0:00 When we have a public meeting, we think of concentrating on the needs of the public, but Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me." So, I got a little question from 0:19 a child saying, "How can I be born again?" Wow. I'm so excited when I get a question like that. A lot of us who are older think everybody knows the answer. 0:37 So, I'm going to speak on that first. I love little children. And a lot of little children know that. So, I'm going to give them preference. And I'm going to And I've discovered one thing. Uh when you speak to little children, the 0:53 adults also get something. And sometimes they get an answer to questions that they are too shy to ask. "How can I be born again?" Sometimes we assume that everybody knows that. I found that even in 1:11 even in our church in Bangalore, I keep telling all our churches and the elders and all, "Remember, there are children growing up in your church. So, don't say, 'I preached that 5 years ago.' It's okay. You need to preach it again. 1:29 Because those children were 1 year old then, they couldn't understand it. Now they're 6 years old. They can understand. And so, we in a church, we always need to keep repeating things that we said 4 or 5 years ago. Um 1:49 so that the ones who are growing up can understand. And those who are older should be excited that those little children don't say, "I already know that." I say, "If my little If my little children are small, 2:07 if one of my sons came to me and said, you know, just studied in kindergarten, 'Dad, 2 + 2 is 4.' I'd say, 'Wow, that's great.' I won't say, 'Oh, I knew that long ago.' That's not a way. You'll discourage a child. When a child comes to you and says 2:27 something which you knew for 20 years, you must be excited and say, "Wow, really? Tell me, how did you find that out?" And you will build a bond with your children that will last all your life. 2:46 I have a bond with my four sons. They can talk anything to me. I can talk anything to them. And not only with them, I also have a bond with a lot of people, young people in different places, including CFC Bangalore. We talk freely to one another. 3:03 We don't have this, you know, the image in many churches of a pastor who cannot be approached, who's all of whom everybody's scared of. And we don't have that in our church. Thank God we don't have such people. We are all ordinary brothers, 3:20 brothers of Jesus Christ. And we want our children also to become our younger brothers and sisters in Christ. I used to tell the children in school who call me Uncle Zach, Uncle Zach. I said, "Listen, okay, up to the age of 3:38 13 or 14, I'll allow you to call me Uncle Zach. But once you're 15 years old, please call me Brother Zach. Cuz I don't want to be your uncle forever. I want to be your brother in Christ. That's what I want. Because that is what 3:51 we're going to be for all eternity. So, let me answer this question in a very simple way so that everyone can understand. And after this explanation of this, nobody here should be ignorant of how to be born again. 4:11 And that may also help you to share with your own children and with others who come to you. First of all, if you have a Bible, you must turn You must know these verses. John's Gospel, chapter 3, 4:28 is where we find this expression for the first time in the Bible. John's Gospel, chapter 3, there was a very old man called Nicodemus, who was 4:46 like what we would call today a bishop. I can imagine he had a special cap on his head and a white beard. I don't know, maybe he was 60 years old. And he came to Jesus at night. 5:01 We read in John chapter 3, verse 2. See, why he came at night was because he didn't want the other people He was in the ruling council of the Jewish people. And all the Jewish people hated Jesus, 5:20 that council people. So, he didn't want them to see him going talking to Jesus because they'll question him, "Hey, why did you go to that false teacher?" So, what he did was, when everybody was sleeping, probably around midnight, 5:35 he went to Jesus' uh house and knocked there. Then Jesus was living in Capernaum those days. He had left Nazareth and gone to Capernaum. And I've often thought about that. Would you go to somebody's house at midnight and wake them up 5:53 and say, "Hey, I've got a question from the Bible." It's to me that teaches me something about Jesus, that he made it so clear to people, "Uh listen, you fellows can come and disturb me anytime. I'll be happy to explain to you whatever doubts you have 6:13 anytime. Call me. Wake me up in the middle of the night. Fine." So, that's how Nicodemus came and Jesus opened the door and said, "Come right in." And he said, "Teacher." He called Jesus a rabbi, which means a teacher. "We know that you've come from God 6:31 because you do all these miracles." And Jesus said, "Leave that all aside. I want to tell you something. Unless you are born again." Remember, he's telling this to a 6:48 60-year-old man. "You cannot see the kingdom of God. You cannot enter God's kingdom if you are not born again." So, he couldn't understand that because this is the first time he was a great scholar in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, nobody 7:07 spoke about being born again. So, he said, "What is this? Born again? You mean I have to go inside my mother's womb again and come out again?" He said, "No." Jesus said, "No." You know, you just being born, that is a physical birth. 7:25 You can be born 10 times physically, it won't make you a child of God. You have to be born of the Holy Spirit. That was a physical birth through your mother's womb. This is being born of the Holy Spirit. 7:44 That means the Holy Spirit does something in you, in your heart, and you become a child of God. Then you can enter God's kingdom. Then Jesus said, uh he talks about the two two births. 8:03 One is born of the flesh, is born through a human mother. And then the other is born of the Holy Spirit. So, you know, what the Holy Spirit does is something like your mother gave birth to you physically, which is our body. 8:18 The Holy Spirit does something inside our heart to make us a child of God inside. It's not a physical birth, but a spiritual one. But it is as real as a physical birth. And 8:37 it doesn't take long for a baby to be born. It may take a long time for the baby to be formed in the mother's womb, but birthday is always 1 day. You don't have 2 days as your birthday. Your birthday is 1 day. In a moment, 8:53 you're born. It's exactly the same to be born again. That in a moment, you can even know your birthday when you were born again. Now, many people don't. I don't know my second birthday. I don't know when exactly it was. 9:10 And some people don't know. There are many people in the world who don't even know their first birthday. A lot of people born in the villages and all, you ask them, "When were you born?" And they say, "It was 1 year there was a flood somewhere 9:21 around that time." That's all they can remember. That's all they can remember. I mean, they're So, that doesn't mean you say, "Hey, if you don't know your birthday, you're not born." You don't say that. Some people don't know. And spiritually, 9:31 I'm one of those who don't know the date of my new birth. But it's wonderful if you know it also. So, what I mean to say is it's uh there's a time when you can be born and then you're born of God. The important thing is not the date. 9:46 The important thing is the reality that you were not a child of God once. Now you are a child of God. And so, uh you know, even though this man Jesus said in verse 10, "You're a teacher in Israel and you don't know these things." 10:05 Anyway. So, in John chapter 1 and verse 12, he says there how we can become children of God. John 1:12. You know what it says there? 10:26 "As many as received him," that is Jesus Christ, "as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name." So, we learned something there. To believe in Jesus is the same as 10:46 receiving him. Believing equals receiving. So, when you receive him, you get the right to become a child of God. So, that's what it means to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved. 11:06 So, how do we go about it? So, the first thing that we all need to recognize and I want to speak to little little children so that you also understand. Even if you're a little child, there's something you have 11:23 you have called a conscience. No animal has a conscience. Animals have got many things that we have. They've got eyes, ears, heart. I presume they have other organs inside just like we have inside, a stomach and all that. 11:41 But, uh they have one they've got tongue, they've got teeth and all that, all animals, but one thing animal does not have is conscience. No animal has that. So many ways, you know, there are people who say that man came out of the monkey. 11:59 But, where did the conscience come from? It's not eyes and legs and ears and all that make us It's a conscience that makes us completely different. See, just like plants, trees are different from animals. Trees don't have eyes and legs 12:17 and all that. Animals have got that. So, trees and animals and human beings are completely different level from animals because we've got a conscience. What is it that separates us from animals? Not eyes, ears, heart, stomach. 12:31 They've all They've got all that. Conscience. Remember this. Conscience is what tells us, "You have done something wrong." No animal feels that. You can train a dog by beating it 12:50 to teach it that you shouldn't do that, but it doesn't come naturally. But, a child, you know, even if it two two or three years old, if a child tells a lie, it knows, "I told Mommy a lie." And you can see it on its face. 13:07 Even when it's telling a lie, he's saying by his face, "I'm telling a lie." It's so obvious. So, all of you, whatever your age, if you can understand me, you know that you've done things that are wrong 13:26 in your life. And that is what the Bible calls sin. I'm teaching ABC here. And it's very important that all of us are clear on this. That's what the Bible calls sin. And sin is a very serious thing 13:45 in God's eyes. Very serious. He can't I mean, you did something wrong, you go to your Mommy or Daddy and say, "Forgive me." He say, "Okay, my girl, my boy, forget it." But, God can't say that because sin is a very serious thing. 14:00 Even a small sin is very serious. It's something like if you want to compare it with some other earthly sin, it's like murder. You went and killed somebody. That's serious. Every sin in God's eyes 14:16 is as serious as murder. And I'll show you a verse for it. See, James in chapter You know, you adults must know these verses so that you can teach your children from the Bible. It's a tragedy when parents don't know the scriptures and cannot show these 14:35 verses to the children. So, I want you adults also to know these verses. James chapter 3 and verse 10 and 11. Sorry, James chapter 2, sorry. James chapter 2. And the other thing all of you parents 14:54 must teach your children is to find the books of the Bible where they are. Old Testament, New Testament. Okay, James chapter 2 verse 10 and 11. Okay, children, listen to this. Whoever keeps the whole law, 15:13 that means you obey everything in the Bible, but yet one point, you went wrong, you're guilty of all. Okay, let me apply that and use an illustration like 15:30 uh compare it to a arithmetic examination in school. In your class, you got an arithmetic test or mathematics or whatever you call it, in which you got 10 questions. And supposing the rule is 15:52 Now, normally, if you got nine questions right and one question wrong, how much will you get? 90%. But, here it says, "Whether you get one question wrong or 10 questions wrong, you get 16:11 zero." Have you heard of an examination like that? You got 10 questions wrong, you get zero. That's understandable. But, here it says you got one question wrong, you still get zero. If you have failed in one point, you're guilty of the whole thing. 16:31 Supposing there are 100 questions in your mathematics test and 99 are right, you don't get 99%, you get zero. That is God's standard. 16:52 That means, you know, if you commit one sin and you kept all the other commandments, God says it's as good as you're having disobeyed all of them. So, think for example, most of us here have never committed murder. Anybody committed murder here, killed 17:10 anybody? I don't think so. Okay, you can say there's one commandment I never disobeyed. I never murdered anybody. But, if you have broken even one, for example, maybe you told a small lie 17:30 when you were 3 years old. God says it's as good as you're being a murderer. How many of you adults knew that? How many of you knew that if you told one lie, according to God's standard, it's just the same as you're being a murderer? 17:47 But, it's so often we think, "I'm not such a bad sinner as him." Please read James chapter 2 verse 10 again. You're not such a bad sinner as him. Have you slipped up once? You got one sum wrong, one arithmetic problem wrong out of 100. That guy got 18:04 80 wrong. You're both in the same category. That's a very important thing for us to understand in relation to God's standards. It's not like human standards. Okay. So, that shows us that every one of us is guilty 18:22 and we get zero in God's examination. Everyone. And so, and do you know the pass marks in God's exam? I don't know how much pass marks here is. I think it's around 40%. 18:40 Some schools it's 35, some schools it's 40. Pass marks in God's school is 100% not 40%. If you got 99%, you're failed. 18:59 That's the second thing you need to know about God's standards. So often we think of God like a human being. You say, "Okay, I slipped up only once. It's not so serious." You know, even adults sometimes, they think like that. Oh, I slipped up a 19:15 little bit there. But, compare that with James chapter 2 verse 10. You're just as bad as having disobeyed all the commandments. Just as bad as a murderer. Think for example, if you got angry once at home. How many of you think that 19:31 uh you for one moment you just lost your temper and got irritated and said something. I don't think any of you would think you're a murderer. But, that's what the Bible says. You're guilty of all. And the other thing is, you know, we 19:48 compare ourselves with each other and saying, "Well, I think I got 80%, he's only got 40 or something like that." We look down on others. But you know, pass marks in God's eyes is 100%. And if you get anything less than 100%, 20:01 you're in the same class, whether you got 99 or the other fellow got zero, same class. That's the other thing. We need to know some fundamental principles of God's law, which many Christians don't know. So, it's good that your children know. 20:19 Don't say I'm not so bad as the other person. We The Bible says every single person has come less than God's standard. And the other thing the Bible says is Let me turn you to uh in Romans 6 20:38 and 20 23. Romans 6 and verse 23 is the wages of sin or the payment Wages means payment. 20:55 The payment you get for sin is death. So, what is the punishment for sin? What's the punishment for failing in God's school? In a human school, if you fail, you just sit in the same class next 21:13 year. But in God's school, when you fail, death. And death in God's language means separated from God forever. That's the meaning of death. It's not just physically dying. 21:33 Separated from God forever. That's called hell. Hell is to be separated from God forever, and that is the punishment for sin. Whether you committed one sin or you committed 10,000 sins, 21:52 it's the same punishment. Because sin is so serious in God's eyes. For example, if you disobeyed your parents once, you're guilty. You can say, "I'm not so disobedient as 22:11 that boy or that girl." But you did it once. Cut off from God. Now, you may say, "Why is God so strict?" He's not strict. It's because God is life and love and perfect. Perfect means he will not 22:30 allow even a small sin. That's why heaven is so pure. There's no sin at all. That's God's standard. And he doesn't want a person to come in there even with one sin. If there's one sin in your life, you can't go to heaven. 22:47 And that's why we're all in the same category. So, these are some of the fundamental things that we must understand, which I'm sure a lot of adults also never understand clearly. And so, we have to take that punishment. 23:04 That means every human being deserves to go to hell. Whether you committed one sin or 10,000 sins. Very often, even Christians, they think of big sins and small sins, and they think of many sins and few 23:23 sins. And that is how they think, "I'm not so bad as that person. I'm uh like those suicide bombers and terrorists." I think most of us would think, "Well, I'm not so bad as a suicide bomber as a terrorist." I tell you, as far as I'm 23:38 concerned, I'm in the same category. I believe I'm in the same category as a suicide bomber or terrorist, because in God's eyes, one sin is equal to 10,000 sins. If he deserves hell, I deserve hell, too. That's the first thing you need to 23:54 understand. And God doesn't want us to send to send us to hell. That is the second thing you need to understand, that we deserve hell, but God does not want anybody to go to hell. Let me turn 24:15 to this verse in 1 Timothy chapter 2. 1 Timothy chapter 2. 1 Timothy and chapter 2, we read in verse 24:35 3 and 4, God our savior, verse 4, wants all human beings to be saved. Did you know that God wants every single man to be saved? He wants everybody sitting here to be fully saved. 24:53 He wants every Hindu, Muslim, atheist, godless person in the world to be saved. That's what God wants. He doesn't want anybody to perish. Um So, that is God's will. He doesn't want 25:11 anyone to perish, but he wants everybody to come to repentance. So, let's keep that in mind. Now, we have come Question comes as to how we can be uh saved. But before that, I'll give you 25:31 one more verse. That's in 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 9. You'll see that, and then go to see how we can find salvation. 2 Peter 3 verse 9 says the last part, God does not want anybody to perish, 25:50 but everybody should come to repentance. So, if there are 7 billion 7,000 million people in the world, how many people does God want to be saved? 7,000 million. He doesn't want anybody to perish. He doesn't want anybody to go to hell. 26:09 He wants everybody to repent. Anybody you see on the street, you know, many times I look at when I travel in a plane, I see all these people, and I say, "Lord, none of these fellows seem to know anything about Christ." But I look at them, and I say, "Lord, 26:27 these are all people who need to be saved. These are all people who need to know about Jesus Christ." When I see crowds here and there in an airport or different places I travel, I see crowds, and I say, "Every one of these people, 26:42 God wants them to be saved." I can't save them. But help me to behave here like a child of God. You know, wherever you are, pray that God will help you to behave 27:01 like a child of God, so that if some of them may have some conviction in their heart, they will see something in you that reminds them about God. I used to work on a ship 27:18 where I made it clear to everybody I'm a Christian. They used to see me carrying a Bible every day and leave the ship and go to the meeting evening meetings. They would see a Bible on my table. They knew that I was not the ordinary 27:34 type of Christian, but I was a Christian who believed in eternity, believed in salvation. And they also knew that certain wrong things I would not only not do, but I would never agree with other people who don't do it. The other people would be drinking and 27:52 smoking, and I'd have nothing to do with that. They'd be playing cards, and I wouldn't join them. They saw that I was different. My commanding officer got a brain tumor some days later some months later years later, and he was dying in the hospital. 28:10 And somebody went to visit him. And he told me, "You know, Zach, he was thinking of you." You know why? Because I was the one person on that ship that by my life reminded him there is a God to whom you have to answer 28:29 when you die. So, you know, I never realized that that He was a Catholic, but that that impression was formed on his mind that there was a man on my ship who by his life reminded me that there's a God in heaven I have to 28:48 answer to one day. But when do you think of that? When you're dying. So, you must always live in such a way that when people think of you or see you, they are reminded about God. You don't have to preach to them. Just the way you live and the way you 29:07 conduct yourself, upright, kind, considerate, thoughtful, not going around gossiping and backbiting about all the others in the office or whatever it is, but something about you should remind them there is a God above. Very, very important. Even in your 29:28 school, children, they must see that you're different. That you're different. You don't talk about all the useless things they talk about. You're different. So, anyway, so now, how can I make sure that I don't go to hell, 29:45 but I live for eternity with God. This punishment is like if uh let's take an example. Supposing you've done something very seriously wrong. And your dad says, "Okay, I'm going to give you a real spanking for that with a 30:03 rod or a belt or whatever your dad uses." And supposing your older brother or sister comes and says, "Are you listening?" Your older brother or sister comes and says, "Daddy, don't punish him. Don't punish her. Give me the punishment. I'll take the 30:19 punishment for her." You think any of your brothers will do that for you? That'll be a wonderful brother or sister comes to Daddy and says, "Don't punish Don't punish my little brother or sister. Punish me. Hit me." Wow. 30:36 How much such a brother must be loving you or sister to take your punishment for you. I've never met anybody like that. That'll be a fantastic person. Jesus was like that. He was up there in heaven and he said, "Father, don't punish them. I'll take 30:54 it." It's not a just a spanking. Spanking you can take and it's over in 2 minutes. This was hell. To be punished, to take the punishment for my sin and all the sins of everybody. That is the main reason Jesus came down. 31:12 You know, people ask, "What is the difference between your Christianity and all the other religions?" I said, "Tell me any religion, any religion where any religious leader came and said, 'I have been born to die for your 31:26 sins.' Did anybody say that?" Nobody. But that is my biggest problem. All religious leaders came and said, "Do good and be kind to the poor and help the poor and don't tell lies." All that is okay, but who's going to take the 31:40 punishment for my sin? Nobody. That is why I say Christianity is the only true religion in the whole world because somebody came down and took the punishment for my sin. For your sin. That's why I love Jesus. 31:59 That's why I've loved Jesus for 58 years now. I can never stop loving him. I love him more and more, like I say, more and more every day. Because as I grow older, I realize understand more and more of what hell is like. 32:15 Many people don't understand it. They think it's a small thing. When you're far away from God, you think of hell very lightly. The closer you get to God, you realize what a awesome thing it is. Terrible thing to be separated from God 32:28 forever. And then you realize what a horrible thing sin is. It's The closer you get to God, you want to avoid even the smallest sin. I'll tell you honestly, the closer I've come to God, I never want to get angry anytime in my life with anybody. I never 32:47 want to have an unforgiving spirit to anyone. I never want to hate anyone. I never want to speak evil of people because I know all these things will push me away from God. That's why Jesus died. So, remember when you're tempted to do 33:05 something wrong by the devil, think this is the wrong thing for which Jesus died. Why should I do it again? Why should I do again what Jesus died to save me from? Lord, I don't want to do it. I don't want to be bitter towards 33:22 anyone. I don't want to hate even my enemies. I want to love them. I want to be good. And I don't want to be proud and feel superior to other people. I'd rather be a servant and be underneath other people. Because that's what Jesus taught me. 33:39 Because pride is another sin. It's one of the worst sins to be proud and to look down on others. And our children can easily get that. Especially if they're very good at something. I'm not saying they should be bad. We must encourage our children to be the 33:55 best. Be the best in school in in their academics, in their games, in everything. Do really well. I don't tell my children to do badly. You must do your best. If you go to work in a job, be the best worker in that office. 34:11 If you go to work in a factory, you must be the best worker in that factory because you're a Christian. If you go to work and study in a school, try your best to be as best as you can. Even if you come 20th in the class, try 34:24 to be the first. Always aim for the highest. That's how it must be because we are Christians. So, I'm not saying but don't look down on other people who are not as good as you. That's a evil evil evil habit. It's a 34:42 habit of the devil. To look down on others who are not as good as you. Maybe they're not so smart as you. Maybe they're not so good as you in games or academics or anything. So, sin is a terrible thing. But when Jesus died on the cross, when he came 35:01 here and died on the cross, he could have saved himself. You know that. He told his disciples that if I give one word to my father, he will send 72,000 angels. 35:17 He said that. 72,000 angels to fight for me. There's a story in the Old Testament in the book of Isaiah that says also repeated in Second Kings 35:35 that in the time of King Hezekiah, some soldiers some enemy soldiers came to fight against Israel. And God sent one angel. And do you know how many soldiers of the enemy that one angel killed? 35:52 185,000 soldiers were killed by one angel. So, if 72,000 angels came, how many Roman soldiers would they kill? You can work that out when you go home. 72,000 into 185,000. 36:11 It's a huge number. And Jesus said, "I can call them." But he said, "I will not call them. I want to let these people kill me because I have to take the punishment for all these people's sins. That's why I died on the cross. 36:29 And if that was the end, there's nothing special. But to prove that he was God, on the third day he came out of the grave alive. And that is the most important truth in the Bible. It's not Jesus died for me, 36:48 but he rose again after he died. You know, if you read the Bible, the apostles never said, "We are witnesses of his crucifixion." They were, but they always said, "We are witnesses of his resurrection." The resurrection is more important than 37:06 the crucifixion. Because many people have been crucified. There were two thieves who were crucified. So what? But Jesus rose again from the dead. And so now we come to the answer this question, "How can we be born again?" 37:21 Because Jesus rose again from the dead, I can ask him to come into my heart. What did we read in John 1:12? As many as received him, he gave them the authority to be children of God. So, when I open my heart and say, "Lord 37:38 Jesus, come into my heart." Even though he's in heaven, his Holy Spirit comes in. It actually happens. It You can't feel it, you know. It's like you can't feel oxygen going into your body when you 37:56 breathe. When you breathe, oxygen goes in. Keeps you alive. But you can't feel it. Something like that. The Holy Spirit comes in just when you pray, "Lord Jesus, come into my heart." He comes in. He receives you. 38:18 And how do we know he received us? Turn to John chapter 6 and verse 37. John chapter 6 and verse 37. Where Jesus says, 38:37 "The one who comes to me." The last part of that verse. "I will certainly not cast out." He says, "I will never reject someone who comes to me." So, you can be absolutely sure of one thing. Whoever you are, 38:55 however great a sinner you may be, if you come to Jesus, he will not reject you. Because so many people say, "I don't know whether he's accepted me." I asked him to come into my heart. I had this problem. Many times I'd say, "Lord 39:10 Jesus, come into my heart. Come into my heart." Till I read this verse, John 6:37. It really helped me and it'll help you. Everyone who's in doubt about your salvation, remember John 6:37. If you come to Jesus, he will not cast 39:30 you out. He will not reject you. So, I just believed that word. Lord, I believe your word. It's like if your father tells you something, you'll believe it. If Jesus tells you something, believe it. He will not cast you out. 39:49 So, then you can be sure he's accepted you. That's how we know that we are a child of God. First of all, because he's promised in the word of God. And secondly, over a period of time the Holy Spirit will tell you, you are a child of God. 40:08 You see, that's you you'll know it in a in a way that it's very difficult to explain. You'll know in your heart, I've become a child of God. So, that is how we are born again. Then we become children of God. And one of the special privileges of being a 40:25 child of God is you can call God your father. More than father, daddy. See, father is a formal title. Most of us don't go to our father and say, "Father." We usually have a more intimate name like appa, or dad, or daddy. 40:44 So, you can call God that. You know, when I pray in private I always call God dad. I say, "Dad, I have a problem." "Dad, can you help me here?" How many of you talk to God like that? That's the way you're supposed to talk 41:01 to God. I'll show you. Romans chapter 8. The reason I'm showing you scripture is so that you know that everything I tell you is from the Bible. Romans chapter 8. First of all, verse 16. 41:20 The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And Romans 8:15. Look at Romans 8:15. We have not received a spirit of slavery but a spirit of adoption 41:39 that as sons, by which we cry out not father but abba. Abba is a Hebrew word. If you translate it into English, it is daddy. Abba is not an English word. It's a 41:59 Hebrew word. In Malayalam, it'll be appa. Pithave is different from appa. You don't call your father pithave. If that's father. Appa is an intimate word. Daddy. So, when the spirit comes into me 42:18 make me a child of God, it makes me say, "Look up to God." And say, "Dad." Wow. I'm not an orphan anymore. You know, when you don't have God as your dad you're like a person who's got no father or mother. 42:38 You're like in India, you see some of these boys on the wayward I mean, poor children from the slums. Maybe the father and mother died. And some they are staying with some uncle or something. They're roaming around in the streets 42:51 picking up from little food from the garbage bins. Lots of them. You see them in India. They have no father and mother. Many Christians behave like that. Nobody took care for me. Many people in the world are like that. 43:08 But I'm not like that. I've got a dad You must know that all of you children, when you receive Jesus as your savior you have a father in heaven. God has become your dad. More than your earthly dad that you look up to him and say, "Dad, daddy." 43:27 Your earthly dad cannot do many things for you. He can help you a lot, but there are certain things even he cannot do. But your heavenly dad can do everything. And so, you must learn to call him dad. 43:48 See, when I pray in public, I don't use that. Because Jesus said, "When you pray, say, 'Our Father, who art in heaven.'" So, therefore in public, I always pray father or heavenly father. Because I don't know everybody here. I 44:02 don't know everybody's relationship with God. But when I pray personally I say, "Dad." Because it makes me very intimate with him. It feels very close. I feel like a little 2-year-old. I'll tell you honestly, I feel like a 44:20 little 2-year-old sitting on my dad's lap. And I can ask him for anything. Do you know that 2-year-old children can ask their dad for anything? Do you know that? They can say, "Dad, get me an elephant, real elephant, not a toy one or 44:35 anything. Get me an airplane, real airplane." I also I ask God for many I mean, dad may not get it. That's another thing. But you can ask for anything. I ask God for some fantastic things. Whether he'll give it to me or not, I I 44:50 don't know. Shall I tell you one of the fantastic things that I've asked for? You want to know? I've asked God, "Lord, I want to live up to 100 years old." Don't you think that's a fantastic thing? Or up to the time Jesus comes. One of 45:08 the two. I can ask. Whether God will give it to me or not, I don't know. That's up to him. But like a little 2-year-old can ask for an elephant or an airplane or anything, I can also ask for anything. My relationship with God, my father, is so 45:23 intimate. I wish you'd have that relationship. When you have a problem, you can go to him and say, "Dad, I have a little problem here. I'm scared. I'm worried." Are you children scared at night when you go to sleep? Everything is dark. 45:42 Say, "Dad, you're looking after me. Your angels are here in this room looking after me." It's a wonderful life. I don't know why everybody in the world doesn't become a Christian. I don't know. It's the most wonderful life you can 45:57 ever live. Imagine to have a dad in heaven who cares for you day and night. Yeah, it's wonderful. And when we have this dad in heaven 46:14 we never want to hurt him. And if I do something to hurt him, I say, "I'm sorry, dad. I'm really sorry." That's what you need to say also. "I'm sorry, dad. I I did something wrong there." And if you hurt your mom or dad, you 46:29 children you must go to mommy and daddy and say "I'm sorry." You must learn to say that. Learn to say sorry when you hurt your brother, sister dad, mom always learn to say, "I'm 46:48 sorry. I shouldn't have spoken to you like that. I'm very sorry. I feel bad about it." Or when they do something for you you must learn to say, "Thank you. Thank you, mom. Thank you, dad. Thank you for helping me with my 47:05 homework." It's a very good habit. Does Jesus expect that? You know, there were once a story about 10 lepers who came to Jesus. They said, "Lord Jesus, heal me." 47:24 And he healed all of them. How many came back to say, "Thank you?" Do you know, children, how many came back? One out of 10. And he was not even a Jew. He was a lower caste person, Samaritan. 47:43 And you know what Jesus said? When he came and said, "Oh, thank you." Jesus didn't say, "Oh, no, my no, my that's not important." He didn't say that. He said I'll tell you what he said. You read it in Luke 17. Till now, you were fully healed of your 47:58 leprosy. But now, because you came and thanked me your soul is saved. He got more than the other nine. Why did he get more? Because he came back to say, "Thank you." 48:17 You come back to God and say, "Thank you." for something you'll get more than those ungrateful people. So many believers who pray loudly when they want this, that, and the other, but they never come back to Jesus and say, "Thank you, Lord, for 48:30 answering my prayer." You look back over your life and see the prayers you have prayed to the Lord. Which are answered? Ask yourself times you came back to the Lord and thanked him. I've heard numerous requests in church 48:47 meetings. Uh pray for so-and-so whose child is sick. Pray for so-and-so who's having an operation. Pray for this person, that person, the other person. Very rarely do I have read a hear a request in a prayer meeting saying, "Please thank the 49:01 Lord with me for answering my prayer. The operation was successful. The child was healed." Almost never I hear it. The same rule of one in 10. Because we think it's unimportant. We are We are like that, you know. And particularly we Indian people 49:18 I can speak like that because I'm an Indian. We Indian people don't know how to give thanks. I I sometimes, you know, give a gift to somebody and he'll say, "Uh." Uh. So, I've discovered that he's speaking 49:37 in tongues uh means it means thank you. Okay. I've learned to understand that. Why not say thank you? I'm not interested in thanking. It's for his good to learn to say thank you, not because he And even when they hurt you in some way, 49:54 they say um, that means sorry. Why is that? Why is it so difficult to say sorry and thank you? Please teach your children to learn to say I'm sorry. Thank you. Not uh and uh and all that. I'm telling you the honest truth. 50:14 I've given to many gifts to people and they say uh. I don't want any thanks. I want them to learn to be grateful just like Jesus wanted all those nine people to say where are the nine? Is it because Jesus was just waiting there for everybody to 50:30 come and say thank you to him? He didn't want anything himself. They will become better people if they say learn to say thank you. Your children will become better people if they learn to say thank you. Look what the Samaritan got. 50:41 He got healing of his soul. The others only got healing of their leprosy. So these are little things we must learn. When Jesus has come into your heart, you must say thank you, Lord, for forgiving me. Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul. 50:55 Thank you, Lord, for making me a child of God. You say that to Jesus. Thank you, Lord, for coming into my heart. You will see that the Lord blesses you even more than when you just asked him to come into your heart. So that's something that we have to 51:13 learn. And then I want to say another thing which you children must learn. You know, it says in 1 Peter and chapter 2, after you're born again, Okay, here's something which you all 51:33 know and you know the answer. What do you see little babies doing most of the time? After they got their milk and after a couple of hours, what do they do? Cry. What are they crying for? 51:52 What do you think a little 1-month-old baby is crying for? Is it crying for a toy? Or for money? For milk, right? Where's mommy? I want some milk. It doesn't know how to say it. So it cries. 52:10 Now here it says, if you are born again, 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 2, 1 Peter, this is you grown-ups must show your this verse to your children. 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 2, if you're a newborn baby spiritually, 52:28 you must desire the milk. What is the milk? The word of God. Why does a baby want milk? Cuz that's the way it grows. So once you're born again, you need the milk of the word of God in 52:46 the Bible so that you can grow to salvation. Okay. Another question. This is an easy one. Uh do babies cry once in a week or How often do you hear babies cry? 53:06 Hey? Every day. Not even just once a day, many times a day. So you must read the Bible once a week? Hey? Every day. So if you can't read a long passage, 53:25 read a small one. And to begin with, read the New Testament. I have a 7-year-old grandson who's almost finished the whole Bible in the Living Bible. 53:44 The whole thing. He long ago he finished He read the New Testament, finished that long ago. Now he's almost finished the Old Testament as well. So cuz his father taught him. I mean, we taught our children. I I still have the 53:57 Bible which his father uh it's my youngest son read when he was a little boy. And he wrote there on such and such a date, I finished reading the whole Living Bible. He was around the same age. So teach your children to read. The Living Bible 54:11 is a very good, easy-to-read Bible. Every day, read a little bit, little bit, little bit. And really help your children. Not to make a record or to boast before others. No, no, no, no, no. A baby is not drinking milk to boast to 54:27 others, hey, I drank milk today. That's not He's drinking because I'm thirsty. I want I want to grow. Not to boast to others. Nobody boasts I drank milk today. So don't boast I read the Bible. Say, 54:45 Jesus, I want to grow. I want to read the Bible. So do that. It says there, as little babies, desire the milk of the word so that you can grow. So that's the first step you need to do once you're born again. So learn to thank the Lord for coming 55:03 into your heart, for forgiving your sin, for dying for your sin, for living in your heart, for answering your prayers, and read the word of God every day. And whenever you have a little problem, 55:22 any problem, go to Jesus first. Lord, I misplaced my pen somewhere. Or my exercise book. I don't know where I left it. Please help me to find it. 55:39 You know the little things I pray for? Small little things. Lord, I don't know where I I left my keys. Can you help me to find it? Or something. Lord, there's a little problem with this computer. Can you please lay hands on it and say, please fix it, 55:57 Lord. I mean, he may God may send somebody that day to fix it. I mean, he can use anybody, but I always pray. It's a very good habit to learn from childhood to pray about little things. Not big things. Oh, Lord, there's an 56:16 earthquake now, do something. Don't wait till the earthquake comes. Small small things. You lost something or you forgot something. And it's amazing what God can do for you. Absolutely amazing. The miracles God can do for you. 56:34 If you trust him. Uh you know, there's some amazing stories I've heard of how little children prayed for something. And even in our church, little children from poor families who can't afford something and they pray, God does a miracle 56:53 and gives them amazing answers to prayer. It's really amazing to see what God does in answer to prayer. Learn to pray, you little children, learn to pray to Jesus for small little things. And for big things like sickness or 57:11 anything. Pray for everything. Learn the habit of talking to God. A little talk with Jesus is a song we used to sing as children. A little talk with Jesus makes it right, all right. In trials of every kind, 57:29 praise God, I always find a little talk with Jesus makes it right, all right. It's one of the first choruses we used to learn as little children. A little talk with Jesus makes it right, all right. In trials of every kind, 57:45 praise God, I always find a little talk with Jesus makes it right, all right. So that's something that you can learn also to drink the milk of the word and talk to Jesus about every little thing. Okay. 58:03 Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I pray for 58:21 everyone here. In one sense, we are all like little children. We know so little about you. Help us to understand these simple truths. We know it can change our life. And I pray that every single child in this room 58:40 will know you as savior and Lord, be born again. We pray in Jesus' name. I want to say one more thing. All of you children, if you understood my message today and you're not sure whether you're born again, 58:59 today when you go home and you're alone somewhere, if you can't be alone in your room, go to the toilet. Sit there alone. Lock the door. And pray to Jesus. Some place where you can be alone. All alone. Say, Lord Jesus, 59:18 I'm a sinner. I want you to come into my heart. Make me your child. It's a simple prayer. And you, afterwards, you go and tell your daddy and mommy, "I received Jesus into my heart." A few days ago, 59:37 my 5-year-old granddaughter spoke to me on Skype and said, "Grandpa, I received Jesus as my savior today." Wow. It brought tears to my eyes. That little girl, you're not too young. 59:55 You can receive Jesus into your heart. And remember the date. Thank Jesus. God bless you all.
