Jesus Wants Your Children - Pastor Stacey Shiflett

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Jesus Wants Your Children

Mark 10:14 But 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.

Intro: This past week, our church hosted its annual Vacation Bible School.

We spent weeks preparing, praying, promoting and prepping for this event.

We gave away hundreds and hundreds of dollars of toys and bicycles and scooters.

We decorated the platform; we built and entered a float in the Fourth of July Parade.

We created QR codes and posted on social media.

All to get children to this church for this week of ministry.

Why would we do that?

We invited all the children from VBS to church today to sing and recite their verses.

We invited all their parents here today to see them and hear them?

Why would we go to all of that trouble?

We have to confess – we had a secret agenda.

It was all just one big scheme.

We wanted to bring your children to Jesus!

Why?

Because Jesus wants your children.

This statement may sound strange, but it is true.

The reason it sounds strange it because it is so honest and transparent.

Make no mistake – Jesus is not the only One that wants your children.

He’s just the only one that will tell you.

Look at the text: We see…

A. The Instruction that is Personal

SUFFER: to permit, allow, to send forth, yield up,

Look at verse 13: And they brought young children to him,

B. The Interference that is Possible

·       13 And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.

One of the biggest mistake that adults make is to think that the things of God are not for the children.

They think that kids cannot understand or comprehend things of eternal value, and they discourage them.

Even Jesus’ disciples rebuked these parents that brought their children to Jesus.

C. The Implication that is Powerful

·       15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

·       16 And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.

The implication is powerful that Jesus wants to bless your children and influence them at an early age.

Let me be clear – Jesus is not the only One that wants your children!

The Devil wants your children.

Matthew 15

·       21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.

·       22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.

Matthew 17

·       14 And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,

·       15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.

(parallel passage) Mark 9

·       20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.

·       21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.

·       22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.

·       Matthew 17:18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

Make no mistake – Satan desperately wants your children.

The false religions want your children.

2 Kings 17

·       16 And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.

·       17 And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

·       Jeremiah 32:35 And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

The World wants your children.

Globally, industry surveys have identified roughly 400–450 dedicated children's television channels.

One international media study counted 447 children's TV channels worldwide across all major regions.

Disney alone at one point operated 118 children's channels in 164 countries under its Disney Channel brand

In the United States alone, examples include:

• Disney Channel

• Disney Junior

• Nickelodeon

• Nick Jr.

• TeenNick

• Cartoon Network

• Boomerang

• Universal Kids (until recently)

• PBS Kids

• MeTV Toons

• BabyTV

And today, traditional television is only part of it.

YouTube, TikTok, Netflix Kids, Disney+, and other streaming platforms have become even more influential with younger audiences than broadcast television in many countries.

The Government wants your children. (the indoctrination of the public schools and colleges.)

The homosexuals and trans-crowd want your children. (Drag Queens reading books at the library.)

The bookstores and libraries are filled with children’s books that teach them and expose them to that abominable lifestyle.

Doctors and hospitals all over this country are dedicated to the mutilation and destruction of children’s bodies to further their wicked and perverted ideology.

I. Jesus wants your children to be SAVED

Matthew 18

·       3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

·       4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

·       10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

·       11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.

Jesus Himself reminded us that He came to save the lost, and that includes the little ones.

Paul the Apostle acknowledged that Timothy was saved as a child.

·       2 Timothy 3:15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

MY PERSONAL TESTIMONY: I was saved at the age of 4; my wife was saved at the age of 7.

(Have everyone in the sanctuary that was saved under the age of 20 to stand up.)

II. Jesus wants your children to be SAFE

One of the strongest statements Jesus ever made was about keeping children safe.

·       Matthew 18:6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

It should be the concern of every parent and every church to put a wall up around the young people.

The devil is a roaring lion.

He wants to corrupt, pollute, defile, and destroy every child on this planet.

Keeping your home clean should be a huge priority.

·       Proverbs 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.

The world’s philosophy is twisted and evil.

Let your children explore the hellholes and the cesspools of society and discover it for themselves.

God’s Word is clear – the parents have the responsibility to protect their children from evil.

·       Ephesians 6:4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

·       Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

III. Jesus wants your Children to be SERVING

Jesus Himself was busy serving God at the tender age of twelve.

Luke 2

·       46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.

·       47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.

·       48 And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.

·       49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?

·       50 And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.

In Exodus 1, Pharaoh ordered the death of Hebrew baby boys to weaken Israel.

In Exodus 10:11, he attempted to keep Israel's children from leaving Egypt with their parents to worship.

In ancient Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar had a very clear goal: assimilate the conquered youth from Israel.

In Daniel 1, young Hebrew captives—including Daniel and his friends—were removed from their families, taught the language of the Chaldeans, given new names, educated in Babylonian culture, prepared for service in the king's court

The Nazis want your children.

Adolf Hitler — Mein Kampf (1925) "He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future."

As head of the Hitler Youth, Baldur von Schirach said: "The youth serves the Führer."

His mission was to indoctrinate German children in Nazi ideology and prepare them to serve the regime.

Adolf Hitler was reportedly recorded saying: "The weak must be chiseled away. I want young people capable of violence, imperious, relentless and cruel."

The Marxists want your children.

During the Cultural Revolution, Mao mobilized millions of students as the Red Guards.

Young people were encouraged to challenge teachers, denounce parents, destroy religious and cultural traditions, and enforce the Marxists ideology.

The Communist want your children.

"Give us the child for eight years and it will be a Bolshevik forever." - Vladimir Lenin (but not verified)

In Lenin's speech "The Tasks of the Youth Leagues" (October 2, 1920) he said: "The young generation itself must take up this work..."

1918 Communist Party Education Workers Congress: "We must create out of the younger generation a generation of Communists. We must turn children, who can be shaped like wax, into real, good Communists... We must remove the children from the crude influence of their families... From the first days of their lives they will be under the healthy influence of Communist children's nurseries and schools."

Conclusion: Jesus wants your children to be Saved, Safe and Serving Him.

The Bible is crystal clear about that. We are too.

·       If you are not saved, get saved today!

·       If you are not protecting your children from sin, get busy doing that today!

·       If you and your family are not serving God, start today!

Joshua said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!”