This sermon emphasizes the importance of total surrender to God, using examples like George Muller and Dr. Wilson to illustrate the transformation that occurs when one fully surrenders their heart, body, possessions, and life to the Lord. It highlights the need to give everything to God as a living sacrifice, echoing the call in Romans 11:36 to recognize that all things are from Him, through Him, and to Him.

Romans 11 verse 36 For from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen. Romans 11 verse 36 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Before I carry on, I'd just like to announce that, God willing, tomorrow morning, 11 o'clock, we'll have Beth Thiem's father's funeral. We'll start at the funerals, and then we'll come here and close with the service. Let's return now to the word of the Lord. I want to speak about total surrender. George Muller, he spoke before he died to his ministers and workers. After his 90th birthday, he spoke in the following way. I was converted in November 1825. But I only came into full surrender of the heart four years later. It was in July 1829. After full surrender, he said, the love of money was gone. The love of place was gone. The love of position was gone. The love of worldly pleasures and engagements was also gone. But God alone became my portion. I found my all in Him, and I wanted nothing else. He said, by the grace of God, it remained so from his youth until his 90th birthday. He said, by God's grace, the Lord made me a happy man. And indeed, an exceedingly happy man. And it led me to care about the things of God only. He then said to them, I beseech you, beloved brethren. That you fully surrender your hearts to God. Let there be nothing that you hold back. But instead, surrender everything to the Lord. He said, I used to read things that had nothing to do with the faith. But since God has revealed himself to me, and I made full surrender, God became the great treasure of my life. He made me to a person who loves the Lord, who worships him. I wonder whether in our midst, we can truly say, everyone can truly say, there's nothing that I love more than God. Now we've read from this text in Romans. I appeal to you, brethren, by the mercies of God, make full surrender, a living sacrifice. Holy and acceptable to God, which is your rational surrender. So the first point is that we need to surrender completely and utterly to God, the Holy Spirit. If it says, therefore, there's a reason that it's therefore. And as we've read in Romans 11.36. For from him are all things. Everything came into existence through him. And all things are unto him. Everything in the past, in the present, and in the future, comes from the hand of the Lord Jesus. We are from his hand. You and me, we exist because of him, in his hand. All is from him. And everything that we have is from him. All that we possess was created by him. And through him, our families, everything we own, even our enemies, exist through him. Our Heavenly Father made everything through him. All things exist by him and are unto him. And all things are made complete in his hand. And therefore, for that reason, we are begged. To surrender completely that our bodies are a living sacrifice. And that we, God beseeches us. That we surrender and sacrifice, give our bodies to him. Giving our hearts to him. We've given our hearts to him, but have we surrendered our bodies to him? Even the way that we dress. The way we behave. That all should show. That we have completely surrendered all to him. And it says, I beseech you. God beseeches you. He wants you. That you take your body and surrender it to him. The Lord is saying, I beseech you, give your body for I need it. Give it as a holy sacrifice. And then he said, it's amazing. It is amazing that God is begging us to give our sacrifice, our body to him. As a living sacrifice. A sacrifice is something that has been killed for him. And offered and sacrificed. That means, that is the end of me. Where you can say, I no longer live for myself. I live unto him, for him. And it is amazing, as he said, question, have we surrendered our bodies to him in this manner? Now there is the story told. That in England there was a certain Dr. Wilson. Who gave himself, who surrendered completely to the Lord. To the Holy Spirit. But he was troubled and agonized. Praying often. Thank you. Lord, please work through me, that souls would be one. But no one repented, got converted. This again, in 1913. A minister from France came. And visited Dr. Wilson. Actually he was in America. And he asked him, Dr. Wilson, what does the Holy Spirit mean to you? And Dr. Wilson replied. And he said, well, I know him as the third person of the Trinity. As we have the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. He teaches me. He protects me. But the other minister answered him. Yes, I hear your reply. But you haven't answered my question. Who is the Holy Spirit to you? Wilson replied sadly. He is nothing to me. I have no contact with him. And I can live without him. Because that's how I live. In January 1914. Mr. Woodrow Wilson. Was in Jumailo. He heard a sermon from Romans 12 verse 1. From Reverend James Gray. Who later became the president of the Moody Bible Institute. And he said, have you noticed? That we? It doesn't tell us precisely to whom we should surrender our bodies. Is it to Jesus Christ? Well, what would Jesus do with this body? For he has his own body. And neither the Father. For he remains on his throne in heaven. But there is one who came to this earth without a body. And do you know who the one is who came to this earth without a body? The Holy Spirit. That is why the Bible says, your bodies are the temple of God. Actually says, you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. And Dr. Wilson said, for the first time, I understood it. He had only known intellectually that there is the Holy Spirit. And when he got home, he fell on his knees on his carpet. Crying out to God. Saying, oh God, I've used you as my servant. I sent you where I wanted. But now I say, come and fill this body of mine. This body is now yours. I give myself to you from my head to my toes. I give you my hands. My feet. My fingers. Everything I surrender to you. You can do what you want with this body. If you want to send this body to Africa, you can. If you want to throw this body down with cancer, I am willing. I agree, oh Lord. For I surrender my body, this body, to you. The following morning, there were two medical reps. When they were in his home, he led them to the Lord Jesus. And after that, there was much fruit in his life, leading many constantly to the Lord Jesus. He founded a church. In Kansas. And a mission. Among the so-called red Indians. He opened a Bible college. And he wrote a best-selling book, too. And he said, that experience of surrendering to the Holy Spirit changed my life radically. He said, yes, I repented. I got converted on December 21, 1886. I surrendered to him. I gave my heart to him. But it wasn't so revolutionizing as when I gave my body to the Holy Spirit. And he said, from that time, the Holy Spirit has worked through this body. And he said, woe to the person who does not hear the Lord pleading, surrender your body to me. Did you understand that? Woe to the one who does indeed this pleading of God. Think of George Miller. When he was to be 90. When he spoke to his people. To his people, his fellow co-workers. Who preached the gospel. And he said, there's a second point. He said, remember, that this surrendering to the Lord is the, and surrendering your body to the Holy Spirit is the end of your life. That is the end. If you fully surrendered to the Holy Spirit, that is the end of your life. Remember, full surrender to God means the end of your life. For you will be slaughtered. Like the animals were slaughtered in sacrifice. 21 verse 18. In John 21 verse 18, Jesus says to Peter, truly, truly I say to you, when you were young, you dressed as you wished. You walked wherever you wanted. But when you are old, someone else will take your hand and dress you and take you even there where you don't want to go. He'll leave you, lead you even to the place you don't want to go. Friends, have you entered into this life? Or are you just a Pharisee? Have you surrendered utterly to God? Where you've said, Lord, you can do as you wish with my life. Where you are at the point where you are willing to be led wherever the Lord wishes. And be led even where you had never thought of going to. And you are willing to be led and lead you to the place where He wants you to be. Many study, write, but what a shock when they are suddenly ushered into the Lord's presence. Have you surrendered your body? If so, when? Thirdly, full surrender also means all your possessions. Even your clothing. And the world. The ways of the world. All must now be in accordance with His will. Have you surrendered your body completely, totally? Have you surrendered your life to the Lord? We sing the song, take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee. Take my silver and my gold. Let it be thine. Take myself and I will be ever only all for Thee, and I surrender all. I surrender totally. Do we live what we sing? Now something else finally. A certain preacher from Holland went to a certain country. He discovered that the whole native population were thieves. And they would take whatever they wanted. He built a home, a house, and a garden. He planted pineapples, for he was very fond of pineapples. But all that he planted was stolen. Before they ripened, they were stolen. He was angered by their audacity. And he scolded them. But they said, but preacher, you're not saved yet. You still get angry. And the next year the same thing happened again. He was angry again. He became sulky and his face displayed that he was really upset. And for four years, he didn't get one pineapple for himself. But after some time, this word of total surrender to the Lord began to touch his heart, and his home, and his money, and his possessions, everything. He had pondered upon this, that he had never fully surrendered to the Lord. And even his pineapples. The pineapples that were stolen in such a way, have I ever surrendered them totally to the Lord? But the people continued stealing. But he didn't mind. They continued thieving. And I said, why don't you get angry with us and scold us anymore? And he said, I can no longer get angry and scold you because these pineapples are no longer mine. They belong to God. So as you are now stealing my pineapples, these pineapples, you are stealing God's property. And this moved among them, worked among them. And their children began to become sick. Some died. Some wives were barren. The rain didn't come at the right time. They would go out at night to hunt. And they tried to get things because in the garden, they didn't get anything anymore in their gardens. Then they went to the chief of that tribe. And they accused the preacher, saying he has special eyes. Oh, not special eyes, even in the dark, when it's pitch dark, he can see. And even when they stole in the moonlight, or whether it was pitch dark, and so it continued. And then the stealing came to an end. And when they stopped stealing, the rains came. The sick children became healthy. The wives were no longer barren. And the pineapples ripened. And the preacher was deeply touched in his heart. Saying, oh my God, how guilty I am. I had taken all these things as my possessions. That they were never mine, they were yours. And now that I've surrendered everything to you, the stealing has stopped. So Lord, the fault was always with me. And they were right. I was never a real Christian. And they repented daily. They came and confessed that they had been thieves. And so the stealing stopped. When the preacher said, When the preacher said, So when he explained to them, he had told them, Look, these things are not mine. These pineapples belong to God. And if you continue stealing, remember they're God's. And so the children had become sick. Their wives had become barren. Now I close. William Booth, The founder of the Salvation Army, Was once asked, How come that the Lord can work through you so mightily? And he said, And he said, I believe it is because I surrendered totally to God. And the daughter, though, when she heard this, She thought and said, I don't think my father answers correctly. Completely. The truth is this. Not only that my father has fully surrendered, But the deeper truth is, Whatever he surrendered to God, He never took it back again. When he surrendered to God, He left them with God, Never took them back again. Remember Martin Luther, He said, Given, Given, Taken, Will land in hell. It rhymes. If you surrender and then take it back, In hell you will land. The curse of Christianity, Is that we surrender to the Lord, But we take it back before the sun has set. That's the curse of Christianity. I wonder whether this has been understandable to you. You've heard, About full surrender to the Lord. And how there was such a radical change, When the servants of the Lord surrendered totally to God.