Christ’s Call to Follow in His Footsteps — K.P. Yohannan
This message is a partially transcribed excerpt from an original message spoken by K.P. Yohannan, the founder and president of Gospel for Asia, a mission organization involved in evangelism and church planting in the unreached regions of Asia The full message is titled: “Christ’s Call” and can be viewed here.
What I am here to tell you that the call of Christ is not just to be informed but do something about it. You are bombarded with information. You get enough spiritual information in one week that all of China and India, people don’t get in five years. How blessed we are. But lets not fool ourselves because you got people coming here, large numbers, you’ve got nice building, lets not fool ourselves. That don’t mean we are impacting the world!
Nearly three billion people live on planet earth that never heard the Name Jesus. I tell you what, many years ago I went through a crisis in my life. The crisis was this – I wish I could believe there is no hell. Because I was so getting desperate if hell is real I must do something more than what I was doing with my life. But I tell you what – I went to the Bible, just like you read, and came to the conclusion hell is real. There is a place, and hell is not for a vacation for two years, ten years, like they put prisoners for murdering for ten years, twenty years.
No sir. Hell is forever! And after ten billion trillion years those in hell will scream saying “I want to die! I want to die!” That’s all. Not even for a drop of water. They just want to die. And the answer comes again and again and again – “You shall never die, you will never die.” That is the fate of multiplied billions on planet earth.
But how we need to realize we are headed toward eternity and that is not a thousand miles away from now, it is next minute. And Jesus lived like that.
1 Peter 2:21 – “To this you were called because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His footsteps.”
He left His example – He suffered for you, leaving you an example that we should follow in His footsteps. The reason why we in America with all the teaching, all the music, all the stuff going on, our lives are shallow – still struggling with sin, and struggle in our private thought life, with things you know not pleasing God, and a lack of victory in your life, lack of authority of God in your life, seeking to please men rather than God, ever so busy we can’t be quiet – in the car, in the shower, in the room, everywhere we go, we have to be kept busy because we are a restless people.
Why is it? Why is it? It is simply because we do not want to accept the cross of Christ into our lives. Cross means self-denial, giving up our own wishes and dreams for the sake of the cross. For the sake of Calvary. And that is what we are missing here. That is the reason with all the stuff we miss so much of reality.
When will we learn – what does it take for us to learn – call of Christ for us is as the Father have sent Me, so send I you. You are my hand, you are my leg, you are my eyes, you are my ears, you are my tears, you are Mine – go into the world and touch the poor, the needy, the lepers, the dying and the hurting and the ones going to hell and grab them and rescue them. That is the call of Christ. The call of Christ is to die not to live. You must by the grace of God make a decision – that Lord I want approval from You and no one else. So much of Christian work originates in the flesh and carnality. “Lord I only want your approval.”
I know those are strong words – unless you are sensitive to the Lord, you can easily misunderstand. We have a problem in America, in our church – we misunderstand obedience for legalism and bondage.
I’m telling you, I’m telling you – the day is soon coming you will regret and repent – too late will it be over the debased life we spent for ourselves here. The world out there that do not know Jesus and our priority number one, number one must be – “Lord I love you and out of that I give all to touch the lost world.”