In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of responding to the needs of the world with compassion and action. He highlights the plight of millions of child laborers and challenges listeners to consider their response to such injustice. The speaker encourages believers to prioritize prayer and fasting for these communities and to sacrificially use their resources to reach the lost world. He also reminds listeners to live with an eternal perspective, making decisions in light of eternity. The sermon emphasizes the need for Christians to be Christ-like in their generation and to be a light and salt in the world.

There's a great deal of confusion surrounding discipleship today. Many people who claim to be under the banner of Christ really don't understand what it means to be a disciple of Christ. Join us for the Road to Reality and learn how to get on the Road of Discipleship. This is the Road to Reality at Ministry of Gospel for Asia. I'm Richard Bews and K.P. Yohannan is our teacher. Today we join him in studio for the third part of his series called to Discipleship. If we belong to Christ, it's important that we realize the seriousness of giving up sin and the world and walking with Christ in simplicity and deep godliness. K.P. is here to encourage us towards complete submission, that's the word, to the Lordship of Christ. Without any doubt, one of the greatest danger Christendom face today is that so much of teaching and explaining of God's word has to do with giving people freedom and liberty to live a life according to the lifestyle or the culture in which they live. In other words, the way scripture is explained often, it is to give us comfort and permission to live like anybody else in our society. Well, if you don't believe me, go to the Christian bookstores and look around and see the number of books and the titles you'll find there. You hardly can find by A.W. Chaucer or the old Puritan writers, people calling for godliness and uprightness, calling us to repent and forsake sin and live holy lives in a wicked and perverse generation. As a matter of fact, teaching on discipleship, radical commitment to Christ and His Lordship is hardly spoken anymore. Well, I'm not knocking on pastors or teachers or you know Bible study materials, but here's the thing I want to ask you. How many years it's been since you repented and gave your life to Christ and got baptized or whatever and you're going to but please let me ask you, how is your life today in the light of the kind of call Christ gave to His followers, loving Him supremely, denying self and forsaking all else to be His, fasting and prayer, brokenness, having a compassionate broken heart for the lost world, saying not to sin and materialism and the pull of the dust for the sake of Christ who paid blood as the price to purchase us. Please don't misunderstand, I'm not after you or anybody else to put them on a guilt trip and bring condemnation on people and you know as a matter of fact you know I am totally opposed to anyone who is trying to be legalistic and bring us under bondage. I'm the one who's been saying forever that we are in the new covenant. If our praying and studying the Bible and doing evangelism, giving money and all this stuff we do because we have to do it, because there's a need out there we have to do it, somebody persuading us, somebody's expectations, we are actually running back to be under the old covenant. The old covenant is do this, don't do that, obey this or you're going to get killed or whatever else. But the new covenant we are called to be partakers of His nature, that is the love of Christ constrains me to do what the Lord wants me to do. I hate sin not because it is a terrible thing, it is a bad thing, no I mean it's true it's bad and terrible but something more sacred and holy, that is I don't want to make the Lord sad, I don't want to hurt Him. Saying goodbye to the follies of sin has to do with Lord I love you so much. So being a disciple of Christ is not simply saying now I'm a wonderful Christian, I'm a part of the church and I do this, I do that, I have a wholesome living and I got good family, everything is wonderful, in the end I'm going to go to heaven. No, the call to discipleship or being a follower of Christ is much more radical than most people realize and that's the reason I prayed with you to read the four gospels and see what kind of thing Jesus talked about for those who follow Him. Go to the book of Acts and read the lives of these Christians, the kind of lives they lived. For example in Acts chapter 17 verse 6 we read about the early Christians, these those who turned the world upside down have come here also. In one translation world revolutionaries have come here also. It is the lifestyle, the character, the nature, the people we are being the light and the salt. They cannot deny it that we represent Christ. Especially how crucial it is my brothers and sisters when you think about two billion people in our generation that wait to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. They never heard His name and I think this friend of mine writing these words is quite appropriate. He says we call ourselves citizens of heaven yet our hearts are caught up in earthly treasures. We sing we are the people of God but we are entertained by the worst of the devil's children and how often this is true. Listen to this we say just confess Jesus as Lord and you are in and Jesus says not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven but only he who does the will of my father in heaven Matthew 7 21. We say just pray this prayer and it is done and the Lord says if anyone would come after me he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me Luke 9 23 and we say oh just come to the altar it will only take a minute. The Lord says make every effort to enter through the narrow door because many I tell you will try to enter and will not be able to. Luke 13 24 and the truth is this Jesus made it painfully clear to the large crowds who were traveling with him that if they wanted to follow him and he simply said you have to hate your father your mother wife and children brothers sisters even their own very life otherwise they couldn't be his disciples. You think Jesus changed his words for this generation that he diluted it and he says now I just want you to be a nice Christian and come to heaven in the end or you think he's saying the same thing to us. Hey please don't get offended I'm not painting a picture of exclusivism or being a hermit and not living in the normal society no we are called to be in our world in the society yet our life of humility and brokenness and simplicity and devoutness to the Lord and our life that is deep in Christ will become the reason for our family members our neighbors people at work and in our society and in many other nations around the world that they will come to know the Lord I never forget the telephone call I got from a lady in California and I said hello and then she introduced herself to me in the end I said you know I just wanted to know I'm paralyzed and I lay in my bed hours but beside my bed there is a world map and about seven hours a day I pray for the different countries of the world then she started rattling off names of people groups and places and all kind of stuff and then she said you know the more I pray the more convinced I become that someday when I get to heaven I'm going to see millions and millions of people from all these nations then she start talking about the revival that will take place the more God in the last days that will take place in the land of India and on and on what a delight what joy to hear someone who is not able to move around but her heart is caught up not in her world of pain and sorrow and difficulties I'm sure life is not comfortable for her but she's lost in a world of wonder and and happiness and excitement and anticipation and someday the joy of seeing the Lord and a world that came to Christ through her prayers and godliness completely submitting to the lordship of Jesus that is actually where our Lord wants us and in just a moment we'll get back to KP Johanan for more encouragement in that regard as you've probably realized though necessary this type of submission is far from easy in order to give us help in this regard brother KP has written the book living in the light of eternity in his uncompromising way KP seeks to impart a solid basis for genuine spiritual growth the book is available on our website roadtoreality.org.uk for a suggested donation of five pounds that's roadtoreality.org.uk all right let's get back to KP now well I am someone who is you know living always with this passion to see the lost world come to Christ but the older I get the more convinced I become that the way we can touch this world is not through money and buildings and all kind of projects and programs rather to see once again true disciples following the Lord and make an impact like those early Christians and early disciples I am sure you heard about the name Jim Elliot here was a young man who was while studying in the university he was so devout to the Lord he saw himself called to live for Christ who gave his life for him I'm sure while many of his friends didn't understand him and they spent the time that they wanted to spend or their money and resources whatever Jim Elliot chose to spend his time with the Lord hours days and finally he heard the call to become a missionary along with a few friends he went to some unreached tribal groups and there he was martyred he laid down his life and he is the one who said he is no fool to give up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose what a fantastic statement but the question is how can we apply that to our life incidentally during one of his meditation time in the book of Hebrews reading chapter 1 verse 7 he maketh his ministers a flame of fire Jim Elliot wrote these words in his diary I quote am I ignitable God deliver me from the dread asbestos of other things saturate me with the oil of the spirit that I may be a flame but flame is transient often short-lived canst thou bear this my soul short life in me there dwells the spirit of the great short-lived whose seal for God's house consumed him make me thy fuel flame of God by the way the last line was quoted from the poem of Amy Carmichael a lady a young woman who gave up all and everything to go to India as a missionary and give her life to rescue the perishing and Jim Elliot must have read the poem that Amy Carmichael wrote here it is this is Amy Carmichael's prayer from prayer that ask that I may be sheltered from winds that beat on thee from fearing when I should aspire from faltering when I should climb higher from silken self oh captain free thy soldier who would follow thee from subtle love of softening things from easy choices weakenings not thus are spirits fortified not this way when the crucified from all that dims thy calvary oh lamb of God deliver me give me the love that leads the way the faith that nothing can dismay the hope no disappointments tire the passion that will burn like fire let me not sing to be called make me thy fuel flame of God I think it is reasonable to say that people like Amy Carmichael or Jim Elliot or tens of thousands of others who followed the Lord and we read about them and we're touched and gripped by their lives and their stories but please remember each of these people they chose a deliberate choosing of the narrow road in their walk of the Lord and that's what I am talking about often we may have a church with two thousand three thousand four thousand people but the community still not impacted still two billion people of the world wait to hear the gospel I think the real issue we had to deal with if Jesus turned the world upside down with a handful of people why can't we see our nation our society turned around I think the problem is people those who say they belong to Christ don't understand the seriousness of giving up sin and the world and walking with him with simplicity and commitment to deep godliness and so when Christ says in Matthew's gospel chapter 16 verse 24 deny yourself and pick up the cross often people misunderstand denying self they think is self-denial no self-denial is you forgo certain foods and pleasures and you know some vacations and whatever else but denying self is complete submission to the Lord for Christ it is not simply I want to escape hell and go to heaven no it is rather understanding that Jesus came not only to forgive us of our sins and take us to heaven but also to set us free from our self-centeredness and this is the reason why often Christians never understand the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ they don't understand the meaning and the tremendous joy of following Christ why because they do not want to accept the cross and the suffering in their life it says in Peter and he suffered for us leaving this example that we may follow in his footsteps oh don't think this is talking about the cross the nails and the blood no no no this is talking about Christ life on earth throughout his life forever and always he said not to himself so that he can do the will of the father read second Corinthians chapter 4 and chapter 6 you will find Paul this follower of Christ he was willing to embrace the difficulties and accept the inconveniences so that he can fulfill the call of God in his life to be Christ like in this generation you say brother KP how how do you explain this for me in my world where I'm living in well think about it you're looking at the television set or reading some magazines or radio you hear stories in Rwanda or Afghanistan or Iraq or the huge tidal wave that hit Bangladesh or some calamity in some place you read about the 14,000 Christians being killed every year around the world for their faith and now the huge persecution going on in Orissa state in India and I mean there's plenty of information just go to the website and look for these things or 180 million child laborers who are living less than you know the life of slavery and slaves and bondage when you read and understand here these kind of information question how do we respond to that could it be that your response would be saying Lord I'm going to take a day or two or three to fast and pray for these communities for these nations I'm going to turn my alarm clock on to wake me up two in the morning so I can spend couple hours on my knees in my living room on my knees praying and crying out to you for these people or is it Lord I made my plans to spend my money on vacation and go here and there and Lord I see the need so much that I'm saying not to myself and what I want I want to spend these resources to touch the lost world there's a thousand ways you can translate that scripture embracing the cross into a practical life for the sake of reaching the lost world by the way this is one of the reason why I encouraged often pastors and churches hey think about sending our young people to our one-year internship here in Dallas we have some 160 some brothers and sisters families children here on our staff and you know we open our doors for 15 20 young people to come here for a year-long internship here they see and touch and understand godliness by living with people who are radically committed to the lordship of Christ and their commitment to reach the lost world they understand prayer because now they pray with the people they understand fasting not because somebody tell them because they see the lives of other people around them they understand godliness because they see examples around them so if you are a young person who finishes high school or her high school and you want to spend a year and come and be here for a year-long road to reality internship we call it I tell you your life will never be the same again and part of the year we send you overseas to some country where you will see the body of Christ and the and the way the lord is working among these people and have a chance to interact with the believers in these other nations so I encourage you in the light of what I've been saying think about making some serious decisions to follow the lord what do you mean serious decisions well maybe you had to say goodbye to the relationship maybe you have to change your plan about your future maybe the lord is calling you to give your life to serve him somewhere whatever it may be if you follow Christ there will be sacrifice there will be suffering in the flesh if somebody else tell you otherwise well it's nice to hear but it is not authentic biblical christianity may the lord give you grace and give you understanding and wisdom to follow the lord especially in these last days and remember 100 years from now nothing really matters we are not here forever so make your life decisions in the light of eternity and do it every day this is the road to reality a ministry of gospel for asia i'm richard pears and i hope very much that you'll join me again next week on the road to reality