"Surrender to the Truth of God's Word
" Sermon Transcript for July 8, 2001 By Reverend Mike BeckScripture Reading: James 1:22-25, I Thessalonians 2:13
I want to begin today by asking two personal questions. You don’t have to raise your hand because they are very personal questions.
1. Did you spend time this week reading the Word of God?
2. And it’s equally important, did you put in to practice what you read?
Related to that, I was listening to Chuck Swindall on Christian radio this week. He told this humorous story. At the end of his sermon on Sunday he told his folks to go home and to make sure that they read Luke 25 in preparation for next Sunday’s sermon. So he got up the next Sunday to preach and he said, "Let me see the hands of all those who read Luke 25; and a lot of hands went up. And he said, "Well, I think I need to change the sermon title and preach on honesty because there is no Luke 25."
But Week Five of this year’s 50-Day Spiritual Adventure teaches us that one of the ways in which we will see the unseen Christ--and let me urge you not to miss the subheadings going through this--for it’s not enough just to see the unseen Christ, we want to have His presence transform our lives. But one of the ways that happens is as we surrender to the truth of God’s Word.
I want to look as we begin at some of the ways people approach the Scripture. Some persons approach the Bible in a very scholarly and sometimes a very humanistic approach. They can be prone to see the Bible as a very human document to be examined very, very critically. And often that can result in a very skeptical understanding of Scripture as a "Word of God" to us. Or other persons approach the Bible as a source of information. They can tell you all kinds of facts about the Bible. They can even quote numerous verses. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that this information has resulted in their life being any different. And then, thirdly, other persons approach the Bible as a rulebook. And certainly the Bible gives us a good blueprint for living. When we approach the Bible just as a set of rules, if we’re not careful we can cross over into legalism or works-righteousness at the expense of the grace of God that Jesus came to proclaim.
Now all of those approaches have their place as we approach the Scripture. But what we want to look at this morning is what it means for us to surrender to the truths of God’s Word. And I would like to flesh that out by looking at two words. First of all the word "surrender". From a human understanding, the word "surrender" is a negative word that implies defeat. And you remember back to the games you played as a kid, the last thing in the world you wanted to do was to holler "uncle" which meant you surrender because you lost. Or when you think of the country’s military campaigns, to surrender means "you lose".
But when it comes to our Christian faith, we must keep in mind that contained in this thing we call the Gospel are numerous paradoxes. In other words, something is not what it appears to be at first glance. And in terms of this matter of surrender, from a spiritual perspective the Bible tells us, when you surrender, you win! Let me illustrate that in my own life. When God called me out of the school business to go to seminary, I literally went to prove God wrong, to get God off my back so I could go back to what I loved doing. For the three years that I was in seminary and for the first three years of my ministry down in Greensburg, my heels were dug in in resistance to what God was calling me to do. Leland was my Senior Pastor then. He may remember the Lay Witness Mission that was suppose to be for lay people. On Saturday night Reverend Mike went forward to that altar in prayer and said, "Lord, I surrender. I give up. I’m going to believe that you knew just exactly what you were doing when you called me in to ministry." And it was then that the peace and joy that I was looking for in my life began to emerge. It only happened as I surrendered.
It’s what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 16:25 when He said, and I believe this is one of the most important versus of Scripture. He says, "If you try to save your life you will lose it. But if you learn how to lose your life for my sake, you’ll find it." It’s what so many of the hymns so wonderfully speak about. Hymns such as this one, look at the words on the screen. They hymn writer says, "Make me a captive, Lord, and then I shall be free. Force me to render up my sword, so I shall conqueror be. For I sink in life’s alarms when by myself I stand". So the hymn writer says, "Imprison me Lord within Thine arms, and strong shall be my hand."
The principle of our 50-Day Adventure today is that we need to surrender to the truths of God’s Word. And here’s how we do that. When we act in faith and obedience upon what the Bible tells us to do. Let’s go back to our scripture there in James 1:22-25. And I invite you to read it with me. "Do not merely listen to the Word and so deceive yourselves, but do what it says. For anyone who listens to the Word and does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in the mirror and after looking at himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues to do this not forgetting what he’s heard, but doing it, he will be blessed in what he does." There’s the key to surrender.
Let’s move on to flesh out more fully now the object of our surrender which is to the truth of God’s Word. And follow me carefully because you’ve set under enough of my preaching now over the last four years to know that I am not suggesting an overly simplistic approach to the Scripture, but I am saying this, "If we approach the Bible as merely our best human understanding of God or when the lens through which we look at Scripture is one of cultural relativism which would say that there really is not such think as truth, or if our attitude in approaching Scripture is, "Well, God, I’ll consider that suggestion if it’s convenient", when it comes to the command of God’s Word, if that’s our approach, we’re never going to see the unseen Christ and we’re never going to have our lives transformed.
Perhaps the best way I can get at what I’m trying to say here is through the words of Mark Twain. And Mark Twain was himself an agnostic mess but he said once to somebody who asked him about the Bible, he said, "It’s not the things in the Bible I can’t understand that bother me. It’s the things I can understand all too well!" And the point that I am making here is this, when we approach the sacred book, there are going to be many things we don’t understand. There are going to be issues that are not as clearly spelled out as what we wish they were. Which is why I believe Paul tells us, "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling!" But, what I think Mark Twain reminds us of there is that there are dozens of foundational principles and truths and commands in Scripture that run from beginning to end over which there is absolutely no debate. Let me give you a few examples. This truth it seems to me is taught from beginning to end in Scripture, "that God is to occupy first place in our lives". Not third or twenty-third, but first. When it comes to many of God’s people in worship, I wonder how seriously they are taking that command when there are four opportunities that week to worship yet we see them once every two months! What does their actions say about the truth of God’s word that’s so clear. God says, "I’m to be number one".
The Bible teaches from beginning to end about sin. It says, "Sin separates us from God and others." The Bible clearly teaches this, "God can change my life". If your attitude is, well that’s just the way I am and I’m never going to be able to change, you’re ignoring a foundational principal of God’s Word! From Genesis to Revelation God teaches, "I can take your life, change it, and make it different!" "Love and forgiveness," the Bible teaches us, "are not optional". We’re going to look at that much more clearly next week when we talk about prayer. The Bible teaches clearly that "stealing is wrong". Whether it be stealing from the office or shoplifting or not including that income on my 1040, this is a foundational truth over which there is no debate. It’s there from beginning to end. You’re not suppose to take what doesn’t belong to you. Many of us need to be reminded of this next one. That "sins of the heart are just as serous as sins of the flesh". For so many of God’s people who stay miles away from the sexual sin and therefore think they are righteous in the eyes of God, have forgotten Jesus perhaps talked more about your tongue, a critical spirit and pride than he ever did about sexual sin.
The Scripture tells us from beginning to end that "the love of money and possessions is a root of all kind of evil." Nothing wrong with money; nothing wrong with possessions. But from beginning to end God says, "Be careful in those areas lest you be led astray". The Bible tells us clearly that "we are to exercise self-control in such areas as our speech and our sexuality". And when that juicy bit of gossip comes in my ear, the same time it comes in my ear I’m suppose to clamp my mouth shut. Keep it there and there only. Well, that’s eight and I decided I wasn’t going to go for ten less you think that Reverend Mike created a new set of commandments. The last one I lifted out, and again what these things are, are reminders to us that although there are many things in Scripture that we don’t fully understand that we’re not totally clear about, God says, "I understand that but what are you doing about the things that are absolutely clear!". The last one is this, "The first-fruits of our labor belongs to God". God says, "When you get your paycheck, the whole things belongs to me. The first-fruits go to me. You can keep the other 90 percent just be good stewards of it." But if our attitude toward our paycheck is, "I get my check. I do all the things I want to do. I pay all my bills. Then if there’s anything left over God, you can have that" that totally violates the truth in God’s Word that’s there from beginning to end.
So as we close, I want to ask you to just examine your heart. Is your attitude today as you approach the Word of God one of surrender, one of obedience? And friends, there’s good news, if you will do that this book will transform your life. For I want God to be able to say of us here at Grace Church what Paul said at the church of Thessalonika if I can paraphrase. He said, "Church folks, when you received my Word, you accepted it and acted upon it, not as the Word of men, but you acted upon it as it really was My Word which is at work in you who believe.
Let’s pray. "Oh, Lord, help us to open your Word more faithfully than we do. Help us as Psalm 1 said to meditate upon it. Help us to accept it as truth from our Maker. And then let us act upon it that our lives might be changed to be more like you. Hear our prayer, Oh Lord. Amen."
And before we sing our closing hymn, I’m always reminded in preaching that we often don’t get to tell the people how to really do it. If you’re hearing my words today and you’re saying, "I need to do that". Or when it comes to this Book, "I don’t know where to start?". If that fits you this morning let me urge you, take any one of the Gospels--Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John--and just start reading it. And ask yourself the question, "Who is this man Jesus Christ and what does it mean to follow Him?" Or take some very practical New Testament books like Ephesians or James, start there. Start on that journey that Steve talked about to let God transform your life.
Let’s stand and sing versus 3 and 4 of #354, "I Surrender All".
E-mail Comments to: Reverend Dan Sinkhorn