Romans 12:1-2

Well, if you have your Bibles, join me in turning to the book of Romans, Romans chapter 12. In your Bibles please, Romans chapter 12. There we go. Romans chapter 12.

It was 1944 that a Japanese soldier by the name of Hiroo Onoda, was sent to the Philippines by the Japanese army. His goal was to defend the defend the Japanese islands from an invasion of the enemy. But when the Second World War ended, this man refused to surrender. And so for the next 29 years, he took it upon himself to defend the island of the Philippines against an invasion from the enemy, and so he would evade one search party after another, hiding in the jungles, stealing supplies from the nationals and killing some 30 Filipinos in the process. Hundreds of 1000s of dollars throughout the years were spent to try to get this man to surrender. In fact, airplanes would fly over and drop in leaflets, newspaper clippings, photographs and letters from family and friends. loudspeakers would announce to this man, the war is over, please surrender. But for 29 years, he held on fighting a war that was over. But it was on March 10 1974, now 52 years of age, this man emerged from the jungle, lay down his rusty sword, and he became the last Japanese soldier to surrender. A few years later, he wrote his autobiography entitled, no surrender my 30-year war. And he made this statement and I quote, he said, I felt like a fool. As he looked back on his life, he said, I felt like a fool. I wonder, what have I been doing all of these years.

You see here is a man who wasted the best years of his life simply because he would not surrender. And you know, there are many of God's people today who stand in danger of doing the very same thing, wasting the best years of their life simply because they will not surrender. You know, at the moment of our salvation, the very moment we trusted Christ to be our Savior and our Lord. At that very moment, God called us to leave the old life and to begin living the new life. God called us to live that kind of a life.

In fact, God wants us not to be conformed in this world but to be changed and to be transformed. In fact, I think Paul made that clear to us when he said in Romans 12, and verse two, he said, “Be not conformed to this world”, he says, “but be transformed” (Romans 12:2). You see, God doesn't want us to be squeezed into the world's mold. But God wants our life to be distinct. God wants us to be different. Now, that doesn't mean that God wants you to be odd. Alright, God doesn't mean that God wants you to wear weird clothing and speak in some religious verbiage that nobody but some other weird Christian can understand. But God does want you to be distinct. God does want you to be different. God wants us to be different in our attitude, in our actions. God wants us to be distinct in our character, in our conduct. He doesn't want us to be squeezed as it were into the world's mold. Because here's what God knows. God knows that if we're not willing to break from our past, God knows that if we're not willing to be different in our values and in our vices that we will never know His best for our life.

I remember reading a story about a lady who lived on the streets of London just a couple years ago. And you know, she was one of those ladies, and I'm sure we've all seen this kind of a person who lived on the streets and they had a shopping cart. And in that shopping cart, were plastic bags filled with garbage. You know what I'm talking about. And she would beg to make a living. And when somebody didn't give her what she was asking for, she'd be very aggressive towards that person. Well, just a couple years ago, this particular lady died. And she had a funeral. And they're just a couple of people at our funeral. But amazingly, there were four very well-dressed men, they're in suits. And these four men were her lawyers. And after the funeral, they got together this small group of people, they said, Let me tell you the real story about this lady, and they began to explain that, years earlier, this lady had received an incredible large inheritance, plus, a very luxurious flat in London filled with priceless pieces of art. And when this lady was told of her inheritance, she made a choice to live on the streets with their plastic bags of garbage.

You see here was a lady who was without a doubt wealthy beyond measure. But because she was not willing to leave her lifestyle and her plastic bags of rubbish, she never enjoyed her inheritance. And yet, sadly, I think that's where many of God's people live. You see, if we're not willing to leave the rubbish of the old life, then we'll never experience the best that God has for us. And leaving the rubbish of the old life begins, when you and I as the people of God make Jesus Christ the absolute Lord and leader of our life. Because if Jesus isn't the Lord and the leader of our life, if we're not placing him first in every area of our life, do you realize that our Christian life just limps along? I mean, we'll never know God's power, His provision and His blessings upon our life. We will never see victory over the world, the flesh and the devil. We will constantly see the world, the flesh and devil victorious over us. Instead of living a victorious Christian life, we will wind up living, a spiritually struggling and a defeated Christian life. And sometimes we'll step back and even begin to question the reality of our faith simply because we failed to surrender our life, absolutely, to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

A life of blessedness, usefulness and fruitfulness flows from a surrendered life

Here's what many of God's people I think we failed to understand this or we forget this. Did you know that the life of blessedness, a life of usefulness and a life of fruitfulness begins when we surrender our life absolutely, to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. I like what Moses said to the nation of Israel, reminding them that the blessedness of a surrendered life when he said this, in Exodus 32, Moses speaking the nation of Israel said, “Surrender yourself today to the Lord, that He”, that is God, “might bestow a blessing upon you” (Exodus 32:29). You see, the surrendered life is connected with the blessed life and the blessed life flows from the surrendered life.

Do you remember that man Caleb, he was a man that knew not just a blessed life, but he also knew a useful life. Remember, at 85 years of age, you know, he's still conquering that mountain, pushing out, you know, the Sons of Anak and you read the life of Caleb, and you wonder, well, how did he know such a useful and such a blessed life? Well, the Bible says three times, three times it says that, “Caleb was fully surrendered to the Lord” (Numbers 32:12) You see, he lived a surrendered life.

In fact, Jesus himself reminded us that a blessed, useful and a fruitful life flows from a surrendered life. Listen to what he said, in John chapter 12. Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say unto you”, so he's speaking to us, “that unless a grain of wheat fall to the ground and dies”, by the way, that's the surrendered life, it is our will dying, so his will and our life could be done. And he says, if that will, our will, doesn't die, “it remains alone. But if it dies, it will produce much fruit” (John 12:24). And so the fruitful life always flows from a surrendered life. And if we're going to know God's best in our life, and I want you to know something, that is God's absolute desire for you. And I'll show you that at the end of the message, but His best, being His desire, if we're going to know that best, then we must surrender our lives, absolutely, to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Scripture that shows God asking Christians to live a surrendered life

And Paul carries that thought for us in our passage here in Romans chapter 12 and verse one, listen to what Paul says. Paul says, “I beseech you, therefore, brethren”, then he says, “that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1). Present your bodies is the idea of surrender, it's you and I presenting our bodies to God that he might have absolute control of every area of our life. But notice what he says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, reminding us in these words, that it is His desire, God's desire, that we would live a surrendered life. This word, “beseech”, is an interesting word. It is not a mandate, it is not a command. It is what we call in Scripture, a soft command. And because God is not commanding you to live a surrendered life, why? Because God wants your willing surrender. God wants it to flow from your heart. God wants it to be a response of your love to Him. And so he doesn't make it a command. But the word, “beseech”, means to beg. It means to beg earnestly. It pictures for us God upon bended knee, and there is God upon bended knee, looking up at you, his arms outstretched, and God is begging, God is pleading with you, will you please surrender your life to me.

And in fact, throughout scripture, God is constantly asking us to live a surrendered life. It's quite interesting. Listen to the words of Jesus found here in Matthew chapter six. You see, when Jesus said to us, “No one can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24), he was calling us to live a surrender life. He was calling us to make a choice: who's going to be master, who's going to be Lord, who's going to be leader, you must make a choice. So He's calling us to live a surrendered life. When He went on to say in Matthew chapter 12, “He who is not with me is against me” (Matthew 12:30). He was reminding us of his desire for your life that you and I would live a surrendered life.

God desures to have first place in every area of our lives

And then Jesus said this in Luke chapter 14, and these are one of the strong statements of Scripture. And we don't like to read these, but it's there. Listen to what Jesus said. He said, “If anyone comes to me and he does not hate his father, and his mother, and his wife, and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). And I know we read this for some times, and we want to run from it. But let me just tell you what Jesus is saying, if I can boil it down to a simple thought, here's what Jesus is saying. Jesus is saying, Will you put me first in every relationship of life? That's all He’s saying? Listen, Jesus is saying, I desire to have first place in every area of your life, that’s a surrendered life.

In fact, Jesus went on to say in verse 27 of Luke 14, He added and said, “And whoever does not bear his cross, and come after me, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27), another strong statement of Scripture. And here's what he's saying. Jesus is saying, will you submit your will to my word? That's what he's saying. Just as Jesus submitted His will to the will of the Father and went to the cross, Jesus is saying, will you submit your will to me? Will you place me first in every area of your life, and friends, in essence, that is the surrendered life. And you know what? That life is the life that God desires from you. And you know why God desires that? He desires it, because He deserves it. You see, we willingly surrender ourselves to God simply because we understand how much He loved us.

Paul made that clear, I think in Romans 12. When he said, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your body, a living sacrifice. Do you know why we willingly surrender ourselves to God? Do you know why we submit our will to His Word on a daily basis? Do you know why we allow Jesus to have first place in every area of our life, including our relationships, we do it because of His mercy. We do it because of His love for us. We do it because of what He did for us on the cross. We do it simply because we are His purchased possessions, you have been bought by the blood of the Lamb. And we do what we do, because He first did what He did for us. And just as He submitted his will to the Father, and went to the cross and died for us, Yes, we submit our will to the Word and we willingly surrender our life to Him. We do it because of His love for us.

God desires us to live a surrendered life because we are God’s purchased possession

I love what Paul said in Second Corinthians five in verse 15. You know, sometimes we need to stop for a moment, and stop thinking about life around us and just meditate on a verse and this is one of those meditative verses. Notice what he said, and he referring to Jesus, “He died for all”. So it doesn't matter who you are today. All right, it doesn't matter what you've done. It doesn't matter what you believe, or what you believe about God. God tells you how He, what He thinks of you. He says, I love you so much, that I died for you. You might be thinking, He died for me? He doesn't know me. Friends, He knows you and He still died for you. Man, swallow that for a moment, all right, and think about that. He knows you. He knows you better than you know yourself. He knows what you've done. He knows what you've done in secret. He knows what you're going to do. And yet He still loves you and He loves you so much that He died for you. And then he goes on. And he says this, that “He died for all, that those who live”, referring to us as believers, “should no longer live for themselves” (2 Corinthians 5:15). Wow. Wow. You see what I'm saying? That's one of those thoughts that we have to stop and meditate a while right? Not living for self, living for who? Living for Him. Because He died for us and He rose again. So He died for you that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them. He's reminding us of His desire of living a surrendered life. Not only a desire, but why He demands it? He demands it because we are His purchased possession.

In fact, let me just give you another verse. Paul puts it this way in another verse in First Corinthians six. Paul said, “and you are not your own”. Okay? “For You were bought with a price; therefore”, being bought with a price, he says, “glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). You see, He's calling us to a surrendered life. And He is telling us why we should willingly surrender to Him because we are not our own. We have been bought with a price and the price that Jesus paid for us was the price of His own blood as He died upon that cross to free us from our sin and to give us everlasting life. And based upon who He is and what He has done, we are willing to respond to Him in absolute surrender. You see, He desires and you know why? Simply because He deserves it. We do what we do, because He did what He did.

Maybe you've heard this story, I'm sure if you've ever taught children, you've heard this story before. One day there was a little boy. And he loved to watch the fishing boats go out and bring back their catch. He lived in the fishing village. And so one day, this little boy decided that he was going to build a fishing boat of his own. So he, you know, picked up some sticks around and he built this beautiful little fishing boat, painted it, put a sail on it, he was so proud of it, you know. And the big day came when he was going to cruise in that ship and set it to sail. And so he went down to the edge of the ocean, and he placed his little boat in the water and there would enjoy water washed that little boat kind of rock back and forth in the waves, but all of a sudden, the wind changed and caught that sail and begin to drive that little boat out to sea. You could imagine that little boy who poured all of his energy into that little boat began to watch his boat kind of drift off. And of course, he was a little heartbroken, you know, and every day for 30 days, he would run to the edge and hoping that his boat had drifted back to shore. But after about 30 days, the boat was nowhere to be seen one day he was walking through a market. And as he looked up into a store window he saw there upon his shelf, his little boat and so he walked in there excited, you know, Hey, that's my boat, you know, that's my boat. And the store owner says, Son, that is my boat. And if you want that boat, I’m happy to sell it to you. The boy says no, you don't understand, that is my boat. And the store owner says, well, I'll tell you what, I'll give it to you if you pay me $2. Little boy bragged you know, I made that with my hands, you know, and the store owner said, Nope, $2. And so the boy dug deep and pulled out the $2 and handed that $2 to the store owner. The store owner took that little boat, placed it in that little boy's hands. And as that boy was walking out the door, the store owner heard the little boy say this, boat, you are twice mine. You are mine because I made you and you're mine because I bought you.

But you know that our Savior says the same thing to us. Friends, do you know why we willingly surrender to the Lord? Do you know why we daily submit our will to His Word? Do you know why we put Jesus Christ first in every one of our relationships simply because we too are His purchased possessions. You see, we surrender ourselves based upon the mercies of God, simply because of what Jesus Christ did for us. You see, oftentimes we talk about the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us. But friends rarely do we talk about the sacrifice that Jesus Christ expects from us. And that sacrifice is a choice to surrender.

What it means practically to live a surrendered life

So maybe today you're sitting there thinking, Okay, I understand that God’s desire for me is that I would surrender and I understand that He deserves it, I am His purchased possession. So okay, how do I do that? Alright, so what does it mean to actually surrender ourselves to the Lord? Well, listen to what Paul said, back in our passage in Romans 12 And verse one. He said, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God”, notice, “that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice”. You see, when Paul made that statement, he was referring to a decision that we make, an act of our will, where we willingly allow Jesus Christ to be the Lord of our life, where we allow Jesus Christ the right to rule and to reign in our life, we willingly present, we present our body, as it were, to His control.

You see, practically it means that we would come to God and we'd say, maybe something like this, Lord, here's my will. Lord, here are my plans. Here's my purpose for my life and may your will and not My will be done. Maybe it's you as a parent coming and saying, Lord, here's my family. Or maybe it's saying, Lord, here's my wife, or here's my husband, here are my kids, and Lord, may your will and not My will be done in their life. Because sometimes you see, as parents, what we want is our will accomplished in their life, and we wind up sidetracking God's will for their life. And sometimes we as parents have to take our hands off, and then place our kids in the hands of God, so God's Will can be accomplished in their life. Hey, that's an act of surrender. Sometimes just you and I come into God and saying, Lord, here are my possessions. Lord, here's my bank account, here's my retirement package. Lord, here's my future, and may you do with them what you want done. Sometimes you just come to God and say, Lord, here's my mind, may they think your thoughts and here's my mouth, may they speak your words. Lord, here’s my hands and my feet, Lord, may they do your work, but you see, it is a decision that we make, to allow Jesus Christ to be the Lord and the leader of our life. It is putting Him first in every area of our life.

A surrendered life means daily submitting our will to God’s Word

In fact, I think Jesus gives us a wonderful definition of the surrendered life. When he made this statement, in Luke chapter nine, another one of these hard statements, notice what he said. He said, ”If anyone desires to come after me”, he says, “let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). And so sometimes we read this verse, and we think, wow, you know, that's one of those hard statements. What does it mean, you know, take up the cross and follow me? Well, I've already told you earlier in the message, but I think you've already forgotten it by this point. So I'm going to tell you again, what it means. Are you ready? Do you remember what I said? This is a parallel passage from Luke chapter 14.

Jesus, here's what he's saying, when Jesus says, “If any man desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me”, here's what he's saying, will you daily? Will you daily submit your will to my Word, that's the surrendered life. You see, just as Jesus submitted His will to the will of the Father, and there went to the cross and died for our sins, we too submit our will to the Word of God, all right, and allow Jesus the right to have first place in every area of our life. Did you get that? You know, that was an amazing response. That was a better response. But that was the same response I got in the first service. All right, I said, did you get it? And they looked at me like? So I'll say it again.

When Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after me”, by the way, that should be our heart desire, right? We want to come after you, Lord, what does that require? What does that mean? What does that look like Lord? And He says, “let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me”. Here's what it means. It means will you daily submit your will to my Word? That's what it means. So, let's get practical. Practically, it means this when you're reading the Word of God, and the Spirit of God reveals to you a sin to confess, a command to obey, a promise to claim or a lifestyle to forsake, you submit your will to the Word and do what the Lord says. That is surrender, did you get that? Thank you. That's great. But not everybody did. So, I'm going to say it one more time. Because I want you to get it because this is the surrendered life in essence.

It is you surrendering your will to the Word, okay, and simply doing what Jesus is putting first in every area of your life. So, when you're reading the Word of God, and the Spirit of God gives you a sin to confess, a command to obey, a promise to claim, a lifestyle to forsake, we submit our will to the Lord's word, and we say yes to Jesus in that particular area of our life. Did you get it? Awesome. At this point, in the sermon, last service, I said, if you got that, you can get up and leave. I had to stop the entire audience from leaving. I'm just kidding. All right. But that's really all I want you to get. Okay, that's all I want you to get. So we're gonna go on for another 30 minutes and that's all extra. I'm just kidding. But let's stay practical for a moment.

All right, surrendered life, submitting your will to the Lord's Word. All right, saying yes to Jesus, in every area of your life, that's a surrendered life. It means this, it means that when the flesh prompts you to gossip about another brother and sister in Christ and the Spirit of God says to you speak evil of no man. You see, at that moment, we submit our will to His Word in that area, and we make a choice in the power of the Holy Spirit not to gossip, that's a surrendered life. Are you, are you with me? You see, when the Spirit of God says, Go therefore, and make disciples, and He points His finger at your neighbor, you submit your will to His Word, and you go to your neighbor, that's the surrendered life. Are you getting it? It's simply you submitting your will to the Father's Word. When you feel like you want to shade the truth and protect your reputation, maybe you're caught in a difficult situation and the easy way out for you is just simply to tell something that's not truthful. And all of a sudden, the Spirit of God says, ah, speak the truth in love. You see, at that moment, we submit our will to the Father's Word. And we allow Jesus to have first place in that area of our life and we tell the truth, and thus at the end of the day, we actually protect our reputation. You see, that's the surrendered life. It is saying yes to Jesus, in every area of our life. Pretty clear. Thank you for the Amen.

Flexitarian Christianity

Well, having said that, there are many people today who want Jesus to be the Lord of their life but they want Lordship on their terms. You know what I'm talking about. They want Jesus to be the Lord of their life or they want the benefit of Lordship, but you see, they want some flexibility in that Lordship. Are you with me? They say, Jesus, I want you to be Lord of my life, but you know, can I dictate the terms? Lord, I want you to be the Lord of my life. But, you know, there needs to be a little bit of flexibility in this Lordship business.

I read a report this week about a new group of vegetarians. And this new group of vegetarians say that they only eat vegetables with some exceptions. You see they only eat vegetables unless they really like meat. Are you with me? So in the interview, this one lady, her name was Christine Pugh, 28 years of age, she was one of these new vegetarians. And she said, I'm a vegetarian. I only eat vegetables, but I do make some exceptions. She says, my only exception is sausage. I love sausage. So, I only eat vegetables unless there is sausage on the menu, you know? And you can well imagine true vegetarians are not very happy with these new vegetarians. And so, the old vegetarians told the New vegetarians, this is a true story by the way, told the new vegetarians I want you to change your name. So, they forced them to change their name and the name that these new vegetarians came up with for themselves. Are you ready for this? They call themselves flexitarians. True, I mean, they are vegetarians, they only eat vegetables but they're a little bit flexible.

But sadly, that's how many Christians view their Christianity. They want Lordship, they want the benefits of Lordship, you know, but they want it on their terms. They want Lordship and they want the benefit of Lordship, but they want to be a little bit flexible, you know, so sometimes they come to God and they say, God, I'll surrender to you but you know, I want this surrender on my terms. Lord, I will surrender to you but I want a little bit of flexibility. Lord, I'll surrender to you but you see, don't ask me to forgive that person who hurt me. Lord, I will surrender to you but don't ask me to give a portion of my salary to advance the Kingdom of God. Lord, I'll surrender to you but don't ask me to save sex for marriage. Lord, I'll surrender to you but don't ask me to serve the poor. Lord, I'll surrender to you but you know, don't ask me to go to church more than on Sunday. Lord, I'm just a Sunday Christian and I will surrender but don't ask anything more of me. Christianity on their terms.

But you know, God is not a fan of flexitarianism. Are you with me? I don't think He gives a rip about vegetarianism. Sorry if you're a vegetarian, but I don't really think he cares much about that. But I'll tell you what he does care about. He does care about flexitarian Christianity. Because you see, Christianity is not to be lived on our terms. It's to be lived on His terms. And what's His terms? I hope you've seen it this morning. His term is absolute surrender. His terms: Are you daily submitting your will to His Word? It is you allowing Jesus Christ to have first place in every area of your life, because you see, that's the surrendered life. And as I will show you in a moment, the reason the Lord wants us to surrender is because He knows that leads us into our best life possible, His best for your life.

And may I just say this, since we're on the subject, okay, of flexitarian Christianity. Are you still with me? Do you know why people want Christianity on their terms? Many times? You know why people you know, say, you know, I'll surrender but you know, here's my terms, God. I think it's when you boil it down, a lot of times, people are just flat out afraid. They're afraid to surrender. They're afraid to allow Jesus to be the Lord of their life. They're afraid to submit their will to His Word. They're afraid to let Jesus have first place in every area of life. They're afraid. They're afraid of what Jesus might do, what Jesus might take away. They're afraid of what Jesus might want to ask of them. They're just flat out afraid. And as a result, they wind up missing God's best for their life. They're afraid. Sometimes they're afraid that God will say, I want you to share your faith and He points His finger at your boss. Are you with me? How does that make you feel? I want you to know something, if you surrender today, tomorrow, God might say, Go share the gospel with your boss.

If Jesus is the Lord of your life, when you submit your will to His Word, and you do what He says, Are you with me? Do you see why people fear? Do you see why people want to put Christianity on their terms? You see why they want a little flexibility in their Lordship. You see, people fear, they fear that you know if I surrendered to the Lord, that the Lord might say, I want you to reconcile with that person and He points His finger at the person that hurt you. Or people fear because God might say I want you to make restitution, He points His finger at the person that you cheated. Do you see why people fear? Do you see why people, you know, want Christianity on their terms? You see why they want a little flexibility in the midst of Lordship, okay, you know, maybe we fear you know, we fear what the Lord might do, we fear what the Lord might take away. We fear maybe the Lord will call me to service and He’ll point His finger at the Gobi Desert. And you know that oh no, if I say yes to this, if I submit my will to His Word, I'm gonna for the rest of my life live as a nomad in a tent. I'm going to drink moldy, eat moldy cheese and drink camel's milk for the rest of my life. You know? So what I want is to be a flexitarian okay?

Or maybe sometimes we think that if I surrender to God, and I submit my will to His Word. If I put Jesus first in every area of my life, He's going to strip me of my worldly possessions and God forbid, I'm going to have to give up my Prada handbag and wear Bata shoes and exchange my Rolex for a Timex. And I say no, I don't want to do that. And so we create a Christianity on our terms, and we wind up missing God's best for our life.

As we surrender our lives to God, we can trust Him

That's exactly what happens. But here's what we forget. Friends, we forget that God can be trusted. Hey, listen, if you get nothing more from this message today, take away this one thought, God can be trusted. Do you know what always amazes me? It amazes me that at the moment of our salvation we placed into the hands of God, our eternal souls. Do you know what that means? If you're a believer, if you've trusted Christ as your Savior, do you know what you did when you trusted Christ as your Savior? Sometimes as preachers, we like to make salvation real rosy, you know, come to Jesus, He will give you a happy and a meaningful life. He'll give you an abundant life now and eternal life in the future. And that's true. But sometimes we don't tell you exactly what you did when you trusted Christ. You know what you did? When you said yes to Jesus, you are saying no to all of our gods. When you said yes to Jesus, you are saying no to any other way. You are saying I belong to this exclusive branch called Christians and I believe that Jesus meant what He said, when He said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life and no one comes to the Father except by me” (John 14:6). You entrusted your eternal future, you entrusted your eternal soul into the hands of Jesus.

Now, think about this. Friends, if you trusted God, with your eternal soul, why can't we trust Him with our physical life? I'll just let that sink in just for a moment. You see if we can trust Him with our eternal future, why can't we trust Him with our physical life? But I want you to know God can be trusted. You see, you can trust your unknown future into the hands of a known God. You can trust Him. And see one reason we embrace this flexitarian Christianity, you know, sometimes the reason we put terms upon our Lordship and our surrender, is we fear and we fear because deep down on the inside, we're not certain that that God is trustworthy. And I want you to know something, He is trustworthy. And just as you trust Him for your eternal future, you can trust Him for your physical life.

Now, let me tell you a story. Because you're ready to relax. That was a little bit too intense for you. I can see you sitting there going, can we get out of here now? Exit stage left, I'm out yet? Not yet. Story, true stories here, man. I don't know if you know the name. His name is James McConkey. He wasn't a pastor, wasn't a full time servant. He was just a faithful member of the church. And one day he came to a service like this, and he heard a preacher speak on this very same subject, the Lordship of Jesus Christ. And as he listened to the message, he wasn't very impressed. Nothing really impacted his heart. And then at the close of the message, the preacher bowed his head, and he made a statement that struck him. The preacher said this, he said, Oh, Lord, you know, that we can trust the man who died for us.

Now after the service, James McConkey got up and he boarded the train, and he was riding at home. And as he was on that train, he began to think about Lordship and all that might mean in his life, and he thought, you know, if I surrender my life to Jesus and allow Him to have first place in every area of my life, what is He going to do? I mean, He might change my purpose in my plans. He might take this from my life, He might ask me to do this. And frankly, James McConkey said He was overcome with fear. And just as fear gripped his heart, he heard the words of that preacher, but you can trust the man who died for you. When he went home that night, he fell upon his knees at the foot of his bed, and he began to talk to God. And he began to talk to God about absolute surrendering, knowing that that was God's desire for his life, knowing that God deserved that he would willingly submit himself into His control.

And so as he thought about surrender, again, his heart was overcome with fear and just as his heart seemed to well up in fear, he heard the words of that preacher, but you can trust the man who died for you. And with those words came this, if you can't trust Him, then who can you trust? You see, that settled it for this man, James McConkey. There upon the side of his bed, he made a choice. He said, Lord, by the help of the Holy Spirit, I will submit my will to your Word. And I will allow you to have first place in every area of my life and friends, so it is with us. If you're here today, and you fear, surrender, I want you to know something God can be trusted. You can trust the man who died for you. Because if you can't trust him, really, who can you trust? You can trust him.

Surrendering our lives to God will cost us something, it demands a price to be paid

But having said that, can I give you a word of warning? I want to be real with you today. You might think wow, this is a hard-hitting message. Well just hold on. I want to warn you of something. Do you know today if God stirs your heart and you say, Okay, Lord, I want to lift that white flag of surrender. I want you to be the Lord of my life. I want to submit my will to your Word, I want you to have first place. Here's the warning. Do you realize that if you make that choice to surrender, it will cost you something? It'll cost you something, there will be a price to pay. I think Paul made that clear in our passage here in Romans 12. When he said this, he said, “I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies”, and notice, “you present your bodies as a living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1). Yes, there will be a price to pay. It will cost you something as somebody wisely said that Jesus came not to make life easy but Jesus Christ came to make men and women great. Friends, contrary to the popular gospel that we hear today, Jesus did not come necessarily to make us healthy, wealthy and wise. He didn't come necessarily to make your life easy, but He came to make you great for His glory.

And so if we surrender to God, yes, it's going to cost you something, there will be a price to pay. Maybe for you, it's paying the price of giving up what you know is wrong and willingly make those things right. Maybe for you, it might mean just simply rearranging your schedule so you can give more time to God and your family. Or maybe for you, it might mean downsizing your lifestyle so you can give more money to ministry, in the missions. Or maybe for you, it is simply saying goodbye to family and friends and following the leading of God to serve God overseas. But listen, for every one of us, if we make that choice and say, Yes, Jesus, from this day forward, I want you to have first place, I want you to rule and reign, I want to submit my will daily to Your Word. Jesus, I want you and I want all of you. Yes, it will cost you something. Yes, it will cost you something. But friends, you realize that the sacrifice that He asked us to make is nothing in comparison to the sacrifice He made for you.

As the missionary C.T. Studd said, and here's a man who gave up a fortune. And for the next 30 years, he served God in China and India and Africa. Finally, given his life for the gospel, he said this with no regrets. And I quote, he said, “If Jesus Christ be God”, and He is, “and He died for me”, and he did, then absolutely “nothing is too great for me to do for Him”. And although surrendering our life to the Lord will cost us something, I just want you to know this, okay? It's worth it. Yes, although there will be a price to pay, there will be a sacrifice to be made. When we surrender our life to Him, I want you to know something at the end of the day, it will be worth it.

If we surrender to God, we can experience God’s best for our lives

You see, God wants you to surrender to Him. Why? Listen, not because God has an ego. Not because God wants you to run and rule and reign in your life. God is not some mean ogre that sits upon a white cloud with a club in his hand wanting to strike you with the slightest provocation. You see, God is not some cosmic killjoy that wants to rain on your parade. Hey, God is a loving God who is deeply concerned for you and God has a plan for your life. And the Lord says listen, I desire because I deserve your willing surrender. And when you surrender, God says I have something for you. I have the best that you could possibly imagine available for you. Do you see, friends, that best flows from that surrendered life?

Paul made that crystal clear when he made this statement. Listen to what he said. Paul said, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1). Now notice, God wants you to surrender, that is your reasonable, that's your expected service. This is what God desires from us. That's what God wants from you. So that, notice, “so that you might prove what is that”, notice these three words, “that good and acceptable, and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).

In other words, God says, if you want to know my best for your life, surrender. Let's take a moment and look at these three words. Do you know that word, good, by definition means this, the very best for you. The word, good there means, God's very best for you. In other words, when we willingly submit ourselves as a living sacrifice, God says that you will know His very best for you. The word acceptable means and you'll love it. The word acceptable means that you'll love it. So let's put it together. God says, if you surrender to me, and you allow me to be the Lord of your life. If you daily submit your will to my Word, if you put me first in every area of your life, God says then I will reveal to you my very best for your life, and that you will love. Are you with me? It gets better. Notice the last word, the word is perfect, it means this and you can't improve upon it. You cannot improve upon God's best for you. So, let's boil it together. God says that if you willingly surrender your will to my Word, you allow me to have first place in every area of your life, God says that I will begin to make known to you so you can experience my very best in your life. And that best you're gonna love it and you can never at any time ever improve upon it.

So why do we surrender? We surrender because it leads me into God's best for my life. It's the pathway. It's the door. That's why so many of God's people spiritually up along, that's why we struggle. It's why we come to church. And you know, we hear the sermon, we walk off, and my life has not changed. God is waiting for you. God is waiting for you to surrender. God is waiting for you to submit. God is waiting for you to pray. God is waiting for you to take your hands off and submit to His will. God's waiting for you. God has a great plan for you. And friends, you might just wake up one day and realize that you have wasted the best years of your life because you have not surrendered. You see, friends, it's this. It's only when you daily surrender your will to His Word and you say yes to Jesus, in every area of your life, will you know His best for your life.

Can I close with this illustration? You see, about time? I'm just kidding. I know. You're not saying it out there. I don't know if you know the name Graham Scroggie. He was a preacher of another generation. And one day he was preaching a message on the Lordship of Christ in the conference. And after the service, a young lady came to him with these big eyes, you know, and she was fearful. And she said, you know, Sir, I want Jesus to be my Lord of my life. But I'm afraid. You see, flexitarian Christianity has always been around. And she says, I'm afraid. And she says, I'm afraid if I surrender to the Lord, and I allow Him to have first place in my life, I'm afraid of what he's going to do. I'm afraid of what He will take away, I'm afraid maybe he will send me to be a missionary and I don't want to be a missionary. I want to surrender but I’m afraid, you know, I'm afraid of what He's gonna do.

And so, Dr. Scroggie sat her down. And he says, open your Bible to Acts 10 and verse 14. And so, she did. And he began to explain to this young lady, the context of the passage, and he said, you remember Peter had a vision. And in that vision, he saw a sheet coming down from heaven and upon that sheet, were all kinds of unclean animals, and Peter being a Jew would not eat those unclean animals. And when that sheet came down to that vision of all these unclean animals, God said this, Peter, Arise and eat. And Peter responded to that heavenly voice. And he said this, Not so, Lord. And Mr. Scroggie says, do you understand the impertinence of Peter’s response? He says, you don't say to the Lord, not so. A servant never dictates to his master. He said, that is absolutely impertinent. It was either not so or it was Lord but it can’t be both. And he said, it’s the same issue with you. You can't have it the way you want it. You can't have it upon your terms. You cannot have as it were a flexitarian Christianity by the way, he didn't say that. I did. But that's what he would have said.

And so, here's what he said to that young lady. He said, I want you to sit down. And I want you to circle the word, ‘Lord’ and cross out the words, ‘not so’ and allow Him to be the Lord of your life. Or you cross out the word, ‘Lord’, and circle the words, ‘not so’, and you go about your life. He said, but you cannot have it both ways. You see, He is either Lord of all or He is not Lord at all. And you need to make a choice. And so he handed that young lady, a pencil, and he walked off. A few moments later, he came back, looked over his shoulder, and there he saw a tear-stained page. And that young lady had crossed out the words, ‘not so’ and she had circled the word, ‘Lord’. And she looked up in the eyes of that preacher and said, he will be my Lord.

Conclusion

And friends, that same God calls each of us to make that same decision. Who will be Lord, who will rule, who will reign in your life? Will you daily be submitting your will to His Word? Will you allow Jesus to have first place in every area of your life? Because if you want a break from your sinful past, you don't want to be squeezed into the world's mold. If you want to know that blessed, useful and fruitful Christian life, if you want to know God's best for your life right now, that's what it demands. It demands absolute surrender, nothing more, and nothing less. So, the choice is yours.

Friends, my prayer for you today and all week long is that we would see by the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit, that Jesus who is Lord, and one day, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess. He desires to be your individual, personal Lord in your daily life. Would you allow Him that right?

Prayer

Let's bow for prayer, shall we, with our heads bowed and our eyes closed. Our Heavenly Father, we just want to say today, thank you for these great words of Paul. And Lord, we're thankful that you submitted your will to the will of the Father and you came and died upon Calvary's cross for our sins, We're thankful. And yet, Lord, we know that as you submitted your will to the Father, it is your desire that we too would submit our will to your Word, and allow you the right to have first place in every area of our life. And Lord, I want to pray today for every person in this auditorium. The Spirit of God would bring unbelievable illumination, that Lord if there are some in this room today that are not surrendered, maybe some that want Christianity, but they want it on their terms, I pray today that they would lift that white flag of surrender and say yes, Jesus, I want you to be the Lord of my life. I want to know that good. pleasing, and perfect will. I want to know your best for my life. With your head bowed, and your eyes closed, if you're here this morning, and you need to make that absolute surrender.

The quietness is ours as the piano plays, I want you right now just to come to God. And tell him your heart's desire. Maybe you can say something like this, Lord, I want you to be the Lord of my life. You're my savior. I've trusted my eternal soul into your hands. And I want to trust my physical life into your hands. And so, by help of the Holy Spirit would you please enable me to submit my will to your Word and allow you to have first place in every area of my life. And Lord, I pray right now for anybody in this audience that has that desire that they would make that choice and that decision, and Holy Spirit, would you enable them to leave at the foot of the cross with a will submitted daily to Your Word. God, help each of us within this body of believers. Lord, help us to name the name of Christ, whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life, may Lord, we daily allow you to have first place in every area of life. Lord, be our Lord, and our master and our sovereign, be our controlling force. Lord, be our love, have first place.

Speak to the hearts of your people, stir the hearts of your people. Lord, I pray you do a deep work in the hearts of those who maybe there are some today that have in heart have walked away from you, Lord, may they turn back right now. Bring them back to the foot of the cross. Maybe today, with your heads bowed and your eyes closed, maybe you've turned and walked away from God. Friends and you stand in danger of missing God's best for your life. Don't waste the best years of your life. Give your life right now to Jesus. Right now, give it to Jesus. Recommit yourself to Jesus. Let Him to be your Lord, let Him be your leader. Be willing to pay that price and because in this life and in the next, it will be worth at all, it will be worth it all. Lord, bless your people right now. As we sit just for a moment, we ask you to do what only you can do. Speak to our hearts we pray. Lord, we ask that you take this simple truth from your Word, speak to our hearts and we'll be careful to give you glory and honor and praise that is due to your name. And we ask it in Jesus’s name. Amen.