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  BEING A WITNESS： WHO WILL GO!
  by K.P. Yohannan
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Summary: This sermon emphasizes the importance of living a life
empowered by the Holy Spirit, focusing on the need to be witnesses of
Jesus Christ through acts of love and compassion. It highlights the true
nature of the Holy Spirit as a person who empowers believers to serve
others selflessly, warns against false prophets who seek personal gain,
and encourages a life of prayer, faith, and dependence on God's strength
for impactful living.

Topics: "Empowerment by the Holy Spirit", "Witnessing through Love and Compassion"
Scripture References: Acts 1:8, Acts 16:16, John 14:26, Galatians 5:22, 1 John 4:1, Matthew 5:16, James 2:14, Ephesians 5:18, Romans 8:26, 1 Corinthians 12:7

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DESCRIPTION
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This sermon emphasizes the importance of living a life empowered by the
Holy Spirit, focusing on the need to be witnesses of Jesus Christ
through acts of love and compassion. It highlights the true nature of
the Holy Spirit as a person who empowers believers to serve others
selflessly, warns against false prophets who seek personal gain, and
encourages a life of prayer, faith, and dependence on God's strength for
impactful living.

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CONTENT
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Would you all stand with me just for a second? This week, without any
doubt, has been the most exciting and exhilarating for our church. And
for me, it's been an absolute joy to see all of you, I consider my
children. All of you, you are brothers and sisters.

So, turn to the person right, left, behind you and give them a smile and
a nice hug. No boys hugging any girls. Alright.

You can be seated. Some of us were talking today saying that how sad it
is our week went by so fast. I am sure we will have many more
opportunities like this.

I am sure we will have many more opportunities like this. I was so glad
to hear this afternoon from our Father Sijo and Jeena Kachamba and
several other people that some of the most brilliant young people in our
generation, they are here in our meeting. I was so glad to hear this
afternoon from our Father Sijo and Jeena Kachamba and several other
people that some of the most brilliant young people in our generation,
they are here in our meeting.

I was hoping that our church will be able to pray and sponsor at least
100 young people who will want to go for their civil service education
to become IAS officers. These are people, those who become collectors
and people responsible to serve our country. And they are extremely
powerful positions.

Recently when we had the massive flood in Kerala, I happened to see the
collector responsible for this district. He was speaking on the
television. I was so moved by his genuineness and his compassion as a
young person.

By religious beliefs, he is a Muslim. And I said to myself, I must do
whatever I can to help him. And I went to see him.

And together we helped thousands of families. And someday, Believers
Eastern Church should have thousands of young people serving our
country. And that's what God wants from us.

And I am glad you are called by God to do it. And think about it, in
many parts of our country and in neighboring countries, up to 100 km
radius, there is no doctor, there is no nurse, there is no hospital. Who
will care for those poor people? And Jesus said to us, you must go.

And you must love others just as I loved you. And I am so glad that God
has burdened our heart to do things like that. And today, our special
theme is about the Holy Spirit.

And the Holy Spirit is not just power. He is a person. I mean, look at
me.

I can raise my hand. I can lift things. And I can pick up things.

I can write things. It all takes energy. I am a person.

Some people think the Holy Spirit is a power. It is like you. You are
walking.

Why? You have energy. Walking is not you. You are a person.

Holy Spirit is a person. So, Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, the Holy
Trinity, that is what the very special privilege the church has to
worship the Holy Trinity. And the Holy Spirit's role is to give us the
power to be a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That is the reason we are asked to pray for the filling of the Holy
Spirit. That is the reason we are asked to pray for the filling of the
Holy Spirit. I remember when I was about 19 years old, I was in Jammu.

And because of my ability to speak and teach, lots of people, lots of
churches invited me to be the speaker. And I was very glad to do it. I
was proud of it.

And I thank God for the intelligence God gave me. And you have your
abilities. But I remember that evening.

There was a big crowd. And I was supposed to be the main speaker. And I
just didn't have any strength in me.

I was travelling many, many weeks. And I was so desperate. So, I went
into a tiny room.

And I knelt down beside the bed. And I prayed. And I said these words.

You see, prayer always for me means talking to someone. And I said,
Jesus, You said you will give me power. And I ask you, please, would you
do that for me? And give me the power of the Holy Spirit.

So, I can speak to all these people tonight on your behalf. And I was so
sincere. Because I had my message and my notes.

But I felt so helpless. And you know the amazing thing happened. It is
like you put your hand in the socket, in the electric socket.

And I think God had to do that for me, I think. I felt strange strength
coming into my being. I was so filled with God's love.

It is like a thousand watt electricity going through my body. In the
end, I said, God, please stop it. I can't take it anymore.

And the amazing thing was, my heart was so completely filled with God's
love. And I preached that night. Not in my strength.

He gave me the filling of the Holy Spirit. And this is our birthright.
There are people who teach us all kinds of false doctrines about the
Holy Spirit.

Our Bishop Timothy Oss, this morning, talked to you about it. And this
is the reason why Believers Eastern Church stays with God's Word. And
also the teaching, the tradition of the Apostles and the early Church
Fathers.

Anything God has for us, it comes through faith. How do my sins get
forgiven? I don't see any signs in the sky. It says in the scripture, if
I say I have no sin, I am deceiving myself.

But if I say, I am a sinner, when I get angry with people, when I lie to
people, when I am proud, the Holy Spirit convicts me. My conscience
bothers me. What am I supposed to do? I say, Lord, please forgive me.

And if I offended my father, I go and tell him, Father, I am very sorry.
Father, I told you the truth, but the way I said it to you, it was not
kind. And I ask you to forgive me.

See, many people think doing the right thing is love. It is not. Love is
greater than truth.

This is a problem of the church many times. You see, you think about
someone in your village. He may be a Muslim.

He may be a Hindu. He may be somebody who doesn't believe in God. And he
may have leprosy.

And how do you deal with them? Somebody died in their home. Somebody is
poor. The children cannot go to school.

What do you say? Oh, they are not my religion. They don't believe in my
God. So, they are not my family.

No. All people are our family. How do you know that? God, one God made
all of us in His image.

If a father has ten children, suppose my father has ten children and you
take all the ten children's DNA, all of them are his children. The same
way, regardless of caste, creed and religion, Bible says, God made all
of us. Out of love, He made us.

And Jesus Christ is not Christian's God. Bible is not Christian's book.
God loves all people.

So, here is a Hindu family. Here is an atheist family. And I hear early
morning that somebody died in their home.

So, what do I do? I think, it is just like my family. I take the two-
wheeler or bicycle and early morning I rush to their home. And knock at
the door.

And they open the door. They are crying. They are weeping.

They ask, What do you want? Why did you come here? Why did you come
here? I speak Hindi, you speak English. And then you say, Oh, I am a
student here at the college. I heard about your son died.

I just wanted to come by and tell you I am so sorry. Is there anything I
can do to help? And that mother may say, You don't have any help. You
don't know what to do.

And my husband died. And I have no money. So, what do you do? And you
say, Aunty, I will do what I can.

You are not pulling your Bible out. You are not preaching Bible verses.
And you go home and ask your father and your mother and I have some
money.

They say, We are also poor people, man. I have no money here. What can
you do? And then you think, Oh my goodness, I want to help their family.

Then you realize you have a watch. And you quietly go to a shop, man. Or
anyone.

Please help me. Can I sell this watch to you? What do you want with
that? I paid 500 rupees for this. Anything you give, it is only one year
old.

The man says, Will you give me 10 rupees? 10 rupees. And you say,
Please, I went to your home. They are poor.

Somebody died. They are needing help. And all I have is this.

Can you please help me with more money? And he is a Hindu owner of the
shop. And he says to you, Are you telling me the truth? Yes. Then he
says, Okay, wait here.

Then he makes some telephone calls. Then he comes back. He says, Yes, I
know it happened.

What do you want? I don't know, sir. But they need some help. And he
gives you 1000 rupees.

And then you take the watch. And give it to him. He says, no.

You keep the watch. You take the money to them and help them. And you
bring it to them.

And you say to the auntie, I got this money for you. Anything else I can
do? And she is wondering if you are a human being or an angel. All you
do is love.

Let me ask you this. Why do you feel kindness in your heart towards
them? Because God's kindness is inside you. And you went to the shop
man.

He is a Hindu Brahmin. He heard the story. God made him to give you the
money.

It's a kindness God put in his heart. You see, you understand. We all
are connected.

Whether we are near or far. This is how Jesus wants us to live as his
witness in this world. I remember one day when I was travelling in the
train in Rajasthan.

And those days there was no second class. It was first class and Gandhi
class. That is before you were born.

And I had my seat. It's my seat. Then I saw an old Marwadi Mataji
standing there.

And I said to her, Please sit here. And she sat there. She didn't even
look at me.

Didn't say thank you. I was very sad. Later I said to myself, I am so
selfish.

I did that so she will thank me. She will think I am a good person. But
that's not what God does.

He gave his grace and blessings to all people in spite, instead of
people getting mad at God. But the question is this. How can we live as
Jesus lived on earth? That's what Jesus said.

As the Father sent me, so I am sending you. You be the light of the
world. You be the salt of the earth.

How do you do that? You allow the living Christ in the power of the Holy
Spirit dwell in you. Every morning you get up. You kneel by your
bedside.

And you pray. What do you pray? What I do, I first make the sign of the
cross. My life is sealed with the cross of Christ.

I am his. Then I say to him, Today, please Jesus be with me. Then I read
the scripture.

Then I say the Nicene Creed. Then I pray the Lord's Prayer. And end with
the sign of the cross.

And that day, I want the Holy Spirit to guide me. People talk to me on
the telephone. All the time I am on the telephone.

And many times when I am talking on the telephone, inside me, I am
saying, Holy Spirit, help me to understand what I must do. What I must
say. How I must respond.

The amazing thing from inside me I can hear the Lord speaking. That is
Holy Spirit. Your conscience is the most powerful weapon God has to
speak to you and through you as you live this life.

So living by the power of the Holy Spirit simply means you allow the
Lord Jesus Christ to be your Lord all the time. But how do you do that?
Ok, this morning you ate breakfast and lunch time you ate lunch and even
in dinner and in the evening you did not eat. Are you dying of hunger?
No problem, you will get it.

You will have your dinner. But why eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in
between tea and biscuit and all that? Because our body needs energy.
This evening I had a glass of juice and I ate one egg and I also was
swimming in the water.

This is true. I need a strength to speak to you. The food and the drink
gives me the strength.

So somebody says Did you eat food? And that person says Yes, yes, yes,
yes. But when? Oh, 25 years ago. And you say 25 years ago? You never ate
anything since then? You will say Something is wrong with his head.

That's not normal. The same thing. Every day you need to be connected
with the life of God.

That's what Jesus said in Saint John chapter 15 Abide in me and I in you
and if you do that you will bear the fruit automatically. If the branch
is cut off it will dry out. Now the question How do you live in constant
fellowship experiencing the life, the power of God? The early church
fathers in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th century on the true name they are
orthodox fathers and they taught always live in the presence of God.

But how do you do that? See, I recommend you make it a point you pray in
the morning you read your scripture. We have a book that helps you to
read through the whole scripture, Bible in one year. Then you ask God
please speak to me give me strength and then you pray for the day then
just before noon time stop whatever you are doing.

We have a lot to learn from our Muslim brothers and sisters and from the
Jewish people. How many times a day they pray? In the book of Daniel you
read three times a day morning, noon and night so I ask you young people
this is something our church teaches all individuals all people make a
habit to pray in the morning pray in the noon time and pray in the
evening this is your personal prayer because you can talk to God. You
know how I pray I have a little car and nobody is in the car except me
you saw that you know I charge the electricity so when I get in the car
I sit for a second and I say oh Lord I am starting this day please help
me and I pray whatever I need to pray and I make the sign of the cross
then the car takes off but then on the right side of my car on the left
side is the passenger seat and nobody is sitting there and I imagine
Jesus is sitting there and I say all kinds of things to him one day I
said Jesus I don't know what you are doing I have been telling you about
a lot of problems I am dealing with please do something about it and
this is a conversation prayer is basically talking to someone he is not
million mile away he is near you how we do that because the Holy Spirit
in us gives us the grace and strength to pray without the Holy Spirit we
cannot live the Christian life without electricity the bulb will not
shine there will not be any light and as young people as you are you
should pray earnestly the Lord will help you to live by the power of the
Holy Spirit but what is one of the proof of the feeling of the Holy
Spirit we saw the scripture verse but you shall receive power when the
Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me the Holy
Spirit was not sent to give us goosebumps and shake around or fall down
no the Holy Spirit came as a person to empower us give us strength to be
Christ witness so all these things I told you we don't know it is
happening the bulb has no clue it is happening but the energy is flowing
through and how we do that you surrender your life continually to the
Lordship of Christ and the Holy Spirit and the Father it is called the
sacrament life but when we live like that life becomes much easier you
know I do exercise like push ups you don't believe that I will show you
here I did that I do that everyday I think father they are all going to
do push ups they are all going to do push ups it is important to
exercise but you see unless we engage our life unless we yield our life
I can stand here and say I am going to do push ups in my mind 1 2 3 4 5
nothing will happen this is what you need to understand sacramental life
means a life filled and led by the Holy Spirit this reason is so
important that you be faithful to your church it is so important that
you partake from the Eucharist because it is supernatural it is not
something we are doing and through the Eucharist Jesus life is flowing
into us but how by the power of the Holy Spirit when the priest take the
bread in his hand and he bless and consecrate it when he take the
chalice in his hand and he consecrate it what is he doing? he is saying
may the Holy Spirit and all the mystery happens through the power of the
Holy Spirit this is the reason why our church teaches so strong about
the mystery of Eucharist I am telling you things that are practical
talking about doctrines without real reality of life has no meaning we
read about the Lord Jesus he was led by the Holy Spirit to go into the
wilderness to fast and pray here you are you are in college you are in
high school you live with your family your relatives lots of problems
with people he knows some of that what do you do? he knows someone who
is taking drugs and he knows he is going to destroy his life he is
eating pan all the time like a cow but do you know what is going to
happen? he is going to get cancer and he knows that you should tell him
don't do this but there is a problem in Saint John chapter 10 verse 10
Jesus said Satan has come and demons at work we cannot see them what is
their purpose? to destroy your life to make you poor and helpless and
cause you to be ill and sick and Jesus said I have come to give you life
and life abundant and Jesus he says he was led by the Holy Spirit 40
days of prayer and fasting so now you see your friend he is doing wrong
thing he is going to hurt himself he could be a family member so what do
you do? you say Lord Jesus help me what must I do? and you will hear him
speak to you how do you hear? with your ears? no in your heart you feel
this urge it is like drinking water when you drink water we should drink
more water but we will drink when we are thirsty so in your spirit you
feel the urge I should pray say maybe I must fast so you take a day or
two or three fasting and pray for what? for God to set him free from the
addiction why you do that? because the Holy Spirit alive in you is
guiding you this you take any part of your life you will be surprised
when you are led by the Holy Spirit you will do things normally you
don't do some of your friends they are dangerous friends and our bishop
this morning told you about that you don't know what to do you are
struggling God can do wonders through the power of the Holy Spirit if
you depend on him in our own strength we cannot do it but with his power
we can do it so Christian life is not living a life by our strength but
a life lived by the power of God but how we experience that the
connection is prayer and faith that's the reason I told you the other
day about the Jesus prayer in the orthodox faith they made a string with
knots in it and each knot at that knot they hold and pray the prayer
Jesus Christ Son of God have mercy on me I am a sinner so we always live
with the awareness who we are and who God is there are lots of false
prophets going around they say they got power of the Holy Spirit they
can heal people all kind of things be very careful the power of the Holy
Spirit more than anything else is giving us the understanding of others
need of the Lord Jesus Christ and all these healers going around how
much money they are collecting you never find apostles collecting money
from people for healing people in the book of Acts chapter 16 you will
find a young girl and he was going around talking about people's future
and people are giving money who they are making money he says her owners
huge amount of money they are making I can tell you this as your
spiritual father anyone who pray and heal and preach and ask for money
take money for the ministry they are doing they are false prophets that
I didn't say it the early church father said it and there are prophets
going around they speak in some strange language I am not saying Holy
Spirit will not enable someone to speak in tongues that is not what I am
saying but they go around and say these strange languages and then I
don't know if it is a language or not but they will tell you what God
said they cannot show that in the Bible and what do they do they collect
money they put fear on you I tell you listen to me young people anytime
anytime you get afraid you fear that is not from God it says in 2nd
Timothy God has not sent the spirit of fear so in the book of Acts
chapter 16 this young girl was talking about people's future and people
believed it I tell you something happened to me a real story it was 1973
December I was in Delhi and that night I was supposed to catch Air India
flight from Delhi to Frankfurt Germany and I went to the Air India
ticket office to get my ticket and they said where is your passport I
gave my passport the man looked all through this he said we cannot give
you a ticket I said what happened I had to go tonight he said you are
not buying clearance I had no bank account what clearance I must get he
said sorry you need to get bank clearance for you to leave India and I
didn't know what to do so I called a friend I said sir this is what
happened he said come here no problem so I went to his house he said in
Connaught place there is a bank you go and tell so and so that I sent
you please give me the stamp so I had few hours left I was in panic
Connaught place in Delhi in the afternoon is like an ocean of people I
was rushing and people everywhere I am right there among 100,000 200,000
people the man looked at me he said one minute please stop I said what
do you want he looked into my face and he said tonight you are going to
airport you are catching a flight you are going to Germany give me 5
rupees I will tell you the rest of the story give me 5 rupees I will
tell you the rest of the story I am telling you the this really happened
but I knew enough of the bible I said this I don't want to listen to him
I said sir I have to go please let me go I rushed to the bank and got my
paper and I caught my flight how did that man knew how did he know it is
bible called familiar spirit they are demons that's what you read in act
16 so so many people in the name of Jesus are going around as prophets
don't let them come to your house don't let them in the church I know
too many families destroyed by these people I am sure there are godly
prophets and they will say what the lord said and give them 100 rupees
they will not take it you give them 1 crore they will not take it I knew
people like that but Jesus said in the last days the greatest falling
away from faith will happen through false prophets and I warn this to
you because when you go home you need to tell your parents you need to
tell other people in the church believers in eastern church believe in
the book of acts everything there we believe everything we believe I
lived in Rajasthan for 2 years and I was in Kota for many months but I
am telling you a surreal story this team of young people like me we go
around and distribute gospel tracts and booklets and tell people about
Jesus one of those teams they were doing not far from Kota Rajasthan and
free literature there was a little booklet it is named the good shepherd
it's about Jesus and this man came and got that he was in his early 50s
and he left but what happened this man had cancer in the last stage and
the hospital said there is nothing we can do you go home and die and he
decided he wanted to go far away from his home and commit suicide it was
on the way to kill himself he met this team and got this booklet and he
sat by the roadside and he read it he talked about the Lord Jesus he
forgave your sin whatever you need call upon him God loves you he cares
about you and he never prayed to Jesus and he sat there on the roadside
in his own words he said Jesus I don't know who you are but this booklet
says you are a loving God and I ask you to please help me I am going to
kill myself can you please heal me I don't know I am a sinner but I am
praying to you all of a sudden he felt something strange happened in his
body a new strength came in his body he didn't go and hang himself
instead he went back to the hospital and the doctor said we told you
everything you need to know there is nothing more we can do it's too
late then he said doctor sahab one request please test me again give me
all the tests and he insisted he said I will give you all the money
anyway I am not poor and they did and the doctor said we don't know what
happened and many doctors came together they said all our tests all was
wrong always this man has no cancer he is completely normal and this man
pulled out this booklet from his pocket and he said doctor sahab this
booklet healed me and they thought he went mad hallelujah and with the
address on the booklet he went to the station where our people are and
told them the story and they explained him the lord jesus is a loving
saviour he heard your prayer and he healed you think about that real
event in the life of that man how did that happen the power of the holy
spirit that's what is in the book of acts saint peter and saint john
were going to church there is a man sitting there he is begging he is
crippled he can't walk and saint peter said look at me and he looked at
saint peter thinking he is going to get some money and saint peter said
we don't have any money but that which we have we will give it to you in
the name of the lord jesus christ you stand up and walk and he stood up
he got healed that's exactly what the holy spirit came to do you will
find that throughout the bible the real holy spirit leads people to
follow the lord jesus christ the false holy spirit will cause people to
follow the man and the man makes money and he becomes a millionaire that
is not the holy spirit and i tell this to you because we are living in a
dangerous time i want you to follow christ till the end of your life i
will end by telling you another real story this happened in tribandrum
it's told to me by a professor the teaching in the kerala university in
the class there were some 30-35 students and there was one girl in the
class she was in the post graduate studies msc or ma and the professor
was an atheist he didn't believe in god he just made fun of the girl all
the time where is your god where is jesus what is this why all the
suffering in the world can't god do something about it the poor girl
didn't know anything one day she went to the professor and said sir i
don't know how to answer your questions but one thing i know the blood
of jesus cleanses us from all sin and he loves you that is all she knew
she didn't know how to preach some years later this professor got sick
and he was in the hospital all his friends left him and he was battling
with death and one day he was laying in his bed helpless lonely forsaken
by all and he was looking at a blank wall all of a sudden it was as
though somebody was writing on the wall the blood of christ cleanses us
from all sin jesus loves you that came back to his mind laying there he
said i don't believe in god i don't believe in jesus but i am dying i
remember the girl telling me jesus if you are real if the girl said it
is true please have mercy on me and please help me miracle happens the
man got healed he recovered completely here is the question how did that
happen a young girl studying in college she is not a bible scholar but
she had in her the love to tell others about the dear lord jesus christ
she didn't back off she didn't say if i tell this to him he will hate me
she didn't know how to argue all she could say is what she knew that is
being a witness of christ when you go to a shop you buy things and they
give you change back you get home they give you five rupees more and
then you rush back and you say what happened sahab you gave me five
rupees more and you give it back that is you are a witness of jesus that
is what it is i recommend you every week go to a hospital and see the
sick people especially cancer hospitals spend a few hours and see the
pain see the agony if you are from a city go to the street and see the
poor children see the beggars and say to yourself but for the grace of
god that is me think like that and even if you don't have any money to
give that night you will pray oh god that woman i met the children i met
please have mercy on them why jesus lived on earth not for himself he
lived for others and now you live for others but how can we do that we
need supernatural strength i myself am a selfish person i am thinking
about my stomach i don't think about your stomach but if i live by the
holy spirit depending on him then i think about you i think about all
people and i pray that believers eastern church our future is in your
hand and you will become living christ everywhere you go and people
think what is wrong with him what is wrong with her and they will
discover you are a follower of the lord jesus christ that is the reason
the holy spirit came and you allow the holy spirit to witness about
jesus through your life i must conclude i know you are special why
because god brought you here you say i had no plan to do this but god
had a plan he loves you he brought you here what you heard this week
what you hear tonight is to tell you lord jesus is more closer to you
than you can ever imagine and by faith take his hand everyday and say
jesus lead me and the holy spirit will give you the strength and you are
the living christ today and believers eastern church will become the
reason for millions of people to find hope and new beginning in their
life may the lord bless us would you stand with me just for prayer i
just want us to be absolutely quiet no one making any noise close your
eyes keep your heads down and think think one thought holy spirit
process come and take control of my life lord jesus here i am fill me
with your holy spirit in silence you surrender your whole life at the
feet of jesus

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Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/7Zu8OT0J5b8.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/kp-yohannan/being-a-witness-who-will-go/
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