Surrender without Conditions

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MP4 Video - 720p (68.3 MB)
MP3 Audio (1.31 MB)

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Surrender without Conditions

MP4 Video - 720p (68.3 MB)
MP3 Audio (1.31 MB)
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What do General Grant and our calling have in common?

Transcript

 

[Steve Myers] In the 1862 Battle of Fort Donaldson, Union forces had overcome the Confederate forces. Ulysses S. Grant was the Brigadier General at the time. The Confederate General sent a message to him, and asked for terms of surrender. It's interesting what Grant replied. Grant replied, "There would be no terms, except an unconditional and immediate surrender."

I got to thinking about that the other day because isn't that what's required of every one of us? There's a passage in Romans chapter 12 right at the very beginning of that chapter it talks about we need to have an unconditional surrender to God. It tells us there in Romans 12 we are to be a living sacrifice. We're to sacrifice our own selves to God. We're to be living Godly ways. We're to be putting on the mind of Christ. We're to put ourselves, our own sins aside and become true Christians living, thinking, existing in God's way of life (Romans 12:1-2).

And the interesting thing about it, if we do that, when you think of an unconditional surrender there's no guarantees, there's no terms, there's no conditions, and yet, with God it is a little bit different. It is a little bit different. If you were to look at what it says over in the book of Ephesians, in Ephesians 1:13, with the surrender that we have to God there actually is a guarantee. Ephesians 1:13 it says, "In Him you trusted after you have heard the word of the truth." And then it goes on saying, "You were sealed with the holy spirit, who is the guarantee of the inheritance." So after our unconditional surrender to God, God gives us a guarantee.

He gives us His holy spirit so that we can meet the terms of His conditions. Now it's also interesting with Grant and that surrender that took place at Fort Donaldson. That's when he became known as U.S. Grant. That was his initials, but the Washington newspapers at the time turned it around and they said unconditional surrender for Grant. Now for you and I, maybe that's what we should remember. Maybe our initials should be U.S. that we have an unconditional surrender to God. And with His guarantee, with His spirit we can fulfill that great calling we've been given.

That's BT Daily. We'll see you next time.