Absolute Surrender

Recently I read Andrew Murray’s book Absolute Surrender. Murray was a late 19th century preacher and evangelist, who was no stranger to true revival, having been involved with a great revival in South Africa in the late 1800’s. I had been thinking of reading this book for several years and a recent interest in the concept of being a Christian who takes serious the commands of Christ, I figured this book would be an important tool in helping myself work out just what true Christianity looks like. Please accept this caveat; I am not a very successful Christian when it comes to “absolute surrender.” But I cannot let my own foibles and weaknesses get in the way of God’s desire for my life. I hope the following thoughts will be an encouragement to you in the dedication you bring to your own Christian walk.

I intend this posting to be well documented from a Biblical perspective. As usual, my opinion means nothing; it is God’s Word in which we must find the truth we need to live full lives on this earth. Please join with me as we take a small journey into the “mind of Christ” as we see just what it is we are called to.

First of all we know from Romans 10:9-10 (NASB) “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” We also know that the Apostle Paul exhorts us to “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?” in 2 Corinthians 13:5 (NASB). You see Paul is clearly warning us that it is a possibility that we can be fooled into thinking that we have believed in our hearts, but this has a possibility of being a false confession. Not convinced yet; here is a warning straight from the mouth of Jesus. In Matthew 7:21-23 (NASB), Jesus says, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'” Please read that scripture again. Take it with you, mediate on it, and pray over it. Christians this is serious business. We must spend the rest of our days on this earth being positive we mean what we say with our mouths. I cannot judge your eternal destination, not even your pastor or priest can. That, my friend, is between you and the Lord.

Alright, let us go forward with this study making the concession that we are truly Christ’s. What then does that that mean in terms of our lives? In the words of Christ, himself, our dedication to him should run deep. Matthew 16:24-25 (NASB) says this, “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. "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”” Prior to this statement, Jesus had said even more to His disciples. Read what He instructs them about the cost of being a disciple in Matthew 10:32-39. Jesus says, “"Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.”But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven. "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be the members of his household. "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. "And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. "He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.” This sounds to me like Jesus is calling us to make a pretty serious commitment. Like maybe “absolute surrender”?

So what does that mean to us, absolute surrender? I suppose to ask that question might elicit as many different answers as if we asked people to define what a Christian is. In his book Absolute Surrender, Andrew Murray speaks about surrender and he says on page 9 of that book this, “Give up yourselves absolutely to the will of God. You know something of that will; not enough, far from all. But say absolutely to the Lord God: "By Thy grace I desire to do Thy will in everything, every moment of every day."” Yet near the end of the book, Murray also says this about the topic, “Oh, friends, we need this absolute surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ. The more I speak, the more I feel that this is one of the most difficult points to make clear, and one of the most important and needful points to explain — what this absolute surrender is.” He goes on to define it as meaning “…as literally as Christ was given up entirely to God, I am given up entirely to Christ.” Now let us examine the Word of God in seeking the answer to what our surrender should look like.

We have already heard from Jesus. In the Book of Matthew, chapter 16 He has told us that to be his disciple one must “…must deny himself, and take up his cross…” verse 24 and then in verse 25 He goes on to say that those who want to save their lives must lose it. These are strong words and only those who have allowed themselves to be blinded by Satan’s efforts could fail to understand that this is a call to self-sacrifice. Jesus died for all of us and it is clearly Biblical that we are called to be like Christ in all we do.

Then Jesus gives us a command in John 15:12-13. He says, "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” So you say, “Sure, I’ll lay my life down for my friends”, but Jesus raises that standard in Matthew 22:36-39, where we see that He meant this command to go well beyond your best buddies. Listen to His exchange he has in response to the religious leaders of the day as they question Him. “"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' "This is the great and foremost commandment."The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'” Jesus is calling us here to give up our petty dislikes for others and we must love everyone as we love God.

Big deal, you say, Jesus just us wants to be nice to everyone so that we can represent Him well. This means we should do good do others. But I say let us turn back to His Word. Here is what He says in Matthew 5:43-48 (NASB), "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? "If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Now Jesus has really cranked this up a notch; we not only have to love our wives, friends, and even neighbors, we have to love our enemies. We have to love even those who seek to harm us, persecute us, and even those we just plain don’t like. Clearly to love like that would mean a complete dying to our own selfish and self-preserving natures. And why? Because we are to be “perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Of course I get it; none of us in the life will probably attain such perfection. Yet that can and must be the target we shoot for. We must be seeking to be “Christ-like” in all we do.

Let us talk about giving now. I must confess that I am not a proponent of teaching the principle of the tithe to the New Testament Christian. I won’t get into that debate here, but let me say this; Just because you give 10% of your money to the church does not necessarily mean you are a good giver. Again I say we listen to what Jesus has to say about giving.

In Chapter 21 of The Book of Luke we find Jesus commenting on giving. Let us pick it up in verse 1 of chapter 21. “And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. And He saw a poor widow putting in two small copper coins. And He said, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them; for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on."” Jesus’ point here is that she gave everything she had. To put this into a different light, allow me to offer an exaggerated scenario. Suppose you earned 400 million dollars as, say an actor. If you tithed that 400 million dollars, you would still have 360 million dollars left. What would you have had to sacrifice in your life to give your tithe? But suppose you made $4000 working at Wal-Mart? After your tithe you have $3600 left to pay your bills and provide for your family. It seems likely that your gift would have actually been greater. Let me throw another thought at you. What if you made $4000 at Wal-Mart but your spouse was the one who made the $400 million? Do you catch my point?

Let us look at some more scripture now. Let’s move to Mark 10:17-22 and read the story some Bibles title “The Rich Young Ruler.” “As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. "You know the commandments, 'Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.' “And he said to Him, "Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up."
Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.”

So was Jesus saying that no one can go to Heaven unless he gives up every penny one has? Certainly Jesus is not saying that. The point Jesus is making in both of these stories is that what matters is where your heart is in all this. Jesus goes on in verse 25 of Mark 10 to declare that, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Why does He say that? Because Jesus knows the heart’s of men. He knows that for many rich men, they became rich because that was their complete heart’s desire and they spent their whole lives attaining riches instead of seeking the Kingdom of God. The Bible has many rich men who clearly were men of faith and men who will be there in eternity. King David, Solomon, and Job are just three examples. But these men loved God and although they messed up, they understood that all their blessings came straight from God.

Recently I have been considering this declaration that Jesus has made, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Is it just possible that most of us reading this blog right now are rich? Certainly compared to the Rockefellers or the Bill Gates of the world, we are not. But compared to the rest of the world? I would say compared to much of the population in the world, we are quite rich. We own computers and cell phones, most of us have many changes of clothing. What if we compare ourselves to the people of Jesus’ day? I would say we are much wealthier than they, especially in terms of possessions. This doesn’t even scratch the surface of this way God has richly blessed us in terms of ease and comfort of life.

My point is that again I believe we must take scripture at its truest meaning and begin to listen to the warnings of God’s Word. We must stop thinking highly of ourselves and examine our commitment to our Lord and Savior. When I look in the mirror at the end of each day; can I say that I denied myself? For me; usually I think I must admit I have not. I have only began to unveil the truth of the topic at hand. I do not write this to bring condemnation or judgment down upon anyone. I merely write to fulfill what God has called me to and that is to speak truth in what He has revealed to me.

Consider this verse from Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Then listen to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ himself in Matthew 7:21-23, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'
"And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'” I don’t know about you, but those are the most feared words in the Bible for me. I do not want to hear those words at the end of my life.

So what does this really mean “Absolute Surrender?” I believe each of us need to humble ourselves and ask God to teach us that answer by turning to Him on bended knees. I just know that when I look at what Jesus did for me: coming down from glory and being tempted in every way, walking this earth and even after performing great miracles and healings he was rejected by most, beaten and humiliated, hung on a cross while bearing the weight of all sin for all time and then even though I rejected the truth of His Word for many years and yet, in my darkest days, though I had not sought Him when times were good, when I finally understood I had no hope for this life or eternity and I was desperate and just wished to die… His arms were wide open and His love was right there for me…then I know that whatever little sacrifice I think I have ever made…it is not enough. I do not give enough money. I do not give enough time. I do not love His children as I should. I have not made the “Absolute Surrender.” Yet he loves me so.

I close this with one final scripture. It is the words of Jesus to Peter, just after Peter rebukes Jesus for telling the disciples of Jesus’ impending suffering and death to come. Listen to Jesus from Matthew 16:23 form the NASB, “But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's."” Now listen to the King James rendition, “Matthew 16:23 (KJV) But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” Notice the use of the word “savouest” or we would say savor. So think about it; What do you savor? The things of man or the things of God?

The Needy

Recently a topic popped up in which the demanding nature of customers was considered. A friend I have in the heating and cooling business was expressing some frustration with his business and made the comment that “there is no such thing as a heating and cooling emergency”. Now, while certainly one might argue that there truly could be a very pressing need for an elderly or ill person to need their furnace or air conditioner repaired ASAP or maybe in big commercial applications such as hospitals and nursing homes it may be considered a vital repair, but otherwise that is a true statement.

You see we live in an era of incredible comfort. For those born in my era, we know all too well that it isn’t the end of the world when the air conditioner isn’t working. Air conditioning is not a necessity. I grew up without it. We got by; we did not die. Every year we do hear of people dying in the inner cities where some of the poor have no air conditioning, but I expect they die because they haven’t done anything at all to prevent their homes from rising to excessive temperatures. I would have to see the individual facts of each case. For the sake of this blog, we are speaking merely of the average situation.

I speak on this topic with some authority, I have spent the last 32 years working in the service business, much of the time installing and repairing telephone lines. I have worked in every economic and social environment that exists. I have worked in the homes of the rich and famous (well, as famous as you can get in St. Louis), and I have been in the poorest of the poor. I can tell you this; the poor were much less demanding than the well-to-do. The poor were glad to see you and very appreciative, the rich carry an attitude of expectation that your sole purpose in life is to come solve their problem without regard to anyone else’s need. But I have digressed here, the topic of the rich and the poor is for another day.

The point I am trying to make is that we have become spoiled brats. Americans are soft and are overbearing in their demands. We carry around devices that provide instant gratification of our desires. We can communicate instantly with all of our cell phones. We can watch movies on demand and do so no matter where we are. We have food available at our beck and call. When I was a kid a baked potato required at least an hour or more to cook….now it’s a 6 minute microwave experience. You can even buy them at Wal-Mart already cleaned and packaged for microwaving.

We refuse to suffer in any way. We have pills for everything and self-help books for all emotional malaises, which promise instant relief. We drive everywhere with our windows up controlling our environment through heaters and air conditioners in our cars. When I started at the phone company we didn’t even have power steering or automatic transmissions in our trucks, now if a technician’s air conditioning breaks on his truck, it has to be repaired immediately. Recently in the news there was an article in the paper that chastised the Cardinal baseball team for not moving a couple of scheduled day games to the evening because it was hot during the day. In my early days all games were played in the daytime. I don’t recall any fan ever dying from watching a ball game in the heat. If you have a health problem then stay home for Pete’s sake. Don’t even get me going about indoor stadiums. I went to the Dome for a Ram’s game once and couldn’t even stomach it for more than the first half…..football was meant to be played in the elements, not in some pristine environment that looks and feels more like a hospital.

No wonder we whine when the power goes out or the air conditioner breaks. We are for the most part a bunch of babies. Now I am all for convenience. I like AC. I like heat. I like electric lights. But I understand that all of these wonderful gadgets are things that God has blessed us with. I do not view them as if I must have them to live; I view them as gifts from God to enjoy and thank Him every day for. I thank Him daily for bringing me into this world in an era of ease. I appreciate the men and women who earn their living working long hours and in sometimes difficult weather conditions to keep them up and running.

Several years ago I was working on my equipment during a major power outage across the St. Louis area. Since my equipment requires commercial power to operate, I have to work long hours throughout any power outage to keep the phone, internet, and TV aspects of AT&T running. I had been on the job for over 40 straight hours, having slept maybe 20 minutes in the cab of my truck. Often people see our trucks and think we are the power company. So this guy walks up and then after seeing I wasn’t able to fix his power, he starts ragging on the power company guys. He says that his power has been out for 2 days and here he drives by Pasta House and sees 3 Ameren-UE trucks sitting there and that just isn’t right, they need to be getting the power fixed. I laid into that guy good…..I asked him if thought those guys were robots? I asked him if he ever went 40 hours without sleep. I asked him if he ever climbed a 40’ pole in a pair of climbers and hung for two hours in the dark with a flashlight stuffed in his shirt trying to see while wiping sweat out of his eyes after having been stung earlier in the day by 5 wasps that had a nest built behind a transformer. I asked him if his children and his wife ever ask him when he’s coming home and been upset because he missed his son’s last 3 ballgames. I asked him if he ever went to a funeral for his friend and co-worker who at the age of 42 was killed when he accidently grabbed a hot 600 volt line. I really didn’t say all that, but I wanted to. I did explain that those men were doing the best they can and they are entitled to eat once in awhile.

I don’t usually find much in myself or others to say I am proud of, I believe all glory must be given to God. But I have been honored to work in the service business where we try and keep all of this nation’s people satisfied and comfortable. Sometimes I have even been part of vital repairs to things like 911 services and to hospitals and firehouses. I am not personally looking for accolades or even a thank you. I just want people to have patience and to be considerate when dealing with men like those power company men or the heating and air conditioning repairman. Appreciate the cop or the paramedic working on Christmas Day. Understand that in most circumstances you can live without most of what you have. Get on your knees every night and thank your Father in Heaven who provides all things.