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We say, you know what Lord, I give it up to you.

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I am done trying to be my God. I am done trying to lead my own life.

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What do you want me to do? And then when you get there,

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that's now where the power of God can flow through you.

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Welcome back to a deeper dive into Philippians.

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Today we'll be looking at chapter two and specifically from verses one through

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10, I have titled today's message, the fruit of surrender.

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But instead of reading the whole 10 verses, what we'll do,

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we'll just break it apart. So for this first section here,

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we'll read from verses one through four.

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So let's go to our Bibles and read that.

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Before we even jump into this chapter,

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the first word says, therefore,

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and there's this funny antidote that preachers always use that says when you

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see therefore, check to know what it's therefore for.

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And it's like humorous sometimes,

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but the point is therefore ties in what was just spoken

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about in the previous section into what we're about to talk about.

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And in this case, in chapter one,

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he's been talking about suffering and how,

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and actually at the very last two verses,

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just because that kind of calculates the best out of chapter one,

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he's talking about how he himself was in chains,

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how he himself was in prison,

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how he himself has been paying for the cost of Christ.

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And so now he's after finishing talking about the cost that he's paid

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physically for Christ. Now he says, therefore,

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if any, if there's any consolation in Christ.

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So he's talking about I've been suffering all this time and he's

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welcomed the sacrifice. So because of that suffering,

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if there's any consolation.

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So what he's saying is I am okay with suffering because I know

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the price of my consolation of my suffering.

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And the consolation is this. If any comfort of love,

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if any affection of the spirit,

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if any affection and mercy fulfill my joy by being

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like-minded, he's saying,

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he's okay to go through the suffering for as long.

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You, my children have been like-minded for as long.

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We all are coming together and walking in the love that Christ intends

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for us. And I'm going to read some of the stuff that I say here,

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because I think it kind of helps get the point across what he's essentially

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saying in verses one through four is the thing that keeps him going during

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the tough times or the hope that he clings to is that his spiritual

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children will be in unity and his hope,

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his prayer and hope while he's in the chains is that his children will choose

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each other over themselves.

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That's his prayer and that's the hope that he has when he's in a chains.

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And that's the heart of a father that says,

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I know I'm going through a tough time,

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but I just hope and pray that my children are doing

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what Christ has called them to do.

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Because remember he's in the chains for the cause of Christ.

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And if the people who he's preaching to are now walking out for the cause of

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Christ, then he's suffering in vain.

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But when he's suffering and they're doing what Christ has called them to do,

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it gives him the confidence to continue suffering in the chains.

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And that's what he's talking about.

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And this verse kind of reminds me of Hebrews 12 too,

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when Jesus says, he talks about Jesus,

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how he went through the cross and he says,

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who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.

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Jesus endured the cross because he knew after this tough period is done,

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I will be able to have intimate relationship with my creation.

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So he went through the cross,

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the horror of the cross because that was the goal.

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And it's the same thing with Paul here.

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It's saying for the joy that was set before Paul,

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he went through this chain so that his children can be in unity and selflessness.

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That's the goal.

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That's what kept him going.

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And so when you're reading that section,

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it's an encouragement to all of us to not let the world

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dictate us. Do not let the our self dictate how we act because there have been previous generations

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who have paid for us to be Christians today. People have died for us to be able to read this

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Bible. This physical Bible that I hold, the first one that was translated in English, the guy who

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did it died. So we sometimes take that for granted. We do not understand the cost that was paid. Even

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for us to be in this room recording about the message without being afraid of government

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officials coming in and disrupting us and going to jail. People are suffering for this gospel

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and we cannot take it for granted. In China, in the Middle East, people are dying but they are

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willing to die because they know the value of what is in front of them. Do we know the value

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of this book? Do you know how many people died for this? So that we can just talk about Christianity,

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we can talk about the Bible, we can talk about God. That is the prayer of Paul here. He's willing

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to go through the chains so that his children can walk in unity and selflessness. I don't think I

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need to talk about that point anymore because if you look at the church today, we are very divided.

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All of us fighting against denomination issues that at the end of the day, they're not that big

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of a deal. The goal is for us to walk in unity and selflessness. So anyway, so that's the big

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point that Paul is trying to make in those four verses. So now let us jump to verses 5 through 11.

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Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God did

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not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of

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a bond servant and coming in the likeness of man. And being found in appearance as a man,

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he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

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Therefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name,

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that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of those in heaven and those on earth and of those

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under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory

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of God the Father. Just before we go into this, I want to make this statement. In verses 6 and 7,

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when he's talking about Christ coming in the form of man, we're going to really cover that in depth

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in the next episode. So I'm not really going to talk about that because I will save that for then.

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Jesus is the best example when it comes to seeing the fruits of surrender. Paul is imploring the

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Philippians to surrender and choose each other over themselves. That's the point of him using

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Christ as an example, because he says, let this mind be in you. Jesus is God.

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Jesus is above it all. He's perfect. He is holy. He's the king of kings, but he chose. He said,

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I don't care my status. I'm going to bring myself low that the will of God be done. How many of us

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can say that today? Regardless of what status I have in this life, I'm going to bring myself low

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so that God can be magnified. That's why Paul is using Jesus as an example, and he said, let this

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mind be in you. A mind that did not think too highly of himself, even though he had every right

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to think highly of himself. A mind that was quick to surrender and submit to the will of God the

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Father. Remember in the garden of Gethsemane, he says, not my will, but thy will. He could have stopped.

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He could have not gone through the cross. He didn't have to. He chose to. That was his 100%

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his choice, but he chose to humble himself and submit himself to the will of the Father. A mind

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that was quick to give everything up so that his creation could live the life that he intended for

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them. That is the mind that Paul was praying that the Philippians would have, and that is the mind

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that we all need to have. A mind that is quick to surrender to the purposes of God. A mind that

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is not selfish, and that's in the first four verses. That's what he's talking about.

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Do not be selfish. It's not about you. Many people have paid the cost and the price for us to be here,

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and now we cannot be selfish today because we think we're better than them. We cannot make fun

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of the previous generation because we are in a better situation. They paved the way. So we need

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to have the mind of Christ in us so that we can let the will of God

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happen through us. The fruit of surrender is humility. In the kingdom of God

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surrendering or humility is at the core of everything. That is why when we get

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saved it is important for us to renew our minds because in the world you must

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claw, fight and destroy your competitors so that you can move ahead in anything.

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That's how it is in the world. I have to be better than you. I have to be the

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absolute best and hope the worst for you so that I can move ahead. That's the

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mentality that's in the world. But in the kingdom of God is completely opposite.

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It's you go down and let God bring you up. It's not about how great

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you can be. It has nothing to do with you. It's all about Him. So we in the kingdom

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of God have to make sure that we are the best vessels that we can be for His

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glory to fall to go through us. And that can never happen if we don't bring

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ourselves low. If we do not surrender ourselves and the fruit of that is a

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humble heart. Jesus surrendered himself and became a bond servant as a result.

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And as a result he was exalted above every name. The goal of our life is to

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look like Jesus. To have the mind of Christ. If God the Son, God King of Kings,

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Lord of Lords, the commander of the heavenly armies. If He brought Himself

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low then we His creation can definitely bring ourselves low. If He can do it so

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can we. Because the goal is for us to look like Him. Look at this verse in

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1st Peter chapter 5 from verse 5 to 6. Likewise you younger people submit

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yourself to your elders. Yes all of you be submissive to one another and be

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clothed with humility. For God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

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Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you

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in due time. That's exactly what Paul is talking about in Philippians 5 to 11.

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Jesus brought Himself low. Jesus humbled Himself and God exalted Him above every

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other name. God would humble you. That's not what He does. You choose to humble

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yourself and God is the one who does the exalting. We sometimes think God does the

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humbling and we do the exalting. So we have all these people trying to exalt

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themselves and interfering with God's plan. That's not how it works. You submit

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to God and He lifts you up. That's how this works. It has nothing to do with you

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and that's why sometimes I feel sad when I see people trying to push their agenda,

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trying to push their ministries. That's now how the kingdom of God works. You

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submit and surrender yourself to the Lord and be on the altar and then God

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will exalt you. The closest thing that He will do to humble you is bring trials

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and tribulations so that you can humble yourself. That's something we do and so

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God will take us through sometimes rough patches so that we can see our pride, so

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that we can see our selfishness, so that we can see all these different things in

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our lives and then when we see that we say, you know what Lord? I give it up to

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you. I am done trying to be my God. I am done trying to lead my own life. What do

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you want me to do? And then when you get there, that's now where the power of God

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can float through you. And I've kind of already answered my next question by

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that statement. Why is it important for you to surrender? If you do not

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understand the purpose of a thing, abuse is inevitable. If you do not understand

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the reason why we must surrender and humble ourselves, then you won't pursue

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it. God the Father does not ask us to surrender and humble ourselves just for

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fun of it. He's not up there saying, you must be low, you must be this, you must

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be, you just gotta be so low and submit yourself because I am God and beats his

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chest. There's nothing to do with that. He asks us to surrender so that he can

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partner with us. It's not that he wants us to feel bad about ourselves and think

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we are worthless. There's nothing to do with that. He wants to partner with us. In

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the Garden of Eden you see that picture where the picture of partnership that

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I'm talking about, where God tells Adam, I want you to name the animals and God

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equips Adam with intelligence with everything that he needs to do that. But

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what does God do? He brings the animals to Adam. Adam didn't have to go looking

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for them. God brings them and that's the partnership that God desires. He gives

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you what you need to be successful and then he does the rest for you. He brings

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the people. He puts you in the situations to succeed. That's how, that's what, that's

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his desire.

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The man and the woman ate of the tree.

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This is in the garden.

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When Adam and Eve ate the tree,

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we became independent of God.

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And God's purpose and desire

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was that we are dependent on Him.

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If we surrender ourselves to Him

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and submit our wills to Him,

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we'll become dependent on Him.

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And that's the goal.

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But for most of us, we're independent of Him.

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And that's not what He wants.

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He did not create you to be your own God.

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He created you for Him to be your God

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and for you to submit to Him.

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And so there'll always be something missing.

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There'll always be this feeling of I'm not enough.

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I can't do everything.

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Because it's true.

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You cannot do everything without God.

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Because that's how He made you.

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He made you to be dependent upon Him.

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When we choose to surrender our lives to Him

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and His leadership,

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He now has the freedom to come in and lead us.

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The fruit of surrender is best illustrated

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in Galatians 2.20.

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I have been crucified with Christ.

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It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.

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And the life which I now live in the flesh,

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I live by the faith in the Son of God

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who loved me and gave Himself for me.

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The biggest fruit of surrender

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is when we said yes to Jesus.

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Accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior

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is the most important thing anyone can do.

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That's the goal.

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Being crucified with Christ

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is another way of saying surrendering to Christ

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or humbling yourself to Christ.

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Because now you've submitted your will to Him

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and you're saying, God, what do you want of me?

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What?

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And you're looking at Him to guide you.

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After surrendering to Jesus as Savior,

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He then requires you to surrender to His Lordship.

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He asks you to surrender your will,

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your mind, and emotions to Him.

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A lot of us believers have accepted Jesus as our Savior,

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but not as our Lord.

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Until we truly submit to Him as our Lord,

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His purpose and our decisions will constantly be battling.

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The day we decide to submit to His Lordship,

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then we will have God, Holy Spirit, guiding us

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and leading us into the perfect will of God.

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And that is my challenge for today.

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Are we going to submit to His Lordship?

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Because we know Him as Savior and we love Him as Savior,

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but is He our Lord?

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And that is the ultimate fruit of surrender.

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When you say yes to His leadership,

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when you say yes to whatever He requires of you.

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And so as I finish this message,

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ask yourself, am I just submitting to Christ as my Savior

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or am I submitting to His Lordship as well?

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Amen?

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Amen.