The Victory of My Surrender

Introduction

What’s up everybody?

It is so good to back with everyone again today! I hope everyone has had a wonderful week, and I pray that you all are ready to get into the Word today.

For the last couple of weeks, we have been teaching on what it looks like to have a submitted lifestyle. Today, we are going to see the ultimate culmination of what it means to be submitted unto God. In a nutshell, to be completed given to God means to live your life with God’s will in sight. It is to make every decision based upon what you think God would have you do. It is to be sold out to the spirit. Though this is easy to say, we will see today that to walk in the spirit, is to war against the flesh. Let’s take a look. 1 Peter 4:1-11

The Victory of Surrender!!! Something about that statement just doesn’t seem right on the surface, but I hope that God will prepare our hearts today to receive this Life-Changing Word. I do not say that because of the words that i plan to speak, but because of the Word that God has already spoken.

The Rewards for Living A Surrendered Lifestyle

It Decreases the Sin In Your Life (Vs. 1-2)

It Instills An Urgency for Spiritual Things Within Us (Vs. 3; 7)

It reminds Us Who We Are (Vs. 3)

It Increases Your Ability To Witness (Vs. 4)

It Increases The Invitations To Christ (Vs. 4)

It Increases Your Amount of Time In Prayer (Vs. 7)

It Increases Your Love For Others (Vs. 8)

It Decreases The Exposure of Sin (Vs. 8)

It Decreases Your Need For Recognition (Vs. 9)

It Increases the Knowledge of our Own Gifts (Vs. 10)

It Increases Our Service To God by Serving Others (Vs. 10)

It Allows Those Who Do Not Know God To See Him In You (Vs. 11)

The Reasons For Living A Surrendered Lifestyle

The motivation given for us to live faithful lives unto God is literally about everyone BUT US!!!

Don’t misunderstand me, we matter to God!!! We play a part in the grand scheme of things. Us living faithful lives is what spreads the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the utter ends of the Earth. The thing that we must remember is why we are living faithful lives. If you are living what you would call a “Christian Lifestyle” with your main focus being yourself, then you are not living a “Christian Lifestyle” at all. Being a Christian, is about putting your focus everywhere but yourself. Let me show you:

“Christ Suffered”

The title of Christ literally means: “anointed one”

The title of Jesus literally means: “He who saves”

The title of Emmanuel literally means: “God With Us”

Put all of this together and you get: “Jesus Christ is God in the flesh and has been anointed from on high to save His people from their sins.”

Jesus asked God “If there be another way, let this cup pass from me”. He did not want to go to the cross because He knew how much pain He would have to persevere, but this was the only to offer salvation to a lost and dying world. Jesus constantly put the will of God and the needs of the people before himself.

“Arm Yourselves Also With The Same Understanding”

To have the same mind as Christ, is to understand that it is not about us. It is about our Heavenly father. We do not have the power to save, or even the knowledge and power to convict one of their need of salvation. Salvation is a complete work of God. We must therefore be motivated to set self aside so that the “God with Us” can shine through. Only in His power can one come to the knowledge of God and the need of salvation. This is why Peter pushes so heavily in Vs. 11 to operate in the power and ability of God Himself.

Our next motivation must be for the people around us. Most of us have come to the knowledge of God because someone in our lives was willing to either invite us to church, take us to church, or actually tell us about our sin and need for a Savior. The only way that cycle continues, is if we too are faithful in taking people to church, inviting people to church, and telling people about “He Who Saves”.

To have the same mind as Christ, is to be willing, as He was, to set our self aside and focus on the will of God and the needs of the people that god has placed in our lives. We must be willing to go against the grain, to stand up for what is right, to put the will of God before our own, and to put the needs of others before our wants and wishes. Peter stresses that we have had enough time to live a worldly lifestyle, but now that we have come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, it is time to focus on what is most important, and that is not the things of the flesh.

Conclusion

As we close today, i want to encourage you to make Vs. 11 a motto for your life: “If I am to speak, let it be as one who speaks God’s words; When I serve, let it be from the strength that God provides; Let God be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything I do forever and ever. Amen.”

Let’s Pray!