A Fresh Word:

"SURRENDER TO THE FAITHFUL ONE BRINGS TOTAL VICTORY"

Pastor Patrick Thatcher

The greatest struggle in the Christian Life, the greatest struggle is that of yielding.   It's that of surrender. Of yielding.   The Christian life is not that difficult.   Is not too hard.  

We come to Jesus in the beginning just because we know that He died for our sins and He took our sins, our punishment upon Himself dying on the Cross that we may receive a pardon for every bad thing that we do; whether it be a little bad or a big bad. Everyone needs a pardon from Heaven.   What matters is that everyone needs a pardon and that is what Jesus did on the Cross.   But it goes much more beyond that.  

I know many children that never had a father.   I   know some that had a father   that was not a good one, but really what happened was that he was not full of Jesus.   Can we expect him to be like God?   No!   But they are seeking for a father.   They are seeking for a family, for a true family.   Yes, I know that there are many good families.   I was born in a good family.    I was raised European style, a close knit family, but people are longing for a real family.   Family members that would love them through anything.   That they would be there for them and love them.   

And that is what Jesus did on the cross.   He opened up to create one family, one family of God.   No!   Not everyone is a child of God.   You become a child of God when you accept God's Son.   Before we were all creatures of God.   Yes!   All created by Him, but you become a child of His wonderful family when you accept His Son   and what   His Son has done on the Cross for you.   But when you accept Him... I'll tell you,   Oh!   What a glorious moment.   More glorious than a paralyzed man coming out of a wheelchair! More glorious than a cripple with a mangled body,   more glorious than someone on his last breath of life being healed!

Have you ever imagined?   Jesus said "Greater miracles you will do than Me."   What was He talking about?   Greater miracles we can do than raising the dead!   What are we going to do?   The greatest miracle that God gives to us is to bring people to the throne, where they can receive the Son of God as Lord and Savior!   That miracle, I tell you my friend, it is the greatest of all miracles.   When one is born again.   Born from above and the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in them and they become a child of God.   No greater miracle! And I tell you- everyone in this great place of worship can work the greatest miracles every day when you walk out that door.   I tell you-   if you become sensitive to the Person of the Holy Ghost.   He will allow you to get involved in what He is doing. And what He is doing is the greatest miracle of all. And that is of bringing people to Him!

  That is why Jesus came.   He came to seek out and save that which was lost.   He came to seek out and save that which was lost.   But until you accept Him, until you receive Him...   You must receive Him as your Savior.   That is what it means to be Born Again.   To receive Jesus.   To receive Him.   Amen?   If you have never done that, it is a simple prayer that comes straight from you heart.   It is not a repeating of a sentence on a piece of paper.   Although God may use something like that for you to open your heart.   But it should come from you heart and say:   "Oh God, have mercy on me, a sinner.   I believe that Jesus died for me. And I ask you to come into my life and cleanse me of all my sins. Make me clean and make me Yours.    I receive you as my Lord and as my Savior.   Thank You, Father!   Amen!"

  In that moment a spiritual experience happens that is the greatest miracle of all. That is what it means to be born again. That is what salvation is all about.    It is about Jesus coming to die for us.    And being resurrected from the dead to prove that He had power over death and Hell.  

No other religious figure could ever defeat death.   So, if you follow anything besides Jesus Christ,   anything...   I have news for you.   When you die, you will be stuck with them.   But if you give your heart and life to Jesus Christ, when you die, the Word of God says, that you will be like Him. You will be transformed in a moment, that day, when He comes across the clouds in glory,   with all of His angels to judge all!  

I have news for you!   That day is coming soon!   And we will be changed in a moment.   The Bible says that in a "twinkle of an eye". I do not know how many thousandths of a second it is considered to be in science.   But we will be changed.   That quick!   From this natural body that we are in, to a glorified body like Jesus had the day that Jesus was resurrected!   That is a glorious Body!   He could walk through a door.   In that room where the disciples were, He walked right through the wall.   That is a very powerful body.   He went up in glory in front of 500 men, He went up in glory!

"Hallelujah!"   I can't wait for Heaven!    Oh!   The first thing I will do when I get away is to spend a million years worshipping the Father!   And then, I want to go flying!   I have been thinking about this. One time I was looking in a computer, years ago, and I was thinking how it would be to fly into space, and then I heard the Holy Spirit say:   "That is the way it will be...."   You know like the shuttle, you could make it up there.   In our new body we will be able to do it.   I have news for you.   In our new body we can fly straight to Mars.   You can fly across the Universe.    Oh!   I can't wait!   I am going to fly!   I will fly away!

Hallelujah!   You know?   It says that,   "Eyes have not seen, nor ears heard, nor has entered in the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him!"   But the Spirit has revealed them to us.   You bet, the Holy Ghost will reveal things to you and He will show you things to come.   

You know? Philip had a little taste of that, flying.   If you read in the Book of Acts.   He went, "woooooost!" and he went to another place, like that.    Little snap.    Can you imagine?    Like a little genie, would touch his nose and would do it.   But I have news for you.   In glory we do not have "to wiggle our nose" you just say,   "I'll be here, I'll be there."   Some of you guys need that right now so you can make to work on time.   But that is what it means to have a glorified body.   That is one of the many great promises that are ahead for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

But even now on earth, He has great promises for us.   He provides healing in the Atonement. He provides deliverance from all sin and bondage. There is a victory provided at the Cross for all   believers!   It is a victory that every believer can walk in.    That every believer can walk in!    And the riches of God's grace and in the abundance of His goodness, He has made a provision.   He's provided a way for each one of us to have unbroken victory.   Regardless of the situation, regardless of your circumstances.   No matter what you are going through, no matter what has come against you.   God has provided a way for you to live a life of UNBROKEN VICTORY!   And I want to share that with you this morning.   

Today is so fitting.    We celebrate His DEATH AND RESURRECTION!

What are the benefits?   How do we get there? Unbroken victory equals unbroken fellowship with the Lord.   It is available to each one of us.   And I am going to share with you this morning a little heart to heart talk that I have learned through some many hard years of my struggle and fight.   But this morning I pray that the Holy Spirit allows you to receive.   I pray that He helps you and that He opens your eyes to see that each one of you can receive this wonderful glorious victory that I am talking about !  

Victory over sin.   It is so simple.   And this morning I am going to share this with you. Today this "gift" that I am talking about, it is largely unaccepted.   Because, #1 - of it's greatness.   Seems like it is too great of a gift!   And #2 - because the ground of its price.   Do you know?   Things that are gotten cheap are "cheap", but things that are paid for with a great price are of great value.   Many people do not know about this great victory, this unbroken fellowship!   Because they are not willing to pay the price to have it.  

But this morning I am going to share with you.   You can decide for yourself what you want.   Amen?   You know, over the years that I have walked with the Lord I strived and fought many things to attain holiness.   I struggled trying so hard.   And you will want holiness as you seek the Lord.    God will give you holiness.   But the holiness He will give you, it will be a lot different than the holiness you thought.  

The average Christian is not willing to pay the price to have what I am talking about this morning.   But the Lord wants all of us to have it.   The most extraordinary thing about the victorious life, is that it is so simple!   That I am surprised that most Bible students and Bible scholars they do not see it.   They do not understand it.   I guess the Holy Spirit must open your eyes, too.   

I fought and struggled for many years.    But what I will share with you this morning, I promise you,   if you get a hold of it this morning...   if you open your heart... if you ask the Holy Spirit to make this so clear to you... I promise you, your Christian life will be changed forever!   And whoever you share this with, whether you are ministering to one or to millions around the world...   I tell you, their lives will be changed!  

But you cannot give to somebody something that you do not have.   To some of you, I think that I have your attention.

Oh, how I would wish that I would have heard this message years ago.   I could saved myself lots of trouble, lots of struggle.   Lots of failure.   But the more I tried to please God, I found it that it was not in me to do it.   I read about Hudson Taylor...   Have you heard of him?   He was, years ago, a missionary to China.   And I want to read from the letter that he wrote to his sister.   This is very powerful!   It is a letter he wrote to his sister on his experience with God.   He was telling her about his search for holiness, and his search for a deeper walk with God.   A constant abiding in Christ Jesus.   And he told in his letter to his sister his total inability to get it.   How to obtain it and how to live like the Scriptures tell us so clearly today.    But I know this morning, I pray that the Holy Spirit will open you eyes so you can see.   So you can see this dynamic truth, because this truth will change your spiritual life!  

In this letter Hudson Taylor expressed his deep feeling, his great search for his life in Christ.   And he wrote and he says, "I prayed, I fasted, agonized and made resolutions. I read the Bible more diligently, sought more time for retirement and meditation, and all was in vain....Every day, every hour, the consciousness of sin   impressed me.   Then came the question:   Is there no rescue?   Is there no rescue?   Must it be, this to the end?   Constant conflict, instead of victory?   Too often defeat?   I hated myself.   I hated my sin.   And yet I gained no strength against it.   I felt I was a child of God.   I knew I was a child of God.   But, how to arise at my privileges I did not know?   As a child I was utterly powerless to sin.   I thought that holiness, practical holiness was to be gradually attained by the diligent use of the means of grace.   I felt that there was nothing that I so much desired in this world.   Nothing so much I needed it.   And when my agony of soul was at it's very height, a sentence in a letter was used to remove the scales from my eyes!   And the Spirit of God revealed the truth of how "oneness" with Jesus."   And do you want to know?   Do you desire even as I desire it?   To know what it was that was in that letter?   What was that sentence?   That one sentence?   The gate to Him that brings me to that?  

It is precious!   It is priceless! And then I read from the letter. He said, "By faith a channel is formed by which the barren branch becomes a portion of the fruitful vine.   HE IS MOST HOLY IS HE WHO HAS MOST OF CHRIST IN HIM!"  

Never forget this one sentence.   You can forget everything I have said.   If you forget everything, never forget this one sentence.    "HE IS MOST HOLY WHO HAS MOST OF CHRIST IN HIM."   He goes on to say, "It is an act of faith."  

Everyone is trying to attain everything by faith. Trying to attain the holiness by faith. I have news from you.   HE WHO HAS THE MOST OF CHRIST HAS MOST HOLINESS.

  It is looking to Him.   It is trusting Him and His power.   Hudson Taylor says, "IT IS TRUSTING HIM TO SUBDUE ALL INWARD CORRUPTIONS."   Trusting in the conscious joy of a complete salvation.   A complete salvation from all sin. Willing that He should be "truly supreme! "It is not new," says Hudson Taylor.   Yet, it is new to me!    I have seemed to have gotten to the edge, but to the edge only.   To the edge of a sea that is bottomless.   Not striving to have faith.   Not striving to increase our faith.   Not a struggle at all.   But in looking to the "Faithful One".   Looking to Jesus.   That is all we need!   Resting in the Lord.    Just resting completely, entirely on Him for all eternity.   That was the sentence that arrested Hudson Taylor.  

And I remember when I first got born again.   I tell you, I did not sin.   I was so joyful.   Do you know why?   Because I was so full of Christ!   I will be honest, I would not allow anything in my life while I was so filled with Him.    Then I began to try to please Him in my own strength.   And I tried to do all these things to please Him.   But there was no victory.   I fell so hard on my face.   I failed so bad, I failed so bad.   But yet, the victory that I needed, it was not in my own strength.   It was not upon me.   It was a victory that came from a fellowship with Him !   For He is our holiness.   He is our sanctification.   We cannot do it.   None of us can do it.

  Oh, recently I have had these battles, struggles that have been attacking me.   And I was fighting and trying to rebuke, and speak the Word, and all these things and I had no power.   I could not understand.   It was like I have no power to rebuke. But, oh, since I have come into that place of fellowship, that one on one, that intimacy, and I just long for more of Him, all those things have fallen off.    They have no power over me.   I have no bondage in my life.   I have this unbroken victory over sin.   No struggle!   It is amazing!

  The more you climb that ladder into His presence.   The more you try to climb into His presence to sit in His Lap... resting in Him!   "Putting our focus on Him", "instead of magnifying our problems".   We always magnify our problems and our weaknesses. But I have news for you. When we spend that time in His presence, when you climb the ladder and get into His Throne Room...   I have news for you:   All of those scales will fall off you.

  The Christian walk is the easiest thing.   But I tell you, it is hard because it is hard to abandon ourselves in Him. But I have news for you.   If you surrender, if you let Him have His way, if you surrender and if you draw near to Him to know Him personally...   I have news for you...Every victory in your life will be made evident!   Jesus says,"   "Abide in Me. If you abide in Me and My Words abide in you....."   "If we abide in the Secret Place of the Most High....."   I have news for you, you will have complete unbroken victory!   This is clear throughout Psalm 91!   But it is for those who dwell in the Secret Place.   For those who surrender and yield to Him.   Amen?

  It talks about having victory.   Oh, please you must take your eyes off works.   So many are so set on doing the works of God.   I tell you, you need to learn to rest in Him first.   Until you learn to rest in Him, to know Him as your Holiness, to know Him as your dearest Friend, I tell you - ministry is pretty much worthless.    Go get a job.   Go get you a secular job.   You will be of more value there.   At least you will bring some to receive Jesus.   But you won't be able to get people in His presence until you get it yourself.   But when you have got His presence and His presence is all that matters to you, you can know Him and His wonderful love and His presence in your life.   Knowing Him face to face.   I tell you, when you have that, you have treasures.

You have treasures to share. You will have treasures to share with the lost of the world.   Yes, you can bring them to the initial salvation, because you know that much.   But, if you begin to enlist them into a bunch of rules and regulations, they will not last long,   I promise you.   Just because you did does not mean they will. You will be a mighty "religious" soldier, a Pharisee.   Amen?  

That is the liberty of walking in Him.   And it hurts because it requires us to surrender.   And, you know, a lot of people do not want to pay that price?   They do not want to pay that price.   They do not want to relinquish their will.   I have news for you,   that will of yours is taking you down a deadly path.   It is taking down a path of emptiness.   It is taking you down an empty path.   Oh, if you surrender to Him, if you give Him your life...   Remember that Jesus says:   "If you want to come after Me, take up your cross and follow Me."   But I tell you, when we make that decision He will give us the strength we need.

The Book of Hebrews says:   "There is a rest for the people of God."   There is a rest that we enter into.   Where we cease from our works, our labors. There is a rest.   Jesus said:   "Come unto me all of you that are tired, heavy laden and I will give you rest for your soul.   Learn of Me for I am meek and lowly in heart.   My yoke is easy, My burden is light."

You bet it is.   When you have a surrendered life, let me tell you, there is no problem.   They say it in Jamaica: "no problem...." I have news for you, when you surrender your life to Jesus, when you live a life of surrender... and you know that every problem that comes your way, you have to give every problem to Him.    You have to give Him every one of your sins.   You have to give Him every one of your faults.   You've got to give Him all of those people in your life that are attacking you and just surrender all! Because everything will come to naught.  

Relations like that will try to knock you out.   Family members... everything will try to knock you off that path.   Sly little tricks. But, you know what?   I love all of those people that even come.   Because, you know what?   It keeps me more tight with the One I am in love with.   I thank God for the attacks the devil brings.   Every time it causes me to draw more near to my Heavenly Father! Every time it causes me to fall upon Him who died for me and rose from the grave!   Every time it does!   Every time!  

That is why it is okay and   I rejoice in tribulations.   I know what Paul means now. Because it produces patience and all kinds of character.   But, do you know what it produces the most?   It produces the tangible presence of God in our life.    If you run to Him, not if you run away from Him.

  I know people have problems and they do not even come to church.   They are crying. They are crying all their problems, but will not even come to church.   But they never will surrender their lives enough to have victory with Jesus.   And it is simple.   When the Lord begins to knock on your door, He is calling on you to surrender.   As you give Him your life, I promise you it will be the greatest!   It will be the most incredible experience you will ever have!   Yes, there will be many moments of crying.   I tell you, but a whole lot of joy.   I have news for you -   I tell you -   all of those tears they are really wonderful.   They really are!   I have had a lot of good tears.   Where you cry a lot and cry and you tell Him, "Lord, never leave me,   I love this."    You do not get this in a relationship between a man and a woman. You will never feel that, I guarantee you.   It is not attainable between a man and a woman, but it is with God.   Your very insides fall out like David the psalmist.   You have no more strength or power, but your heart is bleeding for more of God.

  Oh, what a wonderful feeling to know that you are in that pursuit with God.   I pray that it will become part of your being.   I pray that everyone here receives that mighty experience.   I am sharing to you from my heart what I have experienced.   And what I tell you this morning about "victory over sin", and victory from every situation.   I am not telling you something that is new.    But I am telling you, it was new to me when I received it.   But I have learned that it is the truth in the Word of God, and all throughout the Word of God.   "Come unto Me,"   Jesus says.   "All of you who are tired, worn out... You have been trying to live for Me... You have been trying to follow My Word..."

It really hurts me, sometimes I hear people that say that they are trying to follow God and to obey His Word. But you will do these things, you will try, you will try to do them naturally.   That is the big struggle.   I got so touched by the Lord, He did it all. Then I began to work...Oh what misery!   I remember that there are many preachers that probably I should have not listened to that preached that zeal, that striving for holiness. It sounds good and even somewhat spiritual.   And I struggled and I strived for holiness, but it was not attainable.   But yet, a surrendered life brings true holiness and "He who has most of Christ is most holy."   Amen?  

When you are trying to live your life with your zeal,   I tell you,   you do not even notice it.   People will notice about you.   How do you think you can go and win people that are lost and beaten down?   By saying, "The Bible says so, so I must do it."   Oh, it is a burden. You are tired. You are heavy laden.   And I got news for you - it is time for you to stop to carry the load.   You cannot carry it. You cannot do what the Bible says in your own strength.   It comes from Him flooding you all in all.   Where Christ is in you!   He's your all in all!   In that way, I tell you, it is just natural.   The Branch when it gets "connected to the vine", the unfruitful branch which we are, will become very fruitful!  

People say:   "I am developing the fruits of the Spirit."   I got news for you - you will never develop them.   That is why they are called the fruit of the Spirit!   Capital S...   They are His fruits. They come from Him living in you, not from you trying to live them. That is religion.   Dead religion.   Very tiresome.   But, let me tell you, when you are full of the Holy Spirit, you will notice you will have patience to sit behind that place in traffic.   You will have the patience to put up with that person who has been tormenting you.   You do it, why?   Because you are so full of Christ.    That is what it means to walk with Him.  

So our biggest battle is to surrender.   The biggest battle is to yield to Him.   That is why the Cross has opened the road to fellowship with God.   Amen?   You never attain holiness by yourself.   You just attain His holiness in you and through you.   Amen?   And it is just that simple.   That simple!   That easy!   It is just like that.   That is the way it is.   Amen?   Hallelujah!  

I believe that what I just shared with you is priceless.   If you just take it and fellowship with Him, just believing God, staying in a constant life of surrender to Him...   you will begin to practice His presence.   Because that will be all you want to do.   To have His wonderful presence in your life!   You will know what Moses said,   "Lord, please don't make us go. If I have found favor and grace in Your sight, don't make us go unless your presence will go with us."   He said, "But, how will they know that we are separate from all other people from the face of the earth, unless Your presence goes with us?"

  Pretty soon you'll know!   I am not going anywhere without the presence of the Lord God, the Father. That is what the cloud by day and the fire by night was!   Hey!   When the cloud moved, they would move with it!   You'll learn to move with the cloud.   When the Holy Ghost is moving, you move with Him!   When He is not moving, you just stay back.   You will begin to learn to flow with Him.   I tell you - when you desire His presence, you'll see victory in every area of your life!   You won't have to struggle and fight for it.    It will come naturally.   And as you desire His presence, I tell you, there will be a cry inside your heart saying, "Lord show me Your glory!"   Because Moses, after he found out he was going to have the presence of God... When you find that out, you will say,   "Wait a second, Your presence is wonderful, Lord!   But I want to see "all that You are"! "Show me Your glory!"   And that is what Moses said.   Oh, did you see how the progression works?   You see how the walk just increases?   You see how glory upon glory we'll go?  

We will be transformed as we behold Him.   As we behold Him, the Bible says, we will be transformed from glory to glory. Just by the Spirit of the Lord.   He is the One changing us as we behold His wonderful presence!   Isn't that just so simple?   It's that simple!    Really!   Amen?  

Let me just close. "Oh, wonderful Jesus, I just ask You now, that You would make it so clear to the people.   I pray that You just help them, Lord.   I pray Lord, that they won't wait so many years being robbed of Your Presence.   But, Lord, let them walk in immediate grace.   Let them walk in immediate grace from the beginning.   Help them to know that they can have Your wonderful presence in their everyday life. And, we give you the praise!   We give You the glory, Lord!   In Your mighty Name."

  Just ask Him. Say,   "Lord, help me.   I surrender all. But I cannot even surrender apart from You.   Help me to surrender more."

Even to surrender, we need His help.   "Wonderful Jesus,   I thank You.   Now, Lord, change every person.