0:01 How do we know whether we have become really spiritual the way Jesus wants us to be? See, everybody in the world wants to improve their standard of living. 0:30 Even those who are rich want to improve their standard of living. And even many college students want to study further. 0:52 Businessmen want to make more money, expand their business. It's a great tragedy when Christians do not want to become more spiritual. 1:14 And when the mind and focus of Christians becomes the same as the people in the world. There's nothing wrong in improving our standard of living or getting better education. 1:40 But if that becomes more important than becoming spiritual, then we are not really following Jesus. It's a question of priorities. 2:01 If we believe that the condition of our soul is more important than the condition of our body. Then we will be more concerned about our spiritual development than our physical comfort. 2:29 Each of you sitting here should ask yourself that question. Don't judge other people. That's not our business. God says He is the only judge. And He doesn't need anybody's help to judge other people. 2:52 But we can judge ourselves. And the thing we need to ask ourselves is this. Am I more concerned about my spiritual development than my physical and material development? Many of you that may have been true the day you were born again. 3:26 But it's probably not true today. Most Christians I have met are backsliders. By backsliders I don't mean that they are committing adultery or killing people or anything like that. 3:46 Or stealing or things like that. But here's the mark of a backslider. The same desire that he had when he was first converted to go on with the Lord is gone. The love that he had for Jesus in the day his sins were forgiven is gone now. 4:16 And anyone who is like that is a backslider. But many people don't take that as the meaning of backsliding. So, I believe that just like we would be disappointed if our children are not growing. 4:40 God is disappointed with many of His children. You may be a child of God. But you could be a child of God who is bringing tremendous disappointment and sorrow to the heart of your heavenly Father. And the reason is that you probably haven't understood how much Jesus paid a price for you on the cross. 5:08 You know, all of us know He died on the cross and He sometimes shed a few tears thinking about it. But if you understood how much Christ paid a price for you on the cross. 5:30 You would never feel satisfied with your love for Him. You would say, Lord, I want to love you more. I want to sacrifice more for you. I want to live more wholeheartedly for you than I have ever done in my life. 5:54 I mean, I was born again 51 years ago, but I feel like that today. I want to love the Lord more. I want to grate a fire in my heart than I had last year. 6:17 But not to impress people. When you become spiritual, you don't care for the opinion of man. You are no longer interested in showing yourself as spiritual to people. 6:39 You only want to show yourself to the Lord. But I am thinking of one thing which Jesus taught us to pray. You know, prayer is the deepest, real prayer, is the deepest expression of our heart. 7:04 I don't mean the prayers we pray in public in prayer meetings. Those are all very formal prayers where we say things because we know that other people are listening to us. 7:25 And most of the prayers that Christians pray in public, they don't really pray from the heart. They are not praying to God, they are just praying to the people. But I will tell you when you are really praying to God. 7:47 When you are alone, all by yourself in a room praying. Maybe kneeling by your bed. And especially when you are facing some big problem. That prayer is real prayer. 8:08 And what is the deepest longing of your heart that comes out in prayer? So Jesus taught us how to pray. In the Old Testament they prayed for so many things. 8:28 Most of the time they prayed that God would deliver them from their enemies. And their Old Testament enemies were not Satan and all that. They were all earthly enemies. They were all earthly enemies. They were all earthly enemies. 8:44 They were all earthly enemies. They were all earthly enemies. They were all earthly enemies. They were all earthly enemies. But in the New Testament, Paul says, we don't wrestle with flesh and blood. But we wrestle with evil forces, demonic forces in the heavenly places. 9:04 That is the mark, one mark of a spiritual Christian. He has no earthly enemy. Zero. If you have earthly enemies and you are always praying against earthly enemies, you are in the Old Testament. 9:26 Even if your mother-in-law is your enemy, you are in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, you have only one enemy. That is the devil. 9:46 And he has got agents called the lusts in our flesh. Those are the things we fight. But in the Old Testament, they are all their prayer. Read the Psalms. They are always fighting. Lord, smite that enemy of mine and the other enemy of mine. 10:10 But, you know, in the New Testament, Jesus said, don't pray like that. He taught us how to pray. Matthew chapter 6. He said, now, when you pray, you must pray like this. 10:33 Matthew 6 verse 9. Our Father who art in heaven. That's wonderful to have God as our Father. The number one request. That's what I want you to see. There is no prayer in this whole prayer about smiting our enemies. 10:59 There is no prayer in this prayer about increasing our bank account. You know, that means the necessities for life on earth. 11:21 That means food, clothing, shelter, children's education, things like that. Earthly requirements. That's right to pray. But even that comes down in the list. 11:41 A spiritual man does not pray for his earthly requirements first. And I want to say to all of you, in Jesus' name. And I want to say it very lovingly, not to condemn you, but to lead you higher. 12:03 I hope you will realize that even if I speak strongly, I'm not speaking to condemn you. It is to lift you higher. To make you live a really useful life before you leave this earth. 12:24 Most Christians are just wasting their life. Most Christians are just wasting their life. So, if you want to live a really useful life on this earth. If you want to be a spiritually minded person. 12:46 If you want to show Jesus that you are really thankful for his dying for you on the cross. Then start praying like this from today. Not with your lips, but from your heart. 13:08 What is the first request? Our Father who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Let your name be recognized as holy. Let your name be respected. 13:30 That is our prayer. That the name of the true God would be respected. The Father manifested himself on earth in his son. Jesus Christ. When Christians say our Father, we know who we are talking to. 13:55 But when we present that God to others. We talk about Jesus Christ. Because he was the revelation of the Father on the earth. So, Hallowed be thy name has got this meaning. 14:15 That the name of Jesus Christ should be honored and exalted through our lives. Jesus Christ. So, when you look around India. Because that is where we live and belong. 14:42 What should be our concern? Number one concern. Other concerns can come lower down the list. Number one. Not anything earthly, number one. That means, Lord, my main burden in prayer. 15:05 Is this. And prayer, you know, as I said, is not just spoken words. It's a burden in the heart. It's a burden in the heart. You know, like a woman carries a baby in her womb. 15:29 And then the baby is delivered. So, that's a real baby. So, if you don't, if you don't have a burden in your heart. And then you just pray. It's not real prayer. 15:50 Those are just words. Real prayer always comes from a burden in the heart. So, we must have a burden in our heart that the name of Jesus must be glorified in India. Then you can ask yourself, is the name of Jesus Christ being glorified in India today? 16:20 I would definitely say no. Unfortunately, no. And who is dishonoring the name of Jesus in our land? Is it the non-Christians? 16:42 No. It's not the Hindus and the Muslims and the Buddhists who dishonor the name of Jesus Christ. You know who dishonors the name of Jesus Christ in India? Christians. 17:04 If we do something wrong. If you tell a lie. And we're caught. Or you steal. Or you cheat somebody. Or you commit adultery. Or you commit something which is un-Christlike. 17:26 People see that. And they say, look at the way these Christians behave. Whose name is dishonored. The name of Jesus Christ. If a Hindu or a Muslim lives in a bad way, they dishonor the name of their God. They can never dishonor the name of Jesus Christ. 17:55 It's only when Christians don't live according to the principles of Scripture. Then we dishonor the name of Jesus Christ. Then we dishonor the name of Jesus Christ. So when we think of hallowed be thy name. We have to think of ourselves. 18:18 Whether anything we do is dishonoring the name of Jesus Christ. That should be our primary concern. Or anything our children do is bringing dishonor to the name of Jesus Christ. You know, I ask the children who come to our church, the children of all the families. 18:47 I say, are you bringing honor to the name of Christ in the way you behave in school? So many Christian children bring such dishonor not only to that parent's name but in the name of Jesus Christ. 19:08 It's no use blaming the children. The parents have not brought them upright. They are more interested in their coming first in the class than honoring the name of Jesus Christ. 19:28 And they feel so sad that my child is not doing well in school. What about feeling sad that he is not honoring the name of Jesus Christ? I would say that most Christians do not really pray from their heart that the name of Jesus Christ should be honored. 19:54 And that is why I say they are not spiritual. You will become a spiritual man, a woman, when this becomes the number one desire in your heart. I am not preaching what I have not practiced. 20:14 I think for more than 30 years I have prayed that the name of Jesus will be honored in India. I prayed it will be honored in my life. I prayed it will be honored in my home. I prayed it will be honored in the way I preach. 20:35 I prayed that it will be honored with my children. Today I even prayed it will be honored through my grandchildren. God is my witness, that is my number one desire. Otherwise I will not waste my time otherwise just preaching here. 21:00 And if I can get all of you to have that desire in your heart, God our Father will be excited. You can be as excited as you getting thrilled if your child came first in the school. 21:21 God is not so thrilled when your child comes first in the school. He is thrilled when we are concerned that the name of Jesus should be honored. 21:41 And when we put his purpose first in our life, all our earthly things God will take care of. I have proved that in 50 years. Seek God's kingdom first, all your earthly things God will take care of. 22:05 So why is the name of Jesus Christ not being honored in our land? Let me explain to you what the meaning of the word Christian is. 22:27 Now you got to understand this. I am saying it very respectfully. When I say I am a Christian or you say you are a Christian. It is like saying we are Mrs. Jesus Christ. 22:51 The Bible says that. The Bible says that. Romans 7:4 says we are married to Christ in our spirit. Physically, we will have a marriage when Christ returns. 23:12 That is externally. But inwardly, we are already married to Christ. 1 Corinthians 6:5 says we are already joined to the Lord. We are one spirit with Him. So when we are married to Christ, we can take His name. 23:34 When did your wife take your name? Only after she married you. See, my wife could not bring dishonor to my name until she married me. How can she bring dishonor to my name if she is not married to me? 23:57 Because she has got another name. Only when your wife marries you, gets your name, then only she can dishonor your name. That is why I say only Christians can bring dishonor to the name of Jesus Christ. 24:23 Now I will tell you the number one way in which we bring dishonor to the name of Jesus Christ. See, Paul had a great burden for his countrymen. In Romans chapter 9 and verse 2 he says, 24:44 This is amazing, this is the man who said rejoice always. The man who rejoiced always in his spirit. He rejoiced in the Lord always. He had no sorrow in his life as far as the Lord is concerned. 25:05 But he also says in Romans 9 too. I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. And he says, I am telling you the truth in Christ, I am not telling a lie. The Holy Spirit is bearing witness with me. 25:26 And you ask Paul, Paul, what is his reason for this great sorrow and unceasing grief in your heart? Is it like other Christians because you got some sickness or because you didn't get a promotion in your job? 25:53 No, no, no, Paul says, I am not interested in all that. I have grief in my heart because my countrymen are not become believers. How many of you have an unceasing grief and sorrow in your heart that your countrymen in India are not born again? 26:18 Do you see what a spiritual man he was? He says, I am concerned about my fellow Jewish countrymen and relatives. He says, I wish they came to know the Lord like I did. 26:49 He was concerned that they were dishonoring the name of the Lord. I believe we should have a concern that our fellow Christians are dishonoring the name of Jesus Christ in this country. 27:12 You know, this is one mark of a spiritual man. Lord, I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. That my fellow Christians in India are dishonoring your name. 27:36 That so many of Christian preachers are only interested in money, collecting money from people. In every meeting they want to collect money. And they say they are representing Jesus Christ who never collected money in a single meeting. 28:04 That is another Jesus they are preaching and following. That is dishonoring the name of Jesus Christ. That is just one way. And where there is so many other sins in the midst of God's people. 28:27 When Christian husbands and wives fight. Just like other husbands and wives. Not only there is a bad testimony on earth. Not only there is a bad testimony on earth. The devil tells God. 28:49 You read that in the book of Job. He is an accuser. You read it in Revelation 12:10. He accuses God. Look at that family there. They call themselves believers. 29:10 Oh, they say they are in a good church. God just look at them. The way they are fighting at home. Are they your children? Some of my children are better than your children. The devil says. 29:30 I want to ask you, my brothers and sisters. Is God being dishonored by the way you live in your home? Forget about having a grief and a sorrow for other Christians. I hope your life will be changed this weekend. 30:04 I didn't come here to preach for honor or for money. I came here to preach for the glory of God. With a sincere desire that your life will be changed this weekend. 30:25 And if you are serious about that. If you really want to honor God's name. In your life. In your home. In the way your children live. Then I want you to listen to me. If you are only interested in going to heaven when you die. 30:48 I want to tell you right now. I have no message for you. I am not interested in going to heaven when I die. I want to honor Jesus Christ now when I live on this earth. That is a million times more important to me. 31:12 And if I live like that. I know I will be with Jesus in eternity. And I told the Lord this once. I said Lord. If you go to hell. I will be there. I will be ready to be there with you for all eternity. If you are in hell. 31:33 Because that will become heaven for me. If Jesus is there that is heaven. What is heaven? Is it just a place with golden streets and big mansions? Is it just a place with golden streets and big mansions? Without Jesus? That is not heaven. 31:51 That is hell. Golden streets and big houses without Jesus is hell. That is a difficult place with Jesus. That is heaven. That is why I say I am not interested in going to heaven when I die. 32:11 I want to be with Jesus when I die. Wherever he is. And that is why for me. Heaven has already begun on this earth. Because Christ is with me. And I never want to be without him. 32:31 And I want to say to you my brothers and sisters. If you want to do what Jesus said. To pray that prayer. Hallowed be thy name. If you even have a little grief and sorrow in your heart. That you are not honoring God's name in your life and in your home. 32:55 That the children God has given you are not honoring God's name. Because you brought them up wrong. I want you to repent. And I want to show you how your life can change. And I want you to see this verse. 33:15 1 John chapter 2 verse 6. This is the answer. This is the secret. 1 John chapter 2 verse 6. That is the verse. That is the verse. Which hardly anybody talks about. 33:38 Anyone who says he abides in Christ. Must walk in the same manner as he walked. Now forget about me standing here for a moment. Imagine the man who wrote this letter. 34:00 The apostle John is standing here. He is much older than me. I am only 70. He was 95 when he wrote that letter. He was a man who walked with God for 65 years. He was so old he couldn't even stand. 34:22 They had to make, he had to sit on a chair. They used to carry him on a chair to the meeting in his old age. And here imagine him sitting on a chair here. 95 year old apostle John. 34:42 He would always call believers my little children. Read in verse 1. My little children. That is his favorite way of calling believers. Because they were like his children. Now imagine John sitting here. 35:04 Say my little children. I have walked with God for 65 years. And I will tell you something. If you say that you are a Christian. You must walk on this earth like Jesus walked. 35:28 And there is no way to do that unless you are filled with his Holy Spirit. God filled me with the Holy Spirit when I was a young man in the day of Pentecost 65 years ago. 35:49 Now I am 95 years old. And I am telling you from 65 years of experience. You can walk as Jesus walked. We may not be perfect like him. 36:10 That will take time. When he comes only we will be perfect. But we can walk by the same principles he walked on this earth. That is what John would say. Have you heard it? That is a testimony of an upright man. 36:34 I take it seriously. You see when some young fellow who was converted last year gives a testimony. You say oh he is just converted. He doesn't know what the Christian life is like. 36:54 After 10 years he will realize Christian life is not so easy. But this is not some young 20 year old testifying. He is a 95 year old man. Is it possible to walk as Jesus walked on this earth? 37:16 The Bible says you must walk as Jesus walked. Walk means the way we do things. The way we speak. The way we behave towards others. That means the way I speak in my home. To my wife and children must be the way Jesus would speak. 37:46 If I don't do that. Then the name of God is not hallowed. Then the devil can say to God. God you call that person your son. Look at the way he is behaving. Look at the way he behaves in the office. 38:06 Look at the way he speaks. Yeah in the church he acts very holy and sings so many songs. But look at the way he lives six days of the week. Are you concerned about that? 38:27 So many of us are concerned what are people saying about me. From today. Please be more concerned what the devil is saying about you to God. Then you will take your life more seriously. 38:48 Because most people don't know how you behave in the home in the office. They don't know how you behave in the bus when people are all behaving in an angry selfish way. Or on the road how you behave. 39:12 When people don't follow the traffic rules. I tell you you can find out on the road whether a person driving a scooter is a Christian or not. Or a car. Very easy. When everybody is behaving not obeying the traffic rules. 39:33 Which is true in all the roads in India. There you can find a Christian. Who behaves like a Christian everywhere. Who will drive a scooter the way Jesus would drive a scooter. 39:56 Yeah I am telling you from my experience. I was driving a scooter till about two years ago. For nearly 46 years. And the Lord taught me how to drive a scooter like Jesus would drive. That means how to behave with other people who don't obey the rules. 40:20 How to have control over my anger. It is impossible unless you are filled with the Holy Spirit. Because we cannot control our tongue. 40:41 The Bible says in James chapter 3. Verse 7 and 8. He says we have learned how to control lions and elephants and all big big animals. But nobody can control the tongue. 41:06 We know that inside your mouth is something worse than a lion. It says nobody can control it. And it is with this tongue that we dishonor Jesus Christ more than with any other part of our body. 41:31 With the eyes we dishonor Christ more than with any other part of our body. The way we look. Particularly at women. You can dishonor Jesus Christ. 41:52 Nobody saw you. But the devil did. And he says God. Is that your son? Just look at what he is looking at now. Look at what picture he is looking at. Look at what he is watching on the computer right now. 42:12 God this is your son. You should be ashamed of yourself. Do you make the devil say such things to God? About you? 42:32 I say. Oh my God please forgive me for all the times. I have dishonored your name. I don't care. If I never make any more money on this earth. Or if all the people in the world call me bad names and dishonor me. 42:58 They can call me false prophet, devil, whatever they like. But I don't want to dishonor your name by my life. I don't care what people say about my name but don't let them dishonor your name. 43:20 Yes. And especially the devil who can see me all the time. The devil who sees me what I am watching on the computer. I don't want him to blaspheme you saying look at that man of child of yours what he is doing. 43:47 It's very important to learn to live how Jesus lived on this earth. I personally believe it is the most important thing that Christians need to learn. In so many bible schools they teach people how to preach. 44:12 Is that more important or is it more important to learn how to live like Jesus lived? It's no use studying the bible if we don't live like Jesus lived. You know so many Christians they go to church on Sunday and learn something from the bible. 44:41 That's good. That's good. But our knowledge must lead to life. If knowledge does not lead to life. I'll give you two illustrations. One, it's like our head becoming bigger and bigger and bigger and the body is not growing. 45:02 You know supposing you have a newborn baby, it's so small. And some children are so small you can hold and just be even one hand something. And then you see your child growing. 45:25 But only the head is growing. And the head is becoming so big. And the body is so small. I've seen some children like that. It's a disease. It's a disease. It's a disease because there's a lot of water in their brain. 45:45 So much such big head and so small body. I've seen only one child like that in my life. But I've seen thousands of Christians like that. So much knowledge. 46:05 Oh, they can argue about anything. Any doctrine. You know how many emails I get about from people with these huge heads. This doctrine, that doctrine, the other doctrine. 46:25 Their life is, their body is about so size. Is that the way you want to be? I don't want to be like that. You don't want to have a baby like that. And you don't want to have a baby like that. And I tell you, God doesn't want to have any babies like that either. 46:46 I can use another illustration. Knowledge without life. If we have knowledge without life. Then, it's like eating a lot of food. And it doesn't get digested. 47:09 You know the wonderful thing about food is. You eat your rice and your curry. It doesn't remain as rice and curry in your stomach even for one day. As soon as it goes in the stomach, it starts, stomach starts working on it. 47:36 And if you open up your stomach after one day, it's not rice and curry. It has changed. And two, three days later, it's changed more. And after a few weeks, it has become flesh and blood and bones. 47:58 How can rice and curry become flesh and blood and bones? You may not know it, but it's been happening in your life from the day you were born. The food becomes part of your body. And you know people who don't eat at all, who are starving in famine areas, they're skinny. 48:31 But supposing all the food you went into your stomach did not get digested. And you keep on eating. You're still very small. But your stomach is becoming bigger and bigger and bigger every day. 48:57 I've seen a lot of Christians like that. Either with a huge head or a huge stomach. I mean spiritually. Physically to have big stomach is not good, but it's not so bad. But it's not so bad. 49:19 But to have spiritually. So much spiritual food. And which has not been converted into life. You're sick. Dear brothers and sisters. That's the tragedy in Christendom today. 49:43 So much knowledge. There's so little life. See what Paul told Timothy. In scripture there's always a balance. One of the wonderful things I like about scripture. Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 4 and verse 16. 50:10 He says there are two things. Chapter 4 verse 16. Two things you must pay very close attention to. One is your life. One is yourself or your life. And the second is your teaching. One is your life. The second is your teaching. 50:28 Your life and your teaching. Pay close attention to both of them. Don't let one become bigger than the other. And persevere in both of these things. 50:49 And if you do both of these things. And if you do both of these things. Then you will save yourself. And you will save those who hear you. And if you don't concentrate on both these things. You will neither save yourself. 51:11 Nor will you save others. Have you ever heard a word like this? To ensure salvation for yourself. You say no I thought I was already saved. When I said Lord Jesus come into my heart 30 years ago. 51:34 Well you didn't read every verse in the Bible about salvation. You take a concordance and look up the word salvation. In the New Testament. Or the word saved. Saved. Or salvation. 51:56 You will find there is a lot more than just asking Jesus to come into your heart. Just like you say. There is a lot more to life than just being born. No. After birth. Your whole life begins. Growth. So many things. 52:18 So he says. Ensure salvation for yourself. Do you want salvation for yourself? Pay attention to your life. And your teaching. Get. This is the right type of teaching. That will enable you in your daily life. 52:39 In your home life. In your office life. In the road everywhere. To walk as Jesus. To. Living as Jesus lived. We can compare it to the two legs we have. 53:01 When you were born your legs were not the size it is today. See how the size of a baby's leg. So small. Supposing that baby. One leg started growing and the other was not growing. 53:22 And finally after 30 years. One leg is about 3 feet long. The other is about 6 inches. Imagine how that person will be walking. That's one thing I've never seen. I've seen people with big heads and big stomachs. 53:42 But this type of thing I've never seen. One 3 foot leg and one 6 inch leg. But I've seen many Christians like that. That teaching is so huge. I've seen many preachers like that. 54:04 But their life. So small. Their attitude to money. Their attitude to women. Their attitude to enemies. They are all so completely different from Jesus Christ. 54:26 That's what I mean. Their one leg is 6 inches long. But their knowledge. They go for meetings like this to increase in knowledge. I say brother, sister. Please work on your other leg now. Start making that long. I say brother, sister. 54:43 Please work on your other leg now. Start making that long. Your teaching leg is already long enough. Take heed to your knowledge and your life. That's why it's important to learn how to live as Jesus lived. 55:11 Let's pray. Heavenly Father. We really want your name to be hallowed on. In this country and around the world. And everything we do in our life. We want your name to be hallowed. 55:36 And I pray all the dear people sitting here. Will really be gripped this weekend. That these two days will change the whole direction of their lives. And they'll get a boost to go to a much higher level. 56:03 Help us we pray. We pray that your Holy Spirit will move in our midst. We pray in Jesus name.
