Participants:
Series Code: WHO
Program Code: WHO210057S
|
00:27 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn,
00:29 and we welcome you to 3ABN Worship Hour. 00:34 I believe the Lord has a wonderful teaching for us 00:37 today, a needed teaching. 00:40 We are going to talk 00:42 about surrender made simple. 00:47 You know, if you ask 100 men on the street, 00:50 what is surrender mean? 00:52 They're all gonna say, "Oh, defeat." 00:55 Or at least that's the number one answer. 00:57 Surrender is defeat. 00:59 Hands up, that's it. 01:01 You ask 100 women on the street, 01:03 what is defeat, surrender? 01:06 And they will say, 01:07 "Oh, somebody is going to control me." 01:10 Surrender is one of those words in the Christian vernacular. 01:15 We toss it around quite a bit. 01:18 But it's not actually in the Bible. 01:21 The concept is just like incarnation 01:24 is not in the Bible. 01:27 Trinity is not in the Bible, but the concepts are. 01:31 In the Christian vernacular, 01:34 the word surrender represents victory. 01:39 It represents power. 01:42 And I think it's hard for us to recognize that 01:45 because there's so few Christians 01:48 who are truly surrendered. 01:50 That's not a judgmental statement. 01:52 It's just a painfully obvious condition 01:57 of the church. 01:58 A.W. Tozer made a comment something like this. 02:03 He said, 02:05 "If the Holy Spirit were removed 02:07 from the church today, 02:09 95% of what the church does would continue. 02:13 No one would know the difference. 02:15 But if the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn 02:20 from the church of the New Testament, 02:23 the Acts Church, 02:25 95% of what happened 02:28 would have stopped 02:30 and everyone would know the difference." 02:34 You know, it's really a sad thing. 02:36 I think we've played church too long. 02:41 Some Christians are busy with service, 02:46 but they don't have an intimate prayer life 02:48 or a relationship with the Lord. 02:51 Some Christians feel defeated. 02:54 And they're angry with God. 02:56 Some Christians feel like they've hit a wall, 02:59 and there's a barrier between them and the Lord. 03:03 Many Christians are carnal, lukewarm Christians, 03:08 and some love the things of this world. 03:11 And they have an apathetic attitude 03:16 toward their spiritual condition. 03:18 I just want to tell you, 03:21 it doesn't have to be this way. 03:25 We need to ask ourselves, 03:28 what is preventing me from surrendering to the Lord? 03:34 And, you know, I remember once 03:36 I was quoting 2 Corinthians 3:18, 03:42 as an affirmation, 03:43 I was praying back to the Lord and I was going, 03:45 "Oh, Father, thank You, 03:46 that You are leading me by the Holy Spirit 03:49 from one level of your glory, which is His character, 03:52 from one level of Your glory to the next." 03:54 And all of a sudden, in my mind, 03:57 I saw this huge staircase, it went all the way to heaven. 04:02 And the steps were like 60 feet high, 04:05 while I'm running along on a step, 04:09 maybe a third of the way up. 04:11 And as I'm running, 04:13 I'm looking back over my shoulder 04:15 and then wham, I hit the wall. 04:21 I didn't know it was wall till I was saying, 04:23 "Lord, what is preventing me from surrendering?" 04:28 And what the Lord impressed upon my mind was this. 04:31 I will soon explain 04:33 the wall of resistance that you're hitting. 04:35 And I thought, yes, that's what it is. 04:38 I feel like I'm hitting a wall of resistance. 04:41 So I prayed, and I prayed, 04:44 and I prayed for a couple of weeks. 04:46 Lord, what is this wall of resistance? 04:49 And you know what? 04:50 The Lord said to me, listen to what I'm saying 04:53 because this is powerful. 04:55 He said, 04:57 "The wall of resistance 04:59 that you are hitting is self preservation." 05:05 What? 05:07 See, what I was hitting was actually the next step. 05:12 It was front of that next step. 05:15 For me to become more like Christ, 05:19 for any of us to become more like Christ, 05:21 we have to give up a little more of self. 05:25 And we hit that wall of resistance, 05:28 we hit that place where we're like, now, Lord, 05:32 I don't want to give this up. 05:34 But the Lord also showed me, in my mind, 05:37 he showed me a huge elephant, little ant. 05:40 This was the time and He said, 05:42 "Child, when I asked you to surrender, 05:44 I'm not asking you to do it in your power. 05:47 Your power is like that of the little ant 05:49 where's my power is like this of the elephant." 05:53 He said, "Draw on My power, Be yoked to me." 05:57 And that's what surrender is all about. 06:02 When I first learned to cooperate with the Lord, 06:07 and I was surrendering for the first time in my life, 06:12 really, I think there was a notice, 06:15 noticeable transformation in my life. 06:19 And my husband came to me and he said, 06:22 "What's going on? I want what you've got." 06:26 But even though God had given me 06:28 a teaching on surrender, 06:29 I believed to that, 06:31 it was over his head somehow. 06:34 I mean, I explained it for months, 06:37 but it was just like almost on a daily basis. 06:40 He kept saying, I don't understand surrender. 06:43 Explain it to me, and I poorly explained it. 06:48 So when God gave me the title for this message, 06:53 I had to come up with a title. 06:55 Nearly a week ago, I gave a title. 06:58 But then, as I began to write the message, 07:01 the Lord impressed me. 07:03 He wasn't in it. 07:04 And I went to bed one night, 07:05 and I prayed and prayed and prayed. 07:07 And I said, 07:08 "Lord, I want You to give me what You want. 07:13 How do You explain surrender?" 07:16 So here are the three steps 07:20 that I woke up the next morning, 07:23 and these steps were on my mind, 07:25 I jumped out of bed, and I wrote them down, 07:27 because I believe what God has given me 07:31 is a perfect explanation of surrender. 07:34 You can't surrender 07:35 if you don't know what it's all about. 07:37 And so, these three steps 07:41 are to simplify and clarify 07:46 the process of surrender. 07:48 Step one is to know God. 07:53 And this isn't head knowledge. 07:56 This is heart knowledge. 07:58 This is understanding God's love, 08:01 and letting it be an experiential knowledge. 08:05 So step one is no God. 08:09 Step two is stop resisting 08:13 and submit. 08:15 Stop resisting His love, 08:19 and submit to His authority. 08:23 And step three is yield to the leading 08:28 of the Holy Spirit. 08:31 You know, I believe that 08:35 this explains or defines surrender. 08:41 It's kind of like I knew these things in my mind, 08:44 but it wasn't the way I was explaining. 08:46 And I think these three steps define the process of surrender 08:52 in the most simple way 08:53 that I've ever heard them expressed. 08:55 But I don't want to leave anyone with the idea 08:59 that the process of surrender is easy. 09:03 It's not. 09:05 It's difficult. 09:07 It's a daily struggle. 09:09 Now, I will say, 09:11 the more you learn to walk in surrender, 09:13 the easier it becomes, 09:16 but it isn't a once for all type thing. 09:20 I was sharing in the greenroom 09:21 actually a story of when I was writing, 09:25 exalting His Word. 09:27 And I only had 17 days to write a book, 09:30 didn't have an outline. 09:32 I told my sister, she was in... 09:34 I was running the ministry from the home at the time, 09:37 and was getting ready to do a program here 09:39 at 3ABN called exalting His Word. 09:42 So I told my sister, 09:43 honey, I've only got 17 days to write this book. 09:46 You can't be calling me all throughout the day. 09:48 I'll call you every day at 5 o'clock. 09:52 Don't call me unless it's an emergency. 09:55 Well, the phone rings you know, I would get up in the morning. 09:59 And I'd pray from like five to seven, 10:01 then I'd start working. 10:04 And my sister just kept calling and calling. 10:06 So about the fourth day of this. 10:09 She called about 10 o'clock in the morning and I said, 10:12 "Is this an emergency?" 10:14 "No, I just wanted to talk with you." 10:16 And I said, 10:17 "Honey, I can't talk to you right now. 10:19 I'll talk to you at five." 10:21 And I hung up. 10:22 Then about 1 o'clock, she called again, and I said, 10:27 "Is this an emergency?" 10:29 "No, no, I just want to hear your voice and talk to you." 10:33 I said, "Honey, please understand, 10:34 I've only got 17 days to write a book. 10:37 I can't be talking to you right now." 10:40 So she calls back at 3 o'clock. 10:44 "Is this an emergency?" 10:45 "Nope." 10:48 I said to her, 10:50 "Honey, I cannot talk to you right now. 10:52 I've got to write a book, 10:54 you're interrupting the process of my thoughts." 10:58 And she said to me in a very melodramatic way, 11:01 "That's fine. 11:02 I just don't have a sister anymore. 11:04 You don't love me." 11:06 And when she did, I was offended. 11:11 And I said, 11:13 "I don't love you. 11:15 You don't love me, 11:16 you have no respect for my boundaries. 11:19 You don't care what's going on in my life. 11:21 You only want to do it your way." 11:23 And da-da-da-da-da. 11:26 Well, we hung up. 11:28 I got busy typing away. 11:32 And about five or six pages later, 11:35 I realized what I was writing was scriptural. 11:37 But there was no anointing in it. 11:40 And the Lord impressed me, you know what? 11:43 I had to call her. 11:45 And I had to apologize 11:49 for allowing my flesh 11:54 to rear its ugly head. 11:56 In other words, 11:57 I had been completely surrendered to the Lord 11:59 that day, I prayed, I surrendered. 12:03 But the repeated annoyance of someone 12:08 who is not cooperating, I got offended. 12:13 And you know what the Lord taught me once. 12:15 The spirit of offence is the spirit of pride. 12:19 Think about that for a minute. 12:21 You can't be offended unless your pride rears up. 12:27 You're offended because you're not getting your way, 12:29 someone's not listening to, 12:31 you feel like somebody's using you, 12:32 you feel, whatever it is, that pushes your button. 12:37 It's a pride issue. 12:38 And the Lord told me, 12:40 the spirit of pride is a spirit of Antichrist. 12:43 So, boy, that's something we all need to think about. 12:49 You see there's this cosmic conflict 12:51 that's going on ever since Adam and Eve fell. 12:54 There's a conflict between selfishness and love, 12:59 between pride and humility. 13:02 There's this contest between evil and good. 13:08 And did you know what? 13:10 We may not realize it, 13:11 but we are all surrendered at one point or another, 13:16 to one side or the other. 13:19 Listen to what Romans 6:16 says. 13:21 Paul writes, 13:23 "Do you not know 13:24 that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, 13:27 you are that one's slaves whom you obey." 13:31 I like what the King James Version says, it says, 13:35 "Do you not know that to whom you yield, 13:39 you are slaves to that thing." 13:44 And then he goes on. 13:46 He says, 13:47 "We can either be yielded or slaves to obey sin 13:51 that leads to death, 13:53 or obedience that leads to righteousness." 13:57 We're either yielding to our own sinful inclinations, 14:03 and letting sin drag us around by hooking our nose, 14:07 or we are yielding 14:09 to the lover of our souls. 14:13 The Lord, who, whose love is unmeasurable, 14:18 immeasurable, 14:20 and when we yield to Him, 14:24 He leads us by love. 14:26 When you think of surrender, 14:28 I want you to think of the yield sign. 14:32 You know, there's an international sign, 14:34 I mean, it is accepted the Geneva Convention, 14:37 it's all over the world. 14:39 There is a sign to yield and it's, 14:42 you see it placed 14:43 where there's intersections and it governs, 14:47 who has the right of way to turn first 14:52 and to lead out on that path. 14:55 Now, when we think of yielding to the Lord 15:00 daily, hourly, 15:03 we come to intersections. 15:06 In the school of life, it is a constant thing. 15:09 We need to learn to yield, 15:12 and let the Holy Spirit go first 15:17 and follow him. 15:19 That's what it's all about. 15:20 Now we're going to get into these three steps. 15:22 But before we do, I want to pray. 15:25 Let's pray. 15:26 Heavenly Father, I thank You, Lord, 15:29 for this clarifying the definition 15:32 the way to define surrender. 15:36 And I ask in the name of Jesus, Father, 15:39 oh, we want to know You, Lord, we want to know Your love. 15:44 We want to learn to stop resisting your love, 15:48 and to submit to your authority. 15:51 And, Father, we want to yield to Your Holy Spirit's leading. 15:56 So we pray now 15:57 that you will send Your Holy Spirit 15:59 to be our teacher 16:01 and, Father, that You will just speak through me, 16:06 get me out of the way, speak through me, Lord, 16:10 and help us all to hear, 16:13 to learn and to put into practice 16:16 what He teaches us, 16:17 in Jesus' name, amen. 16:21 Okay, step number one, know God. 16:27 This could be an hour long sermon, 16:28 but I've only got a few minutes to explain this. 16:31 So let me hit the highlights. 16:34 Do you know God? 16:36 What have you been taught about God? 16:39 Does it line up with the Word of God? 16:43 The Bible says, God is love, 16:46 that is the nature of His essence. 16:49 And He manifests His love 16:51 through his everlasting covenant of redemption. 16:57 God had the plan of redemption in mind 17:01 before He even created the earth. 17:03 He knew he was going to have to come down 17:06 and be a man 17:08 and take on our flesh and die for us. 17:11 You know, the Bible says that God never changes. 17:13 Malachi 4:6, He says, "I'm the Lord, I change not." 17:16 Hebrews 13:8, He says, 17:19 "Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever." 17:23 My mother, we grew up in a New Testament Church. 17:29 And we didn't study the Old Testament. 17:32 Well, my mother would read the Old Testament, 17:34 but she read it through a lens of misunderstanding. 17:39 And what she saw was an angry God. 17:43 And so, when she kind of, I guess, 17:48 gave me that impression, as did my church, 17:51 I learned to love our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 17:56 But I had a fear of the Father. 18:01 I thought He was just up there looking down 18:03 ready to set me at any moment. 18:06 Let me tell you something. 18:07 I was reading Hebrews Chapter 1. 18:11 And when I came to the part, Hebrews 1:3, that says, 18:17 Jesus, a loving, gentle, kind Savior, 18:22 is the outrank the effluence 18:26 of God's nature. 18:29 He is God. 18:31 He's not just a reflection of God, 18:34 and God's love. 18:36 Jesus is exactly like the Father. 18:41 Wow. 18:43 He has His own radiance, because He's God. 18:47 Now, that really changed 18:50 the way I read the Bible, 18:54 when I realized that God is love, 18:58 and the Father, the Son, and the Spirit 19:01 are exactly alike. 19:02 I read the Old Testament, through a new lens, 19:06 and I saw how patient and kind and loving our God is. 19:12 I no longer saw a difference 19:14 between the God of the Old Testament 19:16 and the God of the New. 19:18 Salvation has always been by grace through faith. 19:21 And as I studied this, it was amazing. 19:25 I came upon this word in the Hebrew, 19:28 you know, I used to think, 19:29 ah, you don't see grace in the Old Testament. 19:31 It's all over. 19:33 And there's a word in the Hebrew 19:35 that describes God, 19:37 and it is hesed. 19:39 And hesed is you can't find a single English word 19:45 to define hesed. 19:46 You can't just say, 19:48 oh, it's unconditional love or it's grace. 19:50 Hesed means loving-kindness, steadfast love, grace, mercy, 19:56 faithfulness, goodness, devotion. 19:59 It is a gentle, generous, patient, loyal love. 20:05 It's a covenant term. 20:07 And you know what? 20:09 God, when we say, God is love. 20:11 It's not a feeling. 20:13 It's not that God is loving. 20:15 It is expressed by what He does. 20:20 And everything He does has been above and beyond 20:23 what we deserve. 20:24 But He does everything for our eternal benefit. 20:27 God is holy. 20:29 So that means, it just simply means 20:30 He's totally separated from sin. 20:34 God cannot sin. 20:36 God is love. 20:38 Love separated from sin. 20:40 But God does have a holy hatred of sin. 20:44 And when we think about the penalty 20:48 He established for sin is death. 20:52 But then God, 20:54 the second person of the Godhead 20:56 came down and took on our flesh 21:00 and became a man to satisfy that penalty. 21:06 What love when we think 21:10 about what God in the person of Jesus Christ, 21:15 what He did, He saved us. 21:18 John 3:16 says, 21:19 "He saves us from the penalty of sin. 21:22 God so loved the world 21:24 that He gave His only begotten Son 21:25 that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, 21:29 but have everlasting life." 21:31 And that word perish there means 21:33 to be totally destroyed, to be obliterated. 21:39 So we've got an option. 21:43 He paid the penalty for our sin. 21:45 If we accept that penalty, 21:47 we'll have the gift of eternal life, 21:49 otherwise, we will be obliterated. 21:52 In 1 John 3:8. 21:54 The Bible says, 21:56 "God saves us from the power of sin." 22:01 He says, 1 John 3:8, 22:03 "He who sins is of the devil, 22:04 for the devil has sinned from the beginning. 22:07 For this purpose, the Son of God was manifest 22:09 that He might destroy the works of the devil." 22:13 Hallelujah. 22:14 Don't you want that in your life? 22:17 And then in Revelation 21:4, 22:21 we see in the future, 22:23 that He is going to save us from the presence of sin. 22:28 In the New Earth, Revelation 21:4 says, 22:31 "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, 22:33 there shall be no more death, no sorrow, no crying, 22:36 there shall be no more pain," 22:38 there's not gonna be any more sin, 22:41 "for the former things have passed away." 22:44 But meanwhile, down here, 22:46 where the cosmic conflict is raging, 22:50 what Jesus said in John 10:10 brings me such hope. 22:54 He says, 22:56 "The thief comes not but to steal, kill and destroy, 23:00 but I have come that they may have life, 23:04 and that they may have it more abundantly." 23:08 God offers you today abundant life, 23:13 if you learn to cooperate with Him. 23:17 You know, God's government 23:21 is by the power of love. 23:26 That's how God governs. 23:28 He made us creatures of freewill. 23:31 We can either receive His love, 23:35 or we can deny His love. 23:38 Satan's government operates by the love of power. 23:43 When we think about the Ten Commandments, 23:48 it's God's law of love, His government of love. 23:53 The first four commandments are how we are to love God. 23:57 And the last six commandments 23:58 are how we are to love humanity. 24:01 But the beauty of this is, 24:04 is that love fulfills that law. 24:08 And one of my favorite scriptures 24:10 when we're talking about understanding the love of God, 24:13 is that Romans 5:8 says, 24:15 God demonstrates His love for us in this way, 24:21 that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 24:27 Why wouldn't you trust a love like that? 24:32 You can trust God's love. 24:35 Now, let's consider His knowledge. 24:38 All things in heaven and earth were created by God 24:43 who became the person of Jesus Christ. 24:45 I mean, the Bible clearly tells us, John 1:13, 24:49 Colossians 1:16, and Hebrews 1:10 24:53 that Jesus Christ is the creator of all things. 24:58 Now, he has an intelligence 25:02 and a power that is superior to ours. 25:06 In Isaiah 55:9. 25:09 Isaiah 55:9, says, 25:12 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, 25:14 so are My ways higher than yours, 25:17 the Lord says, 25:18 and My thoughts are higher than your thoughts." 25:22 Could you create an atom? 25:25 Could you create the platypus? 25:28 Could you create they eye? 25:31 No, see God's intelligence is superior to ours. 25:35 And Isaiah 46:10 says, this is God's speaking. 25:39 He says, 25:40 "I declare the end from the beginning, 25:42 from ancient times 25:43 things that are not yet done, saying, 25:46 My counsel shall stand." 25:49 Our all knowing creator is a friend. 25:54 He's not a foe. 25:56 Everything He plans is for eternal benefit. 26:00 And He has a plan that will lead us 26:05 in the way everlasting. 26:07 He wants to be our life coach. 26:10 In Jeremiah 29:11-14, God says, 26:13 "I know the plans I have for you, 26:15 plan to prosper you not to harm you." 26:18 And He says, 26:19 "Plans to give you a hope and a future, 26:21 then you will call upon Him and come and pray to me, 26:25 I'll listen to you." 26:27 When? 26:28 When you recognize that God has a plan for your life. 26:32 Hey, that changes everything. 26:35 You want to come to Him. 26:38 This God of immeasurable love. 26:42 This God, who is... 26:47 It has superior intelligence says to you, 26:52 "If you will seek Me, you will find Me 26:55 when you seek Me with all of your heart, 26:58 and I will be found by you. 27:00 I'll bring you back from captivity." 27:02 Why wouldn't you trust His superior knowledge? 27:08 John 17:3, Jesus said, this is eternal life. 27:12 Okay, what is it, Jesus? 27:14 What is eternal life, that they may know You, 27:19 and the only true God and Jesus Christ 27:22 whom You have sent? 27:24 This is not just intellectual knowledge. 27:27 It is having fellowship with the Lord. 27:32 We know the Lord and understand His love, 27:35 guess what? 27:37 We will want to have communion with Him. 27:40 We will know that 27:42 His love will make us fall in love with Him. 27:46 I'll put it that way. 27:47 Okay, so step two, step one was know God. 27:51 Step two, 27:53 stop resisting His love 27:55 and submit to His authority. 27:58 I've got to go a little faster here. 28:00 Stop resisting His love and submit to His authority. 28:05 I want to pray for you the same thing 28:07 that Paul prayed for the Ephesians. 28:09 We find it in Ephesians 3:16-19. 28:13 "Paul prayed that God would grant them 28:17 according to the riches of His glory," 28:20 and these limitless riches are available to all believers, 28:24 "to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the man." 28:28 His Holy Spirit gives us dynamite power within. 28:33 And then he says, 28:35 so that it's a purpose statement. 28:37 When the Holy Spirit is living in us. 28:39 He says, 28:41 so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith. 28:45 So how does Christ dwell in our hearts? 28:48 As the Holy Spirit lives in us, 28:51 he is dwelling in our hearts through faith. 28:53 Then he goes on and he says that, 28:56 "You being rooted and grounded in love." 29:00 This is the self sacrificing love of Jesus. 29:03 He says that you may be able to comprehend 29:05 with all the saints, what is the width, the length, 29:09 and the depth and the height of His love, 29:13 to know the love of Christ that passes knowledge 29:18 that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 29:22 The love of Christ is immeasurable. 29:25 Its width extends to all people. 29:30 The length of His love extends to all time. 29:35 The depth of His love extends 29:38 to the lowest human condition 29:43 and the height of His love extends to the heavens. 29:47 The purpose of His love is that we would 29:50 love Him in return, 29:52 that we would reciprocate. 29:54 Jesus said in Mark 12:30. 29:56 This is the greatest commandment. 29:59 "Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, 30:01 with all of your soul, with all of your mind 30:03 and with all of your strength." 30:05 But you can't even do that? 30:07 You can't keep that commandment 30:10 without the Holy Spirit in your heart. 30:12 Romans 5:5 says, 30:14 "God pours His love, His love, 30:18 His self sacrificing perfect love 30:20 into our hearts 30:22 by the power of the Holy Spirit." 30:24 So here's the interesting thing. 30:27 Anything that God commands of us, 30:29 He empowers us to do. 30:32 We're to call upon His name, 30:33 confess our sins and accept Him as Lord. 30:36 Paul, we also need to call upon, accept Him as Savior, 30:40 but we need to call upon Him also as Lord. 30:44 John 1:12 says, 30:45 "As many as received Him, to them 30:47 He gave the right to be the children of God." 30:52 So as we place our faith in our Creator, 30:56 let's stop resisting His love. 30:59 He's our Redeemer, we need to yield to His, 31:05 our allegiance to Him. 31:07 Now, here is a really powerful passage, 31:11 we'll break it apart, just break it, unpackaged it, 31:14 let it put it that way. 31:16 James 4:7. 31:19 James says, 31:21 "Submit to God, resist the devil, 31:24 and he will flee from you." 31:26 Submit is a decision of the will. 31:30 This is a conscious decision 31:34 to quit resisting God's love 31:37 and to submit to His superior intelligence, 31:42 His superior love and His authority 31:46 as a sovereign ruler of the universe. 31:49 Let me tell you something, 31:50 God will never force us against our will. 31:53 He doesn't coerce us. 31:55 But the interesting thing is, 31:57 when we know God, when we understand His love, 32:01 His love compels us. 32:04 It constrains us, 32:06 it makes us desire to walk in obedience to Him. 32:12 And I have to say this 32:14 because otherwise somebody is going to write in. 32:16 We're not saved by obedience. 32:19 Obedience is the highest expression 32:24 of our worship for God. 32:26 It is an expression of our love and loyalty to God. 32:32 Don't you want when we submit to God, 32:36 what he's saying here, 32:37 He gives us power to resist the devil, 32:41 if submit means to line up under God's will. 32:45 And when we do that, it's a military term. 32:48 It's like a private would submit to the general. 32:52 When we submit to God's authority, 32:56 He gives us the power to resist the devil. 32:59 He will give us a way out of every temptation. 33:02 Don't you want that power? 33:06 Aren't you tired of living a defeated life? 33:10 Aren't you tired of going once more round the mountain, 33:14 like the Israelites did at Sinai, 33:17 just being stuck? 33:19 Well, James goes on in the next verse, James 4:8. 33:23 He says, 33:25 "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. 33:28 Cleanse your hands, you sinners, 33:30 purify your hearts, you double-minded." 33:36 Draw near to God when you understand His love. 33:41 When you know God, by experience, 33:45 as I said earlier, 33:46 you will want to commune with Him. 33:51 You want fellowship with Him. 33:53 You don't want to learn what is His plan for your life, 33:57 you will pursue an intimate love relationship with God. 34:03 And what God wants us to do 34:05 is acknowledge our total dependence upon Him. 34:09 Did you know that's what His plan of salvation is? 34:12 That we depend totally upon Him. 34:15 And that's what humility is, as well, 34:18 that we're not saying, 34:21 I want to be like Adam and Eve, 34:23 I want to decide 34:25 what's good for my life or what's evil. 34:27 You know, in this day, 34:31 there's too many people 34:33 who think that truth is relative. 34:36 And they think that grace is a license to sin. 34:38 No. 34:40 Grace is God's favor on us, absolutely. 34:44 His undeserved gifts of the of Jesus Christ, 34:48 the Holy Spirit and the Word, 34:50 and everything else He gives us. 34:52 But when you understand His gifts of grace, 34:56 you understand the effects of grace. 34:59 And the effects of grace mean 35:02 that we want to express love and loyalty 35:06 to the Lord through obedience. 35:08 1 John, and you know, John was the apostle of love. 35:13 1 John 2:4, the apostle of love writes. 35:19 "He who says I know him, I know God, 35:22 and does not keep His commandments is a liar, 35:26 and the truth is not in him." 35:29 That's pretty strong statement. 35:31 2 John 1:6. 35:33 John says, 35:35 "This is love 35:36 that we walk according to His commandments. 35:38 This is the commandment that, 35:40 as you have heard from the beginning, 35:44 you should walk in it." 35:46 Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. 35:50 When Jesus was in the wilderness 35:53 for 40 days, He fasted. 35:55 And the devil came to him, and the devil tempted him 35:59 to perform a miracle, and turn stones into bread. 36:04 And in Matthew 4:4, Jesus answered, 36:07 and He said, "It is written." 36:10 Now he's gonna quote from Deuteronomy. 36:12 He said, 36:14 "It is written, 36:15 man shall not live by bread alone, 36:19 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. 36:24 You see, the source of Christ's strength 36:28 was obedience to the Word, 36:31 and the will of God. 36:34 And that is the source of our sustenance as well. 36:38 The source of our spirit, 36:40 spiritual energy is to get into the word 36:44 to hunger and thirst for righteousness. 36:46 You know what righteousness is? 36:49 Righteousness is to be in right standing with God, 36:52 and to do what God wants. 36:55 That's what righteousness means. 36:56 We know that Christ's righteousness 36:59 is credited to, credited to us. 37:01 But God expects us 37:04 to follow in that path of righteousness, obedience. 37:08 Remember what Romans 6:16 says, leads to righteousness. 37:13 So we've got to discipline our work, our minds 37:18 to get into the Bible and study it for ourselves. 37:22 The best thing my mother ever told me, 37:24 was, don't accept something 37:27 just because the pastor said it, 37:28 you get in the Word, and check it out for yourself. 37:32 Now, I didn't follow that advice 37:35 till I was in my early 20s. 37:37 And when I started reading the Bible for myself, 37:39 I thought, 37:41 "Oh, well, I've been taught this, 37:43 but that's not what the Bible says." 37:45 We've got to get into the Word, 37:48 pray for the leading of the Holy Spirit, 37:50 every time you open up the Word, 37:52 pray to be filled. 37:54 And that you can understand God's Word, 37:56 by the aid of the Holy Spirit, 37:58 and then pray that you'll live by that Word. 38:02 So surrender involves 38:06 a daily seeking of an intimate relationship with God. 38:12 You need to pray, 38:13 you need to open your heart to God, 38:15 speak to Him like you would a friend. 38:18 And then God will speak back to you 38:20 through His Word primarily is, 38:23 but so you get into the Word, 38:26 and you look at what God has to say to you. 38:31 This is His love letter to you. 38:35 And then pray daily 38:36 for the leading of the Holy Spirit. 38:38 Pray to be filled with the Spirit. 38:40 And you know what happens? 38:42 Christ's character begins to develop in us 38:45 a little ahead of time. 38:47 In Mark 4:26-28, Jesus said, 38:52 "The kingdom of God is 38:53 as if a man should scatter seed on the ground 38:56 and should sleep by night and rise by day, 38:59 and the seed should sprout and grow. 39:02 And he himself does not know how, 39:06 for the earth yield crops by itself, 39:11 first the blade, then the head, 39:15 then the full grain in the head." 39:19 In the parable of the seed and the sower, 39:22 it's a different parable. 39:24 But Jesus said, the Word of God is the seed. 39:29 All the potential for the harvest 39:31 is wrapped inside of the seed plant corn, reap corn, 39:34 plant, plant wheat, reap wheat. 39:37 Well, if the Word of God is the seed, 39:41 all of your potential is wrapped in this work. 39:46 Your only job is to plant His promises in your heart, 39:51 and then this Word is alive and active. 39:54 And when you plant those promises in your heart, 39:57 you know what happens? 39:58 One day, you don't know what I'm thinking about it. 40:01 But just like Jesus said, 40:03 it's going to yield a crop by itself, 40:06 one day you're going along and there's the blade. 40:11 You're thinking about it. 40:12 And you're thinking, "Oh, yeah, I should do this." 40:15 And then a couple of weeks later, 40:19 it's grown into the head, 40:21 and it's becoming stronger and stronger in you 40:24 and then soon, 40:26 it's the full blade in the head. 40:28 Hallelujah. 40:30 We need to submit our thoughts and actions 40:35 to the Lord. 40:37 In Psalm 139:23. 40:40 Jesus said, excuse me, David said, 40:43 "Search me, O God, and know my heart, 40:46 try me and know my anxieties. 40:48 See if there's any wicked way in me, 40:51 and lead me in the way everlasting." 40:54 And you know what? 40:55 When you ask God to do this, invite Him to correct you. 41:00 Invite God to root out any unrighteousness 41:03 I say, oh, Lord, show me 41:05 and then help me to get rid of it. 41:07 Discipline me, Lord. 41:10 Some people say, you ask for God's discipline. 41:14 Yes. 41:15 You know, if you're afraid to ask for God's discipline, 41:19 you don't understand your loving God. 41:22 In 1 John 4:18, it says, 41:25 "There's no fear in love, 41:26 but perfect love casts out fear." 41:29 And in Hebrews 12:10-11. 41:33 Hebrews 12:10-11 says this, 41:36 "Our fathers, our earthly fathers 41:38 discipline us for a little while, 41:40 as they thought best, 41:41 but God disciplines us for good 41:43 that we may share in His holiness. 41:45 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. 41:48 Later on, however, 41:50 it produces a harvest of righteousness, 41:53 and peace for those who have been trained by it." 41:58 You know, 41:59 earthly fathers are imperfect. 42:04 And even the best of loving fathers, 42:09 their discipline could be imperfect, 42:12 but a loving father, 42:14 and you may not have had this example. 42:17 But a truly loving father will discipline his child 42:21 for the child's benefit. 42:23 Well, when you think about God, He is the perfect Father. 42:29 His discipline is always perfect. 42:32 He never does it to harm us, He only does it to bless us. 42:36 And if you invite His discipline, 42:39 here's how the Lord starts out. 42:42 He kind of whispers to you 42:45 and says, 42:46 "Nope, that's not the way." 42:49 And if you keep going in that direction, 42:51 it may get a little louder, say, 42:52 "Hey, nope, child, that's the wrong way." 42:57 Now, if you get obstinate, 42:58 you may get a little bit more disciplined, 43:00 but we're talking about eternal life. 43:03 We're talking about righteousness. 43:06 And what we will find 43:08 is that, you know, 1 John 3:1 says, 43:12 "Behold, what manner of love 43:15 that we should be called the children of God." 43:17 God will never correct you when you need comfort. 43:23 And He doesn't comfort you when you need correction. 43:26 But as His children we should develop 43:31 in maturity, 43:32 and the more that we the greater our surrender, 43:38 the greater intimacy we will have with God. 43:42 The more we walk in surrender, 43:45 the more we're filled with the Holy Spirit, 43:48 and we become more Christ like. 43:51 Jesus Himself said in Mark 8:34, 43:54 "Whoever desires to come after Me, 43:56 let him pick up his cross 43:58 and deny himself and follow Me." 44:02 I want to tell you something. 44:04 If you've never tried surrender, 44:06 you're going to learn, self doesn't like being denied. 44:11 1 John 2:15 and 17 says, 44:14 "Do not love the world or the things in the world. 44:16 If anyone loves the world, 44:18 the love of the Father is not in him, 44:20 for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, 44:22 the lust of the eyes, 44:24 the pride of life is not of the Father, 44:27 but is of the world. 44:28 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it, 44:33 but he who does the will of God abides forever." 44:38 God has the very best in mind for you. 44:42 He won't force you into your best life. 44:47 But let me ask you, 44:49 what in this decaying world system 44:53 are you holding on to 44:55 that is preventing God's best for you? 45:00 We need to surrender and let go 45:03 of what God doesn't want in our lives. 45:06 He's our Creator, 45:07 He knows the end from the beginning. 45:09 He knows what's good and what's evil for us. 45:12 We need to accept His best and be like Jesus. 45:16 In Luke 22:42, when Jesus said, 45:19 "Father, not My will, but yours be done." 45:21 We need to say, 45:23 "Oh, Lord, I want Your will above all. 45:25 I want Your will for my life, 45:27 because it's better than anything else 45:30 that I could possibly have." 45:34 Now, there is a warning and I have to give it to you. 45:38 In Proverbs 29:40, excuse me, 45:41 Proverbs 29:1. 45:44 Proverbs 29:1. 45:48 It says, 45:49 "He who is often rebuked 45:51 and hardens his neck 45:53 will suddenly be destroyed, 45:57 and that without remedy." 46:00 God is patiently calling you by His love. 46:04 He is calling us to obedience. 46:07 And if we have an unteachable heart, 46:11 if we are obstinate, 46:14 and we continue down 46:16 the path of destruction, guess what? 46:19 It will come, it will come suddenly 46:23 without warning, 46:25 and it will be final. 46:27 Romans 2:4-9 says, 46:29 "Do you despise the riches of His goodness, 46:31 His forbearance, His longsuffering, 46:33 not knowing that the kindness of God 46:36 leads you to repentance, 46:38 but in accordance with your hardness, 46:41 and your impenitent heart, 46:43 you're treasuring up for yourself 46:44 wrapped in the day of wrath 46:46 and revelation of the righteous judgment of God 46:50 who will render to each one according to his deeds. 46:54 Eternal life will be rendered to those 46:57 who by patient continuance in doing good, 47:02 seek for glory, honor, and immortality, 47:07 but to those who are self seeking, 47:10 and do not obey the truth, 47:13 but obey unrighteousness," 47:15 guess what they're going to get? 47:17 "Indignation and wrath, 47:20 tribulation and anguish 47:23 on every soul of man who does evil." 47:28 If we resist God's government of love, 47:32 if we treat His commandments with contempt, 47:35 you know what we're doing? 47:37 We're denying God. 47:39 In 2 Chronicles 15:2, this verse is about King Asa. 47:44 He said, "The Lord is with you." 47:47 He's speaking to Asa. 47:49 He said, 47:50 "The Lord is with you, while you were with Him. 47:53 If you seek Him, He will be found by you. 47:56 But if you forsake Him, He will forsake you." 48:00 What is that truth that's being presented there? 48:04 That God is present and powerful 48:09 in defending His obedient children? 48:15 Have you been disobedient? 48:18 Are you walking on the wrong pathway? 48:23 If you are listen to what Isaiah 55:6-7 says, 48:28 "Seek the Lord while he may be found, 48:32 call upon Him while He is near, 48:34 let the wicked forsake his way, 48:37 and the unrighteous man his thoughts, 48:39 let him return to the Lord, 48:41 and He will have mercy on him and to our God, 48:45 for He will abundantly pardon." 48:49 So that's just a brief summary of the first two steps. 48:55 Know God, know His love. 48:58 Stop resisting His love is the second step 49:01 and submit to His authority. 49:03 Now the third step, 49:05 which this could be a sermon all in itself. 49:09 We're going to just run through these. 49:11 I'm going to give you some scriptures. 49:13 I want you to look up afterwards. 49:15 But I've just got to include this, 49:18 in this teaching. 49:20 We've got to, the third step is 49:22 to yield to the Holy Spirit's lead. 49:26 You can't do this. 49:30 You can't walk in Christ's footsteps. 49:33 You can't lead a Christian life. 49:35 You can't have eternal life 49:38 without yielding to the Holy Spirit. 49:41 Jesus said in Luke 11:9-13, 49:44 "Ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, 49:47 knock and keep on knocking. 49:49 And then he tells us in verse 13, he says, 49:53 If you being evil parents 49:55 know how to give your children good gift, 49:58 how much more will the Heavenly Father 50:03 give the Holy Spirit 50:05 to those who ask and keep on asking? 50:09 It's not that you're begging God for His Spirit. 50:13 We're given the Spirit when we're born again. 50:16 But we're leaky vessels. 50:18 We need day by day to recognize our dependence 50:22 upon the Holy Spirit. 50:24 Jesus said in John 14:16-17, 50:29 "If you love Me, keep My commands, 50:32 and I will ask the Father, 50:35 and He will give you another advocate 50:38 to help you and be with you forever." 50:41 The Spirit of Truth. 50:43 Acts 5:32 says, 50:45 "The Holy Spirit is given to those who obey. 50:49 So when you have a heart that says, 50:50 "Yes, Lord, I want to obey. 50:52 Fill me with Your Holy Spirit. 50:54 He is sending him 50:58 and what would happen in your life 51:00 if you fully surrendered to the Lord, 51:04 and yielded to the Holy Spirit. 51:07 Jesus said in Acts 1:8, 51:09 "When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, 51:12 you will receive power." 51:14 Now, let me give you in a short time we have left, 51:18 some scriptures that I pray. 51:21 You look up, write these down. 51:23 You know, the reason I use so much scripture, 51:25 it doesn't matter what Shelley Quinn says, 51:28 it matters what the Bible says. 51:30 So let's look at why we need the Holy Spirit in our life. 51:35 One day, I'll do this teaching you make it the full hour. 51:38 Ephesians 3:16-17 says, 51:43 "It is by the Holy Spirit in our inner man 51:46 that we are strengthened. 51:48 And it is by him that Christ lives 51:51 in our hearts through faith." 51:54 Oh, we need that, because Colossians 1:27 says, 51:57 "Christ is you, in you, 52:00 Christ in you is your hope of glory." 52:03 Romans 8:14 tells us, 52:05 "That only those who are led by the Spirit of God 52:08 are the children of God." 52:10 And you know, I love Isaiah 30:21. 52:15 Isaiah 30:21, lets us know, 52:18 when the Holy Spirit's in our life, 52:20 we're going to have direction to our best light. 52:23 It says, 52:24 "Your ear shall hear a word behind you saying, 52:26 'This is the way walk in it.' 52:28 Whenever you turn to the right 52:30 or whenever you turn to the left." 52:32 Psalm 16:11 says, 52:34 "He will show you the path of life 52:36 and you will find joy in the presence of the Lord." 52:41 Romans 5:5, I've already mentioned 52:43 that the Holy Spirit 52:46 is the agency. 52:50 He's God as well. 52:53 When the Holy Spirit's in us, God's nature of love. 52:57 It says, God pours His love into our hearts 53:00 by the Holy Spirit. 53:02 Jesus said in John 14:26, 53:04 "The Holy Spirit will teach us all things." 53:08 And Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:12 and 14, 53:12 "That the Holy Spirit gives us an understanding 53:15 of God's Word and will, you can't understand the Bible 53:19 without the Holy Spirit. 53:22 Romans 8:26 Paul says, 53:24 "Hey, you don't know how to pray like you ought to. 53:27 But the Holy Spirit will help you to pray." 53:31 So even before you pray, when you start praying, 53:33 it's like Lord, send me the Holy Spirit now 53:36 and help me pray. 53:38 He will help you to overcome sin. 53:44 He'll give me the power, and listen to this, 53:45 I love this scripture. 53:47 Romans 8:13 says, 53:50 "If you live by the power... 53:56 Let me backup, Romans 8:13, 53:59 "If you live according to the flesh, 54:01 you will die. 54:03 But if by the Spirit, 54:07 you put to death the deeds of the body 54:10 you will live." 54:11 Do you see there's two agencies cooperating here. 54:16 He doesn't say if you put to death 54:19 misdeeds of the body. 54:21 He doesn't say, 54:23 if the Holy Spirit puts to death 54:25 the misdeeds of your body. 54:27 He says, if by the power of the Holy Spirit, 54:32 you're linked the ant, the elephant yoke together, 54:36 if by the power of the Holy Spirit, 54:40 he's not going to force you, 54:42 you put to death misdeeds of the body. 54:45 I love that scripture. 54:47 Romans 15:13 says, 54:49 "The Holy Spirit fills our heart 54:52 with joy and peace, and hope overflowing." 54:56 Romans or Philippians 2:13. 54:59 Philippians 2:13 says, 55:01 "He works in you 55:03 to will and to do His good pleasure. 55:07 First, he lines your will up with God's, 55:10 and he makes God's way desirable, 55:13 but it won't force you to act, you got to step out in faith. 55:16 And as soon as you do, 55:18 the power of the Holy Spirit shows up, 55:20 and he works in you to do the good 55:23 and pleasurable will of God. 55:26 And, finally, 2 Corinthians 3:18 says that 55:31 "He leads us from one level of glory 55:35 to the next level of glory, 55:37 transforming us into the image of our Lord." 55:43 Well, that was so fast, 55:45 well, I hope you've got those references. 55:47 If not go back on YouTube, look them up. 55:49 And look it up in your Bible, 55:51 because you need to know 55:52 how much you need the Holy Spirit. 55:55 So the simplified definition of surrender 56:00 is to know God, 56:03 experiential heart love 56:06 to stop resisting and submit, 56:09 stop resisting His love, 56:11 submit to His authority. 56:14 And third, 56:15 to yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit. 56:20 You know, surrender is an open and shut case, 56:23 either you're gonna open your heart 56:25 to God's love and His will, 56:28 or you're going to shut Him out of your life. 56:32 There's only two ways of life. 56:36 There's a crooked path that leads to destruction. 56:40 And there is the straight path of godliness 56:43 that leads to abundant life and eternal life in the future. 56:48 Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life." 56:51 He offers us abundant life right now. 56:54 He offers us eternal life. 56:59 And here's what I've got to tell you. 57:04 When you surrender to the Lord, 57:07 there's nothing that the world can give you 57:10 that's any better 57:12 than having that relationship with Him. 57:15 And when you take your last breath 57:17 on this earth, 57:18 the only thing that is going to matter 57:22 is your relationship with Jesus. 57:25 Oh, I pray, 57:27 you will know His love 57:29 and you will submit, 57:31 surrender today. |
Revised 2021-08-05