Surrendering to God

Good afternoon, everyone. It's great to be here. See so many familiar faces. That's one of the great blessings of the feasts and traveling around the world. We're a very small family in that sense. I've loved all the music along the way. That's been a wonderful accompaniment. Nobody told me about the video, Barb, so I didn't put any makeup on. But it's good to be here. We actually live in Bloomington, Illinois. But there's a Bloomington. We've gotten a kick out of how, if you go for four or five states around there, they all have about 20 cities that have the same names. If you find a Springfield and a Bloomington, I mean, you just go down the list. It's quite comical. So great to be here. I'd like you to start by turning to Luke 18, verses 18 through 30. Luke 18, verses 18 through 30. We're all here at church because we want to please God. Because ultimately we want to become spiritual beings in God's kingdom, right? And that is not only our ultimate objective, that's our Father's ultimate objective. But let me ask you a question. What is God really looking for from us in order for this to happen? Do you know? The story we're about to read in Luke 18 reflects a religious leader of the day asking Jesus that very question. So Luke 18, starting in verse 18. Now a certain ruler asked him, saying, good teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? So Jesus said to him, why do you call me good? No one is good, but one that is God. You know the commandments. Do not commit adultery. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Honor your father and your mother. And he said, all these things I have kept from my youth. So Jesus recited five of the Ten Commandments. And I want you to notice that Jesus didn't argue with the fact that he had been observing these his whole life.

The man obviously had striven to follow the commandments. Verse 22. So when Jesus heard these things, he said to him, you still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven. And come, follow me. But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich. So notice, this man was sincere. He was conscientiously obeying the commandments. But he loved money more than God. He was willing to submit in obedience, but he was only willing to submit with obedience when conditions evolved. His priority to enjoy earthly comforts blinded his eyes to all that he was able to become, and all that Jesus would make possible to him. And so, he wasn't ready to give up the physical possessions for what God was saving for him in heaven. Or from heaven, but waiting for us there at this time. Verse 24. And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, he said, So God is to be first. He's supposed to be foremost above all things in our lives. And he promises that he will supply every one of our needs, right?

But the promises supply our needs, not all of our wishful wants. And that's where Satan plays in. Because Satan loves to blind us with all the glistens and all the glitters, and all the things that we might say, and say, oh, if only... Satan doesn't have our best interest at heart. And that's why the Bible says he's a thief. He's a liar. And he wants to make us believe that just the minimal level of submission is what God wants from us. That that's enough to God. Verse 28. Then Peter said, See, we have left all and followed you. So he said to them, Assuredly I say to you, There is no one who has left house, or parent, or brother, or wife, or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come, eternal life. Christianity today, it is filled with powerless Christians who fail to have any idea why they don't see God's power in their lives. And the religious leader in this story, he was trying to submit to God's law. Right? But I don't want you to misunderstand. Submitting is an important thing. God wants us to learn to submit. And we learn that throughout our lives. There's a lot to be learned from submitting, right?

We are supposed to submit to our bosses. We are supposed to submit to the laws of this land. That's tough. Those of you who are married, you are supposed to submit to each other in a marriage relationship. How's that working for you? You learn a lot, don't you?

So what exactly does God want from us? Is submitting enough? I'd like you to turn to 1 Kings 20, verses 1-4. 1 Kings 20, verses 1-4. Submission to God is a core, an important attribute that He wants developed in His followers. And while submitting to us, humanly, seems overwhelming, overwhelmingly hard, it alone isn't enough. While you're turning there, I'm going to read a scripture to you, because it relates to the same concept. You don't need to turn there, but if you want in your notes, you can put 1 Corinthians 3, verses 1-2. Because Paul is addressing the situation. He says, So what was missing? Again, believing Christians are being described here. Let's read 1 Kings 20, and we are going to see a human example of something far more difficult than submission. 1 Kings 20, verse 1.

2 Kings 20, verse 2.

In front of the British, Soviet, French, and American Allied forces. Shortly after that, September 2, 1945, on the deck of the USS Missouri, Japanese leadership signed a similar agreement of unconditional surrender. The Axis power, the Japanese Empire, absolutely and unconditionally surrendered and yielded themselves to the mercy and judgment of the Allied forces who had conquered them.

There is plenty of talk in the Bible about us submitting to God's will. And it's required. But the concept I'm going to talk about today is what it means to surrender to God. Now, sometimes you'll see those words intermixed. You'll see them interchanged. But beyond semantics, there is a very distinct difference between those two words.

So let me contrast them a little bit. Submission is the conscious acceptance of reality. Submission is the conscious acceptance of reality. So there's a level of yielding to it, but it's based on an individual choosing acceptance.

Submission is often linked to words like commitment, to compliance, acknowledgment, concession. You could think of others. A commitment is a promise, right? A pledge that we make. So the key thing I want you to think on in submission is it involves a situational analysis for personal choice, and there's always the option of non-acceptance.

Surrender. Surrender is more than commitment or submission, because you can be a committed Christian and still live a dead, passionless, empty life. Surrender is when we give up and we hand over ourselves to another person's absolute control.

Surrender is the moment when my personal force of resistance ceases to function. It's when I willingly and I solely respond to the call of the one I surrender to. You see the difference? And if we look around, there's all sorts of examples that we could use physically to make the contrast of what it means to truly surrender. A pen in my pocket. That pen has absolutely surrendered to the work of writing. It surrenders to my hand to make it work. If it doesn't work, I toss it away and I go to the next pen. This coat is surrendered at this point to cover my body.

The temple of God, Solomon's Temple, was absolutely surrendered to God when it was dedicated to him. And you know the analogy I'll play there, because every one of us is a temple of God. We are a temple in which God will dwell and work mightily but on one condition. And that is that we absolutely surrender to Him. God can't work His work in us every day and every hour unless we're entirely given to Him. There's so many wonderful quotes when you start studying this concept. Connie Cavanaugh in her book From Faking It to Finding Grace wrote, Commitment means I am still in control, whereas surrender takes me out of the driver's seat. Commitment is deciding on a plan. Surrender is going to God for His plan. Inherent in the act of surrendering is submission to the conqueror. We cannot surrender to God unless we submit ourselves to His absolute control. This means we no longer have a plan for our life. Instead, we seek to understand His purpose for our existence. Powerful. Humans can go a long way trying to submit to God. Commitment and submission are things that we strive for and we're supposed to strive for.

But there's something we control, and that's the challenge. As selfish Christians, it's easy to view God in a caretaker role. In one of these relationships where we say, He's there to assist me. And so, in return, I'm going to do some things to assist God. This tit-for-tat kind of relationship. If God will give me eternal life, I'll obey the Sabbath and the Holy Days.

We cooperate with God sometimes in a negotiation type of a response. Now, many of you have seen mixed martial arts fights, and so if not even you'd be familiar with the concept of somebody tapping out. That's when somebody surrenders to their opponent. They've given in, they've given up, and they've quit. In a sense, they're saying, you've won, it's over. Either they're knocked out cold or they're going to have a bone in their body broken unless they say, okay, no more, I'm done. Now, that has a lot of relationships to us because we've also all been defeated.

But it may not be by the person you're thinking about.

God let Satan test every one of us to see if we would sin, and we have all lost that battle.

We have all earned the penalty of death. And so when we try to physically submit, all mankind ultimately taps out to Satan. Now, some are going to tap out for various reasons. Some will tap out for anger. Some are going to tap out because of sensual pleasures. Some because of greed. Some because of fear. You fill in the blanks. Whatever weakness you have, that is what Satan will pray on you for. But ultimately, all mankind, based on human strengths, will tap out from successfully trying to submit to God by their own strength.

And you can look through the case file of humanity, and it's everywhere. Except for Jesus Christ. And the reason is because when battled one-on-one, Satan is stronger.

And that's why the Bible says, all we like sheep have gone astray, or all have sinned and come short of the standard of the glory of God.

A challenge that we all face, and we have to be careful about, is a lot of Christians like to have one foot in the church and one foot in the world. You can look at the example that we read to start this sermon with the religious leader at the time of Christ. Trying to hold on to the treasures in the world, and at the same time hold on to God's calling to eternal life. And the thought in our little human minds is that we're getting the best of both worlds. But actually, we're not getting the best of either. As Jesus said, no man can serve two masters, because he'll ultimately love the one and despise the other.

So our Christian calling, it starts with us trying to submit to God.

It matures into surrendering to God. You could go throughout the Bible, but consider people like Peter or Abraham and all the heroes. They were all asked to submit for years before they finally were able to surrender. That's the reason the Bible is such a wonderful learning ground. We're in this similar journey ourselves, and we first learn to submit through obedience. Then we start to make that transition when we start to consider baptism. Because baptism comes when we realize that we've been conquered by Satan's influences, and that we accept we have limitations. We realize that there's only one option, and that's to unconditionally surrender to God and to his way of life.

Unconditional surrender is not something that we come to easily. It's not an easy state of mind. It's something we have to feel humbled enough to realize, to realize that we have been absolutely conquered by Satan, and that looking to God is our only choice. We'll turn next to Isaiah 59, verses 1-3.

When push comes to shove, we have all tapped out to Satan.

But that isn't the only thing that the Bible tells us. Any time we find a zero on our test score of life, we also find that God the Father has written down beside it, help is on the way. And I want to make a very important differentiation here, because the ultimate surrendering that God wants from us, and the example of the surrender that occurs in a human battle, are different. I want to start there because we can relate to it. We can feel down to our core what that must be like. But what God wants from us is something very different. When an army surrenders to another army, it's unconditional. That's the same. There are no negotiations. Arms are laid down. And basically, the conquered army says, My life is yours. For most of humanity, that resulted in slavery. They were either killed, or they were the slaves to the conquering army for whatever they wanted from then on. But in our case, it's different. We were at war with God when we were yielding to Satan's influences. And Jesus died for us while we were enemies of God. You see the difference? I want you to realize that God doesn't want us to be subordinate to Him in a military fashion. God wants us only if we willingly select to be on His side.

God is for us. God is never against us. And Christians aren't to be at war with God anymore. We aren't to surrender to Him as if we were, either. Isaiah 59, verse 1, Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, nor his ear heavy that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity. Your lips have spoken lies, your tongue has muttered perversely. Our commitment at baptism was to unconditionally surrender and place our lives into God's loving and merciful hands. Jesus bought us, He paid for us with a price, He ransomed Himself for us, for the penalties that we've earned, that we deserve.

If only it was so easy, it was just to stop there, right? But, I mean, we're human. We struggle. So, our entire Christian journey is a fight over control. You want to think of it that way. It's a fight over control. Submission is something we can do, because it's something we control. Doesn't mean we do it great, but we can do it. In surrender, we make the conscious choice to let go of that control. And over the course of our spiritual journey, if we're being honest, we go back and forth from where we surrender to God and then where we negotiate. And we say, okay, I'll submit to you if XYZ. And then we're being willing to surrender again. Humans and our human nature is to want to set boundaries on what God shouldn't ask us to do. So, the ability to fully surrender needs to be recognized because of that difficulty as a gift from God. It is a gift from God. However eagerly we may desire it, however much I can convince you that's where we should end up. At the end of the day, surrender cannot be attained by our own personal endeavors. While a lot of people attempt to submit or to commit to God, absolute surrender is something that only God can help us do. But while it's God's work, it does require a response from you, from me. And that response is acceptance. It's acceptance. There's nothing in the Christian life that doesn't involve God's love for us and our trust for Him. There's another way of framing all that we go through every day of our life. God wants us to surrender to Him because of our loving trust in Him.

So we shouldn't have the attitude of coming under God's authority because I have to. Right? You can hear your kids along the way, right? Or, He's forcing me to, so I'll surrender to Him. That's not what God wants. Biblical surrender says, I trust your desires are good and loving. I love you. So I agree to yield to your will.

And that's how we're supposed to obey God every day of our lives. Obedience is not merely some kind of an outward action to live up to the ultimate judge's book of rules.

Instead, obedience is an inward trust based on God's love and His guidance that results in outward action. It's where the source comes from. It's what our intentions are. And like salvation, they're very similar. The gift of surrender is received from God and it requires the response of acceptance. Any works we do will never get us to salvation or to surrender. It's not going to happen. It's only when we fully surrender to God in desperation and say, I can't do it that God says, now you're ready. I can work with you.

And that's what He's trying to work out. If you'll turn next to 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 23.

It doesn't stop at acceptance. Along with acceptance, there must be fruit. There must be fruit. And God expects a changed life. That's the fruit He expects from us. Surrender is not something that we accept and then do nothing about. If you want to contrast, Jesus gave His whole life for us.

We can have the tendency to give as little of our lives, our time, our money, as we can get away with in return to God. Not a flattering way to look at it, but from God's perspective, He's like, okay, didn't I just give my son's life for you? And what are you wanting to save 20 hours for? So you can go off and do what? You know, it's the way we try to rationalize. In surrender, we make the conscious choice to let go of that control. But the actual surrender is something only God can do. 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 23. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We can focus throughout our lives on the first part of our calling, which is submitting to God.

And we can miss the second, which is God's ultimate intention, and that is that we fully surrender to Him.

The condition for God to bless us with becoming spirit beings for eternity is when we absolutely surrender to Him. Abraham, now I know. That's what we're trying to work our way to. And if our hearts are willing for that, then there's no end to what God can do through us.

Another wonderful quote. Dr. D. James Kennedy wrote, I believe we fail to see that God has a basic condition for His blessings. The Apostle James says, you have not because you ask not. You ask and receive not because you ask amiss. That's James 4, too. Many times when we seek the blessings of God, we ask amiss because we do not meet God's conditions for the full outpouring of His blessings. Very simply, that condition is total surrender to God.

So, with that, concept is a foundation. Hopefully I've laid that well. I would now like to share some key concepts about what absolute surrender looks like in practice. I believe in Christian living messages. What do we have to do to get to where we want to go? And there will be ouches along the way, and I'll be the first to say ouch with you. But let's start transitioning. What would be some concepts about what absolute surrender looks like in practice?

Grab a water.

The first concept I'll share is this. Surrender means giving up and over, not giving in. Surrender means giving up and over, first giving in. If you'll turn to Proverbs 3, verses 5 through 10. Proverbs 3, verses 5 through 10. When we submit, we give in. We are keeping the focus on ourselves. When we surrender, we're giving up. But in giving up, by putting the focus where it belongs, putting it on God. But if you really want to realize what that means in a more meaningful way to how we use words, the action is more like giving over to God in love.

Proverbs 3, verse 5. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones. Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the firstfruits of all your increase, so your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine. Our best example of complete surrender, of course, is Jesus Christ.

Out of the motivation of love, He came to earth and gave His life for us. He lived a life of torment, a life of not being appreciated, abused when He was the one who created all of us around us. And at the end, He had to empty Himself and be killed.

A great way to see the challenge that we face, and that we're not alone, is consider the night before His crucifixion.

He surrendered to God's plan. I'm going to use my own vernacular on here, but you can write if you want, Mark 14, verse 36. And He basically said, God, if it's your best interest to remove this suffering, then please do so. But if my crucifixion fulfills your purpose, then that's what I want to.

Okay, how do we make that our own? How would we personify that? Basically, genuine surrender for us would be saying, Father, if this problem, if this pain, if this sickness or this circumstance is needed to fulfill Your purpose and glorify You in my life or in somebody else's life, then please don't take it away. That's not our natural nature, is it? That's not our natural nature. Turn to Romans 12, verses 1-2. Romans 12, verses 1-2. The level of maturity that's needed to surrender does not come easily. It takes a lifetime. It's hard work. If you want to see how hard work it is, Jesus Christ, the night before, sweat drops of blood. Can't even imagine how hard of work that would be. And, you know, people can't try to make out and say, oh, this was easy for Jesus. He was God. No. He relied on God's Spirit, but it wasn't easy.

In our case, surrendering requires intense warfare against our self-centered nature. And it's pride, because we want to be the center of the universe. Romans 12, verses 1-2.

And in these verses, Paul is asking the followers of Christ to yield themselves completely to God. That's what we're being asked to do. And until we do this, we can never fully experience all the joy or all the opportunities that God wants for us. I've written an interesting comparison, which I'll share with you. It says, God's blessings are offered to us in love, by love, and for love.

And we are to accept them in the same way. In love, for love, and out of love. It's getting that perspective, so we have the right framework in all that God is trying to give us and to realize. Turn next to James 4, verses 9-10. James 4, verses 9-10. As you turn there, I'd like to share a concept that all of you will recognize. You've all read the fruit of the Spirit. And you know that one of the fruit of the Spirit is self-control. What does that mean? What does self-control as a fruit of the Spirit mean? Does it mean that we come to this ultimate attaining of personal self-mastery?

Is that the way you're envisioning it? Because that's not what the verse is talking about. We've already talked at the beginning. That's not good enough. That is not good enough. Self-control isn't about us controlling ourselves, but having ourselves surrender to God. That's what it means when you read that as one of the fruit of the Spirit.

James 4, verse 9. Lament and mourn and weep. Woo! Stuff we all love to do. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Those are set-ups to this last verse. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

It's a verse that I keep in front of me regularly. It's a very powerful verse. So what is this saying? The promise is, if we humble ourselves fully and have a crushed Spirit, then God will lift us up. If you want an analogy that we've all probably experienced, it's the example of having your kids outside of a pool and you on the inside, and you saying, as a father or a mother, saying, I'll catch you, right?

Come on, jump! I'll catch you! Drowning is terrifying, right? We're all very afraid of that concept. Well, so is totally surrendering ourselves to God. It reflects a fear shared by every hero in the Bible who was asked to do the unthinkable. And the Bible is full of those different examples. We must give up and over and not simply give in. We need to fully surrender to God, and He says He will catch us. But He also says it won't be easy. Let's go on to the next one.

Surrender means following without knowing where we are being sent. Surrender means following without knowing where we are being sent. Now, scribes, you're familiar with the concept the Bible talks about scribes and Pharisees. Scribes were the ones who preserved the Scriptures and knew the book inside and out. And the word scribe literally means one who writes, and they took that role extremely seriously. You probably have had messages where they share some of the details they went to to accurately preserve the Bible.

And it was a meticulous study. There were also many times the teachers and the lawyers of the law. So, on the surface, they appeared to live by the book. But as Jesus would regularly point out to them, they didn't give their lives to God. A person can appear very, very moral, but not surrender themselves to God. You'll turn to Romans 6, verse 13. Romans 6, verse 13. When God the Father initially called us out of the world, we studied. We wanted to learn. We looked to Him for forgiveness. We asked Him for repentance.

And we were baptized. We counseled with God's ministers. And after God the Father calls a person out of this world, every individual must come to a point that he is willing to do anything and everything required by God in order to obey Him. Anything and everything. Remember, the key point being discussed is that surrender means following without knowing where we are being sent.

Here is what we committed to at baptism. Romans 6, verse 13. Neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourself unto God, as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. God requires unconditional surrender of those that He calls. And in the baptism commitment, we recognize that our human nature was exactly the opposite of where God wanted us. And we said, okay, I'm going to let you lead me, God.

That then becomes that struggle over control that I mentioned earlier. That's the struggle that we work with. We must now continue to live a life of unconditional surrender with even greater zeal and commitment than we had when we were baptized.

God has this amazing plan for us, but for us to get there, we have to follow God without knowing where we are being sent. Let me share another thought. Surrender means trusting God's purpose without understanding our circumstances and trials. Surrender means trusting God's purpose without understanding our circumstances and trials.

If the last point about absolute surrender dealt with surrendering to what God wants us to do, this point is about a total willingness to let God work whatever He wants to work in us, no matter how painful it may be in the short term. 1 Peter 4 and verse 12. Please turn to 1 Peter 4 and verse 12. See, trials are going to come to believers because true faith has to be tested. That is so not the way we reason as humans, right? My son just wants to play. He wants fun. He doesn't want responsibility. And we as humans, as adults, aren't much different when it comes to interacting with God. But true faith must be tested. And to trust God in hard times requires a surrendering to Him and submitting to His words. I read something. I don't know that I buy it all the time, and I thought it was an interesting phrase. It said, Christians are like teabags. They always do best when they get in hot water. I'd love to say, I always did best when I got in hot water, but I don't know if I'd buy that one. 1 Peter 4 and verse 12. Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you as though something strange were happening to you. Trust means that a believer completely gives up his own will and subjects his thoughts, his ideas, his deeds to the Word and the will of God. You can see that throughout the Bible, of people growing to that point. Even if you want to go to the first century church, they all pooled together their resources to help each other to maintain the church. They were selling their property and their homes. They were learning what it took to give up what they needed and trust that it would be used most wisely. When we surrender to God, it demonstrates our love, our trust, and our faith in Him. If you want to turn there, I'll just read it to you. Jesus taught this in Matthew 23 and verse 12. When God sees one of His children so completely relinquishing every aspect of their life to Him, He is able to work amazingly through that person. I know you've seen that over the history of the church. Matthew 23 and verse 12, And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Years later, Jesus' half-brother, James, wrote something very similar in James 4 and verse 10. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Trust. It's a great word. It's a hard word. Wives are told to submit to their husbands. That requires a special trusting relationship. Employees have to submit to their bosses. Both. Very hard. But God says we are to totally surrender to Him.

Much harder. That means fully and unconditionally trusting.

And if you want to link the two words, I don't want to totally isolate submit and surrender. If you want to link the two words, here's how you can combine them. Surrendering to God is simply another way of saying submitting completely to Him. And in that sense, they are the same.

When tough circumstances and trials hit us, though, it's hard to trust God, and that He's going to get us through.

I struggle with that at times. God doesn't tell us how He will get us places, but He does promise that ultimate destination.

We want a nice little golden path getting to the ultimate destination, don't we? That's what we would like to have. And God in a sense is saying, trust me, I know how I'm going to get you there.

And we can only achieve that type of unconditional surrender if we trust His purpose, if we trust His intentions. Please turn next to Matthew 10, verses 37-39.

I hope you see how all of this connects to the Passover, to preparing.

And I'd like to ask you some related questions to prod you a little bit, but some personal questions to help identify some areas that you may have some opportunities to grow in this area.

Is Jesus the Lord of your thoughts? Is He the Lord of your passions? Is He the Lord of your speech? Is He the Lord of your relationships? In other words, is Jesus Christ the Lord of every area in your life?

Are you willing to surrender to God your grasp on all that you possess, your desires, and everything else in your life? Can you honestly say, anywhere, Lord? Anytime, Lord? Any cost, Lord? Have you totally surrendered that much? A whole lot of opportunity in there for me, so I'll be the first to say, ouch. But, I mean, you want to get a feel of what this looks like in a mirror when you look at yourself. That's where we look, and that's where we fall short, but we realize what we're trying to grow and why we need God's Spirit. Absolute surrender means to intentionally and permanently give up and relinquish all control and ownership to Christ.

Matthew 10, verse 37.

If he loses his life for my sake, we'll find it.

All of us need to stop trying to personally do Christianity.

But it's such a human nature thing. I'm going to self-motivate myself to be the best Christian. As Mr. Petty likes to say, don't fight with God because your arms are too short.

We must let God work in our lives by totally surrendering. We must purpose in our hearts to trust God even when we don't understand.

And to achieve this, we have to ask God to crush our pride, to crush that sinful side in us, that habit that wants our Spirit to get what we want more than what God knows is best for us. And of course, we want to plead for all of that in mercy. We definitely need to do that. So if you're currently going through trials or are faced with questions of whether or not to surrender, make that determination to surrender all that you have and all that you are to Him, because God will then equip you to do all that He requires of you. All right, let's move on to another concept about surrender. Any ouchas in here yet? Surrender means expecting a miracle without knowing how.

Surrender means expecting a miracle without knowing how.

The classic example is Abraham.

His whole life is this journey toward total surrendering to God.

And his life was filled with God asking or promising of things that required miracles, because he had to wait, what, 25 years for Isaac? This whole area of his life were promises and then waiting, and promises and waiting. Have you surrendered yet? Promises and waiting. Please turn to Genesis 22, verse 1. And we'll look at the ultimate test of Abraham's faith. But while you're turning there, let me just do a quick party and synopsis of what this story was about. Abraham was no spring chicken when Isaac was born.

He was probably the shock to the neighborhood when his elderly wife was pregnant.

He should have been looking at retirement in nursing homes. He would have popped up on CNN News for fathering a child at 100.

And God named Abraham's son Isaac, which means laughter.

Because Abraham and Sarah laughed out loud when God told them about this miracle. And it had to be this irony. I mean, we don't really think of people's names, right? We don't go around and say, hi, angry? How are you? That's not the way we work today. But imagine all the things that just calling their child, Hey, laughter, come to supper. Hey, laughter, wash your hands and get ready to eat. Hey, laughter, bow your head as we thank God for the meal. Okay, so here's bad. But if I was Abraham and he lived and had a cell phone, wouldn't it be fun to say, How was LOL doing? Alright, never mind. But, you know, alright, I'll bat a party in humor. But all that laughter turned to tears when God asked the unthinkable. Genesis 22 and verse 1. Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham. And he says, Here I am. Then he said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. I'm sorry, I shall tell you. Are you serious, God? What happened to all of those unconditional promises in Genesis 12? Right?

Abraham had to be thinking, don't you remember everything you told me about this child?

It's not like God didn't know how much Isaac meant to Abraham. I mean, just read the verse the way it was set up. It was the your son, your only son, Isaac, oh, by the way, whom you love.

Let's just rub it in a little bit. You don't submit to that. There are a thousand reasons that it's wrong and that it's evil. It doesn't sound like God. And why would God dare to ask a faithful man to give up his only child? Deuteronomy 12, 31 through 32 forbade this act.

There are times in our life where God may give us a test of loyalty and not just obedience to his law. This was a test of loyalty. Is God asking you to trust him while asking you to let go of something that feels like your children?

You just talked about somebody earlier who unfortunately died. His wife had to let go of something that meant everything, that they lived their lives together. There are different things that we will all face along those lines. And these tests are ultimately about us letting go of pride and control and trust in God. Instead of getting stuck in an argumentative way of thinking, I love what Abraham did next. So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son, and he split the wood for the bird offering and arose and went to the place which God had told him. Scripture doesn't say anything about sulking. It doesn't say anything about pity parties or depression. Or it's not fair God. It doesn't even show delay. Abraham purposed in his heart to obey God even if he didn't fully understand. And that goes a long way with the concept I'm trying to help. Surrender means expecting miracles without knowing how. So what do we personally apply from that type of a lesson? How do we take anything from what Abraham went through? If you and I purpose in our hearts to surrender to God's greater will before a temptation comes, we can win these battles ahead of time.

But we have to purpose to surrender even if it doesn't make sense to us physically. And that's the hard part. What we like to do is wait until the last minute, let ourselves get distracted, negotiate a little bit, and I don't know, do I think God has this? It doesn't seem very likely. That's going to usually mean we forfeit the victory.

Of course, the battle didn't end there. Abraham, Isaac, the servants left. What happened with Eve and Satan? Eve was alone in the Garden of Eden, and Satan started to question God's love to her. Three days. You can only imagine what that slithery little serpent was doing to Abraham the whole way through. I mean, how can you serve God when He treats you like this? Why don't you just quit this? Quit worshiping this God guy. What has it got in you? God has lied to you all along. He doesn't love you. He's going to destroy your family. You must be the biggest fool on earth for believing in God. I mean, over and over, and you can only imagine what it would have been like the night before.

Satan is going to do the same things to you and to me. He knows whatever buttons we have. That's why we can't submit fully, because he knows the areas that we aren't strong enough. Turn to Hebrews 11, verses 17-19. Hebrews 11, 17-19. When you're alone and when you don't understand what's happening in your life, the enemy will come and he's going to do everything he can to cast doubt in your life. And if you entertain that doubt, eventually you will deny God's word. That's what Scripture shows. So how do we defend ourselves from Satan? Hebrews 11, verse 17. By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promise offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, In Isaac your seed shall be called. Here's how. Concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. See, Abraham knew that God's promises were to be filled through Isaac and through his offspring. And Abraham believed that. So if the God who miraculously gave him the son was to later take the son, then he would be able to raise him back up from the dead. His attitude was one of total victory. Satan, I have you whipped either way. That was the perspective that he came in with. And that's an amazing faith that Abraham had in a mighty God, because Satan can't beat a person who surrenders like that. Now, never forget, there were two people involved in this. And we can put so much focus on Abraham. Abraham was well over 100. He had Abraham. He had Isaac at 100. Isaac was an older teen. He certainly could have put up a good fight to being killed.

And obviously, there was a conversation that had to have taken place. I would love to have heard that conversation. Because there would have been a whole lot of conviction in God going back and forth. But it would be something like, Son, God wants me to sacrifice you. Remember, your life is a miracle. God has given amazing promises to be fulfilled by you. And God is all-powerful. So even if it doesn't make sense to us as humans, we must trust Him. And if needed, He will resurrect you after I kill you. Can you imagine that discussion? Something led Isaac to say, yes, he trusted without knowing why or how. How do you do that?

That isn't submission. Abraham and Isaac had to trust God, would take care of them, and provide what was needed and what was right. So if you want to think of it that way, Abraham completely surrendered to God. Isaac completely surrendered to his Father and to God. They both did. And you know what happened? When Abraham placed his son on the altar, the angel of the Lord stopped him from taking his life. And you don't need to turn there. You can put in your notes Genesis 22, verses 12 through 13. It says, and he said, Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.

Now I know. And the reason he could say, You have not withheld him from me, is the angel of the Lord that was speaking was actually the Lord Jesus Christ. Who was pre-incarnate in the Old Testament. Now of course, you know what happened from there. He provided a lamb, a sacrifice was made. But in Abraham's mind, Isaac was all but dead. Abraham obeyed because he had unconditionally surrendered to God. And you and I can also have two different paths. We can either be overcome by fear, or we can overcome fear by faith. Abraham is an amazing example of that. Once we prove our faith and our purpose in our heart to trust God regardless, then it's God's turn to provide something for us. As Andrew Murray once wrote, he said, God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to him. Okay, let's move on to another concept. Surrender means waiting on God's timing without knowing when. Surrender means waiting on God's timing without knowing when. Human nature, we want to be in charge, don't we? And we can accept a little bit of adjustments to our schedule as long as the basic spirit of what we're trying to achieve is done. If not, it's one of these, honey, what are you doing? We need to go! We need to be here! We get impatient. That isn't surrendering our lives to God when we do that to him. It's only adapting while maintaining most of the control we want to have in our lives, right? We know that we should truly strive to turn our lives over to God, but often the one thing we hold back the most is our time. It's as if we give God the keys, this big key ring, to all the rooms in our heart, but we keep one. And we keep the key to part of our time for personal use. And then we shut God out of that section. And the effect of that is not complete surrender, it's incomplete surrender. It shows in our lack of spiritual power, not being able to do all that God could otherwise do through us. And it also plays to a lack of peace that we sometimes feel. The full joy of God begins when we hand over that last key to our time. And when we do this, we make God the sole and only ruler in our lives. But it's not easy. It's not easy. Turn to Daniel 3, verses 16 through 18. We know we're surrendering to God when we rely on God to work things out instead of trying to force our agenda. Try to control situations. All these things we try to do on a day-to-day basis. And if you want to use common Christian phrases, because they're powerful, it's when we let go and let God work. It fits the story. It's instead of trying harder, we trust more. And we see this displayed beautifully by Daniel's three friends. When the political yes-men of the day brought Daniel's friends before the king, and they accused him for not bowing down before the idol, what was the king? He was outraged.

And so when the king asked Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego if this was true, they could have lied. Or they could have said yes and then justified it and figured, pfft, 60 seconds a day. I'll fake it. I prayed to real God and bow before this thing. They could have come up with all sorts of ways of rationalizing this. But look what happened. Daniel 3, verse 16.

Nor will we worship the golden image, which you have set up. And at that, you could just picture the king. I mean, he must have turned purple and veins are coming out in his neck because he immediately commanded the fiery furnace to be made seven times hotter than normal. How hot is fire? Good night. It was going to kill him anyway. Seven times hotter. Then he gets his mightiest men to go and to carry them up. They weren't fighting. But his mightiest men to go and do it. And it was so hot that these mighty men that were going to throw them in, they were killed.

But the three men didn't burn up. And in fact, verse 25 talks about how when the king looked in, he saw a fourth man looking like the Son of God.

There was a much greater purpose and a goal for Daniel's three friends than saving their own skin. They didn't try to rationalize how they used time. Their heart was firmly fixed on the kingdom of God, on serving, and they knew that God would save them. This life, next life, they were looking at God's greater end. And that knowledge allowed their faith and their obedience to be this amazing witness that we have. Is God asking you to give up or delay your plan for something that you have dreamed of for a long time? The key for us to consider when this happens is that the Lord sees our faith, He will reward us, but it will be in His time.

That's tough.

It will be in His time. Turn to Colossians 3, verses 1-2. Colossians 3, verses 1-2. The Apostle Paul is the one who's speaking here, and he had all these difficult battles that he seemed to face. Not only was he facing his own carnality, but it seems like he was always being challenged by all these fiery darts that Satan was throwing his way. And he tells us in this verse, we're about to read about how to keep on the higher plane, how to keep the right perspective. Colossians 3, verse 1. If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on things on the earth.

Doing that led Jesus Christ our Savior to have to die. But through this sacrifice, God the Father calls you and me and gives us the chance to true repentance and to be part of His kingdom. Turn next to John 14, verses 1 through 3. John 14, verses 1 through 3. The ultimate purpose, the end result of our unconditional surrender, is to attain an amazing position that God has set up for each of us in the kingdom of God. That's why we go to the feast. That's what we look forward to so much. Jesus explained His disciples in this verse. We're about to read why He was sacrificing His life. He was going to prepare something very, very special for them. For those who were called and followed according to His way. John 14, verse 1. Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to repair a place for you. Picture Dr. Zimmerman on that one. What's your name? Write your name in on there. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself. Where I am, there you may be also. We all love a gift that's personalized, right? What we're being told here is that Jesus Christ has promised a personal place just for us. Therefore, we need to continue to strive daily to remain unconditionally surrendered to God. So we can experience that amazing thing that He has set up for us.

What a beautiful calling. What a beautiful plan. Let me begin to wrap up. The Old Testament was about submission. The New Testament is about surrendering to God. But having His law written in our hearts, in our minds, and yielding fully. For our final scripture, I'd like you to turn to Hebrews 12, verses 1-3. Hebrews 12, verses 1-3.

The Bible is full of so many amazing examples. You should already have the context. Hebrews 12 is right after the faith chapter, right after Hebrews 11. And all these amazing people who fully surrender their lives to God. And there are examples. There to be our pillars that we look to when we get down and there to encourage us of how we're supposed to live. So let's go right after the faith chapter, Hebrews 12, verse 1. Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight in the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. If you try to submit with your own power, we will become weary and discouraged in our souls. Surrendering is ultimately a selfless act of yielding to God. That's what Jesus did. And that's the example of where to follow. I'd like to leave you with one more concept about surrender, and that is this. Once a life is surrendered, it is to be dedicated to helping others reach that same point. Once a life is surrendered, it's to be dedicated to helping others reach that same point. See, the Bible is full of all these examples showing surrendered lives are intended to be dedicated to helping other people find that same point where God is trying to get us.

So that God can grant them the same gift he's given us. It's not a selfish calling. God wants us to pay it forward. And this all goes back to the fact that God is love. God is outwardly focused. That's why Christ gave his life. That's why love is an outgoing concern. And so our human ministry on earth is to be one of sharing. How do we do that? Certainly, we personally and through the church share the message of Christ. We should never be afraid of our calling and our faith and our belief. But we also should strive to share His love and how we live and how we act every day. Because that shines out so much more than teaching people something in the Bible. People see it. Surrendered Christians can have this inner peace, this inner joy that's described in the Bible, regardless of what's going on around them. And that's different. It's the hope that we don't have to hurt deep down inside. We don't have to worry or be angry or scared or sad. Because that's all of what the gospel promises to us. But to get there, we have to first surrender ourselves and our desires to God. So, I hope you see, just like salvation, surrender isn't something that we can do. It's only something we can accept from God. But if we do surrender to God, He does promise that He will lift us up.