Live in the Light of Eternity (Dutch) — K.P. Yohannan

Stand with me just for a second. You've been sitting for quite a while. Okay, shake somebody's hand and pinch their nose and hit them, do whatever you want to do. Give them a hug, I don't like to do that here.

You can sit down. Okay, you can sit down again. I want to take this opportunity to thank all the leaders of this great movement. And I'm grateful to the Lord for the privilege and the opportunity for me to spend these few hours with you brothers and sisters.

Dale Carroll, my colleague, we both came here just a couple of days ago. And sometimes you have no clue what God is going to do, but you've got a sense that the Lord is leading us. And as a matter of fact, I wish Dale Carroll could be speaking here.

And he travels almost, I don't know, hundreds of times during the year, speaking in meetings. He's one of the very few people I know in my life who is so godly and intimate in his journey with God. And he is one of those people like the rich young man who came to Jesus.

Following Jesus Rather Than Following Rules

Who gave up his dreams of the riches and glory of America and followed the Lord and been part of my life for 23 years. And he is one of our international leaders of the movement. As a matter of fact, he is actually responsible for Gospel for Asia Europe.

I imagine you will see him in the future. And we do have a sense from the Lord that the Lord wants us to have a part in the lives of the body of Christ in the Netherlands. I don't know what all that means.

But I'm so amazed and grateful for what God is doing here. And I met many of the leaders of the movement. And I don't have any doubt about their godliness and their seriousness in following the Lord. And right after tonight, we'll be going to the airport sometime to catch our flight to Frankfurt.

And again, I thank you brothers and sisters for having us here. And I will not be very long tonight. Because you heard so much teaching this week. My question always is how do we live this life? My question always is how do we live this life?

And you know, all the books in the world can't answer that question. The only person who can answer that question, because he himself is the answer to that question, is Lord Jesus Christ. If you invite me to come to your home for dinner.

And you explain to me the way to get to your place. One thing, I have no clue about how to read the signage on the roads. And I just don't know which way to turn and the roads totally confuse me. And I just don't know which way to turn and the roads totally confuse me.

And you could write a book about it. If you buy a smartphone, the manual is just the same as the bible. And often I don't read it. Then I try to find out from someone else how to do that. But when you invite me to your home.

And you say, oh, don't worry about all this. Well, there's nothing you don't need.

I don't need to help you. But here's what I will do, he tell me.

I will be in my car. And this is the color of the car. This is the license plate number. And you just follow me. I will not be even looking at the signboard. I'm just following you. And wherever you turn, I turn.

Where you stop, I stop. And finally I get to your home. I'm just following you. That's very simple. But the enemy will not like that. Satan will distract us from following Christ. And all the many, many teachings.

And you must know, I studied theology. I got my degree. And I wrote a lot of books. I know it is all that. But I've been following my Lord deliberately from the age 16. And all these years of my journey.

Of everything I have learned. All the thousands of Christian leaders and pastors I talked to and helped. Finally again and again and again I realize. The answer is very simple. The Lord Jesus Christ. You can look into yourself.

The more you look into yourself. The more you will feel ugly. But the more you look at Jesus. You will find grace and mercy and love. If you are a married person. How did you marry the person? So they put a pistol and said I'm going to kill you?

Did he say to you I'm the most handsome person in the world. You better marry me? No. It was love. That's what happened to me. I mean there are hundreds of girls. But when I saw her. I said I want to marry her.

It was love. And fear and guilt and condemnation and hell. Is never going to help us to follow Christ. And legalism is not just doing good works. But also striving to believe a set of doctrines to justify us.

Heaven Means Being With Christ

When your journey comes to an end. What are you looking for? Golden streets. Mansions. What are you looking for? Crowns? No. We are looking for him. That's all we long for. It says when we see him. We shall be like him.

And he is our beloved. He never threatens us. He is not scaring us. He invites us with love. He says I gave my life for you. Would you be mine? All the other things are there. But what makes me follow him?

It's him. What is heaven? It's a big city. It is Jesus. If he is not there it is not heaven. In Revelation chapter 4 and 5 you see the incredible beautiful scene. All the saints in heaven. The angels and archangels.

And all the church. They watch someone. There is a throne. Someone sits on the throne. It says the lamb as though he was slave. A lamb that was slave. Why? Because he loved me. Why I want to follow him?

Because I love him. That's the only reason. You know there is a funny story in the book of Genesis about Jacob. He was a clever man. And he cheated his brother and got the birthright. I don't have time to explain how this works.

But he runs away. Because his brother is going to kill him. So he mislabels. So he goes to his uncle Laban. And he meets this girl. And Laban seems to be the father of the girl. And she is so beautiful.

Incredibly beautiful. And he wants to marry her. So he talks to her father. And the father says no problem. You have to work 7 years. That's a dowry. 7 years old I will give you Rachel. Man worked like a slave for 7 years.

And finally the wedding day. Oh what a wonderful day. I remember that day. I was a handsome movie star. But do you know what happened? Jacob wakes up in the morning. And suddenly he discovers that he is married to the wrong woman.

And you might say. How is that possible? Don't worry. You don't have to understand that. But he gets angry. And he goes to Laban. What have you done to me? I am a crooked girl. She can't see you in the eye.

You cheated me. And Laban says. Son calm down. Don't get so excited. No problem. I think Laban was an Indian. No problem. What do you mean no problem? You want Rachel? Okay you can have her. Yes? Oh just one small condition.

7 more years you have to work. Poor Jacob. It's one thing to take care of dumb sheep. But taking care of father in law sheep is worse. He wants nothing. 7 more years you have to work. But the bible says.

All those years look like just one day. Because he loved Rachel. That's the secret. My brothers and sisters. This world is very confusing. Church is confusing. Christian theologians are confusing. Did you know there are more than 1000 books written on the book of Acts alone in the English language?

We have a library for our main seminar in India. In the library. We have now nearly 200 ,000 volumes of books. People study there for BDL and PhD and all that. But it's all based on one book. On one subject.

The Lord Jesus Christ. That's all. How confusing this world can get. I don't think you will live a thousand years and find the answer how to live this life. So I pray with you to learn of Jesus. Sit at his feet.

Be with him. The word is given to help us for that. But there is no shortcut except time with him. A million people can tell you a million things to do. They all mean well. But ultimately the answer to all what you are longing for is Jesus.

Living in the Light of Eternity

So the next few minutes my subject is living in the light of eternity. And you only saw this illustration from Francis Chan. And you heard from the Lord of God Luke. And all I just want to leave just a few thoughts.

That hopefully will encourage you to live the rest of your life for Jesus. If you have your Bibles will you please turn to Psalm 73. And this is the personal diary of a man's journey. He's a good man.

He's a righteous man. But in the early part of that chapter. He says God is a good God. And he's good to those of pure heart. Verse 2. But as for me my feet had almost slipped. Psalm 73 verse 2. He said I don't know how I will make it.

My heart I almost gave up my faith. And he says the reason for it. He says I looked around. May I say this in contemporary our problem? The Calvinistic theology. The Albanian theology. The American charismatic theology.

And the Catholics. And the Baptists. I don't know what to do. Now the hard cry gathering. That's a nice logo. Two people are kissing there. Is that all? That's it? Is that all? That's cool. I think I want to steal it.

And so we are surrounded. Then my social media, the internet. And then we get confused. He says I just don't know what to do. And then in verse 13. He says to himself. This is a diary he is writing. Surely in vain how I kept my heart pure.

And in vain how I washed my hands in innocence. And he is praying and in turmoil. Last night after meeting. Yesterday after meeting. A young man came to me. I was walking to the place I am living. So he called from behind.

And he wanted to talk to me. And he said can I ask you a question? There was not much light. I could not see him clearly. But I could sense his sincerity. He said I am living with such guilt and condemnation.

And inner pain. And my memory calls back all the things of the past. Obviously he is not doing anything wrong now. He is not doing anything wrong now. He loves the Lord. But he said I feel like so small when I look at me.

I feel so terrible. What do I do? Is there an answer for my internal crisis? I just told him. I said brother. The Bible says. We overcome him by the word of our testimony. I asked him. Is God your enemy?

Does God condemn you? Does God make you feel guilty? Does God accuse you? Obviously he knew all the answers. No. I said the devil is the accuser of the brother. I said this is what you should do. Next time you feel like that.

You open your mouth. And say these words. In the name of Jesus. Through the word. And through the blood. I reject these thoughts. And demons. I reject your suffering. I am forgiven. I am cleansed. My God remembers my sins no more.

I said you say that a thousand times if you need. I did study psychology. I have studied counseling. I have studied counseling. I can tell you. Tomorrow you come and talk to me five hours. And give me all the one, two, three, four systems.

But in the end. So it's Jesus and his promises. And so this man is in trouble. He says internal strife and conflict. I just can't handle. Then if you go to the Bible. Look at the next verse. Verse sixteen.

When I tried to understand all this. It was oppressive to me. That's a mental problem. You are trying to pray. You feel like you are boiling down with your own problems. All the things you are not doing or should have done.

You wish you were a better husband. Better wife. Better parents. Because there are so many books people are writing about it. By the way. A bunch of those books are just words. The reality is it's a real battle.

But then.

He says okay, okay.

I tell you what. I'm tired trying to figure this out. And the second part of verse sixteen. Till I. Or verse seventeen. Till I enter the sanctuary of God. Then. I understood. The presence of our Lord.

And He is not dead. He still speaks. Holy Spirit is alive. Jesus is living in you. And He is with you. And He is going ahead of you. Today it is so confusing. You don't know five years from now. But He has gone ahead of you.

He is preparing all the roads He must give you on. The good and the bad and the pain and the people who hate you. Love you. Everything. Finally. This man. Make a confession. Verse twenty five. Who have I.

In heaven but you. And on earth. I deserve nothing. And no one beside you. What made Jesus come to this earth? Love. What made Jesus to suffer? Love. What made Jesus go back to heaven? Because He loves us.

Why did He send the Holy Spirit? To tell us about Him. And He is waiting. For us to come home. Some years ago. Somebody gave me a birthday present. It's a copy of a painting. I imagine you may have seen it too.

It's a beautiful picture.

It is the picture when Christ comes back. And the background canvas is the clouds. And the common look of Jesus you see Him. With a beard. And His robe. And then you see in this picture. He is hugging someone.

And the man He is hugging. Or the man hugging Jesus. Can I demonstrate with you? Put the mic down. You need Jesus. You are not, but you need Jesus now. That's where the picture is. And you see Jesus' arms around this man.

And when you see the face of this man. It's a prowler. He's been on a long journey. He's tired and weary. There's no more energy left in him. He may have fought all the demons. All the flesh and the world.

All the enemies around him. He's just weary. And the image you have. Jesus is waiting for Him. And He just collapsed on the floor next to Jesus. And from the face of Christ. It is like He's saying. I couldn't wait to see you.

You are home. Don't cry anymore. You are home. That's what made Him survive and live on earth. The Apostle Paul always been my hero. I studied and read hundreds and hundreds and thousands of hours on his life.

And I wrote books about it. And I read 2nd Timothy, I don't know, a million times. That's an exaggeration. And I find myself sitting at his feet all the time. Because he's saying to me, follow me as I follow Christ.

And 2nd Corinthians I read every 6 months. Because 1st Corinthians is about the structure, the order of the judge. And 2nd Corinthians is about those who take care of the body of Christ. Because it is a personal diary of Paul's life.

Shipwreck and hatred and nakedness and hunger. Abused, accused. Forsaken by co-workers. And you know his life. 30 years on journey. You ask what made him to live on earth like this. The secret you find maybe in 2nd Timothy chapter 4.

He was just going to be killed. So he writes his last letter to his son in faith, Timothy. And he says, my son, my time has come to an end. I'm ready to go. And now there's a crown that waits for me. Not only for me.

But all those who love his son. But on all those who have seen the appearance of Christ. And so I ask Paul. Paul, how did you live on earth? And then he would say, in the light of eternity. Paul, what do you mean eternity?

He says, I was just looking forward to seeing him. So he sent me there, I go. He sent me to prison, I go. And the prophet speaks and say, I'm going to be weak now. You need an axe to kneel. He says, but then Jesus says, don't worry, go to Jerusalem.

All those problems are going to happen. I'm just following him. And all I want is finally when the car stops, I can get out and here I am. I was born and raised in a tiny village in that tiny state in the extreme southern part of India.

A Mother's Prayer and a Life Given to the Gospel

And I had the privilege to be born in a Sri Lankan Christian home. And when I was eight years old, my mother explained to me about giving my heart to Jesus. And I didn't have any big sins to confess. And she said, Jesus gave his heart to me.

And she said, Jesus gave his life for you. If you ask him, come into your heart. And my mother was a very godly individual. She was about four feet, maybe two, three just tall. With a very small frame.

But incredibly bright eyes. And she loved Jesus. And she has seen many miracles. And she has six children. I'm the youngest in the family. And when I was a small boy growing up in my home, I used to hear her say these words, I didn't know where it come from.

It was like she was spaced out. It means like she was in some other world. That's one of those American strange words. Yeah, thank you. And she was talking to someone. But I used to watch her and say, who have I in heaven but you, oh Lord.

And there's nothing and no one I deserve beside you. And I didn't understand that. When I grew up, I only used the Bible. And early morning, sometimes, you know, three, four, she's up. Everybody's sleeping but she's up.

And she'd leave the bedroom and go to the middle where the family gathered for family prayer. And she would put a mat on the floor and sit there on the mat, with a shawl on her head, and she'd be praying two, three hours every morning.

And then about 6 .30 or so, she'd wake up all the kids for family prayer. I never saw her reading anything else other than the Bible. I never knew she ever left my tiny village. But she loved him so much.

And my father was a very righteous man. But I don't think he ever understood my mother. He was a good man. But she was a strange individual living in a hole. She was lost in a different world. And I remember this.

When I finished my high school, and I said to my parents, they would allow me, I'd like to go and serve Christ. She was sitting by the dining table on the bench. Before I could finish my sentence, she jumped up!

Go! I thought she hates me. But I was the accident. She couldn't wait to get off me. I joined Operation Mobilization and went off to North India. Yeah, youth movement. I went to North India. After two years in North India, sometimes got beaten up.

Persecuted. Driven out from villages. No, I was not a great evangelist. Just learning what it means to follow the Lord. After two years, I came home. Traveling back 2 ,000 miles. And I remember she said, I will tell you a story that you do not know about.

She was cooking in the kitchen. She said, come and sit down. She said, you remember.

The day you came and said you'd like to go and serve God? Yeah, mother, I remember that very well. You hated me! She said, son, you don't know that. Here's a story. She said, I prayed.

All the years of my life that one of my sons will go and serve God. One by one they were doing farming and business and all that. Somehow I was losing my hope. And then you were growing up. Skinny. Timid.

Shy. I lost all my hope. She said, that's when I decided to fast and pray. Three and a half years, every Friday she fasted for one subject. One day, Jesus called one of my sons to serve you. And then you said that.

I knew God answered my prayer. Now you know how my life is and what impact I had on my life. In August 1990 I was flying from the United States to South Korea to speak at a conference. When I got to Bombay I heard my mother was taken in with a heart problem to a hospital.

My father passed away so earlier. So I canceled my trip and went down to South to be with my mother. She was 84. In the morning at 6 .15 and 6 .30 she passed away. Possibly the saddest time of my life.

I never forget looking at my mother's face as she was lowered into the ground. And I said goodbye. The following day my brothers and I we gathered together to talk about our mother. And all of her sons would give her whatever she wanted.

She lacked nothing. But the problem was we didn't see her spending the money. So during the discussions someone asked the question does anyone know how much money our mother left in the bank? So one of my brothers pulled out a notebook and he said I found this under the pillow of our mother's bed.

And I was terribly curious. What is that? And he tore the pages. He said pages after pages a scribbling of our mother's hand. Names of dozens of people some studying the Bible school some on the mission field.

And there's each name the amount of money she was sending to them. And he said there's nothing in the bag. And I began to cry. And not because there was no money in the bag. Because two years prior to her death I was visiting my village.

I saw my mother wearing the cloth that was torn from here to here from the blouse. And it was hand stitched. And I was hand stitched again. In America you call it Mickey Mouse Jaw. And I was so angry.

I said mother what's wrong with your head? What's wrong with you? Don't you care about your sex? Don't you care about the world of the Bible? You're putting cow dung on our head. You're putting cow dung on our face.

You know preachers can get really angry. And after I finished my preaching she looked at me with an incredible smile and said these words. My little boy you don't understand nothing. Someday you will understand.

Nothing else she would say. Here I am sitting in the room. She walked back to the room with her arms around me and said son you are a hero. I could have purchased a brand new dress every month. I could do anything like anyone else.

But that is not the end of the story. In her last will she left with the sons. When I'm dead and gone the only thing I will leave behind is my earrings my wedding ring and the gold chain my husband gave me when he married me at the age of 18.

Sell these items and give the money to preach the gospel among people. They never heard my Jesus name. I want to leave them also in heaven. That was my mother. Her husband didn't understand her. None of her sons understood her.

None of her friends knew her. You think she is now with Jesus saying oh I wish I lived for myself a little more. If she could talk to me she would say son keep going. You are a stranger and a pilgrim on the earth.

Nothing is permanent there on earth. The only thing real is Jesus. Live for him. I cannot give you one, two, three, four, five, six things you should do. But the Holy Spirit came to lead us to him. And I plead with you for two things.

Loving Jesus and Reaching the Lost

Fall in love with him again. Learn of him. You are going to see him someday. Make every decision you make in the light of a hundred years from now. Be spiritual. Be silent more than talking. Don't worry much about what people think about you.

It's only important that he knows you. That you know him. Secondly, live your life to see others come to Christ. For this Jesus died. And today you and I are called to reach this great world. For my mother it was her personal journey.

For you, you must find that.

And nothing in this world is important. The only thing you take with you are the souls.

That you prayed for and gave your money, gave your life, and gave your time to come to Christ. And may the Lord give you grace. And I appreciate you praying for us. We just got one thing on our mind to know him better and reach the lost world.

But there are still two big things we need to hear about Jesus. How can they believe unless they hear about him? Pray for us. And pray that the Lord give us understanding about our future here in Europe.

Let us pray. Dear Jesus, we want to thank you for this evening. Thank you for these precious, beautiful days of fellowship and learning. Lord, I pray you bless this great movement that you raised up. Lord, let revival start here in the Netherlands.

Use these, my brothers and sisters, to that end. Help us to live for you. Thank you for your grace. In Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you again.