Audio： Authentic Christianity — K.P. Yohannan

Have you embraced authentic Christianity or bought into a lie? Get on the road to reality next. I ran across a Fox News poll the other day that said 92 of Americans say they believe in God, but is this belief in God biblically based and is it centered on the real Christ?

As we'll see today on the road to reality, a good number of people have formed a self-centered set of beliefs that's far from authentic Christianity. Brother K .P. Yohannan will show us that a Christianity that isn't centered on the real Jesus is no Christianity at all.

Here he is now to encourage us to examine our own heart and beliefs on the road to reality.

Hi my friend, it's good to be with you again. Let me ask you a question. Is there ever been a time in your life you got disappointed with God, kind of frustrated? Well, one of the reasons I imagine often this happens to people, it is because their expectations are not coming to pass.

And you do a lot of things that people tell you so that you may be blessed and healed and protected and all kind of things. But as you have done these things and and gave your money and did what the TV preacher said or some book that you read and they told you to do all this stuff and it seems there's no magic and your kids are still not doing the right thing and your family life is not all the way you dreamed it to be like.

And the money that you thought was going to come in, some angels going to drop some money on you because the TV preacher said send your money and sow the seed and and they told all these stories and all kind of things.

And if you do this, you can put this cloth on your head and you'll be healed and your hair will grow back and all kind of stuff. By the way, I'm not trying to knock at anyone but just the other day my wife and I, we were watching some program and the channel turned and it landed on one of those Christian channels and and I said Gisela, would you please turn the channel to something else?

The reason happened to be this guy, he was telling people how to get a lots of money by giving money to him and challenging them to give money, sowing seed and all that. I mean, I'm not trying to be theological about it but let me tell you, the problem is a lot of people are living their Christian life not based on the teachings of Christ in the New Testament, rather they are teaching their entire communication, their teaching is based on another Christ.

What do you mean another Christ? Well, Paul had to deal with that. There in Corinth, people were doing some dumb things, I mean, they were really going kind of crazy and Paul talked about some people that follow another Christ.

Well, many years ago on the mission field, I remember, you know, occasions praying for demon possessed people and you won't believe this but I'm telling you exactly what happened. Sometimes these demons start talking and a few times, when we ask, how did you get into this person?

Who are you? One time this demon said, My name? Jesus. I just couldn't believe it. I mean, I just couldn't believe it. Well, what do you mean by another Jesus? You see, when a preacher or whoever tells you things about your life that is contrary to the life of Christ and his teachings, Paul said in Galatians, even if it's an angel, let them be cursed, don't receive them, don't even have anything to do with them.

Well, again, let me go back to being disappointed with God and Christianity and Christian life. My dear brothers and sisters, often we forget that our call in the New Testament, in the new covenant, is to be partakers of the nature of Christ.

That's what the Bible says in Romans chapter 8 verse 28 and 29, 28. It says all things work together for good for those that love God. Loving God, what do you mean by that? Well, loving him more than father, mother, son and daughter.

No, there's no first job, even their own very life. They will not hold on to anything for themselves, but completely and totally his. They're not after the things of the world, but they are after the things of God.

But verse 29, what is God's purpose for these people through all that happens around them, to them? That you and I may change and become like Jesus himself, having his life, his nature in us. And so the scripture very clearly says, our call is not simply do a bunch of things so we can get money, health and wealth and fame and big house and cars and reputation and best of clothes and being so-called king kids and live a flashy life.

No, no, we are called to be partakers of his nature. And who is this Christ that we read about in the New Testament? So that's the reason I said, you know, a lot of people are disappointed with God. They're frustrated.

It is because there are people like taking a lottery ticket. They're buying lottery ticket thinking that, oh, wow, this time I'm going to get 5 million or 10 million. And they don't get it. And they say, well, I'm wasting my life.

And this is a very serious problem in Christianity today. Well, you know, in my world, I live with a lot of pain and anguish on the behalf of brothers and sisters who are suffering persecution like in Orissa.

Can you just imagine within a few weeks, over a thousand houses, homes were destroyed, everything they had burned and ruined and people abused for what? For the sake of Christ. They lost everything. And I run into sisters whose husbands were beaten up and abused and a few sisters' husbands were killed and children whose parents lost everything.

And they followed Christ to the New Testament. The price they had to pay, it's quite heavy. But until this day, I never met one individual in Orissa or Nepal or Bhutan or Bangladesh that said to me, oh, my goodness, this Christ I followed cost me everything and I lost everything.

I don't know if I want to believe in Christ anymore. This is such a disappointment. See, when you follow Christ to the New Testament, you will find words like this. I send you as sheep among wolves. Read Gospel of Matthew chapter 10, my friend.

It says there, they will abuse you, they will persecute you and you lose everything and they'll take you to prison. But in the end, he says, oh, by the way, don't hold on to your life, give it away. It's worth doing it.

You know, the disciples who heard those words, did you know that? Except John, all of them lost their life. Crucified, burned, killed, brutally murdered. Think about that. So today we have a whole bunch of preachers creating a whole new culture of Christianity.

Says, ha, it's all about you. Christ is standing there to bless you. God is waiting to bless you. If only you can give him a thousand dollars and get this handkerchief from me and read this, my book or whatever else.

What on earth has happened to our Christianity? And I tell you what, if Orissa happens in the United States or in Western culture, our Christianity may very well fall apart. The great, massive falling away from the faith may take place from among the so-called modern Christianity, a Christianity that is not centered around Christ and his concerns, rather a Christianity that is centered around me, mine and my world.

Hey, please, I am not after anything from you. I'm not trying to put you on a guilt trip or intimidate you or make you look dumb. No, but let me ask you this question. When you heard about the crisis going on in Haiti or in Bangladesh or in Afghanistan, did that cause you to take a few days to fast and pray and give up those meals?

You see, our life and what we do and evaluate things totally contrary to the New Testament teachings that Christ offered for those that want to follow him. And this is a reason why we are often disappointed in our Christian life.

No amount of teaching and theology is going to sustain you, my friend, until you understand Jesus and him alone and long to be like him. It is not following a bunch of systems and teachings for my sake, for what I can get out of it, rather to be his and inherit his life.

But you've been listening to The Road to Reality, the Ministry of Gospel for Asia, with Brother K .P. Yohannan, who'll be back in just a moment. You know, as K .P. was talking about the differences between authentic Christianity and the self-centered religious beliefs of so many in our world today, his book, Revolution and World Missions, came to mind.

If you long to let go of self-centeredness and be more eternally minded, then this book is just for you. It will show you how to make a difference in this lost world and can radically change your way of life.

It truly describes authentic Christianity. We'd like to give this to you if you'll come by winasia .org. Again, for your free copy of Revolution and World Missions, simply go to winasia .org. Well, let's return now to K .P. for the rest of today's broadcast.

Think about going to a doctor.

You don't feel good and you say, Doc, I need some help. And he put you through all kind of tests and then he say, Well, you got this problem and I'll prescribe some medicine and this is what you should do.

And well, you do exactly what the doctor says. But the problem is, the problems are not going away. You are still sick. It takes you a whole bunch of time and huge amount of money wasted and your health deteriorating.

Finally, you discover through some authentic, brilliant, more learned physician that the diagnosis that you got earlier and the medicine you took and the prescriptions they were taking and all the stuff, it was all bad.

You see, my recommendation to you, I do care about you and I'm deeply concerned about my brothers and sisters on the body of Christ. That's the reason I'm saying this to you. You see, when half of the world go to bed with empty stomach and naked bodies, when two billion people wait to hear Jesus died on the cross for them, when multiplied millions of children walking on the streets without clothes and without any hope, do you think Jesus or the New Testament sits in heaven and is spending all this time praying for you that you may have a new car or you have a bigger house or your vacation will be this time much better than the last one?

I don't know. I mean, I'm not against nice house and vacation and any other stuff. I don't think God is against that either. But what a waste of our life that we live our life around our little world and our wants and wishes, forgetting when you read the New Testament, the call of Christ is quite, quite different.

While ago, I was in North India talking to one of the missionaries we have in Nepal. And, you know, he was telling me about his journey he made to the mission field. To begin with, when he gave his life to Christ while studying in the high school, his parents basically threw him out and said he cannot be our son anymore because you are rejecting our faith.

And this young man went through enough pain, enough sorrows. But then by God's grace and mercy, he ended up at our one of our Bible colleges and studied the word. And now he must go to the mission field.

And of course, you know, during these years of studies, they are told, please pray where the Lord will want you to go to serve him. And they usually come up with a place. Some of them come up with places that are quite difficult.

And this particular young man felt he should go to a place. The problem was, from the nearest bus station that he can get off, he will walk more than seven days. Before he can get to the mission field.

And he chose to do that. But arriving there, among these people that never had a chance to hear the gospel, extremely primitive. They were not hostile to him, but he was a stranger and all alone. And he described to me the loneliness, the pain and the anguish and the nights he will cry out to God just to give him some encouragement.

And the people that he talked to won't listen. And it was becoming very difficult. And he so desperately want to quit the mission field, thinking that this was a mistake. He's not capable of doing that.

And this is when he began to read once again. The four Gospels. And he began to mark the statements Christ made for people that want to follow him. And he said he read through the four Gospels and marked the words of Christ and the kind of thing Christ asked him.

And then he said he was on his face, weeping, repenting, saying, Lord, look like I missed it. My life is not my own. If I die here, that's fine. It's your life. If these people must come to know you, I will do all I can.

But it's your doing, Lord, not mine. And he said there were times he didn't have food to eat. There were times he just didn't know what to do. But the story changes again. The Lord stood by him in suffering, in difficulties, in loneliness.

He found the presence, the reality, the closeness of Christ. And he said it was so beautiful not just to stand and look at the cross of Christ where he was dying for me. Now I had the privilege to enter into the suffering of Christ and experience the pain and the loneliness that he suffered.

And he did that for me. And now I'm given the privilege to share his love in suffering, in my difficulties with people that need to know him. And this is how the Lord began to use him to lead so many people to Christ.

Dozens of people he was able to baptize. And more fellowships now just came out of nowhere. It was all through sharing Christ's life and him entering into the life of Christ. Well, how do you apply all this to our present life?

That's a question. One thing I will encourage you to do. Please, would you read the New Testament not for theology, not for finding answers, but just for your life. Please, would you read and see the words of Christ like he says, come and follow me.

Pick up your cross daily and follow me. Deny yourself and be mine. Can't you at least spend one hour with me in prayer? Man shall not live by bread alone but every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

Take my yoke upon you. Your life, you will find rest and peace. Oh, my burden is light. Those are the words of Christ. So, my dear brother, my dear sister, please don't become any more victim of the so-called preachers those who are telling you to give them your money and all what they are asking for so that you will get some things from God.

You know what? The New Testament Christianity is not about material blessings. Under the old covenant, the proof, the sign of God's blessing happened to be the material things. But in the New Testament, listen to me, we are blessed immensely with spiritual blessings and we are seated with Christ.

Now, if you don't believe it, well, don't you think it is reasonable to think that the apostles and the early Christians, the people you read about in the book of Hebrews chapter 11, most of the chapter, don't you think these people could have had seven-star lifestyle and private jets and luxury life and servants and all the glory and honor and fame and all these things?

It's absolute nonsense. They paid their life. They suffered and died. They walked in the footsteps of Christ. No, please don't misunderstand. No, I'm not saying following Christ means that you will not have a very nice house or you cannot have your nice car or clothes.

No, that's not the issue here. But the issue is masses Christianity are led astray today by a few people who are finding Bible to be the tool of the trade and Christ to be something to market and make a name and money for themselves.

While Jesus of the New Testament, he weeps, he cries, his heart ache for a world that do not know him and are going to hell. And I think the words of Keith Green quite appropriate at this time. In one of his songs, these are the words that kind of gripped me many years ago.

Do you see, do you see all the people singing down? Don't you care? Don't you care? Are you going to let them drown? How can you be so numb not to care if they come? You close your eyes and pretend the job is done.

Oh, bless me, Lord. Bless me, Lord. You know, it is all I ever hear. No one hurts. No one ache. No one even sheds one tear. But he cries, he weeps, he pleads. How I wish Christianity will once again turn back to the New Testament.

And once again, we will rediscover the Jesus Christ of the New Testament. And that will give you the strength to reject the false Christ that is presented to us often.

Paul's words to the Galatians seem so fitting on the heels of today's road to reality. He says, I'm astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel, which is really no gospel at all.

Eventually, some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. May we, like Paul, embrace the real Jesus and real Christianity. Brother K .P. Johannan has been in studio today encouraging us to read the New Testament and cling to what it has to say about Jesus.

Now, that's really where we'll find authentic Christianity. It's also described in K .P.'s book, Revolution and World Missions, with amazing true stories and eye-opening statistics. You'll be challenged to examine and change your lifestyle in view of the millions who have never heard the gospel.

A reader from Florida said, it made me look deeply into my heart and ask myself, am I living as a real Christian? You can get a copy of the book at no charge through our website, winasia .org. That's winasia .org.

Or call us toll free, 866-WIN-ASIA. That's 866-WIN-ASIA. The Road to Reality is brought to you on this station by Gospel for Asia, where it's our strong desire to share the good news with those who have never heard the name of Jesus.