The Price to Become Fishers of Men - Part 1 — K.P. Yohannan

Following Christ to Become Fishers of Men

The call of Christ is to follow Him, and as we do, He will make us fishers of men. When we embrace this call wholeheartedly, we can expect to be inconvenienced, and there will be great difficulty. Today on The Road to Reality, we consider the price to become fishers of men.

As we join Brother KP Yohanan, he first speaks of our School of Discipleship. Be sure to visit our website after the message to learn more about it.

The School of Discipleship and a Life of Service

We have some 160 people on our staff back in Dallas at the Gospel Fair Shea Headquarters in the United States. And we started this program some years ago, taking young people, 15, 20 young people that come to stay with us one year, which is called School of Discipleship.

And that's what it is, so just a way of encouragement for you, for young people who finish their high school. If they'll take a year to be with us, their lives are completely transformed, and some of them end up on the mission field to serve the Lord, and so on.

Jesus' Call to Become Fishers of Men

But that brings me to this scripture that we read this afternoon, verse 17. Come, follow me, Jesus said, and I will make you fishers of men. What is our life all about? Now, how many of you honestly believe there is a hell?

The Rich Man, Lazarus, and the Reality of Hell

I'm absolutely blessed. But you as Bible scholars and teachers and those who read the Bible, what do you think about that story Jesus told about there was a rich man who lived with all the luxuries in this life, and he died.

He died without God, and he went into hell. And then there was a man, and his name is mentioned, Lazarus. He was a poor man, a beggar, and he died. And he went into paradise there with Abraham. And the rich man in hell, fully conscious, experiencing excruciating pain, no words can describe, no language, no pain can explain it.

The Rich Man's Plea for His Brothers

And his request to us, please, Father Abraham, would you allow Lazarus to come and just give me a drop of water? And the response, sorry, we can't, there's a gulf, there's no way we can cross it. His next request, I have some brothers, not figment of imagination or fairy tale, no, I really do have some real brothers, blood brothers, and they are on the way here.

Father phrasing it, explaining it, his words, I am condemned for eternity in hell. You can't give me a drop of water, but would it be possible for me to die? Not possible. Father, this is never-ending.

But then, okay, can you please do something about my brothers? Have him go, Lazarus, and talk to them that they will not end up here with me? Answer, they do have the information. We are told, when we read the Bible, interpret it as literally as possible, wherever.

Wrestling with the Annihilation Theory of Hell

During my years in seminary in the United States, many, many years ago, I went through a six months of incredible crisis of faith. It began with my reading some books about the annihilation theory of hell.

And what about people that never heard the gospel and died without Christ? And I so desperately wanted to believe there is some other way for the heathens, for the lost and unheard, untouched, make it to heaven other than through the Lord Jesus Christ.

I so badly wanted to believe it. Because some 180 ,000 people die in India and the subcontinent and plunge into hell, which I believed and preached. But now I'm asked the question, how can this be? If the end is hell and somehow that will end it and burn them up, sigh your relief.

And my conflict was so painful, I couldn't sometimes eat breakfast, lunch, or sleep. It was so painful. I wanted to believe something to make me peaceful, but in the end it didn't. I began to read and read and study, and finally I surrendered my will, my emotions to God.

And I don't understand it, but I believe what you tell me, O God. It was as though I could hear again from the distance, from the pit of hell, the desperate cry of man, let me die. Please let me die. I can't bear it.

C.T. Studd's Sacrifice for the Mission Field

Let me die. Let it end. The answer comes back, never, never, there's no end. C .T. Studd, who had all the fine things in life, he was a famous cricketer. Americans don't understand cricket. That is our game.

The best, born into extremely rich, affluent family, well thank God he got born again. So what else do you want? Millions to his name, name and fame, and now heaven also. That is American dream. But then he happened to read a little tract, written by an atheist, someone who mocked the idea there is God.

And this is what he read, if I believed what you say you believe, faith in Christ determines the destiny of human beings. If I believed it, then I will give up all. If need be, I will crawl on broken glass all over the earth and cry out, what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?

All my hobby, my ambition, my dreams, all will become secondary to the one commitment to tell the world about this. And C .T. Studd, he said to himself, this man who mocked the idea of God, says if he believed what I say I believe, this is what he will do.

He will exchange all for the sake of Christ. And that prompted him to sell all, take out everything and just kept 600 pounds so he can get married to a girl that he was engaged to and go to the mission field.

And his fiance said, Charlie, what did Jesus say? He said, forsake all and come after me. The last 600 pounds he took it and sent it to William Booth of Salvation Army and as a couple they went off to the mission field to die so others may live.

Total Surrender to Christ

When I came to the conclusion in my spiritual crisis, I'll never forget, I knelt beside my comfortable chair I was sitting on, weeping, and these were the words I said, Lord, every fiber of my being, every drop of my blood, every penny I have, my wife, my house, my dream ambitions, all on the altar, let me never, never stop until everyone I meet will hear about my Lord, I will not turn back.

That was one of the incredible revolutionary experiences I had where I evaluated where I go to get a haircut and how much I pay for it. Why am I chewing gum? Why do I have all the clothes in my closet?

Why do I have 70 neckties in my closet? Why am I buying all the music cassettes? When radio, I can hear the best of music. Why do I have a thousand books in my library when half of the world never seen one page of the Bible?

The Urgency of Evangelizing the Lost

Please, listen to me. I am not here to collect money from you or get any favors from you. I never asked anyone in my lifetime, give me a little money so I can meet my needs. That's not the issue here.

But I'm telling you, today, we are living in a reality where in Philadelphia, in the United States, this community, wherever you go, you will find people that are going toward hell and they're dying without Christ.

And the question remains, if you and I are in love with the Lord, if our hearts are gripped with the reality that Jesus is Lord, there's no negotiation, Bible is true, there is a heaven, there is a hell, that must drive us to our knees and break our heart to make an exchange of all the sins and stupidity and the games we play and the waste of time and be praying and fasting and moving forward to see this world come to Christ.

Brother K .P. O 'Hannon with a passionate call to share the love of Christ every chance we get. To do that means we will be inconvenienced and it will be difficult, but it is so worth it. This is The Road to Reality.

Maybe as you're contemplating the direction of your life, the Lord is stirring in your heart a desire to reach the unreached. We'd encourage you to pray about joining our one-year school of discipleship.

It is a very unique program. As you're being discipled, you'll have a ministry role in Gospel for Asia's domestic headquarters. Think of some of the things you take part in. You'll help unreached people hear about Jesus for the very first time.

Children will go on to receive education and experience Christ's love. And you'll serve to help families break the cycle of poverty. We can tell you more about the one-year school of discipleship and how to enroll at roadtoreality .org.

Order an information packet while you're at it. Again, we're at roadtoreality .org. Or call us toll-free with any questions you may have at 866-WIN-ASIA. That's 866-WIN-ASIA. With that, we'll say goodbye, but we look forward to our next time together with you on The Road to Reality with Brother K .P. Ohana.

Until then, God bless.