Is it not wonderful that the Lord Jesus should say, "Suffer the little children to come unto me,... for of such is the kingdom of heaven"? What a happy thing this is, for not One of you need wait a moment.
Not one of you need wait to grow into a little child. The first day you ever heard of Jesus, you were already a little child. It is now that Jesus wants you, it is now that Jesus loves you, it is now that He is holding out His arms to “gather the lambs and carry them in his bosom."
When Christ Jesus was on earth, how many times He took the little children up in His arms! Why was this?
It was because He loved them.
And why did He love the little children?
It was not because of anything the little children had or were; it was because of what Jesus had, and what Jesus was; Jesus had a kind, loving, gentle heart, and so He loved the children. Jesus was the Savior, and so He could take the children up in His arms and bless them.
Many people may love you, kind parents, kind brothers and sisters, a kind nurse, a kind grandmamma or grandpapa, kind uncles and aunts, cousins and friends; you may have numbers of people to love you, but none can love you as Jesus loves; and none of them can ever bless you as Jesus blessed the little children; only Jesus the Savior, who died for you, can bless you so as to make you happy forever. You know what it is to be happy, and you know what it is to be unhappy, to be sorry, or naughty, or in pain; but Jesus can bless a little child so as to make him happy forever; when Jesus takes a little child into His arms now He will never drop that child, He will carry him safely in to the bright home where there is no more sorrow, or crying, or pain; the child now will not feel the arms of Jesus as the children of Judaea felt them, but when he is being carried by Jesus he will know that he is quite, quite safe forever. Jesus says, “My sheep shall never perish. None is able to' pluck them out of my Father's hand."
Once, Jesus was walking near the river Jordan, that great river which runs all down the east side of the holy land for sixty-seven miles, from the lake of Galilee to the Dead Sea; His disciples were with him and a great many other people joined them, that they might hear "the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth." As they went along, some people, I think it must have been the mothers and fathers, brought little children into the midst of the company; the friends of these little children wanted Jesus to put His hands upon them and bless them. The disciples were angry, they did not think about the loving heart of Jesus, they only thought about the children, so they rebuked those who brought them; that is, they spoke angrily to them; they may have thought, of what use is it to bring these tiny children here; they will only interrupt; they cannot understand the teaching of Jesus? Or they may have said, You must take away these children, Jesus does not want them, they cannot learn anything.
Jesus knew, of course, all the sad mistakes that were in the hearts of the disciples; He knew also all the wishes that were in the hearts of the fathers and mothers, and besides that, He knew what was, in the hearts of the children. Sin was in the hearts of those children. Every child is “born in sin;" the very youngest child is a sinner, has sin in its heart. But Jesus was not displeased with the children, He did not send them away because they had sin in their hearts, for Jesus had come to save that which was lost; to die, and so to put away sin and be the sinner's Friend.
Jesus was “much displeased" with the disciples, He was quite shocked at them for trying to send away the little children. How could the disciples have been so much with Jesus and yet have known so little of His heart! Jesus was "much displeased and said, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God," then Jesus turned to the children who were still waiting round Him. It was a good thing that they waited and did not run away from the angry looks and words of the disciples; they saw a beautiful face now, loving looks now cast upon them, and that was not all. Jesus put out His arms, those arms which still gather the little lambs, He took the children up in His arms, they were in His bosom then, He put His hands upon them, “those kind hands that did such good," and He blessed them.
Don't you think that some, even of those little children, when they saw the loving face and heard the gentle voice which spoke those sweet words of blessing could understand something, learn something? Don't you think they learned and understood that Jesus loved them? Oh, what a sweet lesson that was! What a sweet, holy, solemn lesson for you —Jesus loves me! Yes, and because He loved me, He gave Himself for me.
“Jesus loves me, He who died,
Heaven's gate to open wide;
He will wash away my sin,
Let a little child come in."
It is a sweet lesson—Jesus loved me—but it is a solemn lesson. Because I am a needy sinner Jesus could not show me His love without dying for me; and it is a holy lesson; though Jesus loves little children, He cannot carry them into the bright home all stained with sin; their sins must be washed away in His precious blood.
“And each believing soul is then
As spotless quite as He;
God's eye may search him through and through,
And yet no sin-stain see."
Another time Jesus called a little child; He set him in the midst of those to whom He was speaking, He wanted to use this little child as a picture or pattern; then, before Jesus went on with what He meant to say to His disciples, He took the child up into His arms. How very kind this was! How very gracious of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the Father, to take up a little child into His arms while He spoke about him! Perhaps the little child would have been tired or frightened, if he had been left standing in the midst while Jesus was saying all
He had to say to His disciples, but in the arms of Jesus no child feels tired or frightened. How glad that little child must have been that Jesus called him! and every little child now may say, Jesus calls me. Oh, what does Jesus call you for? It is that He may take you up in His arms and bless you. The little children who were brought by their friends, or the little child whom Jesus called were all alike blessed. Every child who comes to Jesus now is blessed. But Jesus did not only bless the child, that day, He used him as a pattern to make the disciples understand what He wanted to teach them.
The people who followed Jesus and the disciples were not little children, they were big people, and between the little children, who could be brought by their parents, and the disciples, there were people of many different ages. Some of you, perhaps, are grown beyond what could be called a little child, and you will want to hear what Jesus said for those who were not little children; for though not one need wait to grow into a little child, you soon grow too old to be called exactly a little child, though you may be still a child. Yet you want a place in the bright home, you need love, you need a Friend, you need the Savior just every bit as much as did the tiniest among the little children. What did Jesus say to those who were not quite little children He said to them, you must “become as little children." You must come like little children.
How do little children come?
They come without asking any questions.
What is a little child like?
A little child is not strong, or useful; it is weak and needy. A little child is not wise or learned, it is ignorant, it wants to be taught everything, it believes what it is taught. A little child cannot buy or gain things; it takes everything as a gift. A little child is simple. It cannot make a plan, as Jeroboam's wife did, to disguise itself, it shows itself just as it is; but with all this a little child is very sweet to those who love it, because it is so confiding, it is so ready to trust. It runs into its father's arms, or lies down in its mother's arms, and fears no evil.
No one can ever get into the place of safety and blessing except as a little child-weak, needy, useless, ignorant, poor, but trusting? And whom should we trust but Christ who said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life."
There was once a very grand man, yet he learned that he must come as a little child; he was grander than a king, for he was an Emperor, he was also, as some people would say, a good man, for he did many right and kind things; he was kind to the thousands of people over whom he ruled, though, by the laws of Russia, for it is about an Emperor of Russia I am speaking, the Emperor may do whatever he chooses to any of his subjects. But this Emperor, Alexander I, had not used his power in a cruel manner, and among others was one very good thing which he had done; he had spent much money and taken much trouble to get a part of the Bible, namely, the Psalms and the New Testament, translated into Russian, and sold at a moderate price among the people, so that all might have copies of these precious scriptures, and might read them for themselves in a language which they understood. Before that time few poor Russians ever read the scriptures or knew anything of them, for, like the English in King Alfred's time, the poor, when they did come together, could only hear the priest read in the Slavonic language, which is a kind of ancient Russian, of which they scarcely understood anything.
Alexander II, who, but a short time ago, was so wickedly put to death, finished this good work, and now the whole scripture has been translated into Russian, and Russian bibles can be bought anywhere. Perhaps, while the Emperor Alexander I was busy with the New Testament, he read some such words as those which Jesus spoke while He held the little children in His arms, "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." The Emperor knew what a little child was; not rich, like himself, but poor; not great, like an Emperor, but little; not wise, having done nothing to boast of. How unlike Alexander I was such a character! yet, one day when this Emperor was going to set off on a journey, and only a short time before his death, he said to a gentleman whom he much trusted, "Do you think that any person, however great he may be in this world, or however much good he may have tried to do, can be safe in trusting anything else for salvation but the perfect and all-sufficient atonement of Christ the Redeemer " The gentleman to whom the Emperor spoke was a true friend, and he knew the truth. He answered without hesitation, "Certainly not, sire." “Certainly not," replied the Emperor; "I have no other hope. The all-sufficient atonement of Christ is my only comfort." Was not the great Emperor becoming like a little child?
Now, perhaps you will like to hear the story of a little girl who was not at first, child as she was, quite willing to become like a little child. It is not only Emperors who find things in and around them to which they are inclined to cling. It needs the heat of the one only sun to melt a great snowdrift, but even one little snow-flake will not melt unless heat reach it in some way; so, nothing but the mighty power of God the Holy Spirit can make an Emperor or a child become as a little child. Martha had, in some respects, a very happy home; she had loving parents, several brothers and sisters, an attentive nurse, and plenty of good things, but one thing was wanting, and this is why I could not call Martha's quite a happy home. Martha was left without any teaching; her parents were satisfied with her, as she was, an affectionate cheerful little girl, and she was allowed to spend nearly her whole time in play and to do pretty much as she liked.
When Martha was ten years old, she went on a visit to an aunt who lived in a village some miles from her own home. Perhaps, as you have heard how Martha was brought up, you will not be surprised to hear that the aunt found the little visitor rather troublesome. At ten years of age she might have known how to be a pleasure to those whom she visited, but she was, instead of this, very willful, and when she could not have her own way, very angry. Yet all this time Martha had a very good opinion of herself, as you will hear. Perhaps she was so accustomed to be willful, and had been so little taught, that she did not know how sinful self-will is; very likely also pride, which is in every human heart, made her blind to her own faults, and like those who looked into the dark cellar I told you of in Ishmael's story, Martha fancied she saw beautiful things in her own dark heart. But God, who is the God of all grace, was going to be very gracious to this little girl. How gracious it is of God when He stops a dark child or a pride-blinded child, and sends light into their hearts so as to make them see themselves as they really are! If it was a dark evening, what should you want? A lamp. The word of God was the lamp which shone in the dark evening of Martha's life, for it was the evening of her life though she never guessed it, and though she was only ten years old.
The aunt, finding Martha so very troublesome and so very ignorant, sent her to the house of a respectable woman near who taught a few children. Martha went to the school full of pride; she was much better dressed than her fellow-scholars, for her friends were able to provide her with good clothes; but had Martha any reason to be proud of this? Whatever she wore she had received it. I wonder how such an ignorant little girl would have been dressed had she been left to provide for herself; and if she were dressed as finely as the Queen it need not have 'made her proud.
“What if we wear the richest vest
Peacocks and flies are better dress'd."
And—
"Why should our garments, made to hide
Our parents' shame, provoke our pride,
When the poor sheep and silk-worm wore
That very clothing long before”
I wonder whether vain little people ever remember that, at their best, they are walking about in Mr. Sheep's old coat, or the cast-off curtains and coverings of Mrs. Silkworm's bed
Towards the end of the lessons, a lady came in to see the little scholars. She sat down among them and began to tell the story of Adam and Eve; she spoke of the beginning of sin in the garden of Eden, and then she went on to say that all hearts are sinful; she then told the children that they were all sinful. Martha, poor neglected Martha, had never before heard this story which is so well known to most children of half her age; she felt very angry when the lady said that all the children were alike, that all were sinners. Martha, as she had never been to school before, did not know how she ought to behave, so she left her place and, with a flushed angry face, going forward towards the lady, she said, "You do not know me. At home they all call me a dear good child. You must not call me a sinner, for my heart is good, I know it is."
The lady answered the angry child quietly, “God, who made us, knows our hearts better than we do. Let us see what the Bible says in Rom. 3:2323For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23)." The lady opened her Bible and handed it to Martha; seeing a big girl of ten years old she never supposed but that she would be able to read it, but Martha had to call one of the poorer children, whom she despised, to her help, and so she read, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Martha was, as you will have seen, a very spoiled, ignorant, and foolish little girl, but now she was, in one thing, wiser than many. As soon as she had read the words from the Bible she believed them, as God's own word, which no one could alter or contradict. She had been foolish enough to contradict the lady, but now she could say nothing; her mouth was "stopped," according to Rom. 3:1919Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. (Romans 3:19), she found herself "guilty before God." She began to cry, all her goodness seemed gone away from her, she knew not what to do. The lady took the poor little girl upon her lap and talked kindly to her about the love of Jesus the Savior, and taught her these words, “The blood of Jesus Christ... cleanseth us from all sin."
When next the lady came to the school she was pleased to find that Martha repeated the verses thoughtfully, and also that her behavior was better; she was obedient, and stood or sat wherever she was told. One day, Martha saw a hymn-book in the lady's hand; she said she should very much like to have one, and had money to buy one.
“But you could not read it," said the lady.
“I could spell a verse, over and over," said Martha, "and so learn it to say to you."
So Martha was allowed to buy a hymn-book, and after a few days, to the lady's surprise, she repeated two verses of the well-known hymn, written by Dr. Watts, beginning, “Not all the blood of beasts," quite correctly.
"Did your aunt, or any of the servants, choose this hymn for you?" asked the lady.
“No; they knew nothing about it," said Martha.
“What made you choose these lines then?” said the lady.
“I like them," replied Martha, " because they tell about the blood of Christ."
The lady wondered whether the child, who, a short time ago, was so very ignorant, had any right thoughts about the meaning of the words, so she said, “Why do you like to hear about the blood of Jesus?"
The child replied, “Because I need it. I have not forgotten what you taught me the first day I came to school, that the blood of Jesus takes away all sin; and the second verse in the hymn says that Christ is the heavenly Lamb who can take away sin, and you told me that Jesus was called the Lamb of God because He was slain."
After this the lady prayed much for little Martha, and God Himself graciously carried on the good work which He had begun in the child's heart.
A short time afterward, as Martha was not in her place at school, the lady, who had become very fond of her, and who knew her aunt slightly, went to inquire the reason of her absence.
“She has gone home," said the aunt, "but I expect her back in about a week, and you will be sure to see her at school immediately, for she takes quite a delight in going there, and especially in all that you teach her; so, although it is not in every respect the place I should have desired for her, I shall not at present remove her. I am much pleased," continued the aunt, "with the change I find in my niece's conduct since she has attended this little school. She is not nearly so troublesome, she is very seldom willful and disobedient, and the servant who has the charge of her remarks the same; indeed she seems quite like a different child. While she is being dressed she often talks about your scripture lessons, and begs the maid to seek the forgiveness of her sins through Jesus Christ."
Martha's kind friend was very thankful to hear all this about the child, for she felt sure it was not her teaching or the teaching given at the school, but the teaching of God which was making this change in the little girl's proud heart and unruly ways.
Two or three weeks passed by, and still Martha did not appear at school, so the lady went again to call upon her aunt; she found her in deep sorrow. "My dear little Martha," she said, "was buried yesterday."
The lady was much surprised, and deeply grieved when she heard this sad news. “Do tell me all about it," she said to the aunt.
“I can tell you much that is comforting," replied the poor aunt in the midst of her tears.
"When Martha went home, her youngest sister, little Lucy, was not well; she was thought to have a cold, and as nothing serious was feared, Martha, at her own request, was allowed to spend the evening with the little one in the nursery, and even slept beside her. The next day Lucy was much worse; the doctor pronounced it scarlet fever, she was separated from the other children, and after a few days of suffering she died. Martha also had taken the illness. Many times she inquired for little Lucy; the nurse put off answering her for some time, but Martha, who at last guessed the truth about her little sister, said, ‘I know, nurse, I shall not ask any more; I know that my little sister is gone, but she is gone to Jesus, for Jesus loves little children, He died for them. I shall die too, I think. I shall soon see Jesus, and then I shall be so happy, quite happy, forever. Nurse, do you know that Jesus can take away all your sins and make you quite clean? Do, nurse, ask Him. Perhaps, when I am gone, you will nurse many other little girls, and I wish you would tell them all about Jesus.'".
Martha's father and mother saw her getting worse; they stood weeping by her bedside. “My darling," said her father, “what can I do for you?" Martha answered at once, "Pray to the Lord Jesus; He will bring you to the place where we shall part no more."
Soon after that, a kind friend came into the little girl's room. “You have been very good to me," said the dying child, "but have you been good to God? Your heart is wicked; only Jesus can make you clean."
This was the end of the aunt's story; it is the end of Martha's earthly story too, for very soon after she had spoken these simple words to those around her, she went to be forever with the Lord, who had been so good to her.
Martha's kind friend went home; she was very sorry to think that she should never see the little girl again in her place at school, but she was very glad, too, at what she had heard, and she could rejoice in thinking that Martha was forever happy. Soon afterward she received a letter from Martha's parents, thanking her for all she had taught their dear little child, and begging to have several more hymnbooks like the one Martha had bought, so that they and each of her brothers and sisters might keep one, and learn the hymns, and remember the simple teachings of the little girl. Thus, perhaps, the Flood of Mercy ran beyond Martha to many in that home.
Oh! how blessed for each, whether the father, the mother, the nurse, or the brothers and sisters, if they were taught by grace to "become as a little child."
In some large towns, some kind people take a house in one of the poorest parts; they make it clean and neat, and as pleasant as a little house in crowded streets can be; such a house is sometimes called a Crèche or Nursery. You will guess by this name something of what it is used for. It is used to take in little children, those who are too young to be sent to school, while their mothers go out to work. None are too young to be brought to the Crèche, and none are too poor to be taken in there. It is a safe, comfortable place for the poor little children to spend the day in; some are too young to do anything but lie upon a big kind of bed carefully fenced all round; some can sit on a carpet spread on the floor; some can crawl across the floor, and others can trot about the room. You would laugh if you saw some tiny ones having their dinner in the Crèche. You know it takes a careful nurse some time to give one little child its dinner; every bit must be put into the baby's mouth with a spoon, and baby cannot make haste, and cares nothing about the value of time; but each tiny child in a Crèche cannot have its own nurse to feed it, and so dinner has to be managed in an easier way. The little ones, who are just able to sit up, are placed on very low forms round a very low table, and all they have to do is to open their mouths, then, round comes the nurse with the dish or basin, and each little hungry mouth is ready enough to open wide for the spoon as it comes to them in turn, and so they all get their dinner in about the same time as it takes Miss Baby at home to eat hers with a nurse all to herself. I cannot tell you all about a Crèche, and different houses have different plans and rules, but one thing is certain, it is a place for little children only; a big girl might see the neat house and wish to live there, but she would not be taken in. "I would give no trouble," she might say, or "I would be very useful," but no, the house is for little children; we are not in want of a helper or a servant. Or a big boy might come:
“I am very strong," he might say,” I could do a great deal of work, I have a good character;" but for all that he would not be taken in.
But now see a little child carried or led by its mother; it cannot say anything, it is not useful, it is not strong, it has no character, nothing to recommend it; but never mind, it is the right kind for the pleasant house, it is taken in at once. Just so all who come “as little children" to Christ are received at once.
“And not the weakest e'er can say,
I came, but I was sent away."
There are, I dare say, many dinners and suppers eaten in the Crèche, for little children are very hungry creatures, and so, with a little play and a little sleep, the day passes by, and night comes on; then the little children have to go home; they may not stay always in the Crèche; the mothers are coming fast to the door. It may be a cold dark evening, it may be raining or even snowing, but the little ones must be all carried away, for the night is coming; they leave the neat clean house, and some of those poor little children go back to very miserable homes, for the mothers have been out working hard all day, and often come home late and very tired.
All this part of the story of the Crèche is quite unlike what awaits the little child who comes to Christ. The one who comes to Christ will never, never be sent away. When Jesus has gathered the lambs in His arms He carries them in His bosom. Like the little children who get carried over the shaky bridge in the story of the Difficult Place, those who come to Christ get carried all the way to the home above. Every pleasant thing down here passes away, comes to an end; but everything in the bright and blessed home above lasts forever; the pleasures are for “evermore," the song is eternal, "And there shall be no night there."
Every morning the red sun
Rises warm and bright,
But the evening cometh on,
And the dark cold night.
There's a bright land far away,
Where 'tis never-ending day.
Every spring the sweet young flowers
Open bright and gay,
But the chilly autumn hours
Wither them away.
There's a land we have not seen,
Where the trees are always green.
Little birds sing songs of praise
All the summer long;
But in colder shorter days
They forget their song.
There's a place where angels sing
Ceaseless praises to the King.
Christ the Lord is ever near
Those who follow Him,
But we cannot see Him here,
For our eyes are dim:
There is a most happy place,
Where men always see His face
Who shall go to that bright land?
All by blood made white:
Ransom'd children there shall stand,
In their robes so bright.
For that heaven so bright and blest,
Is their everlasting rest."