Spiritual Children
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May 14, 2017 |
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 Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
"Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:4).
Jesus' disciples said to Jesus, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" Then, He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
Becoming spiritual children means not acting childish, but taking the good points of children who have pure and unspoiled hearts (1 Corinthians 14:20). Let's now look into how to become spiritual children.
1. Characteristics of Spiritual Children
1) They are simple, so they accept, believe, and obey the Word of God.
As adults teach, children easily accept. It is like drawing of pictures on white paper. As they hear, 'Do not strike younger brother, do not eat too much between meals and obey mother's words', they accept it. Spiritual children also accept, believe and obey the Word as they listen to it.
Abraham, the forefather of faith, accepted all of the God's words because he had a simple heart. Abraham did not oppose God's words with his own thoughts or knowledge. He only obeyed. Even when God told him to offer up his only son Isaac as a burnt offering, he immediately obeyed because he believed God had His good will in His command.
To become the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, we should be simple and accept, believe, and obey the truth whenever we learn it. Spiritual children pray without giving any excuse when told to unceasingly pray. They try to rejoice in both times of blessing or hardship when taught to rejoice always. When told not to hate others, they love even their enemies with no opposition. This is how spiritual children obey the truth.
2) They are pure, so they react sensibly to goodness and evilness.
Children are happy with something good. They cry in sorrow and express their delight in pleasure. In addition, pure-minded children sensitively feel qualms of conscience when they do something wrong.
To the extent that they are stained with evil of the world, adults seem to feel fewer qualms of conscience about their faults. However, if they come into the truth and become spiritual children, they will react with greater sensitivity to goodness and evil. They may even shed tears when they see others' good deeds, and shudder at evilness. Once God says a certain thing is evil and although worldly people do not consider it evil, they hate it very much. They try hard not to commit sins (1 Samuel 24:1-7).
To become pure like spiritual children, we must not accept even the most minute bit of evil and commit no sin that God hates. We should earnestly long to achieve goodness with all our hearts. Spiritual children also cherish powerful works of the Holy Spirit and feel happy hearing about them. They long for participating in God's works, even if the role is quite minor. Through it they glorify God with their joy and thanksgiving. If they heard one testimony, they will hear it repeatedly in emotion. They are earnest to experience the works of God.
Only when we love God with this pure heart and march towards sanctification can we quickly change into a person of spirit. If not, despite the long years of our believing lives the growth of our faith may slow, or it may lead to lukewarm faith that has nothing to do with salvation.
3) They have hope with a humble heart and are not arrogant.
Children know they lack knowledge and strength. Whatever adults teach, they believe it without insisting their thoughts. In addition, they do not conceal what they lack so they can ask help of parents or adults. They don't try to lift themselves up or desire recognition from others. And they put aside their pride.
Spiritual children do not insist that they are right when listening to the truth. When some words in the Bible do not agree with their knowledge or they do not understand some verses, they do not judge or misunderstand, but they just believe it and obey it. When they hear about the works of God, they put their pride to the side and long to experience such works also.
In Luke 19, a tax collector named Zaccheus longed to see Jesus with the heart of a spiritual child. He set aside his social status and proprieties and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him better. As he was willing to humble himself to see Him, Jesus opened the way to salvation for him. Zaccheus finally repented of his sins and reached salvation.
If we become spiritual children, we can believe the truth we listen to, and we can obey it with an earnest heart. We can also come before God humbly and receive grace from Him.
2. To Become Spiritual Children
1) We must cast away sin and evil through fervent prayer and the Word.
Most people have seen, heard, and learned untruth of the world as they grew up and their hearts became stained with sin and evil. Their hearts gradually become dirtier and more darkly stained with arrogance, anger, judgment, condemnation, greed, jealousy, envy, hatred, betrayal, cunningness, and lying.
To the extent that we cast away such sins and evil through the Word of God, our conscience is cleansed, our hearts become pure, and we can believe, understand, and obey every word of God that we hear.
2) We should destroy every speculation and thought.
Since most of untrue thought and knowledge of people comes from the world controlled by the enemy Satan, it does not agree with the Word of God. If you doubt and deny the Word in your own knowledge and misguided thoughts, it is standing against God who is the Word. It is being arrogant before God.
Such people often judge and condemn those who act upon the will of God in the Holy Spirit's works (Mark 14:3-9). That is why Romans 8:7 says, "Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so."
Therefore, I urge you to reflect on your thoughts and words based on the truth through prayer. Destroy fleshly thoughts and all misguided thought and knowledge, and follow only spiritual thoughts and the desires of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 10:5). Only when we deny ourselves completely and pray to follow the will of God and the desire of the Holy Spirit, can we become renewed and spiritual children and the greatest in the heavenly kingdom.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
I hope you will arm yourselves with the Word of God through fervent prayer and destroy all fleshly thoughts and speculations quickly. I pray in the name of the Lord that by doing so you will become spiritual children who have such a simple, pure, and humble heart and be the greatest person in Heaven.
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