In this sermon, Brother K.P. O'Hannon shares a powerful story from the mission field in India. He describes a man who was possessed by hundreds of demons and was chained to a tree for his own safety. The village people would feed him with a stick, as he was worse than an animal. Brother O'Hannon emphasizes the desperate need for hope and salvation in India, where people worship millions of gods and goddesses. He highlights the importance of sharing the story of Jesus with those who have never heard, as the harvest is ripe for salvation.

Next, on The Road to Reality, Brother KP O'Hanlon brings us a true life story of the delivering power of God from the mission field. Stay with us. Welcome to The Road to Reality, the radio ministry of Gospel for Asia. Our speaker is the President of Gospel for Asia, Brother KP O'Hanlon. Now, as Christians, we believe that Jesus came to heal, to preach the gospel, to deliver the demon-possessed. But it's good to have reminders of this truth, and to be challenged afresh to make sure that our priorities in this life are correct. And that's what the next 25 minutes are reserved for. If you've got a Bible nearby, join us. We're in Matthew chapter 7. Here's Brother KP O'Hanlon now for this message entitled, Invest in the Harvest. I want to share with you some thoughts. Hopefully they will become an encouragement to you. And also some things that the Lord may kind of give you as a practical steps to do. Sometimes we make a terrible, terrible mistake thinking that if we know all the things in our head and have goosebumps and feel good about spiritual things, we become godly. It never happens. It is by our obedience through suffering that we become like Jesus. And that is a problem. So tonight I hope there are some things that we look at from the scripture will help you to think in these terms. The gospel of Matthew, we look at this a couple of verses in the gospel of Matthew chapter 9 verse 35. Matthew chapter 9 verse 35. Jesus went through all the towns and villages teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds or multitudes, he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest therefore to send out workers into his harvest field. Then in chapter 10 verse 16, Jesus says, I'm sending you out like sheep among bulls. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Then of course toward the end of the chapter, Jesus makes this very strong statement which he made many times. Verse 37 on simply says, if anyone, if you want to be a follower of Christ, he says you have to love him more than father, mother, son, daughter, even one's own life. It's an absolute statement. You cannot be his follower unless we take this serious. Now to understand that verse, you see verse 36, Matthew 9, when he saw the multitudes or crowds, he had compassion on them. Now think about it. I used to keep a diary, writing my journal, started in 1966. But then, you know, along the way I could, you know, too many other things in life, you know, I never kept up with it. But only when I look at the old pages of this notebook, I say, wow, I can remember this. I can't believe it really happened that I went there. You see what I'm saying to you? But since I stopped keeping the journal, I don't remember very many things, you know. But here is the key. Although I never kept the journal, yet there are incidents, sharp, painful, bleeding, awful experience that etched onto my brain and heart that I cannot forget it. You too, the same. You don't need diary to remember those things. Decades after this incident, now here Jesus and his disciples, they were going around and throughout the villages and towns and healing people, this and that. But decades later, Matthew, when he writes the experience he had with Jesus, something jumps out and grabs him by the throat and shakes him and he cannot get rid of it. What was that? He saw Jesus being so overcome by emotion that he says he was moved with compassion. What happened? Maybe Jesus just collapsed and buried his face in his hand, just absorbing. Or he just sat there with deep pain that he could talk for a while. It's like I remember when my mother died in 1990 at the age of 84. For three days, I hardly could eat or drink or sleep or rest. I was absolutely gone. I never want to live through anything like that again. Matthew, when he writes, he saw something happens to Jesus. Now here is the thing, Jesus didn't have seminary or Bible college trainees, disciples. You see, the first thing Jesus did when he saw them, called them, what did he say? Come and follow me, I will make you rich and famous. Come and follow me and I will make you fishers of men. For this, Jesus came into the world. That is to seek and to save that which was lost. To the extent he said, one soul worth more than the whole wide world. All the wealth of the United States will not come near the cost of one individual that is dying and going to hell. It is so serious. In John's gospel chapter 4, one lady Jesus was talking to that did not know the father's love and going toward eternity destroyed his very appetite. When the disciples said, please eat, he said, I lost my appetite. I can't eat anymore. They misunderstood that somebody brought him food to eat. But he says, look, lift up your eyes and see the harvest. Not talking about wheat and maize and rice and corn and no, he's talking about people like that woman that are dying. Harvest is a fixed time. My people are rice farmers back in India. The harvest time comes, my people are like the chicken with the head cut off. There's no rest and no vacation, no extra time, no fancy dress, nothing. It is 24 hours immersed in bringing the harvest. Otherwise it will perish as soon as the rain comes. My brothers and sisters, what is Jesus all about? The lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. He came and suffered and died to save you, to save me. For God so loved the world, every individual on planet earth. Jesus looks upon that individual and he's still hurt and weep. Question is this, the invitation Jesus gave his disciples as they traveled with him, he was training them as they observed his life, watched him, his response, his reactions, how he dealt with the life on earth. When everything is over, he will say to them, now go as the father sent me, I am sending you. You realize when you got born again, if the purpose is to be going to heaven, then like Elijah, he should have just taken you and transferred you from here to heaven, but he didn't. He left you here for a purpose, left me here for a purpose. That is people left and right going toward eternity without the Lord and we must be like Jesus today with his compassion, with his burden. Now the disciples are not saying, when we saw the multitude, we were so moved with compassion, we can rest and sleep and we gave up. No, he, but they must learn this, so it is with us. Jesus said, they are harassed and helpless like sheep without shepherd. Now if you look at chapter 8 beginning and on read, we will not do that tonight, you will find incidents of Jesus running into demon possessed people, lepers, desperate people, crowds, multitudes. I remember reading the story of one of our native missionaries. We are 14,000 of these scattered throughout 10 Asian nations. And I mean, there are hundreds of stories. And I remember this classic story. One of the brothers wrote, he was in the marketplace distributing gospel tract and witnessing. You know, we are 54 Bible colleges. Every year we graduate over 2,000 young people after three years of studies and we send them mission field among people that never had a church before. These people, listen, never heard the name Jesus. Hard to believe. Stoned Hindu and Muslim community. So he was out there witnessing and telling people every day about the Lord and reading from the Bible, preaching open air and all these things. And weeks went by and one day as he was walking through the crowds and distributing tracts, he felt somebody pulling on his shirt, just pulling, keep on pulling. And he said, what is going on? He turned around. Here is so a young boy, maybe six or seven year old, a little fellow, skin and bones, so full of grief and his eyes sunk in the skull and just keep pulling this missionary and he won't let go. And the missionary felt there's something about the boy that he will, he want me to go with him. So he kept walking with him. They walked through the streets, the winding roads, and finally they end up in the outskirts of the village. And there the missionary sees something he never expected. A little mud hut. In front of the mud hut, a woman sits there like a dead person. No life. So in despair. Near their little hut, a huge tree on which a man is tied up with chains, totally naked. Now the boy speaks in Hindi. Please help my father. Please help my father. You see what happened? This boy's father was so demon possessed with hundreds of demons that he could snatch chains and ropes and whatever. Finally the village people came and chained him up like he would do the elephant on this tree. So he will be safe there. He was so dangerous. And people come and put rice and dal and different things in and with a stick, they will push it near the tree so he can eat. He was worse than being an animal. The woman sitting there is his wife. This little boy is his son. The boy, as he walked after the missionary, heard that Jesus can heal. Jesus said the captive is free. And this little boy realized maybe this man can do it. He didn't know what it's all about. And the missionary said, Lord, I've been talking about you to these people. How many people like this, Lord, you touched and healed? Please, Lord, would you do a miracle? And he knew it is too dangerous to go to the man and get near him. Yet he claimed the blood of the Lord and trusting him, he went over and laid a hand on this man who was chained up and prayed for him. And instantly he was healed. And the first thing he said, where am I? What happened to me? Where am I and what happened to me? And he gave his life to the Lord. His wife gave life to the Lord. The little boy gave his life to the Lord. His relatives gave their life to the Lord. The first church was planted in that village and they're growing and more people are coming to Christ. Hallelujah. Well, wow. It's good to be reminded of God's power and grace, isn't it? Well, there's much more to come in the next few minutes. You're listening to The Road to Reality with Brother K.P. Yohannan, founder and director of Gospel for Asia. If you're unfamiliar with the mission work of Gospel for Asia, please stop by our website at gospelforasia.org. There you can order a free copy of Brother K.P.'s life story called Revolution in World Missions. Again, the website address, gospelforasia.org. Or call us, 866-WIN-ASIA. That's 866-WIN-ASIA. And now, back to Brother K.P. Please understand, you have no clue what amazing freedom and liberty we have in this nation. In India, with over a billion people, they worship 300 million gods and goddesses, all powerful demons, and their lives are in darkness. They're crying out for hope, but nobody answers. They never heard. Jesus died for them, and they're desperate. And like the little boy, once they hear the story, they open their heart, and it is absolutely amazing. Today, the harvest is ripe than ever before in the history of the world. Now, I'm struggling in my mind to make it tangible and touchable for you this evening. My mother-in-law, she's a German. I don't know if you meet, if there are some, usually when I shake hand with someone, if it's a German or a lady German, I would say, you are German, aren't you? Come from German. You know their bones are so big, like an elephant. You shake their hand, your bones, it breaks. And my mother-in-law was born in Stuttgart, Germany, and she ran a bank for over 20 years. A stout, strong German lady, tall, and she knew the Lord. I mean, you know, it's a wonderful thing. A few months before her 90th birthday, she was still climbing apple trees and cherry trees to pluck fruits. I mean, you talk about being strong. And she was supporting some of our native missionaries. I don't know how many, three or four native missionaries. And just a couple of months before her 90th birthday, telephone call comes from Germany to my wife saying that her mother is ill. She'd never been sick, hardly ever. She went to the hospital, and the doctor did all the tests and said, oh my goodness, it's too late. Her cancer on inside, very much advanced. And about 10 days before her 90th birthday, she died. She died in hope. She left behind her a beautiful, large garden and property, very nice, huge house, house full of nice things, jewelry so much, clothes plenty. They always believed in having the best in life. I want to ask you a simple question. What did she take with her? Oh, how she loved her garden, the house. She could change her dress almost every week because it's all fantastic life. She went away from this earth just as she came. I will tell you about another lady that some of you heard about. In the extreme southern tip of India, a five foot, two, three inches tall, a skinny, fragile little woman who never read anything in her life except her Bible. Her favorite Bible verse that she recited a million times throughout her life, whom have I in heaven but you, and on earth I desire no one beside you. She would wake up early morning and spend two, three hours on her knees, praying and crying out to God. She never went to university. She never had fancy clothes. Most of her life she walked barefoot because that's how people lived and walked there. She never traveled outside of her tiny little village. But she began to pray. Three and a half years, every Friday, fasting, crying out to God. Dear God, call one of my sons. I have six boys. Call one of them to be a missionary. I want to see that happen before I die. And her youngest son heard the call of God and went out to serve him. He was beaten, abused, persecuted, ended up in hospitals and paid a heavy price. And then at the age of 84, with a heart problem, she will die. And a week before she died, she almost knew exactly what day she is going to walk away from this earth. And after her death, her sons would talk about her life to find out, without telling any human being, all her resources. She was quietly, without telling anyone, sending every month to support dozens of dozens of missionaries throughout North India and Bible school students. And her sons thought she saved up a huge amount of money in the bank to find out she left nothing. And the last will she left with the sons, when I'm dead and gone, the only thing I will leave behind is my earrings, my wedding ring, and the gold chain my husband gave me at the age of 19 when he married me. I wanted to sell these items and give that money to preach the gospel among people that never heard my Jesus name. I want to meet them also in heaven. That little fragile village woman happened to be my mother. And I am the youngest son the Lord called to serve him. The two mothers, my mother-in-law left enough money and property behind that she could have supported 500 missionaries every month for all her life and one more generation to come. But she chose to do the little. There's another woman who didn't have much, who was misunderstood by her children that she was wearing all the clothes and didn't want to spend the money on nice things. But she saw something that nobody saw, eternity. I am trying to make it so you can touch it tonight. That is my brother, my sister, hundred years from now you are not going to be sitting here. You are going to be living in that house. You are not going to be driving that car. You're not going to be looking for that, you don't believe that? All right, all right, all right, all right, okay, okay, just wait 100 years. How, how desperately foolish, foolish and stupid we are to think our home is here on earth. It is not, it is not. My brothers and sisters, young people listen to me, listen to me. It's a matter of very short time, it's all over. So Jesus said, live for things that will not perish. What will not perish? It is the lives of people, it is souls of men and women and especially in a time in our generation over two billion people that do not know Jesus name and they're crying out saying, tell us how to be saved. Some of our missionaries were sent to Tripura, one of the area where people used to be headhunters. You know what that means? Just cut your head off and make you hamburger. The warring tribes in that area, we send our missionaries out there to plant churches. When they reach there, they found out people are so, I mean they are not headhunters at this time, they come from that tribal background. No kids go to school, abject poverty, sickness, it's such a depraved condition. Our missionaries began to start little schools for the kids. Would you believe if I tell you four, five-year-old little children come into our school totally naked? They are not close to wear, unthinkable. So our brothers started 50 schools in that region, little makeshift buildings, 100 students in a school, some schools 50 students, some schools 200 students. 11 months went by. Now here, listen to this, within 11 months 37 churches were planted in that region. 37 churches, hallelujah. You know what happened? These kids would come home and start singing, Jesus loves me, this I know for the, what are you singing? We teach some English with some Bible verses, and the parents are so curious that the little kids are speaking English. And then they came into our mission and said, first time in history someone loves us, your God. Can you tell us about him? They opened their hearts. Well, it's so tough to break away from a message such as this, but we'll bring you the second half on our next program, Promise. This is The Road to Reality with Brother K.P. Yohannan, founder of Gospel for Asia. We've been listening to Brother K.P.'s message, Invest in the Harvest, and I'm pleased to tell you that Brother K.P.'s new book is now available. It's called Against the Wind. You know, we all face obstacles in life, be it sickness or disappointment. In this eye-opening book, K.P. Yohannan challenges you to consider how you're running the race God has set before you, your own unique race. And like the Apostle Paul, you can learn what it takes to be able to say, I have fought the good fight, I've finished the race, I have kept the faith. You can order Against the Wind for just $15 through our website at gospelforasia.org, or call us toll free, 866-WIN-ASIA. Again, you can get more information through our website, gospelforasia.org, or call us at 866-WIN-ASIA. The Road to Reality is sponsored by Gospel for Asia. Join us next week for the conclusion of this message called Invest in the Harvest. Until then, may the Lord bless and strengthen you.