In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes that we are living in the last days and the return of the Lord is imminent. He encourages believers to live with a sense of urgency and to be fully committed to the Lord. The speaker uses the example of the apostle Paul, who demonstrated unconditional surrender and obedience to God's will. He highlights the importance of hearing God's voice and following His direction, even if it means going against our own plans and desires.

When the sun is setting, we know that the day is just about over, and perhaps it's a reminder to you to get a few extra things done before nightfall. Well, we are living in the last of the last days, and soon the Lord will return. The sun is setting, spiritually speaking, but what should we be doing and how should we be living with that in mind? Today, on The Road to Reality, we'll turn to Romans chapter 1 and be encouraged by someone who is totally committed to the Lord. It's this sort of unconditional surrender God wants to see in us, as the sun is setting. Here is the founder and president of Gospel for Asia, K.P. Yohanan. Some years ago I was talking to someone who was pastoring a church with over 5,000 members, and the conversation was such about spirituality and all those things. I just asked him, so how many hours he spent preparing for your teaching? He said, oh, no less than 35, 40 hours. You know, being an Indian has advantage and disadvantage. I was quite naive, maybe, but I said, can you please tell me how much time you spend in prayer? Now, I'm not exaggerating this or putting more color into this thing. We are wonderful friends today, by the way. It didn't drive us away from each other, but he said, I wish I could answer your question in a way that I don't feel bad. You see, human relationship requires time and our ability and willingness to die to self and take that 10 days of fasting or five days. We in the evangelical world, we have come to the place that we simply divorced our physical aspect of our body and our mind from spiritual aspect. That mental ascent and understanding theology becomes spirituality. That is the reason why I'm telling you, you, maybe, after years in the ministry, still living this life of dichotomy. You are two human beings. One, you know who you are. Another, you pretend to be. And I think in our life journey, when we come to the place where we absolutely decide, it's no more I, but he lives. And one of the classic words, if you are waiting for me to read a Bible verse, the Bible verse tonight is Romans chapter one, verse one, which, you know, Paul begins that wonderful letter by saying, Paul, a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that word in Greek is doulos. I'm not a Greek expert, but that's little I know enough that is not just a servant. It is basically a slave. And when he met the Lord, when he said, Lord, what do you want me to do? That was not simple, nice statement. It was he resigned from every right to run his own life and make that absolute commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ and never choose to run his own life. Unconditional surrender. You know, in India, I think it's changing now, but when I was growing up, you know, we have this Indian offices. If you ever go to India, some government office, you will find the boss sitting in the room and right outside his door, there's a stool and a man sitting there doing nothing. He's apparently doing nothing. He just sits there. And all of a sudden, inside the bell goes and he jumps up. He goes in and he says, sir, what do you want me to do? What is he on? And he says, go and do it. And he goes and does it. And he comes and sit there again. He's not running around doing whatever he wants to do. He simply waits to hear what the boss says and he does it. And I think this is kind of understanding Paul had. But it's kind of crazy thing. Here's a man who is totally on the move all the time. He was not lazy. But God asked him to do things, more things than most people, but only things he did what the Lord asked him to do. He wants so bad good Asia, but then he had years to hear Paul appreciate. I'm translating this in my language. I appreciate your passion for the lost. You are desperate to get this done. Those people need me so bad. But by the way, my plan is different. Lord, what do you want me to do? Turn around, go the opposite direction. You know why heaven is such a wonderful place? Angels are not running around doing whatever they want to do. The archangel comes, Michael, stands, Father, what you want me to do? He says, go and do this. And they have no agenda of their own. How long Jesus waited in heaven before coming to earth? At least 4,000 years. While the world was in such a horrible condition and a mess, it says, at the appointed time, the prophetic passage in Psalms, lo, I come to do thy will, as it is written of me in the volumes. And when he came to this earth, I just don't understand. Was he less of God when he was 20 years old? That he only became God after he was 30 or 33? To be the perfect sacrifice? Why on earth he must wait 30 years before spending three and a half years talking about the kingdom and healing the sick and calling his disciples and doing things? You have thought about that? You have thought about John's Gospel, chapter 11, where, who was sick? Lazarus, remember? You remember the statement that was made, Martha and Mary sent word, and what did they say to Jesus? The messenger says, Lazarus, whom you love, is sick. There is no request. Please, Jesus, please come and lay your hand on him and heal him. Please rush. His temperature is going up. None of those things. Simple statement. Jesus, the one you love, your affection, your feelings are so attached. They didn't need to plead like many other people did. Please, Lord, heal. No. They knew Jesus was so emotionally attached to this family that all he needed to hear was, Lazarus was not well. He will leave everything and rush. But you know, that didn't happen. And everybody expected for him to run. And Jesus says, my time is not yet come. But then, poor Lazarus dies, he is buried, and he stinks. And then he says, let's go. And they say, Jesus, what on earth are you talking about? He is gone. It's too late. It's been days he's buried, and he just worms all the aid of everything that was there. What must have happened, which I'm not able to experience fully in my life, a little bit I'm learning. And I say this to you honestly. As a human being, he was 100% human being, and 100% God. But he lived as a man. When I hear my son is sick, or my daughter is sick, I'm telling you, with all my rationale, all my objectivity, there's something inside me hurts. You see, we all feel like that, don't we? And Jesus had not very many friends on earth. He just had one wonderful family that he loved so much. They loved him. And he must have said, Father, please, may I go? And this is my imagination. Please don't label me as a liberal or anything like that. Father said, I know how you feel. But the time is not yet. But Father, please, I love him. I'm lonely on earth. I don't have very many people. Please, son, time has not yet come. Yes, Father. And I can bet on it, and I'm convinced. Jesus was deeply in pain when he could not go. How do I know that? It says he suffered and learned obedience in the scripture. It is not the suffering on the cross, the blood on the nail. Please believe me, that is not. Throughout his life, he said not to himself and embrace the suffering to learn what it means to obey his father as a man in everything. So what is the difference between him saying, I can't go now, my time has not come, and a few days later, the father said, son, I want to talk to you. Yes, Father. Yeah, I wanted to go now. But Father, he's dead and gone. Don't worry. My name is going to be glorified. Go. Painting spirituality like this can become confusing, because it's something we think we cannot attain or know. Your son or daughter, they will never know you when they're two years old, when three years old. They get to know you as they grow up. But if they leave home, if they close their heart and they are independent, they will not have a chance to know you. It is not mere obedience. The old covenant is do this, don't do this, do this, don't do this. But the new covenant is not that, because it is not legalism and bondage. The new covenant is we are partakers of his nature. And we learn of his way, such a way, somehow it's a second nature for us to hear the little voice that he speaks. And please don't get discouraged. It's a journey we must make. You're listening to The Road to Reality with Brother K.P. Yohannan. Before we leave you, we'd like to tell you about an excellent resource by K.P. called That They All May Be One. In this easy-to-read booklet, K.P. shares past struggles and offers real-time examples of how to maintain unity. Jesus prayed that his church would be one. And this will serve to help us in that direction. You can order that online at roadtoreality.org. That's roadtoreality.org. And please remember us in your prayers. And as the Lord leads, we would appreciate your support as we continue to help people seek a deeper walk with Christ and reach out to the lost world. Let me also give you our toll-free number, 1-866-WIN-ASIA. K.P. Yohannan has been crisscrossing the globe for the last 40 years, challenging the body of Christ to discipleship and encouraging listeners to reach the unreached with the love of Christ. This has been The Road to Reality.