I Surrender All
October 9, 2011 Morning Service
Immanuel Baptist Church, Wagoner, OK
Rick Boyne
Message Point: When we are saved, we give up all of the rights of our old self, making Jesus the LORD of our lives.
Focus Passage: Galatians 2:16-21
Supplemental Passage: For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. (Romans 14:7-8 NASB)
Introduction: Bruce Larson tells how he helped people struggling to surrender their lives to Christ:
For many years I worked in New York City and counseled at my office any number of people who were wrestling with this yes-or-no decision. Often I would suggest they walk with me from my office down to the RCA Building on Fifth Avenue. In the entrance of that building is a gigantic statue of Atlas, a beautifully proportioned man who, with all his muscles straining, is holding the world upon his shoulders. There he is, the most powerfully built man in the world, and he can barely stand up under this burden. 'Now that's one way to live,' I would point out to my companion, 'trying to carry the world on your shoulders. But now come across the street with me.'
"On the other side of Fifth Avenue is Saint Patrick's Cathedral, and there behind the high altar is a little shrine of the boy Jesus, perhaps eight or nine years old, and with no effort he is holding the world in one hand. My point was illustrated graphically.
"We have a choice. We can carry the world on our shoulders, or we can say, 'I give up, Lord; here's my life. I give you my world, the whole world.'"
Bruce Larson, Believe and Belong.
I. Surrender your attempt to save yourself
a. "I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly." (Galatians 2:21 NASB)
b. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 NASB)
c. because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.(Romans 3:20 NASB)
II. Surrender your attempt to continue to live in sin
a. "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (Galatians 2:20 NASB)
b. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? (Romans 6:1 NASB)
c. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NASB)
III. Surrender your attempt to live life according to your whims
a. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. (Galatians 5:16-17 NASB)
b. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. (Galatians 5:25 NASB)
c. Submit therefore to God. (James 4:7a NASB)
d. Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. (Matthew 16:24 NASB)
e. Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31 NASB)
Invitation: Submitting to Jesus Christ as the Lord of your life means that His values become your values. His morals become your morals. It means obeying His word no matter where it leads you.
