I Surrender All- Hymned Up
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 2 viewsNotes
Transcript
Handout
Video Description: Welcome to Week 5 of “Hymn’d Up” as we dive into some of the most popular hymns ever written and learn about the background behind these hymns as well as explore what they teach us about God and our faith. This week we will be looking at I Surrender All.
Verse 1: All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give; I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.
Verse 2: All to Jesus I surrender, Make me, Savior, wholly Thine; Let me feel Thy Holy Spirit, Truly know that Thou art mine.
Verse 3: All to Jesus I surrender, Lord, I give myself to Thee; Fill me with Thy love and power, Let Thy blessing fall on me.
Refrain:
I surrender all, I surrender all; All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.
23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.
3 Criteria for Surrendering All to Jesus:
3 Criteria for Surrendering All to Jesus:
To deny yourself
To deny yourself
To take up your cross daily
To take up your cross daily
To follow Him
To follow Him
38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
In order to understand the meaning of this call it is important to provide some context to this passage.
If you go back to Luke 9, I want us to note the interaction Jesus has with the disciples before verse 23. Lets read from Luke 9:18-20
18 Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?” 19 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.” 20 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”
Prior to Jesus calling them to deny themselves, he opens with a question: “Who do they say I am?” And “Who do you say I am?” Peter rightly states…you are the Messiah!
In Matthew, it records the same interaction and notes that Peter added, Messiah and Son of God. Jesus then says this to Peter in Matthew 16:17,
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.
Peter rightly understood that Jesus was the Son of God and Messiah. He understood who Jesus was, and this is the foundation to surrendering. When you understand that Jesus is wothy of it all, you will surrender to him all.
You have to recognize who is asking you to surrender. Jesus was not just a man, he was the son of God. Savior. Messiah. Lord. And because He is Lord and God, surrender to Him is the only appropriate response. Jesus has every right to ask for everything, because he is Lord over all. And every knee will bow and tongue confess that He is Lord of all.
So, let me say…Jesus is worthy of all surrender. And to refuse to surrender means that the Holy Spirit needs to reveal to you more of who Jesus is.
The degree to which you surrender to Christ is proportionate to the degree to which the Holy Spirit has given you revelation into who He is. If God would pull back the curtain and give you a glimpse of the infinite power, glory, and worth of Jesus…no one would have to tell you to surrender. Your heart would melt like wax before Him, and you would sing Holy, Holy, Holy.
We need God to open our eyes.
40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.”
Peter had been given revelation. He was ready to surrender. But that revelation was incomplete.
Peter thought that because he knew Jesus was the messiah, He had fully surrendered, but He had not. Listen to what Peter says to Jesus.
21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” 23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
Peter has insight into who Jesus is…is commended by Jesus. But when Jesus tells Him of the cross and suffering to come..he rebukes Him.
Peter at this point, knew Christ as Lord, but not Christ as Suffering Servant. He had a incorrect picture of Christ because he had imagined a Christ without the cross….and so Jesus rebuked Him.
He said, Get behind me Satan.
Let me point something out here, there is no Christ without the Cross. And there is no Christian without a cross. To say Jesus is my mesiah, yet reject the cross is Satanic. Why? Because even demons know Jesus is the messiah. But they do not follow!
This is why Jesus rebukes Peter and says to His disciples…if you truly belive I am Lord and God…take up your cross, deny yourself, and follow me.
Immediately after Jesus rebukes Peter, he says, again:
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.
Heres my foundation here: Denying yourself, taking up your cross, following Jesus comes down to our understanding of who Christ is. Peter had imagined a Messiah without Suffering. He had imagined a Christ without the Cross..and so he finds himself standing against Jesus, and denying Jesus.
There is no Christ without the cross. And there is no Christian without one either!
Criteria #1 to Surrendering All to Jesus is: To deny yourself
Criteria #1 to Surrendering All to Jesus is: To deny yourself
Verse 1: “All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give; I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.”
Jesus presents this tension: We either deny ourselves or deny Him.
We are all in a war. We either deny ourself or we deny Christ.
To deny yourself means that you deny yourself as your own lord of your life and now accept Jesus as your Lord.
But more than that:
Lets look at Peter denying Jesus.
Jesus says “deny yourself” in chapter 16, knowing that in chapter 26 he would be telling Peter, “You will deny me three times.”Jesus tells him because he knows he will we tested to Deny Christ or Deny Himself.
Jesus uses the same greek word when he says deny yourself, and then to Peter you will deny me. This word is similar to disown.
Disown means to refuse to acknowledge or maintain any relationship with.
Peter denies his relationship with Jesus. He denies His identity as a disciple. He denies his past with Jesus. . He denies knowing Jesus. Why? Peter is trying to save his life!
Heres what I’m saying: Do you see how Peter denied his relationship with Jesus and refused to maintain a relationship with Jesus…thats what you must do to your old life!
As Passionately as Peter stood against Jeuss in that moment..He says, his disciples must stand against thier old selves!
Jesus flips this on the head and says this…as Peter would deny Jesus to save His life…you must deny yourself to save your life!
Jesus says as Peter would deny Christ and His identity to save his physical life..you must deny your old identity and old self to save yours!
Let me say this too: As Peter’s denial was life and death….so denying yourself is life and death. You may say maybe I will, maybe I won’t.
Jesus says this…deny any identity you have which competes with you being my disciple.
You deny yourself or you deny Christ.
We stand like Peter in a world that wants to know where we stand..and we must be careful that we do not sacrifice our identity with Christ no matter the cost.
Who you are first…is His!
To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us.
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. The Cost of Discipleship (SCM Classics) (p. 58). Hymns Ancient and Modern Ltd. Kindle Edition
If I ask who you are, you may say a teacher, doctor, Lumbee, White, Black, football player, golfer, republican, democrat..a million things. But never allow that identity to cause you to fight and draw attention from your true identity..and your savior.
Jesus is not saying that self is bad…none of these things are bad. But he is talking about which you most closely associate with!
Heres what I mean: Whatever team you root for and identity with, whatever race, whatever political party, whatever demonination, whatever your income, whatever your culture…whatever you identity with…that identity to keep people from seeing the identity of your savior.
Do not allow the hills youre willing to die on to keep people from seeing Jesus and the hill he died on.
I’ve seen Christian families torn apart because of church disagreements. I’ve seen churches split and compromise thier witness because of political disagreements. I’ve seen Christian people be unwilling to pray together because they couldn’t get along. How does that happen?
What happens is, we get so busy fighting on our hills…that we forget that we all bow at the hill of calvary.
Sometimes we are so focused on being right…we stop being the light. We want so badly to be heard and seen, but we forget its Christ that needs to be heard and seen!
The only identity that will matter is this: Those that have Denied Christ or Denied Yourself. Those that have followed Christ or yourself.
Recall the story of Jesus and the rich young ruler.
Luke 18:18-23
18 A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’” 21 “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said. 22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy.
Do you see how Jesus’ request gets to his heart and his identity. Jesus asks him to give his riches away and come follow Him.
Jesus asks him to give his riches because that was where his heart was. That was his identity. And we know that was his identity because he refused to surrender it.
To follow Jesus the rich young ruler had to give up his riches. To follow Jesus he had to switch from ruling to serving and following.
The rich young ruler couldn’t follow Him…unless he became the poor young servant. But he couldn’t be both. He had to deny himself or deny Jesus. And he denys Jesus.
Our problem is we want Jesus and our old life too. We want Jesus and the world. But that is not the way it works.
Following Jesus involves a change in identity. Jesus did not come to fulfill your dreams. He came to save you.
On the other side of surrender is not your dreams..its your savior. And let me tell you…He is better.
You may say, “I’m not where I want to be in life.” Well denying yourself is not about getting where you want to be in life..its about getting Jesus and life.
Denying yourself is not about surrendering what you don’t want to get what you do want. Its not about, if I just do it God’s way He will bless me with what I want.
Denying yourself is about surrendering “what you want” for “what he wants”. Its about surrendering your goals, for his goals for you. Its about surrendering worldy concerns for kingdom concerns.
I think some of us are disappointed because we sacrificed some things to God, and life didn’t go the way we planned.
We do not sacrifice to get something out of life..we sacrifice to get Him in this life!
I’ve heard people say, if you give up that thing to God he will give you something better…yes and no. Surrendering to God is not about getting a better job. Or making more money..its not a better lot in life…its about getting more of Him. God will give you something better…Himself!
You must deny yourself because what you want..will keep you from him and what He wants for you.
Notice, when Jesus would ask people to follow Him…he wouldn’t ask them to give what they wanted to give. He would ask them to give what they wanted to keep. He would get to thier identity.
He called the fisherman and changed them from fisherman to fishers of men. He changed Paul the murderer to Paul the missionary. He changed the tax collectors to the generous. The harlots to the holy.
Will you disown yourself?
Will you say, the old me is dead. That is not who I am anymore! I don’t live thier anymore.re
How do you know if you have denied yourself, and every other identity under the identity of Christ. How do you know if you have surrendered all?
You have not surrendered anything you are not leveraging for God’s glory.
Practically:
Denying Yourself means that everything you have is for God’s glory.
Do you have a spouse: That marriage should be leveraged for God’s glory and his pleasure.
Do you have a job: That job should be leveraged for kingdom impact and serving others.
Do you have children: They should be raised and pointed to God, for His glory not yours
Do you have finances, talents, treasure: They should be leveraged for God’s glory.
Everything you have is God’s.
If you deny yourself for some other reason than to get more of Jesus…you got the wrong reason. If you’re following God so that your health, wealth, and life goes the way you want it to…you have the wrong reason. You do not deny yourself unless like the rich young ruler you are willing to become a poor servant..with empty hands Because everything you have you put in his hands.
Are you denying yourself?
Have you allowed some other identity to get in the way of people seeing Christ?
Jesus tells us..disown yourself, deny yourself…and identify with me. Secondly he says, take up your cross daily.
Criteria #2 to Surrendering All to Jesus is: To take up your cross daily.
Criteria #2 to Surrendering All to Jesus is: To take up your cross daily.
Verse 2:
All to Jesus I surrender, Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel Thy Holy Spirit, Truly know that Thou art mine.
What does it mean to be wholly Jesus’.
13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,
Have you heard the gospel? That Jesus died on the cross for your sins and rose from the dead on the third day. Have you believed? If you have, then you were marked as His. And all of those who are his take up thier cross daily.
What is strange though is that a cross was a Roman tool for the death penalty like the electric chair for us today. It not only was designed to punish people, but to humiliate and to warn others of doing similar actions.
What else would come from a cross? Discomfort, rejection, struggle, suffering, and death. Here’s what is crazy to me. Our God is so great that He took the cross (something that was meant for death, misery, humiliation, and warning) and turned it into something that brought life, joy, honor, and peace to those who turn to Jesus.
And in Luke 9, Jesus takes the concept of a cross to tell us: if we truly want to be all in for Him, then we must be willing to face any discomfort, rejection, struggle, suffering, and possibly even death that may come our way as a result of being His disciple.
While the Roman's intended for a cross to deter actions, to be afraid to follow that same person's life, Jesus took it and flipped the script - He made the cross an example to follow, and He encourages us to emulate His behavior and character. To pick up your cross is to align your life with the One who gave His up for you.
I want you to note that everything a cross brings: discomfort, rejection, struggle, suffering, and death…are the opposite of the things many of us live for.
The American Dream is in fact the Christian Nightmare. Why..because we know that seeking after comfort, happiness, and personal satisfaction in this life, offer us no true life.
The issue is not that these things are bad: but they are counter to the Christian life and the cross. Our decisions can not and must not be firstly about comfort, happiness and personal satisfaction in this life. Our decisions must be first to seek His kingdom knowing that He will add exactly what we need!
You can not serve two masters.
Illustration: Rope
To take up your cross daily means that you take up the commitment to follow the Lord even if that means we face discomfort, rejection, struggle, suffering, or even death.
It is to let go of this life, to lay hold of the one to come.
And why is it important that we take up our cross daily?
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
In Romans, Paul says to present ourself as a living sacrifice.
Living sacrifice is an oxymoron..because to sacrifice something you kill it. So the tension is..how do we live and die at the same time.
Paul says we are living sacrifices. As one writer put it: The problem with a living sacrifice is that everytime you kill it, it keeps coming back to life.
So the importance of taking up your cross daily is that you must keep killing your flesh, your old self, your selfish desires…or they will get up off the altar and kill you!
You need to attack every day with intention!
This also means that taking up your cross is not just one decision you make in one moment of time. It is a decision you must keep making every day. Because the moment you put down your cross, your flesh will rise up and bring death into our lives.
Do not allow sacrificing and doing what God has called you to do today, to keep you from doing what God calls you to do tomorrow. Obeying yesterday, does not take you off the hook for obeying today!
Coming to church does not get you off the hook for serving God tomorrow.
Paul says presenting ourself as a living sacrifice is our true and proper worship. A.W. Tozer says it this way….if you will not worship God 7 days a week, you can not worship him 1 day a week. Or, if you pick what days you take up your cross and what days you put it down…God is not honored. You are trying to worship two masters.
So, what is God leading you to do today? If nothing else, it means reading your bible, praying..growing in relationship with HIm. To pick up your bible on Sunday, and not pick it up any other day is not what taking up your cross means.
Many of us have crosses on our necklaces, on our shirts, or handing in our car. Those aren’t bad..but the Christian cross is not something we pick up and put down when we feel like it. It is something we carry until we reach glory.
So what does it mean to take up your cross?
It means you must die. Die to the idea that you run your life. Die to the idea that you know whats best. Die to the idea that you choose whats best for you life.
It means to daily pursue Christ, and lay down anything which hinders that pursuit.
It means to seek first His kingdom not the American Dream.
It means the old you is dead, and it is no longer you who live but Christ who lives in you.
Will you take up your cross? Not as an action in one moment of time..but as a completely new lifestyle.
Criteria #3 to Surrendering All to Jesus is: To follow Him.
Criteria #3 to Surrendering All to Jesus is: To follow Him.
Following Jesus is not the same as being around Jesus. There were many crowds around Jesus, people beside Jesus…but weren’t following Jesus.
Not everyone with Jesus, was with Jesus.
There is a difference between a fan of Jesus and a follower of Jesus.
When we calls us to follow..he is not asking for fans. He is after followers.
How do we know if we are those around Jesus, or really with Jesus?
Fans, wanted to be around Jesus to get some miraculous blessing or to be fed. Disciples stuck with Him. Denied themselves. Suffered and did the hard things.
If you come to chruch to get a blessing you’re here for the wrong reason. God can bless you..but the blessing is Him! The gift is Jesus. The hope is Jesus!
Fans are self centered…followers are God centered. Fans are after God’s hand. Followers are after God’s face. Fans hear, followers obey.
Follow Him!
To follow Jesus means following Jesus’ example and teachings
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
Jesus says this…as I sought after the lost! Seek after the lost. As I proclaimed the gospel..proclaim the gospel.
As I was sent, I send you!
You can not follow Jesus unless you are willing to walk the road he walked!
Go! Share! Tell the goodness of God to the world!
To follow Jesus means following Jesus’ example and teachings, while also joining with His other disciples (aka the church)
Luke 18:28 (NIV)
28 Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!”
1 John 1:3-4 (NIV)
3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete.
Following Jesus is not a solo thing. It is something we do together!
Verse 3: All to Jesus I surrender, Lord, I give myself to Thee; Fill me with Thy love and power, Let Thy blessing fall on me.
Mark 10:21 (NIV)
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Jesus loved him. Jesus did not ask him to surrender all because he wanted to take something good from Him. But because He wanted to offer him something much better!
The rich young ruler had obeyed and did some things right..but he lacked one thing. He would not give up all to Jesus..and so that cost him everything.
Do not allow that one thing you are unwilling to give, cost you everything! Surrender! Jesus says it because he loves you.
Rembmer, Jesus does not ask us to give anything thta He hasn’t already given for us.
Jesus surrendered all for you already! So let us respond by surrendering all to Him!
Jesus laid down the riches that were his, the blessings he deserved, took up his cross..laid down his life to give you life!
So..will you not offer yourself to Him.
Psalm 51:17 (NIV)
17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
Matthew 15:7-9 (NIV)
7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 8 “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’”
Invitation:
What is keeping you from surrendering your all to Jesus?
Anything that we aren’t leveraging for His Glory, we haven’t surrendered to him.
Are you trying to be the master of your own life? Is Jesus not your Lord?
Are you willing to stand for Jesus no matter the circumstance?
Are you striving to be like Jesus? Are you doing so with or without His church?
What are you surrendering to?
Did you surrender to Jesus today? Or social norms? Or anxiety? Or self-imposed identity?