1.     Our annual VBS begins this week and I have been thinking much about the importance of winning children to Christ.

2.     We have to win them to Christ before the devil gets them.

3.     It is a fact that most Christians were saved when they were young.  Barna Research Group is an independent marketing research company located in southern California.

4.     From Barna’s website: “For years, church leaders have heard the claim that nearly nine out of ten Christians accept Jesus as their savior before the age of 18…The current Barna study indicates that nearly half of all Americans who accept Jesus Christ as their savior do so before reaching the age of 13 (43%), and that two out of three born again Christians (64%) made that commitment to Christ before their 18^th birthday. One out of eight born again people (13%) made their profession of faith while 18 to 21 years old. Less than one out of every four born again Christians (23%) embraced Christ after their twenty-first birthday.”

5.     Barna says, “Families, churches and parachurch ministries must recognize that primary window of opportunity for effectively reaching people (with the Gospel) is during the pre-teen years. It is during those years that people develop their frames of reference for the remainder of their life – especially theologically and morally.”

I. THE IMPORTANCE OF WINNING CHILDREN TO CHRIST

1.     You will recall that the apostle Paul told young Timothy, “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation” (II Tim. 3:15).

2.     Timothy was led to Christ by his godly mother and his godly grandmother (cf. II Timothy 1:5).

3.     I have often told the story about the time D.L. Moody came home from a meeting one night and his wife asked him, “How many were saved tonight?”  He replied: “Two and a half.”  She said, “Oh, you mean two adults and one child.”  He answered her, “No.  I mean two children and one adult.  The adult has only a half a life left to live for God but the children have their whole lives ahead of them.”

4.     Young people: you have your whole lives ahead of you to live for God.  Do not waste precious time.  Start serving the Lord right now. Ecclesiastes 12:1 says, “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.”

5.     Back in the early 19^th century, a pastor of a church in Scotland was discouraged and ready to resign. The deacons asked him why.  He replied: “I only saw one person get saved the entire year and that was little Bobby Moffat.”  That same Robert Moffat grew up and became a great missionary to Africa, and the father-in-law to the famous missionary and explorer David Livingston.

6.     An English newspaperman named Robert Raikes said, “The world marches forth on the feet of little children.”  Robert Raikes was concerned about prison reform, and he observed that many poor children wound up in prison.

7.     Robert Raikes believed very strongly that if one sought to change society for the better, and ultimately decrease the prison population, one must reach the children.

8.     Have you ever heard of Robert Raikes?  He started the Sunday School movement in England in July of 1780.

9.     Mr. Raikes put the word out through his newspaper. Right away he and his teachers were able to enroll about 100 children, ranging in age from five to fourteen years old.

10. Soon the Sunday School movement spread all over England and then in America.  “The world marches forth on the feet of little children.”

II. THE DANGER OF HINDERING CHILDREN FROM COMING TO CHRIST.

1.    Sometimes, even Christians are careless when it comes to bringing children to Christ.  Some Christian dads and moms are not careful to bring (bring, not “send”) their children to SS or VBS.

2.    Even our Lord’s disciples were wrong about this (cf. Mark 10:13, 14).

3.    I have been emphasizing the importance of winning children to Christ.  Now I must warn of the danger of hindering children from coming to Christ.

4.    I would like to draw your attention to the words “offend” and “offences” (Matthew 18:6, 7, 8, 9).  Some things are very offensive to God.

5.    And one of the things that is extremely offensive to God is hindering little children from serving God, keeping them out of church and Sunday School, etc. (Matt. 18:5-7).

6.    There are unsaved fathers who prohibit their wives and children from attending Sunday school and church services.  Our Lord said that it would be better for them that a millstone were hanged around their necks and that they were drowned in the depths of the sea (Matt. 18:6).

7.    As a pastor, I realize that “it must needs be that offences come,” but mark the severity of our Lord’s words here: “but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!” (Matt. 18:7).  There is a special place in hell for those who keep their families from going to Sunday School and church.

8.    Our Lord’s words have often been misunderstood.  Origen, a third century Bible teacher, mutilated himself so that he might escape from the lusts of the flesh (cf. Matt. 19:12).  Later on he realized he had made a horrible mistake.

9.    Our Lord is not teaching self-mutilation in these verses.  Besides, doing that will not remove the source of offence anyway (cf. Matt. 15:18, 19). The problem is in the heart of man and cutting your heart out will not save you, it will only kill you.

10. The problem is in the heart of man.  The Bible says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9).

11. Man needs a new heart spiritually.  David said: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Ps. 51:10).

12. So what does our Lord mean in Matthew 18:8, 9? Oftentimes, there must be drastic, radical changes made if a person is to get saved (cf. Matt. 18:8, 9).  Sometimes a patient will go and visit a doctor and the doctor will tell him, “You need surgery right away.  You have cancer and unless you go under the knife, you will soon die.”  It is the same way spiritually: the deadly cancer of sin has spread all over some sinners and unless they take drastic steps they will soon die and “be cast into everlasting fire” (18:8, 9).

13. Oh – if only the unconverted realized how dangerously close they are to the fires of eternal hell!  But they don’t!  They are as oblivious to danger as a drunken man staggering down the street.

III. ADULTS NEED CHILD-LIKE FAITH IN ORDER TO BE SAVED (MATTHEW 18:3).

1.    We are talking about child-likeness, not childishness.  If childishness were a requirement for salvation, then we would be in the midst of a great revival!

2.    Our Lord said child-like faith is necessary for genuine conversion. Children are normally characterized by simplicity, dependence, trustfulness, and honesty.  These are traits necessary for genuine conversion.

3.    If you have any experience as a soulwinner, you have noticed how easy it is to talk to children about the Lord and how difficult it is to talk to most adults.

4.    Children are known for their simplicity.  Salvation is not complicated (although some people try and make it complicated).

5.    Children are known for their dependence – a child is dependent on adults to feed them, take care of them, teach them, etc.  Likewise, when a person is ready for salvation, he or she must realize that they are totally dependent upon God for everything.  Just as a small child could not expect to get in a car and drive to California, sinners must understand and admit they can never get to heaven on their own.

6.    Just as you are depending upon that chair to keep you from falling onto the floor, you must depend upon the Lord Jesus Christ to keep you from falling into hell.

7.    One day a while back, two JW ladies were sitting in front of our building. One of them scoffed at me: “Where is heaven?  Where is the devil?  Where is hell?”  She’ll find out soon enough where hell is.  Let’s win sinners to Christ before the cults get them!

8.    Another child-like characteristic is trustfulness – a child trusts his parents implicitly.  Likewise, we need to trust the Lord if we expect to get to heaven.

9.    I have mentioned that statistics have demonstrated that the vast majority of born-again Christians were converted in their youth.  That is why we have a Sunday School, VBS, a youth ministry, etc.  We need to reach our young people before the devil gets them and ruins them.  Oftentimes it is too late by the time they become teenagers.  Oftentimes teenagers – even in good churches – are very cold, worldly, and rebellious. 

10. So what does our Lord mean in Matthew 18:3?  He means we need child-like faith in order to get saved.

11. One of the reasons many people do not get saved is that they are very proud (cf. Matthew 18:4).  They need to humble themselves but this they are not willing to do.

12. There is certain style of worship and a certain style of preaching that screens out proud people. There are certain types of meeting halls (storefronts and tents, etc.) that screen out proud people.

13. Unfortunately, most proud and haughty church-goers today are looking for ease and comfort and don’t want to make any sacrifices. 

14. But you don’t see too many proud and haughty children coming to Sunday School or VBS.  (Maybe a few bratty ones but we will leave that for another sermon!)

15. God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.  Humility is necessary for genuine conversion.

CONCLUSION:

1.     Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”   We must get children saved at an early age and then start teaching them the Bible.

2.     Eddie Rickenbacker was born in 1890.  He was a fighter ace (in fact he was called “the Ace of aces.”) in WWI.  Eddie Rickenbacker shot down more enemy aircraft than any other fighter pilot. He flew a total of 300 combat hours, reportedly more than any other U.S. pilot in the First World War, and he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

3.     Eddie Rickenbacker was also a racecar driver and an automotive designer.  He raced several times in the Indianapolis 500 and Daytona Beach.

4.     By the time WWII started Eddie Rickenbacker was working as a civilian and assisting the war effort in various ways.  On October 20, 1942 he was carrying a secret message from Secretary of Defense Henry L. Stimson to General Douglas MacArthur, who was the commander of the Southwest Pacific Theatre during the war.

5.     The plane carrying Eddie Rickenbacker and his crewmates crashed at sea.  The men were stranded out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in little life rafts for 23 days with no food, and surrounded by sharks.

6.     What did they do for 23 days?  Eddie Rickenbacker remembered many hymns from his early childhood in Sunday School.  Another crew member had a Bible.  They prayed, sang hymns, and read the Bible.  They had prayer meetings and asked God to rescue them.

7.     The U.S. Air Force, unable to find them, intended to abandon the lost crew after searching unsuccessfully for more than two weeks, but Rickenbacker’s wife convinced them to extend the search another week. Meanwhile, the newspapers reported that Eddie Rickenbacker had died.

8.     Navy pilots rescued the surviving members of the crew, suffering from exposure, dehydration, and starvation, on November 13, 1942. One serviceman had died and was buried at sea.  Eddie Rickenbacker completed his assignment and delivered the secret message to General MacArthur. No one ever made the message public.

9.     According to Eddie Rickenbacker, each person on the rafts got saved.  The co-pilot, Second Lieutenant James C. Whittaker, had been an atheist and resented the (mandatory) prayer meetings. But before long he repented and trusted Christ as his Saviour.  When he was picked up on a tiny island out in the South Pacific, he told his rescuers, “It was my newfound faith in God that sustained me.  Of this I am sure.” He later wrote a book about the ordeal entitled, We Thought We Heard The Angels Sing.

10.Let’s win more children to Christ.  That child could grow up to be another Eddie Rickenbacker or another Robert Moffat or another Timothy.