0:00 Девочка-пай 0:30 Девочка-пай 1:00 Девочка-пай Девочка-пай Девочка-пай Девочка-пай Девочка-пай Девочка-пай 1:26 Девочка-пай Девочка-пай Девочка-пай Девочка-пай Девочка-пай 1:46 Девочка-пай Девочка-пай Девочка-пай Девочка-пай Девочка-пай Девочка-пай Девочка-пай Девочка-пай Девочка-пай Девочка-пай Девочка-пай Девочка-пай Девочка-пай 2:06 Девочка-пай Девочка-пай If a business is doing well or not, you just got to check the balance sheet. If it has made a profit, it's doing well. With children, also it's very easy. Look at the marks. They got the pass marks. They are promoted. 2:41 But when it comes to spiritual progress, how do you find out whether you have progressed in the last one year? 3:03 If you don't check up, then the chances are you can live in the spiritual kindergarten for 20 years. And you may discover only when Jesus comes that you are still sitting in the kindergarten. And then you can do nothing about it. 3:23 So now we must find out how do I measure my spiritual progress. Is it by Bible knowledge? Then, the one who has maximum Bible knowledge in the universe next to God is the devil. 3:46 There is no human being who knows the Bible like the devil. He knew the Bible so well that he could even quote the right verse to Jesus to tempt him. And how many verses he quotes to believers to lead them astray? 4:08 And how many false doctrines have come through the devil teaching wrong interpretations of verses? So, don't think that by increased Bible knowledge means you have been promoted. Or, you can think, I have been very active in the Lord's work this year. 4:29 Then, you must remember the story of Mary and Martha. In Luke chapter 10, verse 38 to 42. 38 to 42. There, we read how Martha was so busy working in the kitchen for the Lord, not for herself. 4:51 She was not making food there for herself. That was really unselfish service, making food for Jesus and his 12 disciples. Can you think of such an unselfish service where all the work is for Jesus and his disciples? 5:17 But, when she came to Jesus, expecting Jesus to praise her, Jesus rebuked her. Almost saying, I am not interested in all that work. So, is it possible that at the end of all your activity, the Lord may rebuke you also? 5:38 Saying, you are worried about so many things which I am not interested in. So, we need to know, what is the way by which we can find out whether we have progressed? And, here is what I would suggest. 5:59 In the words of Jesus. You know, in the New Testament, Jesus came with the message of the kingdom of heaven. In the old covenant, for Israel, they had a kingdom of the earth. So, they could know that enemies have not occupied Israel. 6:19 That means, God is happy with us. And, God is prospering our lands. He is getting good crops. That means, God is happy with us. And, God has given us many children. There have been no miscarriages for our wives. 6:40 And, our cattle is all growing well. That means, God is happy with us. Their whole kingdom was earthly. Their prosperity was earthly. Blessings were earthly. But, now in the New Covenant, the message is about the kingdom of heaven. 7:01 Now, how do we measure progress in the kingdom of heaven? It is not by our business prospering. It is not by our having many children. Or, having been healthy throughout the year. 7:24 Let us turn to Matthew chapter 18. See, the disciples asked Jesus this question. Who has got the highest place in the kingdom of heaven? Who is the greatest? That means, who has got the top rank in heaven? 7:46 Like, in this all India examinations, they say, who has got the top rank? Who has got the top rank in heaven? And, Jesus took a small child. Maybe a three-month-old baby. And, held him before the disciples. 8:12 He says, unless you get converted and become like this little child, you will not even enter the kingdom of heaven. You cannot even come to the lowest level in heaven. So, if you want to go to the highest place in heaven, 8:32 the one who humbles himself, verse 4, like this little child, that is the one who has got the top rank in heaven. Now, we know that the highest rank in heaven belongs to Jesus Christ. 8:53 Because, we read in Philippians 2, that God has given him a name, which is above every other name. That every knee will bow, at the name of Jesus. So, if Jesus is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and he said, the one who humbles himself like a child, 9:15 is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Then, we know that Jesus, during his earthly life, must have been like a little child. That is why he has got the highest place. So, if this is the way to get to the highest place, 9:36 like, the top PhD or post-PhD degree, then we can know, if we are making spiritual progress, by comparing ourselves with this standard. Have you become more like a little child, 9:58 in the year 2010? If you have, then you have made progress. Have you humbled yourself more, like a little child, in the last one year? Forget about your Bible knowledge. Forget about how many tracks you distributed, 10:19 how many places you traveled, to preach the gospel. Or how many meetings you went to, or how much money you gave. These are not the test. How much have you humbled yourself, like a little child? In your life, in your home, 10:40 in your office, in your church, everywhere. So, it's good for us, to compare ourselves, with a little child. Now, there is a difference, between being childish, and childlike. We are not supposed, to be childish, 11:00 in our behavior. See, 1 Corinthians 14, it says, in understanding, we must not, be like little children. 1 Corinthians 14, and verse 20. 11:22 in our understanding of God, and his word, we must not be like little children. We have to be mature. In the previous chapter, Paul says, when I became a man, I put away childish things. To be childish means, 11:43 to fight for little things, to fight for earthly things, to cry and weep, over small things, to grumble and complain, to be selfish, and grab other people's things. There is all childishness, being ignorant, and easily deceived, 12:04 by crooks. That is all, that we shouldn't be childish, like that. Ephesians 4, it says, we should not be like children, tossed to and about, by different doctrines. We should not be children, it says. 12:25 So in those ways, we should not be children. We should not, we should be mature, so that we are not deceived. But we must be like, a little child, in humility. So what are the lessons, we can learn from a little child? 12:46 This is the greatest, in the kingdom of heaven. Number one, you see a child, cannot defend itself. If it's, three months old, what can it do? If somebody comes to hurt it, it cannot defend itself. 13:09 Its father defends it. Have you grown, in this area? Are you one of those, quick to justify yourself, say no, no, no, I didn't do that, and argue and fight, for your rights? Then you are not like a child. 13:31 When somebody accuses you, can you say, I am not going to defend myself. I have a father, who defends me. Or are you like a big man? You can defend yourself, you don't need, the help of a heavenly father. 13:53 That is one of the first areas, where we can ask ourselves. A humility, in a child is, it cannot defend itself. Jesus said, in John 15, verse 5, without me, you can do nothing. 14:13 You know, a child is so helpless. It can do nothing for itself. It is dependent on, but parents for everything. And this is, what it means, to be like a little child, and to be great, in the kingdom of heaven. In all matters, 14:33 related to evil, you must be like children. See, a child does not know, anything about pornography, or all the evil things, in the world. I don't want to know all that. I want to keep away from evil. In the things of God, 14:54 I must be mature like a man. In the evil in the world, there is no need for me, to know about all the evil, going on in the world. A child is helpless. Dependent on the parents, for everything. 15:15 So that is the first thing. Dependence on the father, for everything. Jesus was like that. See, in John chapter 5, he says, John chapter 5, verse 19, the son can do nothing, 15:36 by himself. He sees the father, and he does that. He was like a little child. He says later on, that, I can do nothing, on my own initiative. John 5, verse 30. 15:57 Whatever the father, tells me I do. A child says, I don't have as much wisdom, as my father. Whatever the father, tells me to do, I do. That helpless dependence, if it has grown in your life, in the last one year, you have made progress. 16:22 See, in the old testament, there was a law, that all Israelites, must be circumcised. And, everything in the old testament, had a spiritual meaning. And, the meaning of circumcision, 16:42 is mentioned, in Philippians 3. And verse 3, we are the true circumcision, he says. What is that? we have no confidence in the flesh, in the last part of that verse, it says. 17:04 That means, just like in circumcision, there is a cutting off of the flesh, and throwing it away, in the old testament. we are saying also, spiritually, we have no confidence in the flesh, that means, no confidence in ourselves. 17:23 In the world, in business and all, you have to be self-confident, to succeed. In the kingdom of God, it must be the opposite. No confidence in ourselves. But, total confidence in God. If a two-year-old, and a fourteen-year-old, 17:44 are trying to cross, a busy road, and the father, the father is also standing there. Who will cross the road safely? The two-year-old, or the fourteen-year-old? In this busy traffic, going up and down that road. 18:05 The answer is the two-year-old. How is that? Because the two-year-old will say, Daddy, I can't cross this road. I can't even take one foot. This traffic is so busy. I cling to you. I cling to you. You hold my hand, and take me across. 18:26 And it goes safely across. But if the father tries, to hold the hand, of the fourteen-year-old, have your parents, tried to hold the hand, of a fourteen-year-old? You shake it off, say, Daddy, leave me alone. I am a big boy now. 18:45 I will go by myself. And he will get run over. It's the one who is helpless, who says, Daddy, help me, who crosses this world safely. So, that is the first thing. Secondly, 19:05 a child does not feel I have certain rights. You know, a three-month-old child lying in a cradle doesn't feel I must be respected. People must speak to me gently or respectfully. He has no rights. 19:29 Therefore, it is never offended if people hurt it or do anything. What about you? Have you made some progress during the last one year in this area? Gone a little more towards the top of the kingdom of heaven. 19:51 Become a little more like a child who has got no rights. If you take away that toy from that child's hand, it may cry but it is not going to fight for it. It does not know how to fight for it. 20:13 Have you learned how to stop fighting for your rights? or your imagined reputation? A child doesn't have any fame or reputation. There is no such thing in the child's mind. There is no feeling 20:34 that what that person said really hurt me. This is spiritual growth where I am growing more and more and more like Jesus. Where I am not offended by anything that anybody does or does not do. 20:59 It is wonderful to be like that like a little child. We have grown up and become big people in the world where we think we have so many rights and everybody must do this and that for us. we expect things from people or even a husband 21:20 and wife can have demands on each other. You must do this for me. I am the husband you must do this for me or I am the wife you must do this for me and that is the reason for all the unhappy marriages. 21:40 If a husband and wife can both become like little children they will have the happiest marriage in the world. Not childish but childlike that we don't fight for our rights or reputation and we are never offended by anything 22:00 that anybody does or by anything that anybody does not do. If we have failed in this area we must say Lord I don't want to sit in the same class next year. See now 2011 is in front of me I failed in 22:21 this area in 2010 2011 I must be a little further along this real path of spiritual progress. It's no use progressing in other areas it's no use saying in school I'm playing on the football team and I scored so many goals 22:41 or I played marbles and I won so many marbles with the other children but I got zero in science and mathematics and mathematics do you send your children to win marbles in school no and God 23:02 has also not kept us on earth just to study the bible but to become more and more like little children then a third thing about a child a child does not have any stored up memory of the evil that other people have done to him 23:19 even what you did yesterday it won't remember when you go to a cradle and in some anger you pinch that child and you come next day he will 23:41 smile at you because he doesn't even remember that you're the one who pinched it yesterday there is no memory in a child of the evil that somebody did to him even yesterday what a wonderful thing it is to be like a child 23:59 1 Corinthians 13 it says love does not keep a record of the wrongs that other people have done see this is one of the areas where most Christians are not like children at all so many husbands and wives when they 24:20 have a little tension they remind each other of all the things they've done in the last years they're the same how will you feel if your child is sitting in 24:40 the kindergarten for 20 years are we progressing in becoming like little children is there a stored up anger in your mind which you have not got rid of you know in many 25:00 homes it is like that the husband and wife they keep record of many things in their mind like inside a pressure cooker the pressure keeps on building up more and more the steam inside 25:20 and if you don't remove the safety valve the thing can just blow up into the ceiling so many husbands and wives are like that some little thing happens and they 25:40 keep it in their memory but another thing happens and it's all stored up and the pressure is building up building up and one more thing happens and they blow up are they like little children Jesus said unless you become 26:01 like little children you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven this is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven there's a lot of things we can learn from a little child particularly in this area that as soon as somebody does some 26:19 wrong to me or I heard that somebody spoke evil about me somewhere he said Lord I release him I forgive him and please remove that from my mind we cannot have any control over our memory but 26:43 we have a control over our will and that devil may remind me tomorrow of what happened even last year or 10 years ago I have no control over that that is like a temptation I say no I will not accept 27:03 it that is what I mean by not keeping something in my mind I cannot touch my memory because it is there but I refuse to accept it every time I am tempted I say no that means I refuse to keep a 27:23 stored up anger in my heart I refuse to remember to choose to remember those evil things I want to be like a little child here is the person who has done me great 27:43 harm I can be good to him because I believe that God makes everything work for my good he cannot harm me really what he thinks is harming me is not really harming me so here is 28:03 a third area where we can be like a little child then a fourth thing a child does not feel it is very clever and it can teach everybody you know the more we grow up we are proud of our knowledge in so many areas we 28:27 feel we are qualified to give advice to so many people and I've seen many older brothers and sisters who are so eager to give advice to everybody and many of those young people want to run away from such people but 28:50 a child is not like that a child lying in the cradle is not eager to give advice to everybody he doesn't feel I'm so clever and I can teach everybody something and that is why such people who are so proud of their cleverness 29:09 don't get revelation on scripture In the Old Testament we read you have to read and meditate on the word of God Psalm 1 Blessed is the man who meditates on God's word the 29:30 important word was meditation and today also many Christians say you must meditate on the Bible that's good but in the New Testament the emphasis is not on meditation it is on another word 29:50 called revelation revelation is different from meditation in meditation I'm using my human mind to study scripture I concentrate and study some verse I 30:12 can concentrate and meditate on chemistry I can become a great scholar in chemistry or I can meditate and study the Bible and become a great scholar in the Bible but I may be blind spiritually to 30:35 get spiritual sight I need revelation from the Holy Spirit and many Christians don't know anything about revelation from the Holy Spirit their knowledge of the Bible is just like they study science or history or something 30:51 like that we must know the difference between meditation and revelation clever people meditate when you are little children you get revelation see Matthew chapter 11 and 31:12 verse 25 these are the words of Jesus he was talking about repentance in the previous verses see many Christians don't know about repentance even though they meditate meditate meditate they don't know what repentance is 31:29 there were some clever people verse 21 in Matthew 11 21 in Koresin and Bethsaida and Jesus says even the people in Tyre and Sidon would have repented if they had seen the miracles you saw and 31:53 then verse 23 there were some clever people in Capernaum and he says even the people in Sodom would have repented if they had seen what all miracles happened in Capernaum repentance is what was missing so 32:13 bad that they were worse than Sodom people who were listening to Jesus what was missing repentance knowledge they had plenty there were great scholars in Jesus day and then Jesus 32:33 prayed this prayer when he saw these people had no revelation on repentance just like many Christians today they believe in Jesus but they have repented and so they don't grow spiritually and then the Lord says O Father 32:53 Matthew 11 25 Lord of heaven and earth I am so thankful that you have hidden this truth from all these clever intelligent people and you have given this word revelation you have given this revelation 33:13 to little babes what did the little children get revelation oh father this is what pleased you see little babes get revelation which clever intelligent people don't get so 33:35 if you want to understand the bible meditation will not help you you need revelation and that is only given to those who come like little children what does that mean you come to the bible and say Lord I cannot understand 33:52 anything here with my human intelligence do you think the jewish people in jesus time were not intelligent jewish people are very intelligent all of them there were brilliant people there they were people 34:12 who read the bible everyday and you know the whole old testament speaks about jesus right from the seed of the woman mentioned in genesis 3 all the way up to the son of righteousness mentioned in malachi 4 but 34:35 these people studied that and when jesus came there they said he is beelzebub prince of the devils how is it these people studied the bible about the seed of the woman and the son of righteousness and everything and they 34:51 considered calling the prince of devils it's not because they were not clever and intelligent it's because they were not like babes same thing happened today all these people who go to bible schools and get big big degrees 35:08 from bible colleges i i find some of them are the most blind people on the face of the earth virtually no prophet in the bible came from a bible school no apostle came from a bible school the old testament the false prophets came from 35:29 the bible school called the school of the prophets the true prophets never came from a bible school because it doesn't come from knowledge it's revealed to little babes let me show you verse in Ephesians in chapter 1 35:51 Ephesians chapter 1 Paul writing to the Ephesians he says in Ephesians in chapter 1 in verse 17 he says I pray that God will 36:12 give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation he's not saying please read my letter 25 times and meditate on it and you'll understand it he says that won't 36:33 help you to understand what I'm writing here to you as you read this my prayer is you will get revelation that has come through the holy spirit how do you know when you study the bible you're getting revelation or just some 36:51 clever idea very simple revelation will change your lifestyle you will change your way of living you will start loving money you'll be quick 37:11 to ask forgiveness from people you hurt in every situation you'll be quick to humble yourself you'll be scared to touch any glory of God for yourself you will be upright and truthful in everything that is 37:34 the result of revelation but just knowledge of scripture you can commit all types of sins you read about great preachers falling into adultery they are powerful preachers who know so much of the bible they don't have revelation 37:54 so remember this that is the other mark of a child then number five a child has no does not accuse anybody of anything he does not judge that so and so is like this sitting there 38:14 in the cradle and giving marks to all the people around those are all clever people grown up people judging them and accusing them don't confuse this with discernment 38:34 it says in understanding we must be mature there is a difference I must discern otherwise I will be deceived by everybody I must discern where somebody is trying to lead me astray from God's word Paul said 38:57 to the Corinthians I am afraid that somebody will lead you astray from that simple devotion to Christ there is a difference between having an opinion and discernment there is a difference between that and accusing and judging 39:16 people Jesus did not say you must have no discernment but he said don't judge and accuse people accusing is of the devil and when we are like little children we don't accuse anybody but we 39:37 will discern if we are spiritual we will discern we know this is right and that is not of God you see this in Matthew chapter 7 some people take this word saying don't judge and that means don't even discern if other people 39:56 are going they're leading you astray I know many people have told me oh brother Zach don't judge don't judge that that particular ministry I say I am not disobeying Matthew 7 1 I don't 40:18 judge or condemn anybody but I am obeying 1 John 4 1 it says beloved don't believe every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they are of God that I am going to do till the end of God my life this preacher 40:40 is he operating in the Holy Spirit this preacher who is asking for money is he having the spirit of Christ when he asks people for money I am obeying the command which says don't believe every spirit test the spirits so we 41:00 must test all the spirits operating in different preachers nowadays but we don't judge anybody in the same Matthew 7 after Jesus says don't judge that whole section on judgment verses 1 to 5 immediately 41:21 after that he speaks about discernment verse 6 don't give pearls to swine so how to find out if somebody is a swine I don't judge but I have to discern this very precious pearl of God's 41:42 truth shall I give it to this person in another place he said don't give what is holy to the dogs I have to say this is a holy thing does will this person appreciate it I don't call anybody a dog or a swine no no no but I 42:03 want to say meaning is does he appreciate what I'm giving swine don't appreciate pearls they only appreciate dirty things and if a person is only interested in sex and money and all these things what is telling 42:23 him about God's holy truth he doesn't appreciate it so immediately Jesus spoke about discernment and then further down he says in verse 15 beware of false prophets by their 42:43 fruits you will know them so in the same chapter where he said don't judge he goes on to explain that doesn't mean you should not discern but don't accuse people don't condemn them see a little child does not do that so 43:05 this is very important for us to learn the distinction between discerning and judging some people don't judge and don't discern they are foolish some people just keep on judging judging judging that is also wrong if 43:26 you are wise you will distinguish between judging and discerning one is of the devil and the other is of the Holy Spirit the devil judges and accuses we say no there is only one judge that is God I cannot pass a 43:46 judgment there is only one accuser that is the devil I will not join him so judging and accusing I will never do but discerning Jesus discerned people he said in John 8 15 I judge nobody but 44:07 in the last verses of John 2 it says Jesus knew everybody's heart he would not commit himself to everybody then number 6 a little child has got no earthly ambitions or desire for any honor you go 44:29 to look into the mind of a little three month old child it's so happy to look at his mother or father that's what delights it it smiles at the father and mother doesn't have great ambitions to be somebody great in the world 44:47 have you progressed in this area where your delight is to please your father and look into his face and get his smile or are you like the people in the world seeking to get on and become somebody big in the world God 45:10 will give you all the honor he thinks you need I'm not saying it is wrong to get promotion in your job I'm not saying you should not get a better degree or even a higher position I always say 45:30 is don't make that your ambition must be to glorify God while doing that you do so many other while seeking that you do many other things the whole purpose of education in India is just to be able to get a job to earn our 45:48 living and because there are so many unemployed graduates we probably need to get some post graduate degree to get a good job because our population is increasing so fast and there are so many hundreds of thousands of graduates 46:08 so we want our children to get some good degree so that they will not become beggars in society our aim is not to be big in the world our aim is to earn our living and 46:28 take care of our family but our ambition is to glorify God so we read in second corinthians in chapter 5 second corinthians chapter 5 he speaks here about the day when we will 46:48 have to stand at the judgment seat of Christ in second corinthians in chapter 5 we shall all stand at the judgment seat of Christ verse 10 at the judgment seat of Christ what is going to matter 47:09 in that day not how much money you made not how great a person you became in the world but see it says in verse 9 our ambition is to please God in all things in 47:29 the NASB it uses the word ambition so is it good to have ambition yes if it is the right ambition that is to please God I may study on earth and get a PhD also that's 47:49 depending on the opportunities and intelligence you have but our ambition must always be to please God the other things are all secondary and if in my pursuit of a degree I have to displease God then I will stop pursuing 48:09 after that there's nothing wrong in prospering in some business you are doing for example but in the pursuit of that business if you are to do things that displease God then I don't want to do that business so 48:30 a little child doesn't have all these earthly ambitions that's another area where we can be like a child I want to humble myself and say father just like a child looks into its daddy's face and smiles and 48:50 is happy I also want to just look into your face and be happy that you are happy with me a child is not thinking of what I have achieved in my life so far nothing 49:11 like that in a child have you grown in this area that you are not always thinking of what you have achieved in your life so far that is not like a little child a humble person is not thinking always of what all he has achieved 49:28 in his life so far I have done this for God I have done that for God there is no such thing a child is boasting about so in this area can you say your progress that you are not thinking about all your achievements then 49:50 one last thing number 7 a child is completely free from all anxiety that is another great result of humility when we are dependent on God see for example supposing in a poor family the landlord is 50:10 evicting that family out of the house and they have a court order to turn them out of the house tomorrow morning and they have no money they don't know where to go all that stuff will be put out on the streets by the police tomorrow 50:34 and the father and mother are worried what do we do tomorrow we don't have money we don't have another house but you go to that bedroom and you find that little child there fast asleep say a three year old child even fast asleep 50:51 you're not bothered you wake up that child hey don't you know that you're going to be thrown out of the house tomorrow morning how can you sleep he'll say don't disturb me please let me sleep go and tell my father all that absolutely no anxiety even though it's going to be thrown out of the house tomorrow 51:21 that is to be like a child it says about peter in acts chapter 12 that he was going to have his head cut off the next morning and what was he doing supposing you knew that your house is your head is going to be cut off tomorrow morning 51:44 what would you do see acts chapter 12 in verse 8 verse 6 sorry the night before he was to be executed he was fast asleep he was fast asleep 52:07 like that little child my father will take care of it all it's wonderful to be like that he has said that he numbers the hairs on our head we are of more value than many sparrows in Zachariah 2 it says if anybody touches you he is touching the apple of God's eye 52:34 in Zachariah 2 verse 5 and verse 8 I will be a wall of fire round about you anybody touches you he is touching the apple of my eye a child is completely free from anxiety have you grown in this area in 2010 52:55 in all these areas that I mentioned you know the secret you have to be filled with the Holy Spirit the Spirit of God will make us like Jesus you cannot accomplish all this yourself 53:15 you cannot make yourself like a little child can you think back to those days when you were just three months old you can see that in a little three month old child you say I was like that once upon a time what a blessed life 53:36 the message of the gospel is this you can be like that child once more you can be free from anxiety free from tension free from this fighting spirit free from the evil in the world free from judging others and accusing others 53:57 free from anger and getting offended free from pride ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit Lord fill me with your Holy Spirit strengthen me give me power in my life 54:17 to be like a little child little more this year I may not be perfect yet to be perfectly like a child it will be when the day when Jesus comes back I want to get a little promotion this year to be a little more like a little child 54:37 God bless you I believe God will help those who are sincere let's pray bow your head pray a simple prayer Lord I want to be more like a little child this year so that I can please you 55:00 give me revelation on your word help me to humble myself thank you for hearing me in Jesus name Amen Аминь. 55:43 Аминь.
