Becoming like Christ and seeing people the way
He does, that's next on the Road to
Reality with Brother K.P. Yohannan.
The goal of your life here on earth
must be day by day that you may
become more and more like Jesus himself.
That must be my goal.
Romans 8 29.
Why are we born again?
Why did the Father love us?
We are predestined for what?
Verse 29.
That we may become like His dear Son.
Yes, we all have our daily list of
tasks and responsibilities and that's part of life,
but it's not all of it.
As Christians, we're here with a purpose.
Hello there from me, Richard Bews, and again,
welcome to the weekly ministry of Gospel for
Asia.
We title it the Road to Reality.
Today, we'll be listening to a message given
by K.P. Yohannan a while back at
a special Christian conference.
He'll show us in a moment how we
become more like Jesus, but also how we
see people the way the Lord does.
We're in John's Gospel chapter 4.
Won't you join us?
For our study tonight, I'd like us to
read a few Bible verses in the book
of John, John's Gospel.
Chapter 4.
The background, the context of this portion is
this.
Jesus had to go through Samaria, it says,
and the disciples went off to buy food
while Jesus stayed back at the well.
And there comes this Samaritan woman and they're
having a conversation.
Now, keep in mind, culturally, Jesus was not
supposed to do that.
I mean, this is something that normally you
don't expect a man to do in that
setting.
Now, the disciples having gone to buy hamburger
and french fries, now they are back.
Now, I'm reading from verse 31 on.
Meanwhile, his disciples urged him, Rabbi, eat something.
But he said to them, I have food
to eat that you know nothing about.
Then his disciples said to each other, could
someone have brought him food?
My food, said Jesus, is to do the
will of him who sent me and finish
his work.
Do you not say four months more than
the harvest?
I tell you, open your eyes and look
at the fields.
In King James, lift up your eyes.
Look at the fields.
They are ripe for harvest.
Even now the reaper draws his wages.
Even now he harvests the crop for eternal
life, so that the sower and the reaper
may be glad together.
Thus the saying, one sows and another reaps
is true.
I send you to reap what you have
not worked for.
Others have done the hard work and you
have reaped the benefits of their labor.
Then there's a verse in the Old Testament,
Jeremiah chapter 8 verse 20.
He reads like this, The harvest is past
and the summer has ended, but we are
not saved.
One of the saddest words in the Bible.
The entire Bible has two subjects, 66 books.
One about Christ's first coming into the world.
Second, about his second coming.
That's all.
The entire Old Testament speaks about the promised
Messiah coming and the four Gospels talks about
how that was fulfilled.
That he would come and die and then
he'll rise again and those who believe in
him will have forgiveness of sin and they
become part of his body, the church.
That we see in the book of Acts.
Then all the letters until Revelation talks about
how God is instructing his body, the bride
to get ready for the coming of the
bridegroom.
Book of Revelation, the great marriage supper of
the Lamb that we read about.
Now, Jesus came and died on the cross.
He rose again, then he went back.
But that's all.
There's no story left.
So what he did, he picked a handful
of disciples, 12 of them, out of many
thousands that sought to follow him.
And you know, unlike some of our churches,
try to find people come to your church
any way possible.
Dancing and singing and magic tricks and whatever
we do, Jesus tried to get rid of
people.
When he had a whole bunch of people
come in to them, he would say something
really terrible.
You know what?
You want to follow me?
Drink my blood and eat my flesh.
They said, what?
Cannibalism!
And they all got up and walked away.
Some rich guy would come and want to
be his disciple.
He would say, well, I'm glad.
You are?
Yeah, but first you go and give up
all your riches, give it away.
And then today, what will you do?
You want to join us?
Please come.
You are already in.
Come on in.
Jesus had all things different from our approach
to things.
He picked these disciples not because they were
the smartest, the most educated, the most intelligent.
No, sir.
There was only one who was really sharp.
He knew how to count.
He lost out.
But three and a half years, Jesus, his
commitment was to train these men so that
they will continue the journey after he's gone.
That was his job.
As a matter of fact, if you take
John's gospel, 21 chapters, you will find chapter
1 through 12 covers three and a half
years of his life.
30 to 21, just a few days, hours.
What do you mean?
So much of the gospel is spent on
Christ.
Intimacy, spending time with a handful of his
disciples.
Therefore, we understand the priority Christ had on
his mind, on his heart, was somehow infusing
his life into these men.
And finally, they get baptized in the Holy
Spirit and they will go forth and transform
the world.
Acts 17, 6 says about a bunch of
these people, these, those who have caused so
much trouble, have come here also.
Philip's translation, these world revolutionaries have come here
also.
It was not they were rich and famous
and smart, had all the technologies.
No, their very lifestyle was so revolutionary, you
couldn't resist it.
You cannot walk away from it.
And they turned the world upside down.
Thomas, one of Christ's disciples, we call the
doubting Thomas, remember him?
AD 50 to first century, he came to
India.
Who sent him?
Who paid him salary?
Who gave him life insurance and medical insurance?
Any of those stuff normally talk about, but
then none of those things, I guess.
There was no 747 jumbo jet.
He came to preach the gospel.
As a matter of fact, planted seven churches.
One of those church happened to be the
tiny village I come from.
Three kilometers from where I was born and
raised is one of the church.
You know what?
That makes me a better Christian, I think.
The question, what made these men to give
up all and surrender all and in turn
change their generation?
It was Christ's life in them.
They became His.
How did Christ do this?
He didn't have seminary classrooms.
He said, today we're going to study, listen,
this.
No, nothing like that.
He was the teacher.
He was the subject and the classroom was
normal life events.
Think about that.
They watched Him.
They lived with Him.
They're learning from Him.
After they saw Him praying all night long,
so many times they watched Him.
They will say, Lord, how do you pray?
Please tell us, teach us.
Now, this is one of those times Jesus
reveals to them His nature, who He is,
His concern, His passion.
Christ's goal was life transformation in all that
He was doing.
Let me pause here, my brothers and sisters.
Somehow, learn this and write it on your
heart.
The goal of your life here on earth
must be, day by day, that you may
become more and more like Jesus Himself.
That must be my goal.
Romans 8 29.
Why are we born again?
Why did the Father love us?
We are predestined for what?
Verse 29, that we may become like His
dear Son.
There are so many scriptures that talks about
that.
That is, we are becoming like Jesus as
we follow in His footsteps.
The Holy Spirit came for what?
To give us goosebumps, make us shake and
stretch our words.
Listen to this.
Jesus said, when He comes, when He comes,
He will take the things of mine and
He will show it to you.
2nd Corinthians 3 18.
The Word of God, it says, is a
mirror.
As we read the Word of God, we
behold the face of Jesus.
Then it says, and the Holy Spirit changes
us from inside out, that we may become
like the face we see in the mirror,
the Word of God.
If you go to the Bible to get
your doctrines, degrees, be the most expert individual
in all the Bible knowledge and theology, you
will get all you want.
How to raise your family, there's a million
things you can learn from it, but if
you want to be like Jesus, go to
the Bible to see His face.
Yeah, if we want to be like Jesus,
we need to meet with Jesus, to go
to the Bible to see His face.
That was K.P. Yohannan, the director of
Gospel for Asia.
We're in the middle of a study from
John's Gospel, chapter 4, and we'll return to
K.P. in just a moment.
But I'd like to encourage you to go
to our website and take a look at
what God is doing through our school of
discipleship.
Now, if you're between the ages of 18
to 25, you can take part in it.
You'll not only draw closer to Christ as
a result, but you'll find your faith stretched
quite a bit, as you give help to
the untouchable children of Asia, as you actively
support thousands of missionaries and increase your commitment
for the lost.
Prayerfully consider, would you, spending a year at
Gospel for Asia's school of discipleship?
Ah, your life will never be the same.
To learn more, go to RoadToReality.org.UK
That's RoadToReality.org.UK, or call 01904 643
233.
Got it?
01904 643 233.
Let's return now to K.P. as he
speaks frankly about measuring the things we read
and hear.
One of the true test of a ministry,
a book, a preacher, a teacher who represents
the Holy Spirit is this.
The Holy Spirit never speaks of himself.
He speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the Holy Spirit, Jesus said, when he
comes, you will receive power.
For what?
To become my witnesses.
Everywhere, all over the world.
Now, watch the master teaching them through his
life.
He was hungry.
He was thirsty.
He was tired.
You know what?
Recently, I read through the four Gospels with
a pencil in hand.
Now you can do this.
To see the man, Jesus, not God.
No, no, I understand Jesus is God and
he is my God.
He is my Lord.
But I want to see the man, Jesus,
who was tempted in all manners.
I am tempted.
Really?
Yes.
How did he live a victorious life?
That's what I want to know.
Try that.
You will be astounded how Jesus, the man
lived on earth.
When you read the passage, I would say
this to you.
Yeah, yeah, you know, father had an appointment
for Jesus.
Talked to the woman and the well, all
is fine.
But I want to say this.
He was so tired, so worn out.
He said, you guys go and get hamburger.
I'm just tired to go.
You know, how do I know that?
I do that all the time with my
associate.
So I know he faces the same problem.
I understand Jesus' problem because I have the
same problem.
He just sits there and the disciples comes.
Master, because according to the culture, they couldn't
eat their food unless he eats first.
He is the boss.
And they are quite selfish.
Then he turns and says, oh, by the
way, I have food to eat that you
know nothing about.
In America, I call it, it's a real
bummer.
And then the disciple says, what do you
mean?
Did someone bring him something to eat while
we were gone?
To buy the food for him and for
us?
What is going on?
Jesus says, my food is to do the
will of him who sent me and finish
his work.
Now that is spooky.
He was hungry.
He was desperate.
He says, he is not hungry.
He ate.
He ate what?
A God's will.
What on earth is this?
You see, if you and I watch our
children, people who drive on the road next
to us, the lady giving you the donut
and coffee at Tim Horton, at the ticket
counter, at the airport, your associates, your husband,
your wife, your boss, your subordinates.
If you watch close enough, God is speaking
every day, thousands of times, something he wants
us to learn.
But we are blind.
We are deaf.
We are waiting for Sunday for the preacher
to preach half hour and then walk away
and for us to walk away.
That is not the way God works.
So Jesus, he takes the food and drink
issue, something tangible and practical, helping them to
see something more eternal and significant for them
to understand.
So he says, lift up your eyes, walk
away, look away from your own life, from
your own little world and see out there
what I see.
Then you will understand.
Let me translate it more simply.
Disciples, while you guys went to buy food,
you know, I've been taught as lady.
I know what you thought.
You couldn't believe I was doing it.
It's all right there.
But you know what?
The more I talked to her, the more
I realized her lostness, how lost she is
without my father's love, that she's plunging toward
eternal hell.
And one soul is more precious than the
whole world.
And all of a sudden I realized it
is not just one little woman from Samaria,
but her life represent multiplied tens of thousands.
Her face became a window, a door for
me to look through.
And I saw multitudes and the realization destroyed,
killed, eliminated.
My very physical appetite, I can't eat anymore.
When my mother died at the age of
84 in 2000, for three days, three days,
I couldn't eat, I couldn't drink.
My brothers had to force me, say you
eat something or you will die also.
I was so heartbroken, emotionally ruined, I couldn't
get up.
Please listen to me.
I don't want to go through another exercise
of preaching and getting in the plane in
the morning and walk away.
You know, my dear brother, my dear sister,
I'm deeply, deeply concerned that you and I
understand the heart of Jesus.
I know him because that's the only way
we can be effective in our personal life,
in our family, in our society, or wherever
we may be for his glory.
Some years ago there in Dallas, Texas at
the headquarters, my wife Gisela came to me
with a letter in hand and she handed
the letter over to me and said, You
want to read this letter?
Then she added a phrase.
She said, By the way, please don't speed
read.
I don't like that.
I do speed read, but why she had
to preach at me?
When I finished reading the letter, I was
no more sitting on my comfortable chair.
I was on my knees weeping.
The letter came from one of our missionaries
at that time working near Haridwar by River
Ganges.
Now, River Ganges in India, Hindus believe is
a river sent by Gods and it is
once in a lifetime.
You must go into the river, take a
bath for the forgiveness of sin.
Now, I must tell you, the most polluted,
dirty, stinking, rotten waters on planet earth you
find in River Ganges.
Multiplied millions of dead bodies over the centuries
being dumped into that water.
Body cremated, ashes dumped into that place.
It's a holy waters.
The time when this missionary wrote the letter,
they had the Kumbh Mela once in 10
years.
Millions come for the special celebration.
35 million people came in one week from
all over the country going into the water,
washing themselves for the forgiveness of sin for
they never heard about the blood of Christ
can wash their sins away.
He writes in his letter that evening I
was coming home after all day work of
distributing tracts and witnessing to people.
Tired, weary, as he was coming home, he
saw a young Hindu woman sitting by the
bank of the river weeping uncontrollably and pounding
upon a chest.
According to the culture, when that happens, you
must know something happened worse than death itself.
He writes, I went to her and asked
What happened?
What happened to you?
She said, We are very poor people.
My husband is so sick and my sins
are so many that nobody knows about.
To find forgiveness for my sins, solution to
the problems of my home, I have given
the best offering I can give to God
as Ganges.
My six-month-old baby boy, my only
child, I just threw him into the river.
Paragraph, I began to explain there about Jesus,
read Bible verses to her and I said,
God is not mad at you.
He loves you.
God never made you poor.
That is not his job.
Jesus died on the cross and shed his
blood for the forgiveness of your sin.
As a matter of fact, your sins are
forgiven 2,000 years ago.
All you have to do is just to
believe.
It is all done.
After hearing his explanation, he writes, she wiped
her tears, looked straight into my eyes and
simply said, But why didn't you come to
me half-hour sooner?
I didn't have to kill my child.
It is too late.
Nearly 200,000 people die every day without
Christ and going into eternity.
How does that affect the heart of Jesus?
I want to know.
I need to know.
If only people knew that Jesus would forgive
them and that he already paid the price
of their forgiveness.
You might not encounter a woman on the
banks of the River Ganges or a woman
at the well as Jesus did in John
chapter 4.
But could it be someone at the store
or at the office?
Let's think out how we can share the
good news with people and even if we
don't know it, even help us spread that
good news in Asia.
That's really why Gospel for Asia exists.
You're listening to the Road to Reality with
Brother K.P. Johannan.
There are other stories like the one you
heard today and you can find them at
our website or receive an updated story from
the mission field by email.
On our website you can also learn about
our School of Discipleship.
Now, this is geared for young adults between
the ages of 18 and 25.
One young man said after going through the
school, the year has spurred me to move
from knowing about God to living that knowledge.
You could spend a year at Gospel for
Asia's home office in Texas and deepen your
walk with the Lord.
You will serve alongside Gospel for Asia staff
members, pray for the lost and even visit
the mission field itself.
Learn more at roadtoreality.org.uk Again, go
to roadtoreality.org.uk and find out more
about our School of Discipleship or call us
on 01904 643 233 That's 01904 643 233.
We look forward to hearing from you.
The Road to Reality is sponsored by Gospel
for Asia.
Please join us next time for more updates
and Bible study from K.P. Till then,
from me, Richard Bews, may the Lord Jesus
Christ energize and inspire you this very day.