I Made You for Eternity — K.P. Yohannan

For me, this is a very special day to be here and Pastor Mark and the elders, brothers and sisters, I thank you for inviting me to come to this church. And we travelled by train to this place yesterday.

And the first time I travelled by tube, not yesterday, but in London. I never knew what tube was, now I understand what it is. And I look forward to coming back here again in the future. We have quite a lot of God's people, good people that are part of our ministry in reaching the lost, especially in many of these Asian nations.

Missionary Partnership and Reporting God’s Work

And you are part of that. So in some ways, my coming here is to report to you what God is doing through your prayers and your partnership. It should make you happy. In the book of Acts, we find as missionaries are sent out and helped, once in a while they come back and share with the body of Christ what God is doing.

So I hope the things I will share with you somehow will encourage you also as much as challenge you to some extent to do more and to walk with the Lord closer. I am careful to speak slow. My native language causes me to speak very very fast.

So I tell myself, go slow, otherwise they will not know what you are talking about. And anyone has difficulty understanding my English? Good, thanks, thanks. I am glad Brian is here, who represents our work here in the UK.

Also, Reverend Wendell Latham is here also, a Canadian director, because he is part of the board here in the UK, so he also flew in. And we all are happy to be here. Would you turn your Bibles to the Gospel of John, the passage we read?

Scripture as Practical Instruction for Christian Living

Just want to briefly look at this. As you turn your Bibles to this passage, let us keep in mind for our today's discussion that Bible is a very practical book. As a matter of fact, Bible is given to us not for us to gain lot of knowledge and understand all the doctrines, although they are wonderful, but it is for us to live by.

And Jesus picked up twelve disciples, training them for three and a half years, and then he will leave them to go and change the world. And Thomas, one of Christ's disciples, came to India in AD 52, preaching the Gospel and planting seven churches.

Would you believe if I told you that one of the churches he planted happened to be three kilometres from where I was born and raised in a tiny community in the extreme southern part of India. In America I tell people that makes me a better Christian.

But it was such a privilege for me to be born in a Christian home, where at the age of eight my mother led me to the Lord, explaining what it means to follow him. And Jesus didn't have a seminary or college setting teaching his disciples, but rather as they walked with him, ate with him, they walked around and saw normal things happening in life, he took that which was tangible, understandable, and then used those things to teach them about eternal values.

For example, you are driving on the road and somebody cut in in front of you and jammed the brake, and you just almost bashed into them and you say, hopefully you are not using a curse word then. But you are tempted, then the Holy Spirit reminds you, it was kind of a test I was giving to see if you are growing to have the patience and forgiveness, and to learn the Lord is in control.

You see, this is how God always leads us. And the same thing happens in this passage. You know the famous story of the Samaritan woman. Jesus had to go to Samaria just for her sake and those people. But then, he is sitting at the well, talking to this woman, and the disciples have gone off to buy fish and chips.

It's not quite like that. That kind of tells you, I like fish and chips. One of the reasons I come to England. But obviously Christ was very hungry, so were the disciples. And when they came back and said, Master, please eat.

That's what you read in verse 31. Meanwhile, his disciples urged him, Rabbi, eat something. But he said to them, I have food to eat that you know nothing about. Now, just stop for a second. That's confusing, no?

I mean, they went through all this trouble to buy food and then came back, and you can just imagine they are holding the food in their hands and say, Jesus, would you please eat? I mean, according to the culture and custom, he should start eating first so they can also get their food.

But then he said, I have food. In other words, I already ate. So they are confused. Did someone bring him something to eat in verse 33? And verse 34, Jesus said, you don't understand. My food is to do the will of him and finish his work.

Don't you think it's confusing? He was hungry. They brought food. He said he ate. Then they said, who brought him food? He said, no, my food is to eat and be satisfied with my father. You don't need Greek and Hebrew to understand that.

That is confusing to me. But then, he is taking that which is tangible and explaining to them something eternal. He said, lift up your eyes and see the field. They are white for harvest. While the disciples went off to buy food, Jesus now happens to have this conversation with this woman who didn't know the Father's love and she was on the way to eternity to perish without knowing God.

And that encounter destroyed his appetite. He had no more hunger. And he says, if you understand what I understand, if you can see what I see, you will know what is happening. And my brothers and sisters, I would ask you to think about it.

Seeing Human Need Through the Lens of Eternity

When you read the newspaper about what is going on in Iraq or in Sri Lanka or in India or Bangladesh, a typhoon that wipe out over 100 ,000 people overnight or 30 ,000 children becomes homeless and helpless through tsunami or whatever else happens.

I pray that we will have the same kind of mindset that when we see these things, it will not be just, oh man, look at these people again killing each other. What is wrong with them? No. If you belong to Christ and you are a child of God, you are not supposed to be thinking like somebody else.

But you see something that nobody else can see. That is a reality of people in the light of eternity and how lost they are, how much they are in desperate need. I remember just a few years ago, I was sitting in my office in Dallas in our mission office and my wife Gisela came by and handed this letter to me and said, you want to read this letter.

And I started reading this letter. This is a letter that came from one of our Indian missionary in Northern India. And I was sitting on my comfortable chair reading this letter. By the time I finished reading it, I was no more sitting on my chair.

I was on my knees weeping. And I am sure you are wondering what on earth was in that letter. I will tell you. When he writes this letter, there was a celebration going on by River Ganges in Haridwar in North India.

Now, River Ganges, I do not know if you have ever heard about this river. Hindus believe God sent this river and to find forgiveness of sins, at least once in your lifetime, you must go into the river and wash yourself.

Now, if you want to know the River Ganges and the waters of this river, I can tell you like this. The most polluted, dirty, stinking, rotten water on earth. Tens of thousands of bodies are cremated and they are dumped into these waters.

Often in the morning time you will find dead body just floating. People just dumped it. They believe that is a way of salvation. I have been there. I lived there. And this missionary, this particular week, he was witnessing 35 million people having come from all over the land, going into the rivers for holy bath.

The Missionary’s Encounter With a Desperate Mother

And he writes in the letter that evening when he was coming home, after all day's work of distributing gospel tracts, witnessing and sharing about Christ, he saw a young woman sitting by the bank of the river weeping uncontrollably and pounding upon a chest.

Knowing this is a very serious problem whatever she was dealing with, he writes in the letter, he went to her and asked, what happened to you? Why are you so desperate? Why are you crying like this? Then he writes, she responded saying, you see, we are very poor people.

My husband is ill. He is sick. He can't work anymore. And my sins are so many that nobody knows about. To find forgiveness for my sins and solution to the problems of my home, I have given the best offering I can give to Goddess Ganges.

And she said, my only child, my six month old baby boy, I just threw him into the river. Paragraph. He writes, I sat beside her and explained to her, but your sins are forgiven two thousand years ago.

Jesus died for you. All you have to do is just to believe. God loves you. He didn't make you poor. He is not your enemy. As he explained the gospel to her, finally she wiped her tears and looked straight into his eyes and said these words, why didn't you come to me half hour sooner?

I didn't have to kill my child. It is too late, isn't it? It is too late. And she went back crying again. That is not an exceptional isolated story or event. There are some two billion people live in our generation, heading toward eternity that never heard the content of salvation.

The Christmas story. Yes, they heard Jesus name here and there, maybe some of these people, but they did not know what it means like you and I know. I remember way back in the days I was studying in seminary and pastoring a church in the United States 30 years ago.

The Lost World and the Urgency of the Gospel

One time the Lord gripped my heart and said to me, son, half of the world have never seen one page of the Bible. Look at your library, over seven most expensive leather bound Bible sitting on your shelves.

Books that you purchased that you may never read. But don't you care? And Jesus is asking His disciples, He says, I am not here to train you up and brainwash you and make you a brilliant Pharisee with Ph .D. and all the understanding and theology.

I am here to tell you, Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost. This one woman, her lostness became the window for Christ to see not just one face but multitudes. And I hope this morning and I prayed early morning hours and said, Lord, as my brothers and sisters see my face hear my strange accent they will remember not just me they will remember over a billion people in the land of India over a billion Muslims Afghanistan with 19 million people without one known church in the entire country.

It is estimated less than 2 ,000 secret believers may be in that country. Some 500 ,000 villages in India alone without a church. And I said, Lord, please don't let them forget this. It's not about me but it's about you.

But Jesus said the harvest is now. I grew up in a home where my people are rice farmers. When the harvest time comes I saw my parents and my brothers and my relatives in America they call it acting like the chicken with the head cut off.

You know what that means? Oh, good. That means you are not taking a vacation to Grand Canyon. You aren't going to see beautiful countryside and have a leisure time. No, it's panic. Harvest, you know why?

You let it go for three weeks the monsoon, the rain will come and the entire harvest will be destroyed. And someone said harvest is a fixed time. You cannot say when all my problems are settled I will go and do this.

When my kids grow up and be well off, I will think about mission field and do something about it. When I have more time then I will maybe think about praying half hour, an hour about the people that do not know Christ.

When my retirement schemes everything is so settled that I am secure then I will think about what I can do for God. And then there is a million things you can add to that list but this is not about rice and beans and corns.

It is about I don't know how many of you know this in that part of the world some 80 ,000 people die every single day and plunge into eternity without knowing the Jesus that you know that I know. And this is why we must respond to harvest with urgency.

The Dalits’ Cry for Freedom and the Opportunity for Mission

Well, you know one of the most amazing thing taking place today is the Dalits outcry out of pain and desperation in the land of India. You know who the Dalits are? They are the untouchables. Many of you know that.

Especially English people should know that. In India about close to 300 million people the population comes under the thing called untouchables or caste Dalits. And these people are treated less than human beings in value by the upper caste.

Among some of those people 90 illiteracy abuse rejected, poor, forsaken. And you know what's happening during the last 10 years or so? All over the country the leaders of these people are saying out loud we are sick and tired of Hindu caste system we are getting out of it.

Many of them are going to Buddhism and Islamism but the greatest majority are saying Christian faith is our only hope. You know what that means? If Martin Luther's reformation was significant, it's nothing compared to what we are looking at.

Some people estimate I do not know this is absolutely the way it is going to be but possibly if we respond correctly we may have no less than 100 million people may turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. But what does that mean?

It means Jesus said, look at this he is telling disciples others have done the hard work and you are given a free ride it's all yours go for it that is a privilege the Lord gives us. You know Bhutan is a very small country, Buddhist country but a close country.

It is illegal to be anything else other than being a Buddhist in the country. You can't have a church in the country we have missionaries trained in India from Bhutan and we send them back and I think we have 16 or some fellowships or churches that meet in homes.

I don't think I will ever go and live in Bhutan personally I have never been there myself. Many of my leaders and missionaries go there. We have a Bible college that trains workers for Bhutan. Just recently when I was in Delhi I heard one of the most amazing stories about what happened among one people group.

A Church Planted in Bhutan Through Suffering and Faithfulness

One of our missionaries heard about a group of people living 3 -4 days away from where he was they never had the gospel preached among them so he and his coworkers carried the little projector and the life of Jesus a film that is made in India and literature and whatever they could and they walked and walked and walked finally got to the place to discover the entire community was controlled by one man who was a witch doctor tremendous evil powers he had.

Finally people, everyone looked to him like their God and some people began to teach that he actually is God sent by the Gods to be among them how dark, how hopeless how desperate. And our missionary and his coworkers they set up the film and put up a white bed sheet and start showing the life of Christ and a lot of people came.

But, a miracle that witch doctor and his family showed up sat through the whole thing and so Christ being crucified and buried and resurrected and all the amazing story of the gospel. And when the invitation was given 54 people came forward including the witch doctor and they were baptized publicly.

The first church to be born in a community. A few days later our missionary was arrested and put in jail for doing what he did. But, with some suffering and difficulties the Lord spared his life. But here is the thing someday when I get to heaven I wonder how many people from Bhutan will I be able to meet.

I may be able to hear things like this. KP, oh so nice to see you. I said what do you mean do I know you. Yeah you know us. I will tell you the story. You remember you went to England and you were at this church that you talked about the beautiful building and all these things.

And you talked about harvest and helping missionaries and praying for them and being unselfish and all these different things. And you know it so happened there are few people decided to become unselfish and fast and pray and give their resources.

And some missionaries and couple of those missionaries they supported, prayed for happened to come to our community and they told us about Jesus. They taught us about the ways of God and we came to Christ, the church was born our kids grew up knowing Christ.

We sent them to Bible college and they came to be missionaries and the word began to go forth. And then they might remind me you forgot. Now we see things as though through dark glass. Then we know all things as they are.

What a day that is going to be. So I said to myself as Christ spoke here, Lord those brothers in Bhutan are laying down their life and paying the price and seeing thousands hear the gospel. And Lord. I never been there I never went to live there but thank you for the privilege you gave me to have a part in the harvest.

Gospel Tracts and the Conversion of a Brahmin Man

I remember some of our missionaries sharing the gospel in Rajasthan known as the graveyard of missions. They were preaching and distributing gospel tracts and Bible poetry. And a man in his late 50s picked up a little gospel tract in Hindi language.

He was an upper caste Brahmin. The story is that he was running away from his home to an isolated place to commit suicide kill himself. He had cancer in his body and he lost all hope not to bring shame to his family.

He was running away to end his life. He was on the way. He got this little booklet started reading it on the street first time about the Lord Jesus Christ who loves him and died for him and alive and cares for him.

And all this wonderful story. At the end of the booklet there is a prayer he could pray asking Jesus to come into his life. There on the street the man prayed that prayer and gave his life to Christ. Such peace came upon him.

He felt something happened to him. He didn't kill himself. He went back home and went to the hospital and said doctor I don't know what it is but something about it that I feel ok all the sudden I have the energy I am doing well.

Would you give me another check up and see if anything happened. They said well there is nothing we can tell you. Everything we have done we could do we did for you. There is nothing more to do he said but please would you.

And they checked him up down everywhere possible said whatever happened we don't know. You were sick dying but there is nothing wrong with you now. He pulled out the booklet he had in his pocket and said doc this did it.

They thought his screws are loose with the address on the back of the booklet. He travelled to Kota the mission station and tells our brothers there at that time what happened to him. They explained the gospel to him and this man began to cry and said now I know this Jesus is my God.

Then he said I am the landlord in my community. Would he just come and make all my people Christians. He had no clue how this thing work. Couple of missionaries went with him preached the gospel. Dozens of people came to Christ baptized and the church was born.

And the man spent his money and resources to build the first church in the community. But let me ask you how did that all start with one little gospel tract that cost less money than what I pay for a chewing gum.

This is very interesting. I was looking to see if anybody is chewing gum here you go to America almost every congregation you will find somebody is doing this. I am so glad you don't do that here. But the chewing gum cost just a few pennies.

But a gospel tract cost a penny. What a difference it make when you and I begin to look at our time, our resources our pennies, what we spend how we live and conduct ourselves in the light of eternity and how much we can make a difference for others if only we start thinking like this.

Jeremiah’s Warning and the Harvest’s Limited Time

You know there is a verse in the book of Jeremiah that is a very sad verse but it is a very thought provoking verse. The harvest is past and the summer has ended but we are not saved. The harvest is taking place.

The Dalits who are crying out for freedom in one place a few months ago 800 adults got baptized one week all those who came to Christ as they were able to hear the gospel through the little children that we had embraced what we call the bridge of hope centers.

We have some 50 ,000 children 49 ,000 plus children scattered throughout this nation, Nepal children of the Dalits the untouchables where we teach them and train them and feed them and clothe them and more than anything else share with them about the love of Christ and they go and tell their parents and their parents hear the gospel during the weekend when we meet with them.

And what an incredible event that is taking place right in front of our eyes in terms of people coming to know the Lord Jesus Christ. You know we are one of the many missions seeking to reach the lost.

But so happened that we as a mission Gospel for Asia in a very unique place. You know India was one of those nations where William Carey came and thousands of missionaries from England and western nations.

And if you come to India many places you will find the graves the inscription the names of these missionaries and their wives, their children Hudson Taylor and Judson so many people like that and they lay down their lives and their children died there preaching the gospel giving everything they had and what God has done out of their life and sacrifice.

Church came up. But then as the second world war came to an end country after country they refused to let foreigners to come to be missionaries for preaching the gospel and planting churches. But you know what who can stop our God.

God in his incredible wisdom began to raise up men and women in these nations with the same passion. William Carey had same passion the disciples had same passion of Christ himself through the Holy Spirit saying that we will go.

But they happened to be from places where they are poor they don't have the resources. This is where those who have blessed without compulsion and force and guilt trip and manipulation they joyfully choose to share their resources with those who don't have.

And it is our privilege it is our awesome privilege. And I remember after reading the letter that my wife gave on my knees I prayed a simple prayer Lord I surrender my life and all that I have and everything I know that I am to you Lord that I may never again read another letter like this and my brothers and sisters you live in this country and the Lord knows where you are and what you have and how long you live on earth and all these things.

Living for Eternity Rather Than for Possessions

But I urge you to consider something that might help as you make decisions. I went to Germany in 1973 December and spent a little time before going on to the United States. I grew up in India and going to school always always loved fountain pen.

You know what fountain pen is? Real men use fountain pen. Real ink that you put in the barrel and write but this ball point little pens you write and throw it away. I never liked it. So one of my weakness is that I like fountain pens.

So when I went to Germany I found out one of the best writing pen in the world is Mont Blanc. That crazy thing cost lots of money but I bought one. I got one for myself. Now couple of years later I am sitting in Dallas Texas in my own private study one afternoon writing with my Mont Blanc expensive fountain pen.

Strange thing happened. It was asked though the Lord gently spoke to my heart and said son. I said yes hundred years. And now who is going to use this pen. I said what? He said oh I was asking 365 US dollars.

That one pen cost hundred years. And now I didn't want to give it up. But now I knew what he was saying. Half of the world go to bed with empty stomach and naked bodies. I hold on to my life so dearly my books, my clothes my ambitions, my plans and dreams.

But the Lord is saying son I made you for eternity not for time. Don't waste it. Walk away from all this superficial things. I didn't throw my pen away and he didn't ask me to. If I did I would have done it.

I did a lot of things most stupid things that people think I am really crazy. The Lord told me walk away from it and I did. But I ask you today how many more years you have left here on earth. Add hundred years to your present age.

What other people think about you. How you look. What car you drive. How much money you have in the bank. Your life is his and he longs longs for you to be his so he can touch the lost world and bring them to him.

If that be the case I encourage you to think about the most incredible opportunity the Lord has given to you and given to me right now in this generation to see multiplied millions of people come to Christ in India, China, Bhutan, Burma and Cambodia and these nations where you and I may not be able to go and live there yet according to Romans 10 it says all those who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, absolute.

They only need to say Jesus save us. And by the way every single day our missionaries now see more than 10 churches planted among people that never had a church before. But the Bible says but how can they call upon him in whom they have not believed.

How can they believe unless they hear about him. Then it says how can they hear without a missionary, a preacher going, the last question how can they go unless someone send them so doing God's work, there are two things.

Three Applications for Supporting the Lost World

One, people need to go if God calls you to go, you please go. Don't think about riding the tube the rest of your life here. But I imagine most of you will never pick up your bag and go somewhere in these nations.

But here is the opportunity even though you are here you can absolutely have the privilege to be a sender of brothers and sisters reaching these nations with the gospel. And if that be the case I want to make just a few applications and conclude before Brian comes and take a few minutes to explain about material, books and stuff.

Fasting and Praying for Those Who Do Not Know Christ

One consider taking a day of the week for fasting and prayer for physical reasons, you may not be able to don't worry about it, the Lord understand. But you are praying. Why don't you think about adding another half hour to your daily prayer time not praying, bless my child, bless my grandchild bless my hair and my nose, no pray for some people, groups some need, some opportunity and use television, news magazines and information you hear make it prayer letter and start praying for the lost world.

Even here, make the list of 10 people that do not know Christ your relatives, your neighbors, people you work with your friends, and daily pray over them that they will come to know Christ. You will be surprised.

I recommend just one day for fasting for the lost world and I tell people, you will not die. But if you die, you let me know I will reimburse it. It's the most amazing thing to say no to our flesh and die to self, for his sake.

Ordering Personal Resources Around Eternal Priorities

Second application. You know, I am not here to tell you what house you must live in, and the car you must drive and clothes you must wear, this is nobody's business. The Lord can direct your life. But this much I can tell you I have no right to live the way I want to live in the light of the suffering and the dying millions around me in my generation.

I must be sober minded. Ask the Lord to guide you about how you must spend your resources. If you really need to buy the stuff and do the thing whatever and still speaks when you talk to him. Listen, he will.

Calling the Next Generation to Missionary Service

Number three. Ask the Lord what he will have you do with your life to serve him. Maybe you are old enough that you are not going to pack your suitcase and go somewhere, but you got a son you got a daughter, you got a grandson granddaughter, children.

Why don't you pray that the Lord will call at least one from your family to serve the Lord. My mother prayed three and a half years every Friday fasting that one of her six boys will become a missionary.

She never told this to anyone. And I am the product if the Lord is calling you to serve. I know Brian, our UK leader is looking for people to come and join his staff. You say what kind of people you need.

Your kind of people any kind, God has a servant heart. We will take you and talk to us about that. And the final application. I am here to tell you that there are 8000 brothers and sisters now in our 54 Bible colleges in these 10 nations after three years of excellent training they are sent out to mission fields every year some 2000 graduates go to the mission field in these places.

Sponsoring Native Missionaries Through Prayer and Giving

And what we are asking for would you please pray for some of these missionaries and help them. You say, Brother KP, what does that mean? Well when you go out after the service there is a table out there, there is a little card with a green color like that and what we are asking you to do if you would do this as the Lord directs you, decide to sponsor one or more of these native missionaries from India or Nepal or Bangladesh, any of these places.

And what do you mean sponsor? Well, one, you pray for them, secondly, you send about 20 pounds a month until they plant a church and become self-supporting and when you fill this card all the details are on here when you fill this card and give it to us or send it to us, whatever we actually give you the real photograph profile of that missionary or missionaries and you are the sender of that missionary.

You say 20 pounds can a month can help a missionary to pay rent and have his food and take care of his children and preach the gospel, well, no one or two other people join with you it takes some time, 60 pounds 90 pounds sometimes over 100 pounds because some missionaries got more children than I have.

I have two some of them got five, six the Lord bless them I guess but we want to see them taken care of and your support of the 20 pounds along with somebody else that missionary is able to do the work and within a short time they plant a church become self-supporting, then you don't have to give the money anymore, you can support somebody else and so with the children that we are dealing with and as you do this, you can take home with you today right Brian?

You can take home with you today your missionaries what a deal and you can start praying for them, it is not by compulsion or force but ask the Lord to give you the peace to do that and by the way, when you give your money, every penny you give, all of it go to the mission field for the purpose you gave we don't take one penny out of that for a home office or overhead, we trust God to provide our needs through other sources other than taking percentage from the missionary support and the children support.

But as I close and I say this to you, may the Lord guide you and lead you to understand Him and know His heart and may you listen to Him as He speak and may He give you the grace to obey and follow Him and may His name be glorified and I thank you for listening close, Amen.