Absolute Surrender
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After his vision on the road to Damascus, and his salvation the shortly followed after – there was nothing that was more important to Paul than fulfilling God’s will and bring glory to the Father. He lived his life with everything else coming second to Christ.
He had seen great victories in the middle east and Asia and planned on taking Rome by storm with the Gospel of Christ. He probably imagined that the roads the led to Rome would help him to make it the epicenter of Christianity.
After Rome he planned to go on to Spain and then likely as far as Germany and Britain after that. His was a life of Absolute Surrender.
But it was not because of what he was doing – much more than that – it was because of what he was willing to endure for Christ Jesus.
In our generation in contrast – the Lord is endured as a chore through the week – someone that is to be a tolerated often because He is the Son of God. So rather than enduring for him and living for Him, we endure Him and live for himself. But that is not what God has intended for our Christian life.
Absolutely means: Complete, not mixed, pure, unrelated to, or dependent on something else. Not partial. Not weakened down.
We have too many members today that are Christians and something else. You cannot be half Christian and half something else. You can’t be a hyphenated Christian. Teddy Roosevelt said if you are an American plus something you aren’t American. There are no Nazi-Americans. There no Communist-Americans. There are no Afro-Americans.
I’m going to ask you four questions on absolutely and how you answer them will determine you relationship with God. The first two questions are God’s responsibility, and the last two are up to the believers.
I. TO BE ABSOLUTELY SURRENDERED YOU MUST BE ABSOLUTELY SAVED
I. TO BE ABSOLUTELY SURRENDERED YOU MUST BE ABSOLUTELY SAVED
I don’t mean, “I think so.” I don’t mean part way. I don’t mean saved on Sunday only. I don’t mean just halfway saved. I am talking about being saved from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet.
A. Salvation Is Complete In Christ Alone
A. Salvation Is Complete In Christ Alone
Heb 9:12 "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."
Christ finished salvation. John 19:30 "When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost."
B. God Never Partially Saves Anyone
B. God Never Partially Saves Anyone
To be partly saved is to be completely lost.
To be almost redeemed is to have totally rejected Christ.
No one is part Christian and part child of the devil.
If that be true then Christ died in vain, and salvation is worth nothing to any of us.
C. Churches Are Filled with Members Who Reflect Only A Part-time Salvation
C. Churches Are Filled with Members Who Reflect Only A Part-time Salvation
o Are you absolutely saved?
o To not be is to be absolutely lost.
o You may maintain that only you and Christ know whether you are saved. That is true, but if you are going to do a work for God then your life must portray that of absolutely saved.
o You watch those who show only a partial salvation. They won’t last hardly any time.
They begin to drop out of everything
Then get upset and cause problems.
The next thing you know they are gone.
o We need more of the membership to display the qualities of absolutely saved.
Do The Fellow Employees at Work Know That You Are Saved?
I had a hard time cleaning up my testimony. I had let it get dirty for several years.
Are You Absolutely Saved?
Stephanie works for a lady and everyone one at GE Global Operations knows that she is a Christian – She is not ashamed of it, she is kind of loud about it. But we are scared to let our neighbors know or see Christ in us.
II. TO BE ABSOLUTELY SURRENDERED YOU MUST BE SEPARATED
II. TO BE ABSOLUTELY SURRENDERED YOU MUST BE SEPARATED
We are going to get into some areas now that may be the reason why some may not feel saved. The way you live your daily life will have a great bit to do with how you feel about your salvation.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
A. Separated On Purpose
A. Separated On Purpose
Many Christians consider themselves separated because they live up to a certain standard taught them. That’s noble and even commendable; yet, that is not separated on purpose.
You can teach a dog to jump through a hoop, but it doesn’t know why.
You can teach a monkey to ride a motorcycle, but he can’t sit down and map out a trip to Chicago.
Separation on purpose is to consecrate my life to God in obedience to the Principles of His Word
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
If we would scrap about 95% of the Christian convictions that are being taught and just follow the commands of God’s holy, inspired, inerrant Word we wouldn’t have near the difficulty living for Christ.
C. Separated for A Purpose
C. Separated for A Purpose
Paul said,
To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
I have seen some people who are so separated, in their definition of the word, that they stink. They won’t chew gum. They won’t part their hair on the left side. They won’t wear wire framed glasses. They won’t wear yellow neckties. Some won’t close both eyes at the same time. They do this, not because of some scriptural command, but because pastor So & So over as Such & Such a church would think they were unseparated.
Here this, separation should always be respectful of brethren and not hurt any others and be mindful of the weaker brother.
Separation should be Bible based. If the Bible says to do or not do something, that is what we should do or not do.
Separation should result when using the Bible’s principles to deal with present day questions or problems.
Separation should cause me to live a life much different from the world.
When I got married I separated myself unto my wife, not because all my friends would judge me as to what kind of husband I would be, they do that anyway, but that was not why I separated unto her. I separated unto my wife because of my love for her as my wife and as my life’s mate.
III. TO BE ABSOLUTELY SURRENDERED YOU MUST DIE TO SELF
III. TO BE ABSOLUTELY SURRENDERED YOU MUST DIE TO SELF
The service of Christ is the business of my life.
The will of Christ is the law of my life.
The presence of Christ is the joy of my life.
The glory of Christ is the crown of my life.
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
IV. TO BE ABSOLUTELY SURRENDERED WE MUST TAKE THE GOOD AND THE BAD
IV. TO BE ABSOLUTELY SURRENDERED WE MUST TAKE THE GOOD AND THE BAD
True surrender rarely comes out for your glory.
I could take you to all the great preachers of past generations and you will me people that lived painful lives. We only see the successes, problems usually are not advertised.
But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
V. ARE YOU ABSOLUTELY SURRENDERED?
V. ARE YOU ABSOLUTELY SURRENDERED?
A Totally Surrendered Person Has No Future Except What God Has Planned For Him.
When I exert myself in trying to build a greater and better church here at this location I’m not trying to make a name for myself. I could care less if anyone knows who the pastor of BHBC is.
I am to have no personal desire that will get in the way of God’s will.
Are you absolutely surrendered? I am not sure that I totally understand what a totally surrendered person is. Yet I know that I am not yet to that place.
Jesus Was Surrendered.
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Let me give you and example of “Fully Surrendered”:
• As Jesus stood at the whipping post with the cat-of-nine-tails beating Him on the back, He was surrendered.
• As Jesus stood in Pilot’s hall and was given to the angry, sin curse mob, He was surrendered.
• As He carried the rugged cross upon His shredded, minced meat back to the hill of Calvary, He was surrendered.
• As the on lookers spit upon Him and accused Him of an impostor, He was surrendered.
• As He hung on the cross, naked in shame, beaten beyond recognition, He was surrendered. I am not talking about Barabbas or the two thieves but the Saviour of mankind.
• As he hung on the cross, and as the spear was plunged into His side, He was surrendered.
• As He raised His head and looked toward His Heavenly Father, only to see His Father turn from Him in rejection of sin, He was surrendered.
• As He gave His last dying, grasping breath, and cried, “It is finished”, He was surrendered.
Are you absolutely surrendered?
ARE YOU ABSOLUTELY CHRISTIAN?