MORE THAN CONQUERORS
Staying strong in a sinking world!
Part 2
“Total Surrender”

Matthew 26:39 “And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

Romans 12:1 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

These two passages are all about surrender—JESUS surrendering to the Father in Gethsemane, and the call to all CHRISTIANS in Romans to surrender their bodies to the Lord.
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There are two kinds of surrender in life—the first is when you surrender to what is wrong and you lose the battle, and the second is when you surrender to what is right and you win the battle.

So there is surrender that leads to loss, and surrender that leads to victory.

When we surrender in a battle with Satan or the temptations of the flesh, we lose.

But when we surrender to God in the battle, we win!
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In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus surrendered to the will of God and went to the Cross.

If he had not surrendered to God’s will, we wouldn’t be here today.

Conversely, when Judas surrendered to the temptation to betray Jesus, he lost everything, including his eternal soul.
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Life is much about what you surrender to!

Your future today swings on the hinge of what you surrender to—to God and His will for your life, or to Satan and your old, sinful flesh.

We see that Paul in Romans 12:1 encourages total surrender to God, which is the ultimate expression of spiritual worship.

“Present your bodies as a living sacrifice…”

“So I am asking you to offer up your bodies to him while you are still alive.”—NIRV

Paul equates total surrender to yielding our bodies to the Lord.

If we’re going to be STRONG IN THE INNER MAN as we talked about last time, it begins with total surrender to God.

Without total surrender we will never make it as Christians in the long haul.

In Luke’s gospel, Jesus lays out the “total surrender” terms of discipleship:

Luke 14:26-27 “You cannot be my disciple, unless you love me more than you love your father and mother, your wife and children, and your brothers and sisters. You cannot follow me unless you love me more than you love your own life.”

Luke 9:23 “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his own cross daily, and follow me.”

We must love and prefer Him supremely above all others.

And the command to pick up our own cross daily is all about total surrender on a daily basis to the will of God.

Nothing pictures TOTAL SURRENDER like the cross!

Jesus surrendered his very life by going to the Cross.

John 10 18 “No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily.”
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So, when it comes to staying strong in a sinking world, TOTAL SURRENDER TO GOD is first on the list of must do’s.

First, because:

I. Satan attacks in the un-surrendered area of our lives

ILLUS: Imagine walking down the hallway of your soul. There are several doorways leading to various rooms. As we pass the various doors we see writing on them:

FINANCES: Surrendered.
FRIENDSHIPS: Surrendered.
MORALS: Surrendered.
CAREER: Surrendered.

But then we come to a door that the devil is standing in front of.

We see that it reads: UN-SURRENDERED, and it is that door the devil is pounding on!

Whatever part of your life the un-surrendered door happens to represent, it is that one the enemy will hit.

Professional boxers are taught: Every opponent has a weakness. Your job is to find and exploit it.

Satan does the same thing!
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Paul wrote of an old traveling companion these haunting words: “Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world.”—2 Tim. 4:10

Something in Demas had remained un-surrendered and the pull of the world finally got to him through that door.

One time Jesus talked to a rich young man who had approached him with a question:

“Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’” 20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

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.” 22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. And he walked away sorrowful, for he had many riches.”

The young man’s spiritual journey was sabotaged by what he couldn’t surrender!
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Total surrender is the prerequisite to staying strong in a sinking world!

Because without total surrender, the devil will find the door in your soul marked “haven’t surrendered yet,” and will defeat you!
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Then second,

II. Becoming like Jesus requires total surrender

Ro. 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds,”

What comes before this call to spiritual transformation in verse 2?

The Total surrender of verse 1!—“Present your bodies to God a living sacrifice…”

Without total surrender we will wind up more CONFORMED to the world than TRANSFORMED into his likeness!

This is why so many professing Christians today live like, talk like, and think like the world—they haven’t fully surrendered to God!

Total surrender precedes spiritual transformation!

You will never become like Jesus without total surrender!
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And third,

III. Total surrender is a daily thing

Jesus said we must “Pick up our cross DAILY…”

We’re all engaged in a daily battle with the flesh—that part of us that wants to go where God doesn’t want us to go, and do what God doesn’t want us to do.

Galatians 5:17 LB “For we naturally love to do evil things that are just the opposite from the things that the Holy Spirit tells us to do; and the good things we want to do when the Spirit has his way with us are just the opposite of our natural desires. These two forces within us are constantly fighting each other to win control over us, and our wishes are never free from their pressures.”

Many Christians are surprised to discover that following their salvation, their old nature doesn’t go away!

If you believe it did, ask your spouse!

So we must practice daily, moment by moment surrender to God.

Our initial surrender to God is the first of thousands to come!

When we were lost we ONLY had an old, sinful nature.

But after our salvation, the Spirit of God comes to live inside us and we get a brand new nature!

But the two natures never stop battling one another.

Pastor David Jeremiah quoted a little poem this week worth repeating:

Two natures beat within my breast,
The one is foul, the one is blessed,
The one I love, the one I hate,
And the one I feed will dominate

Which of the two natures are you feeding most?

It all begins with total surrender to the Lord!

LET’S PRAY