Road to Reality - Clothed in Humility — K.P. Yohannan

A truly humble person is hard to find, yet God delights to honor such selfless people as we'll see next on the Road to Reality. We all get dressed before we start our day or go off to work. In fact, some of us have a particular uniform that's vital to the job that we have.

And in that sense, it's necessary to function correctly. Likewise, in the Christian life, there's also a particular clothing we need. Welcome to the Road to Reality with Brother KP Yohannan, founder of Gospel for Asia.

The Christian Life Requires Humility

Today we're going to bring you a message called Clothed in Humility. Brother KP will share some thoughts on the need for humility, and here he is to explore 1 Peter 5 and verse 5 with us here now.

You know, there are only a few things that are cardinal, that really, really matters. When you take the human body, obviously the heart comes as the number one thing on the list when you talk about health, especially when you hear of the number of heart attacks and people dying left and right and all those things.

Of course, kidney is another organ that is significant. If you could kidney stones, you know what that means. And when it comes to knowing the Lord, serving God, to be known by Him may be more significant, more important.

To have the absolute assurance when I talk to God, He hears me, He understands me. What is it that one thing on the top of the list when God looks upon this whole thing? Is it absolute, perfect knowledge of all the doctrines, radical commitment to fundamental evangelical faith?

Is it someone who is so given over to full of zeal for world evangelism? Or to have absolute integrity, say the most perfect individual in every way of their dealings? You can go on and say many more statements like that.

But to me, after this conscience journey I made, at least from the age of 16 until now, to me there is nothing, nothing, nothing more significant in this whole world as far as God is concerned. It is humility.

Christ's Humility and the Call to Follow Him

I don't know how many times I read through this and studied this and learned my Greek and Hebrew and everything else with it. Because the whole book has to do with redemption, nothing else. And Adam, the first Adam, he lost and the whole humanity lost through the independent spirit and choosing his own way.

And the second Adam, Christ, came to redeem mankind and he did it by saying, not I will. And describing himself, the only place Christ talked about who he is, his nature, you only find in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 11, toward the end he says, I am humble.

And therefore, come and learn of me. If you understand the verse correctly, he says, you cannot understand me, you cannot follow me, you cannot become like me, you cannot be part of my world, you cannot be mine unless you bend your neck and take your yoke upon you.

And I will not force it on you, that means you give up all your ways and take my yoke. For I am broken and humble. What is it that's going to make it possible for the living God to come to our aid? To go the extra mile to answer our prayers?

Repentance in Israel and Nineveh

You see, in the Old Testament, the children of Israel did some dumb, stupid things, although they saw God's work and his mercy and everything. But then you'll find them again and again, like in the book of Judges, end up in trouble.

And in their trouble, they cry out to God, beat upon their chest and weep and lament, say God, we messed it up, please. And then says, and he saw their condition and their tears, and he rushed to their help.

He said, I will not forget you. And you'll find this constantly, like the people at Nineveh, God said, I'm going to wipe these people out. I mean, there's no way I can walk away from it. But all of a sudden, after God made his decision, said, Jonah, go and tell these people, I'm going to wipe them out, just a few days.

And all of a sudden, they started repenting and humbling themselves. And God says, I'm going to change your mind. And he did change his mind. And Jonah got upset. And he says, you know, God, I knew this exactly what you will do.

This is the reason I ran away. There's this verse in the book of 1 Peter that I want you to look at. 1 Peter, chapter five, verse five, and starting from the middle of that verse, all of you, all of you, clothe yourself with humility toward one another.

Because God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourself, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time, on due season. When I'm at the airport, especially Frankfurt, there's a 10 million, jillion airline landing they're going.

But I'm on Lufthansa. And if I want to get some answer from Lufthansa, you know what I'm looking for? Somebody in the Lufthansa uniform. I know how excitedly they look. I don't need to look at their face.

I don't look at their hand, their hair. All I need to look, what they're wearing. When you're on train station in India, you've got too many suitcases to carry. You look for a coolie or a porter. How do you find them?

They walk around in this red uniform with a badge and usually a red turban. You cannot miss them. You need someone to help. Here in Carleton, you're stuck on the road. Well, you look for a policeman, hopefully.

And you can find him, not in civilian clothes. You can find him because he's wearing a uniform. And we are told here to dress up, to clothe ourselves in humility. That means young and old, Christian worker who is doing Christian work 50 years, somebody who just started, all of you, everyone, we are told to make a choice.

Not imposed upon us. I have to make a choice. And that is something God will not do for me. If God were to humble somebody, then it's a whole different ballgame. And he does that with some people. But here, my choice is, by the way, humility has nothing to do with the outside appearance.

Humility Is a Matter of the Heart

You know, somebody can walk around like a sad donkey, you know, saying, I'm nobody and I can... No, I think it is much more serious. God is looking on the attitude, our heart's condition. Pharisees who were militant in their doctrinal commitment, and they walked around with such holy face.

So humble, I've been praying and fasting, can't you see me? And the Lord said, you guys are going straight to hell. Because their heart was so full of pride and arrogance about who they are and what they believe and how much they do for God and on and on, things like that.

And I think you know this very well. Jesus spoke more harsh words to these people than anybody else. And the reason I think the Lord is telling us, humble yourself and submit yourself under the mighty hand of God and clothe yourself with humility.

I think it is so significant because God is desperately longing to demonstrate His authority, His power, His grace and His mercy to people on earth through those who are willing to come close to Him. And the only way we can get close to Him is through changing our attitude and humbling ourselves.

You're listening to Brother K .P. Yohannan here today on The Road to Reality. We'll return to K .P. and his message, Clothed in Humility, in just a moment. If you're not familiar with the mission work the Lord is doing through Gospel for Asia, please stop by our website.

And while you're there, request your free copy of K .P.'s latest book, No Longer a Slumdog. On page 65, this is what he writes. He says,. Over and over again in Scripture, we recognize God's heart for those who have no voice, for the captives and the oppressed.

There is a divine passion for them, a heavenly desire for their well-being, because God prizes them highly and His heart breaks to see them suffer. This eye-opening book will lead you into some of the darkest corners of the world and testify to how hope is growing in the hearts of the suffering children of Asia.

Receive your copy by going online to winasia .org, that's winasia .org, or call 866-WIN-ASIA. That's 866-WIN-ASIA. Friends in Canada, call us at 888 -946 -2742 or log on to gospelforasia .ca. And now, let's return to Brother K .P. Yohannan for more thoughts on our need to be clothed in humility.

Humility Before God in Suffering and Prayer

There may be some pain and difficulties and all that. So what? Who really cares in the end? Because God's ultimate plan is not to rescue me right now from all the bad stuff and the pain and the ill reputation or whatever.

His concern is none of this stuff. His concern is finally when I see Him face to face, in what shape I'm going to be. More like Christ or more like myself. And so, I think when you pray for stuff that we talk about, I can assure you, the Lord will answer those prayers because you come before Him with the understanding, I'm totally helpless without you, Lord.

We are helpless without you. But here's the interesting thing, as we talk to God about these matters, you know what? He turns around and answer your personal prayers. And finally, Job stopped defending himself and arguing about his innocence.

And he was right. I mean, he was totally innocent. All his accusations, fronts made toward him. And finally, he sees God. He says, oh no. Then he says, I am lost. Then God said, all right. This is the end of the story.

I will bless you. But before that, Job should pray for his friends. I mean, this takes humility. So, there is something more sacred, more sobering, more important than being righteous. Even proclaimed by God, the most righteous man on the whole earth.

And that is coming to the place saying, I'm a nobody. I'm lost. God, I see myself, how wicked I am. And then my willingness to forgive and forget and pray for those people who just tortured me, saying, God, please bless these guys.

And the Lord turns around and blesses Job. I can assure you, as we come before the Lord, as broken, humble, needy people, look like he take bigger steps to get to us. When we pray, as a prayer warrior, I think my imagination, he takes more steps.

But when he sees someone who is crying and lost and helpless, and the idol of heart, he says, well, I'm going to get to them very soon. And this is how I think God works. And may we learn in our own individual life about the meaning of this verse.

God resist the proud and give grace to the humble. And I thought about it, which is a serious thing. I did some reading on this thing, by the way. When God resist, opposes, it should mean he comes and squash somebody and kill somebody.

I mean, he can just snap the finger and destroy the whole earth. He can do that. But somebody who's living with pride and arrogance and lack of humility and a haughty attitude, it seems nothing happens to them just like that.

They're walking around healthy and strong, like Psalm 73, you read about that. There's nothing wrong with these people. But I was thinking through the scripture about individuals. And I saw something that is quite strange.

I wouldn't say interesting, but frightening. That is, it seems God removes his grace, first of all. And then all of a sudden, the powers of darkness, they got a hair day. And how the enemy work with individuals slowly, but surely, their heart become hardened.

The Signs of Spiritual Pride

They become cynical. The glow in the eyes and the grace is no more there. The smile and the joy no more is there. And then people wonder what on earth happened. There's no way to put the finger on this thing.

There was a time like you take a ball of honey and then flies and ants just crawl all over the place. But now it's look like the same plate, same ball has, it looks like honey, but nothing is coming near.

The sweet, precious honey turns into bitterness and it's deadly. Have you seen non-individuals, you just want to be near them. You just, there's something about it that watch a man talk about the spirit.

It is not the external thing, just something about it. There's nobody explain it. There's something that gives out. But then I know individuals over a period of years, something happened. This is no more joy in being near them.

Unless you become like them, the gossiping, the carnality, and the evil talk, and the things of the world, and all other bunch of things. And you say, I used to be so close to that person. It's just so wonderful, so beautiful, so nice fellowship.

Like they would cry it out. Oh, how you and I went to the house of God as one individual. And then what happened to you? I began tonight by saying, you can be a Christian or serving God for 30, 40, 50, whatever years.

You've been, you sacrifice or whatever else you did. There is no guarantee tomorrow you will not fall apart. And God takes grace and you become hardened and cynical. And I'm saying that because I know this is my own story.

It can happen. How do I know if this is happening? Maybe a few statements would become a test. When our hearts are becoming proud and stubborn and resisting, and the grace is going to slowly, we're going to lose.

These are some more things that we can watch for. Focus on the failures of others. Our self-righteous have a critical fault-finding spirit. Look at own life falls with a telescope, but others with a microscope.

Look down on others. These are the signs of person, individuals, a man, a woman that is losing. Our proud, they have independent, have a self-sufficient spirit. They want to be in control, must have their way.

They have to prove that they are right. They have a demanding spirit, my way or no way. Our self-protective of time, rights, and reputation are driven to be recognized and appreciated, are wounded when others are promoted and they are overlooked.

They think, quote, the ministry is privileged to have me, unquote. Think what they can do for God. Feel confident in how much they know. Our self-conscious keep people at arm's length, are quick to blame others, are defensive and criticized, are concerned about what others think.

Work to maintain image and protect reputation. Find it difficult to share their spiritual needs with others. Have a hard time saying, I was wrong. Would you please forgive me? Have a hard time saying, I made a mistake.

Wait for the other party to come and ask for forgiveness in a conflict. Compare themselves with others and feel deserving honor. Are blind to their true heart condition. Don't think they have anything to, anything on which to repent.

They don't think they need revival. They think everybody else does. So it is hard enough to live in a home with your own brothers and sisters, your wife and husband, a small four or five, six people. If you think that is not true, you look back and think about the rivalry, the fight, the conflict.

Humility and Unity in Christian Community

You know, I remember growing up in my home. My brothers and I used to fight almost every day for something. If that be the case, please don't be so foolish and stupid to think that in a group like this, people that come from everywhere in the world with the most weird, crazy backgrounds.

Some from dysfunctional families, some from terrible situations, and some from, you know, well-mannered homes and backgrounds. And we are a bunch of weirdos all brought together in one place. Can you imagine what or not it's going to take for us to live in such love and perfect unity, care for one another, willing to die for one another?

What it's going to take? All of you clothe yourself with humility, thinking about others better than us. And that, I believe, is the way we can survive. And that, I believe, is the guarantee. Whatever we ask him for, he will run and say, I'm there for you.

And so it's my responsibility to choose how I think about me and about you. And it's your responsibility. Some corrections you've made, you can do that. Take a split second, say, Lord, here I am. You know, a lot of things that we fight about and argue about, God cares nothing about it, really.

He's more concerned about our heart condition. I think God is so grieved when he sees somebody who's right, but wrong in the spirit. That's all about. I had to repent more times when I knew I was right.

But the way I said things and my spirit was wrong. And often I was convicted enough by the Lord that I would not even say, you know what, I told you I was right. Please understand it. But the way I said was wrong.

No, I said, just forgive me. I have done wrong. That's all. That's all it is.

You've been listening to The Road to Reality with Brother K .P. Yohanan, founder of Gospel for Asia. And we've been listening to a message from Brother K .P. entitled, Clothed in Humility. Before we leave you today, we'd like to share with you a way that the Lord can use you to transform a village.

For just $30 a month, you can help support a Gospel for Asia supported national missionary. You see, these national missionaries have few or no cultural barriers to overcome, and they can readily share God's love with those that have never heard it before.

Read some amazing true stories and gripping testimonies from these missionaries and learn how you can help at WinAsia .org. And if you'd like to reach us by phone, for whatever reason, here's where to call.

866-WinAsia. That's 866-WinAsia. For those in Canada, you can call us at 888 -946 -2742, or go online to gospelforasia .ca. Now, that's going to do it for this week, but we trust you'll be back with us next week at this same time and on this same station.

The Road to Reality with K .P. Yohanan is brought to you by Gospel for Asia.