Captured by Jesus the Surrendered Life

Picture in your minds, friends, a war between two armies. One of the soldiers gets separated from his troop and falls into the hands of the enemy, and the enemy soldier points his rifle at him. What's his immediate reaction? The captured soldier throws his arms up over his head and surrenders.

Now keep that picture in mind while I ask you a question. Do you know what the main difference is between an American believer and a Chinese believer? The answer is that the American believer makes a commitment to follow Jesus, whereas the Chinese believer follows Jesus in a life of surrender. Because the persecution is so hot against the underground church in China, that the average Chinese believer has counted the cost of following a crucified Christ, because he knows for his testimony he may land in a work camp or a prison.

The average American has a commitment to follow Jesus so long as the benefits are realized, like making a commitment to join a gym or lose weight. One can always drop the membership at any time if the benefits don't outweigh the commitment. Do you hear what I'm saying? I say this to you, friends, because you would have to have your head in the sand not to see hot persecution coming to the American church.

The dominoes are already lined up against it through a society that calls evil good and good evil. If we don't live lives of surrender now, we'll fall when persecution comes to this country. Very soon, in America, a Christian will be viewed as an enemy of the state.

Some will go to prison for their testimony in Christ Jesus. The title of my message today, friends, is Captured by Jesus, the Surrendered Life, and I will use a number of texts today as we proceed, so keep your pens out to jot them down. There are several aspects I want to bring before you today on the doctrine of the surrendered life, and they are as follows.

Number one, your life is not your own. In 2 Corinthians 5.15, it states, and that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again. I like the t-shirt I saw Christian wearing, which read, under new management.

And as a believer, your life is not your own, friends, and that brings me to our second point. Number two, Jesus must be a complete master. Romans 6.2 declares, God forbid, how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Listen, friends, when we come to Christ and are savingly joined to him, our life is not our own, our body is not our own, our time is not our own, our money is not our own.

Christ must be a complete master. And then finally, number three, you are dead. Colossians 3.3 declares, for ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ and God.

We are either dead in sin or dead to sin. We see this in Romans 6.11, which states, likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Do you want to know what the surrendered life is, friends? It's simply the life of Christ.

Study his surrendered life in the Gospels and you see what I mean, where the Son of God set aside his royal garments in heaven and was born of a woman, betrayed by one of his closest friends, mocked and tortured by cruel base men, then nailed to an ignoble cross to die a criminal's death. Jesus could at any time have stopped the mouth of his accusers, bound the hands of his enemies, but he had a higher purpose in bringing glory to the Father and dying for the sins of man. His life was truly a surrendered life.

Why do we foolishly believe we have any rights and claims on our lives when we are bought by his blood? Let me ask you this. Have you been captured by Jesus? Have you been running from God, friend, like that old prophet Jonah? God wants you to go forward with him, but perhaps you're traveling in the opposite direction. It's time to surrender, to throw up your arms and surrender.

I wonder if there's anyone here who's tired of what I term elevator Christianity, where you walk with God is like an elevator. One day you're living in the penthouse suite in a life of victory, then incredibly you find yourself down in the basement of defeat and you weary of this up and down walk with God because sin breaks fellowship with God. In Amos 3.3 it states, can two walk together except they be agreed? And I want to ask you now, friend, if you hunger for a deeper walk with God, if you long for a life of victory, and if you are weary of falling into the same sins over and over again, like a dog returns to his vomit, then I want to open up this time right now and bid you to come and surrender your life to King Jesus.

I pray that God will grant you the needed grace to live a life of surrender under God. There's no wonderful thing on this planet other than to be captured by Jesus. Let us pray.