The video is a sermon about surrendering to the Holy Spirit and following God's will. The speaker shares a story about a young convert who threw away a video game as a point of surrender. He emphasizes that the Holy Spirit can work in obvious ways or in areas that good men debate about. The speaker also mentions the importance of surrendering pride, worldly desires, and relationships that are not of God. The sermon encourages listeners to give up anything that hinders their relationship with God and to walk in the Spirit by following the steps outlined in Colossians 2:6.

And as you're turning, I'll mention a few more of the books that are available there. In Colossians chapter 3, in the Word of God tonight, Colossians chapter 3, we're dealing of course with missions revival. And oh, what a tremendous combination. That really is a God-given combination. When there's genuine revival among God's people, there is empowered missions. And that is what we need. So we looked at corporate revival Sunday morning, personal revival Sunday night. Last night we saw the key of faith, which is the access to all of these things. And now I want to go further, building upon that, crystallizing what we saw generally on Sunday, especially Sunday night, into a much more specific way. You know, behind us is the banner of the theme of the conference, but God's heart to our hearts and through our hearts to other people's hearts. How's that going to work? You know, the flesh cannot imitate the love of God. It doesn't even come close. There's only one way this can really work. And so we want to see a passage of Scripture that delineates it in a detailed, specific manner for us. Colossians chapter 3, verse 4, will start with just the very first phrase of the verse. When Christ, who is our life, Christ, who is our life. What an incredible statement. The title of the message tonight is The Exchanged Life. Let's bow our heads for prayer. Will you join me in asking the Spirit of God to open our understanding and be our teacher tonight? Blessed Spirit we do thank you that you are the Spirit of wisdom and revelation and the Spirit of truth to guide us into all truth, to take of what is Christ who is at oneness with these words and reveal Him unto us. Now Lord would you do that tonight? Oh, may we see Jesus and may we see Him as our life. Open our understanding and thrill us with the fact that there actually is hope. Hope for victory over sin. Hope for power in service. Hope for missions that really has an impact. Now Lord give us that kind of understanding. We're asking for it tonight. Lord help us. And I plead the blood Lord protect us from the enemy who would seek to distract, or to deceive, or to confuse. And Lord Jesus I claim my position you at the throne far above all principality and power and I claim our protection in you there. So Lord meet with us tonight we pray. We thank you for it in Jesus name, amen. When Hudson Taylor was 37 years of age he had already founded the China Inland Mission. It was already growing. Many would have already said this is a successful man. And yet he writes in his journal that he was deeply disturbed because he knew that there was a greater victory available in Christ that he was not yet experiencing. He said he would begin the day asking God for victory over sins like irritability and impatience. You know I can relate with this man. And he would ask God for victory over these kinds of sins. And then he said by the end of the day he was having to confess the very same sins that he confessed the day before. And he said he knew there was a greater victory available but he knew not how to draw it out. At that time in his life of hungering and thirsting after God, he received a letter from a colleague in the mission by the name of McCarthy who was on a similar pilgrimage as his leader. And God had opened his eyes to life changing truth. He had had an awakening that was rocking his life to the very depths and transforming him. And he wrote a long letter to his beloved leader to just declare what God was doing for his soul. In that letter McCarthy pointed out that Hudson Taylor had given him a little book. And that God had used that book to begin to open his eyes. And he quotes from the book, The Lord Jesus received. His holiness begun. The Lord Jesus cherished. His holiness advancing. But the Lord Jesus counted upon as never absent. Counted upon as never absent would be holiness complete. But he went on in this long letter to explain how God opened his eyes to that which was changing him. And in that part of the letter he made a statement. A simple statement. That God used to roll back the dark clouds and shed light into the understanding of Hudson Taylor. Here was the statement. Not a striving to have faith. But a looking off to the faithful one. Seems all we need. Now friends that may seem subtle and it is. But it's monumental in its impact. Not a striving to have faith. See Hudson Taylor knew, as we saw last night, that the Bible says in 1 John 5, and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. He knew that faith is the victory. His problem was he was striving to have faith. Which means he was depending on himself. And with that simple shift to looking off to the faithful one. That shift from the subject of faith, us, to the object of faith, God. With that simple but monumental shift of focus. He said when I looked. He said I saw an all sufficient Savior. All sufficient for every temptation. Sufficient for every trial. Sufficient for every circumstance. Sufficient for every situation that I face. And when I saw that all sufficient Savior. He said oh how joy flowed. And friends he began to experience what it is to look unto Jesus and access the very life of that Jesus. And that life of Jesus began to transform the life of Hudson Taylor. It was so real. Everywhere he went he talked about it. He was writing letters to his relatives and to his friends. And people at the mission knew that something had happened to their leader. And friends what had happened is that Hudson Taylor learned what it is. And it's not a one time thing. It's a repeated thing. He learned to exchange the life of Hudson Taylor for the life of Jesus Christ. What a glorious exchange. Now if you're here tonight and you're born again. If that really is true. If you have cast your dependence on Jesus alone to save you once and for all from sin and hell. Then at that moment you exchanged positionally your sin for the righteousness of Jesus Christ. What an incredible exchange. Our sin put on Jesus. So that his righteousness could be put on us. Hallelujah. If you are saved. If you're born again. You have already exchanged the destiny of hell for the destiny of heaven. By the way if you're here tonight and you've never made that exchange. You can make that exchange tonight. You can cast your dependence on Jesus alone to do all the saving. And that's what he does. He does all the saving. He'll save you. And friends if you're saved. Then the day is going to come when we will exchange mortality for immortality. We will exchange faith for sight. But I want us to understand something. There's an exchange life right now. There's a present tense aspect to this. You see the text says Christ who is our life. Christ our life. I have discovered the blessing of the exchange life. Perhaps you're wondering what exactly do you mean this exchange life. And how do you make the exchange. Well tonight here in Colossians chapter 3. I want us to notice three major concepts. Here in the chapter that explain the exchange life. And then we'll take a look at how to make the exchange. The first concept is the new man. I'm using the words right out of the text. We'll see this in a moment. The new man. This is an exchange in the spirit part of your being. By that I mean in the human spirit part of your being. I'll go ahead and mention the second concept right now. Because these are going to dovetail. The second concept is the new life. That's an exchange of life source or vitality. We'll explain this further as we move along. But the new man. The exchange in the center most part of your being. Your spirit. Look please with me at verse 3. Now he's writing to the believers. To the saints at Colossae. He's writing to people who are born again. And he says. For ye are dead. Literally you died. And your life is hid with Christ in God. A double protection. Now when it says you died. If you're a child of God. What he's talking about is true of you as well. You died. Now. What in the world is that talking about? I think I'm preaching to live bodies tonight. That may become questionable if I preach too long. But right now. I think we have live bodies out here. What does it mean when it says you died? Let me ask it. Ask it this way. What part of us died? You see. The physical death is when your soul is separated from your body. That has not occurred yet. That means we're not talking about soul and body. There's only one part of you left. Your spirit. Ah. That's what's being talked about here. What exactly happened? Well look at verse 9. At the end of verse 9 it says. Seeing that ye have put off the old man. That's not your dad. Alright. But it is a part of you. You have put off the old man with his deeds. Now. Whatever that is. Notice it says you have put off. This has occurred. In fact the word that's used here literally means to take off completely. So whatever this is talking about is not partial. It is complete. You have put off the old man. Verse 10. And have put on the new man. Again. It's past tense. This has occurred. Whether you were aware of it or not. When you got saved. You put off the old man completely. You have put on the new man. That's talking about the spirit part of your being. You see when you got saved. Something happened in the spirit. Part of your being that is quite amazing. The old man. The unregenerated spirit. Was exchanged for the new man. The regenerated spirit. That is the old man died with Christ. And was raised. The new man. Now. What does that mean? You know we use these words. What are we talking about? You know Romans 6. Dead to sin. What does that mean? Well it's all related here. I want you to just get the picture. Prior to your salvation. In the spirit part of your being. Or in the immaterial part of your being. There was a union. Between your unregenerated spirit. Here called the old man. And indwelling sin. Or what Romans 7 calls. Sin which dwelleth in me. Two times. We have that phrase in Romans 7. There is the essence of a union. Much like a marriage. Between our unregenerated spirit. And indwelling sin. Now. The Bible says in Ephesians chapter 2. That prior to salvation we're dead. In trespasses and sins. Now don't get the wrong idea. Death means separation. Don't get the idea of just a corpse. No. What it's talking about is. That prior to salvation. In the spirit part of your being. You are dead to God. That is we're separated from God. We are alienated from the life. Of God. As the scripture says. But now get this. We're alive to sin. Dead in trespasses and sins. The old man is reveling. You see what it's talking about. Is that we're dead to God. We're separated from God. But we're alive to sin. That is we're joined. To indwelling sin. You realize that prior to salvation. Sin is your husband. We're talking about a bad marriage. Ah. Sin is your master. And he's a task master. Do you realize that everything. I'm talking. Everything an unsafe person does. Is done in union with sin. Ever wonder why the Bible says. The plowing of the wicked is sin. Ever wondered about a phrase like that. Well why is the plowing of the wicked sin. Why? It's because everything. Even the noblest. Best humanitarian efforts. That unsaved. Unregenerated people do. Done in union or in cahoots. As my mother used to say. With sin. Which taints the motivation. Defiles it. It is self dependence. Producing self righteousness. Which God says is a filthy rag. That falls short of the glory of God. Everything. That an unsaved person does. Wow. Do you realize the only way out of that marriage. According to the first four verses of Romans chapter seven. The only way out. Is for one of those partners. To die. Now verse three makes sense. You die. You see here it is. The moment you believed on Jesus. God identified you. In Christ. With Christ. See Christ died for us. Romans five eight. That means we died. In him. The person of our substitute. He died for us. So that when the Bible says Christ died for our sins. We died. Unto sin. Here's your dead to sin. Or died to sin concept from Romans six. The moment. You believed on Jesus. God identified you in Christ. Therefore in his history. Therefore in his death. And at that moment. This union with sin was severed. You were separated from sin. You died to sin. Do you see it. And friends not only did you die to sin. You were raised with Christ. A new man. So that you might be married to another. Romans seven four. Even to him who was raised from the dead. Now friends. That means. That indwelling sin is no longer your husband. You get it. Indwelling sin is no longer your master. Now. Sin still seeks to operate within our body. But in the immaterial part of us. We're not connected to it anymore. Are you with me. It comes back and tries to assert its power. But it has no more authority. We're not joined to sin anymore. No we were separated from indwelling sin. We were raised with Christ a new man. And so that we might be married to another. Even to him that was raised from the dead. That is. Our spirit was regenerated. Then the Holy Spirit. Second concept. The new life. The Holy Spirit moved in. And now we have a new marriage. We exchanged. The old husband of indwelling sin. For the new husband of the indwelling Christ. And what a glorious exchange. And friends. The fact of the matter is. Yes there's still a battle. But the battle. Is between. The flesh. Where the former husband of indwelling sin. Seeks to operate. And the spirit part of our being. It's not between the old man and the new man. No the old man died with Christ. And was raised with the new man. The old man is gone forever. You do not have an unregenerated spirit. And a regenerated spirit in the same body. The battles between flesh and spirit. What Galatians 5.17 says. For the flesh lusteth against the spirit. And the spirit against the flesh. Romans 8. You either walk after the flesh. Or you walk after the spirit. So the battles between flesh and spirit. Flesh where the former husband of indwelling sin. Seeks to operate. And the spirit part of our being. And you say. Is that your regenerated spirit. Or is that the Holy Spirit. And the answer is yes. Because 1 Corinthians 6.17. Get it down. Says. And he that is joined to the Lord. Is one spirit. I think that's one of the greatest statements. In the word of God. He that is joined to the Lord. Is one spirit. What an amazing truth. But I want us to think about this. This battle between flesh and spirit. They're not equals. You know often you hear the illustration. And if you've used it. Don't feel bad. We all have. But part of it's not actually very helpful. Part of it is. But part of it's not. The old illustration is that. Well this battle between flesh and spirit. We liken it to two dogs. Whichever one you feed the most. Or favor the most. That's the one that wins. Well that. The part that's helpful. Is yes. You and I make choices. That make a radical difference. But the part of that. That's harmful. Is doing that in our mind's eye. Picture two dogs the same size. Just think about it. That's what we picture. Which means you have equals. That's not accurate. And ideas matter. Now look. It's not accurate. Not even a Chihuahua. Versus a Rottweiler. Would give us an accurate picture. Recently my. Wife and son and I were in a. Uh. We. Where she was recording. And the uh. Engineer brought his little dog. He had a little Chihuahua. And you know. Chihuahuas are usually little kind of yappy dogs. You know what I'm saying. But this one was the calmest. Quietest. Chihuahua. You'll ever meet. Then we found out why. One day. He had taken his little Chihuahua. To the store. And he had forgotten to roll down the window. On a hot day. And so. A little Chihuahua roasted. In the car. Excuse me. For having a smile on my face. And uh. It had a stroke. This Chihuahua. Is the nicest. Calmest. Chihuahua. You'd ever want to meet. Now here's my point. Not even that Chihuahua. Versus a Rottweiler. Would give us an accurate. Contrast. Yes. On the one hand. There's the flesh. We're quite familiar with that. But on the other hand. There's the spirit. And it is that union of our spirit. And the Holy Spirit. But think of what this union is. Do you realize. In 2 Corinthians 5.17. It describes the regenerated spirit. With the words. A new creation. A new creature. In other words. There is a creative act of God. That takes place when you're born again. That new creature. Part of you. Is described. In 1 John 3.9. With this phrase. The seed. Of God. Let me throw a Greek word at you. You'll understand it. Literally it's saying. The sperma. Of God. Here's the truth. When you're born again. Something of the nature. Of Almighty God. Is implanted into you. Hallelujah. That's why Ephesians 4 says. That the new man. Is created. After God. In righteousness. And true holiness. That's your regenerated spirit. It's the seed of God. It is righteous. It is holy. It has to be. It's the seed of God. Do you realize. That your spirit is completely saved. It has to be. It's the seed of God. It's your soul. That is being saved. Your body is not saved at all. And it won't be until it's glorified. So don't give it a chance. But here's our point here. Here's this tremendous. Regenerated spirit. But it gets even better. Because according to Romans 7. We have already noted. That when you're raised with Christ. It's so that you might be married to another. Even to him who was raised from death. Indicating that when the Holy Spirit moves in. It is the spirit of the risen Christ. Who finished the work at the cross. Rose again from the dead. Was exalted to the right hand of the Father. Since right now. Triumphantly far above all principalities and powers. It is the spirit of that enthroned. Victorious. Triumphant Christ that moved in. And joined your spirit. And friend when you are in fellowship with him. You access him. Christ. Who is our life. That's the victorious life. His name is Jesus. And when you access him. It's nothing for him to counteract. And overcome the Chihuahua of our flesh. There it is. You see. It's I live. Yet not I. But Christ lives in me. Christ in you the hope of glory. For to me to live is Christ. We're not talking about the flesh trying to imitate Christ. The flesh cannot imitate Christ. We're not talking about imitation. We're talking about impartation. Christ moved in to impart to you his life. So that it is participation. We are partakers of the divine nature. That's where victory lies. Human animation can be exchanged for divine animation. The lower life of just us can be exchanged for the higher life of Christ in us. The human battery can be exchanged for the divine battery. So there's the new man. That's the exchange in the spirit part of your being. And the new life. That's the new husband. The spirit of Christ moves in. There's the new union because of that. And that brings us to our third concept. Now we get down to where the rubber meets the road. The new victory. This is the exchange of habits. Now look at this. It says in verse 4 When Christ who is our life shall appear. Now often we take that to be you know, when he comes again and so forth. However this is a word that means manifest. This is not a context dealing with when he comes again. And it says When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear. Be manifested with him in glory. In other words, when you tap into this life, Christ in you, the hope of glory. He is manifested. He is radiated through your personality. As Duncan Campbell put it, it's deity incorporated into human personality. And friends, that's the life source that we need for victory. Therefore it says in verse 5, mortify. Now the word mortify means to put to death. Now wait a second. The old man already died. Well we're not talking about that, but there's something else that must be put to death. It says mortify. And notice the word therefore. The only way to do this is on the basis of Christ who is our life. If you try to obey verse 5 apart from the engine of verse 4 you'll never make it. But it says Mortify therefore your members which were upon the earth, fornication, that's sexual sin of any kind uncleanness, all the junk that leads up to it, inordinate affection evil concupiscence, and covetousness which is idolatry. I have been in churches out on the west coast where I would have never known this unless someone told me, but I was told that there were several folk in the congregation that used to be sodomites. Homosexuals were lesbians. And friends, not only have they been born again they have applied truth and based on the power of Christ in them have put to death an old bad habit and today you would never know what they used to be. I'm going to tell you something friends that's glorious. And if God can give them victory, God can give you victory whatever the issue is. Your tongue, your temper, your attitude, whatever the case may be. The bitterness. Do we see it? There's the provision and I think we need to note He's talking to save people. He just said Christ was their life. You know what? These new believers in the New Testament had some baggage. Just like new believers do today. But there's provision to deal with that baggage. And so it goes on in verse 6, for which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience. In other words, lost people go to hell for this. You're saved. Christ is your life. All right, grab a hold of that as the engine to put to death these issues. Verse 7, in which He also walked sometime when ye lived in them. In other words, prior to your salvation. But now, verse 8, He also put off all these. And He moves from outer man's sins to inner man's sins. Anger. Wrath. That's a word that means blowing up. Malice. That's a word that means clamming up. Pretty well covers the personalities. Blasphemy. Filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds. In other words, since you have put off the old man, now put off the bad habits of the old man. Verse 10, and have put on the new man there's a parenthesis of thought, jump to verse 12, put on therefore. On the basis of that new man that's joined to the new life, put on therefore is the elect of God, holy and beloved. Bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long suffering. Now look at these words. Oh that our assemblies across our country would grab a hold of this. Mercies. Kindness. Humbleness of mind. Not arrogance. Not nobody's going to tell me what to do. Humbleness of mind. Meekness. Long suffering forbearing one another and forgiving one another. Ye, if any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity. That's agape love, love that does right even when you're wrong. That's beyond our human ability. That's why we need Christ our life as the engine for this. Put on charity which is the bond of perfectness. In other words since you have put on the new man now put on the habits of the new man. What this is simply teaching us is that old bad acquired habits can be exchanged for new good acquired habits. In other words when you got saved there was this radical change in the immaterial part of your being but habits are another story. Do you realize that you and I were not born with bad habits? We developed them prior to our salvation and even after you're saved if you yield to your flesh you keep ingraining a bad habit. What this is telling us is that when you grab a hold of the fact that Christ is your life he's powerful enough to deal with the chihuahua of the flesh and if you keep choosing him, you keep yielding to him, you keep trusting him, you access his life and over time what you're doing is you are replacing, you are exchanging old bad acquired habits for new good acquired habits. That's sanctification. It's hindered through unbelief and it's accelerated through faith. We'll see that more in just a moment. But what we're seeing is very simply that the works of the flesh can be exchanged for the fruit of the spirit. And friends what we're talking about is real. I think of a lady, she was a chronic worrier. I mean she worried about everything. I mean when there was nothing to worry about she worried about that. And you know she discovered that Christ does not worry. And when she began to exchange her life for Christ's life she found victory. See that's what we're talking about. An old bad habit exchanged for a new good habit. Why? Because when you exchange your life for Christ he has good habits. Do you get it? This is not us trying to imitate him. Forget that. This is accessing him as the energizing animating power to our personality. There's a difference. It's an exchange of life source. Remember that? And friends you know what this means? It means there's hope. I think of a fellow back in my home church. He was grappling with all this truth and then the Lord opened his eyes. He got it. And one of the things that he really longed for victory in was getting up in the morning to read his Bible and pray. He was a sincere guy. He had made resolves and they lasted for about two days. And you know he just wasn't a morning person. But when he grabbed a hold of Christ, his life, and began to depend on Christ to enable him to get out of bed and to read and pray with prophet. He got out of bed first day, second day his wife said I'll never make it till three days. Third day well okay he got an extra day. Fourth day well that's a little unusual. Fifth day this is amazing. Sixth day this is a miracle. And she's watching him and he's reveling in God. And she knows something's going on here. And she began to notice that he wasn't irritable and impatient with the kids anymore. And that made her mad. And she said you know you're being changed but you're not telling me what's going on. And he began to explain it to her and together they both had an awakening. It was glorious. She told me she said I used to think that you got justified by faith and sanctified by struggle. She said now I realize you get sanctified by faith too. Marvelous statement. Now friends, they began to change. That fellow was prior to that time faithful as a clock to go so wanting but incredibly ineffective. But when he began to exchange his life for Christ's life the next time he went so wanting he led a man to Christ. The next week he led another man to Christ. You know that from that day to this now about five years later he has rarely been used of God to see people saved and grow. I'm going to tell you something I've known him for years. That's miraculous. You know the Holy Spirit's practical. He began to see victory in all these different ways and then he got to thinking you know my family's always late to church. It's my fault. He said I'm just one of these guys have always been late you know and it's amazing how some people are very punctual in their tardiness. But he decided that if he could trust God for these victories in these other areas he could exchange the life of Christ to enable him to get his family to church on time. Twelve months later he testified publicly. It's putting your neck out there. Of what I'm telling you. He told the church family in the last twelve months our family has been late to church only two times. I'm going to tell you something. It's a miracle. You know what that is? It's going from being regularly defeated surprised by victories to being regularly victorious. Surprised by defeat. Hallelujah. There's hope. So there's our concepts. The new man joined the new life to enable a new victory. Now how can the new man access the new life to enable this new victory? In other words how do you make the exchange? What's God's part and what's our part? Let's begin with man's part. What are we to do? Well in the same book Colossians chapter 2 verse 6 the Bible says as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in him. We're to walk in him. And he used the words of Galatians 5 16. Walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. So we're to walk in the spirit. How do you do that? And I saw that verse when I was in Bible college. Man walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. I thought wow this is fabulous. What a promise. Then I got to thinking I wonder what it means to walk in the spirit. And I wondered that for years. Now we talked a little bit about this last night. What is walking? It's reiterated. Steps. Remember that? So walking in the spirit is reiterated steps in the spirit but what are they? Well let's listen to the verse in Colossians 2 6. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord. How did you receive Christ? By grace through faith. In other words you heard the gospel. Somebody told you that sin is the problem. Hell is the consequence but Christ and Christ alone is the answer. That because he's God came to earth as a man, died for our sins rose again conquering sin, death and hell he offers salvation. Sin is the problem hell is the consequence. Christ is the answer and Christ alone is the answer. You need to trust him. So what you did was you surrendered to that conviction about sin, righteousness and judgment. Thus making a choice to depend faith on Christ to save you. Here it is. As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in him. How did you receive him? You surrendered to that conviction and you depended on Christ. It's kind of two sides to one coin. So walk ye in him. So how do we walk in him? How do we walk in the spirit? In the same way. In other words step by step surrender to the leadership of the Holy Spirit and depend on his enablement to take that step surrender in faith there is a sense where that's two sides to one coin in the sense that when you surrender all to Jesus you're depending on Jesus. And when you depend on Jesus for everything you just surrender. So in that sense you're talking about two sides to one coin but this surrender faith decision is on two levels of issue. The first level is you're surrendering to his will. That is you're depending on his leadership to take that step but then we're to surrender to his way that is we're to depend on his enablement some people say I surrender all and I'm gonna do it no you're not I tried that for years it doesn't work you can't do it. No we're to surrender to his will but we're to depend on his power you see surrender what does it mean when somebody waves the white flag of surrender? They are giving up now friends when we talk about surrender we're talking about giving up our will because we're giving in to his will now don't misunderstand we're not talking about passivity we're not talking about willing yourself into willlessness that's passivity that's the devil's playground see the Holy Spirit demands a cooperating faculty Satan demands a passive faculty it has been proven that when congregations sing the same praise song for 45 minutes in a row that the many of the people enter the first level of hypnotic state it's passivity it's the devil's playground it's not what we're talking about we're not talking about idle passivity we're talking about active cooperation where you're using your will to give up what you want and give in to what God wants that's what we're talking about that's surrender now I find that usually this is much more practical than people make it out to be people are thinking well how do you do this? Do you have to have an invitation and music is playing I surrender all and you come and you say God I surrender all well it can be that if you know what that means but usually it's a whole lot more practical usually there's a point of surrender you say what do you mean by that? it's whatever you're saying no to God about that's going to vary from person to person for this person it's some aspect of the world for this person maybe it's a TV program the spirit of God says no give it up for this person it's an article of clothing and the spirit of God says give that up for this person it may be some bitterness and God says give it up for this person it may be some grudge or resentment God says give it up for this person it is their temper they've kind of enjoyed exploding and letting people have it and God says that's got to go do you see it? it's a point of surrender give it up it could be an ambition it could be a dream that's not intrinsically wrong but it's not God's will for your life many young people have dreams of what they want to do that's not what God wants God says give it up it may be a relationship that is just not of God God says give it up young people I'm going to tell you something if your parents are not for a relationship you're in God is telling you to give it up it's called honor thy father and thy mother it's pretty basic it's one of the ten commandments give it up what's the point of surrender for you? some aspect of pride some area that you're hanging on to some aspect of the world fashion, music some video game that's what it was for one kid he went home and threw away a certain video game his mother said what are you doing? he said that was my point of surrender does the Holy Spirit work that way? absolutely and do you realize that sometimes it's going to be the obvious things and other times it's going to be things that good men debate about that's called a test of surrender and it doesn't matter if good men debate about it the Spirit of God is convincing you give that up give it up I was in a meeting one time where a new convert a woman say six months came in he had metal sticking out of everywhere I was kind of wondering if that hurt but at any rate he was just a delight and he came in early before the service he said you know I got rid of a bunch of DVD's today he said look I'm a movie buff whenever Hollywood produces a new movie I go and buy it he said but you know what they make me backslide I love the honesty of new converts and he said today I got rid of 600 DVD's you know what that is? it's surrender what is it for you? I think the pastor who told me he said man God convicted me last night there's a certain program my wife and I always watch at the end of the day on Sunday to kind of unwind he said it's not a bad program obviously he said but God told me to give it up he said I finally told my wife and I thought she might get upset but she said you know after today I didn't think never watch that program again I don't even remember mentioning TV but God did and together they gave it up and the next day he told me about it he said all day long he said I have been so aware of the reality of the Holy Spirit he said it's as if I got sensitized and he said I know if I'd have said no last night about that TV program I'd have missed out on that today by the end of that week and this is not an overstatement he'll tell you this that man was in full blown revival he's about five years down the road of revival now it's glorious I just saw him again he is going down the revival road but at the end of that week he said you know he said I cringed to think what I would have missed out on this week if I'd have said no on Sunday night you may think it's no big deal you may think well it's just one CD it's just one article of clothing it's just one DVD it's just one radio program it's just one this or one that it's not a big deal but the problem is it's where you're saying no to the Holy Spirit you're quenching the Spirit you're cutting off the power of the life flow of God it's monumental stop saying no and start saying yes it's called surrender that's dependence upon God's will but then there's that second issue of dependence upon his strength now friends this is one of the greatest truths the Lord has ever taught me is to realize that this side of heaven I am weak and I will always be weak but he is strong and he will always be strong and the Spirit for life is not me becoming strong that's a deception the Spirit for life is me recognizing that I'm weak and always will be so that I keep depending on him for his strength that's the Spirit for life the Spirit for life is the Spirit filling you with the life of Jesus Christ and God doesn't do that to proud people he resists the proud but remember he gives grace to the humble see the connection here there it is and so we need to depend on his enablement and again it's not just believing that he can we touched on this last night you gotta depend on him to do it in other words one man came up to Andrew Murray in South Africa and he said you know Mr. Murray said I need to get up to commune with God in the morning he said I'm not a morning person would you pray that God will help me get out of bed and Mr. Murray said Andrew Murray said to him well I'll tell you what if you'll put the first leg out of bed I'll pray that God will help you get the second leg out and what Murray was doing was putting his finger on the man's deception the man wanted to be zapped are you with me? he wanted to feel strong that's a wrong idea the Spirit for life he wanted to wake up before the alarm and just have the sunshine in his soul and the surge of energy and throw back the covers and jump out of bed that has never happened it works like this oh is that the alarm you gotta be kidding me I thought I just went to bed oh Lord oh my Lord I need some help I'm not gonna make it here if you don't help me Lord here we go and you put that first leg out and God does enable you to get up do you see it it's actually depending on him to do it it's not flesh dependence no it's looking to God for the power to obey there's your difference the look of faith you see in the matter of soul winning people are thinking well ok Lord if you'll zap me I'll go witness to that person and I think people are I think they're wanting to kind of somehow go into this spiritual telephone booth you cell phone kids may not understand this and pop out as super soul winner that's not how it works it works like this oh you want me to talk to that person oh Lord ok I'm gonna trust you but Lord if you don't step in this is gonna be a mess now Lord here we go and you open your mouth and start declaring the gospel and the spirit of God infuses you with the life of Jesus Christ and frees you there's liberation the life of Christ is animating your personality lifting your spirit up to rule over soul and body the way God intended it to be what a glorious exchange and friends when we do this remember it's not a once for all thing we're not talking about a once for all second blessing we're talking about a repeated access of your first blessing it's the exchanging life as it were but when you do there's man's responsibility God's promise and this is all through Colossians 3 but let me just use the succinct statement of Romans 8 verse 2 for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death it doesn't say that the law of sin and death is no longer there but the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus frees us liberates us from the law of sin and death it's what some of those men who wrote articles in the fundamentals called the principle of counteraction where a greater law counteraction overcomes a lesser law two and a half years ago I used the stay in the basket illustration anybody remember that? alright a few of you do alright that's the principle of counteraction let me give you another one it's dark outside right now but the building has been wired with electricity and it's all connected to a power source so that with the simple flip of a switch the lights go on now if we turn the switch off what happens to this room it will turn dark there's a tendency to darkness but if we flip the light switch back on we access the power source and the law of light counteraction overcomes the law of darkness now it's not a once for all deal because if you turn the light switch off it turns dark but if you keep accessing the power source then you keep accessing the law of light to counteract and overcome the law of darkness now friends here's the point when you got saved if you're saved you got wired God moved in you are connected to the inexhaustible generator life himself and with the simple flip of a switch called surrender faith you lean to his will depending on his power you access that mighty life and like the law of light that mighty life burst forth and counteracts and overcomes the law of sin like light over darkness but it's not a once for all done deal because what happens if you say no to the holy spirit the law of sin immediately takes right back over but as long as you keep saying yes to the holy spirit and you don't quench the spirit you're yielding to his leadership you're depending on his power and you keep accessing the life of Christ and the spirit fills you with the life of Jesus that's the spirit filled life it's the spirit filling you with the victorious life the only victorious life his name is Jesus as we mentioned the other day the Christian life is not merely a set of doctrines it's not merely a set of moral motions unsaved moralists have that the Christian life is a life of person his name is Jesus no one can live the Christian life but Christ a friend when you were born again Christ the Christian life moved in so that you can live yet not you but Christ in you the Christian life and there it is there's hope hallelujah there is hope now if you take an extension cord not plugged into a power source not plugged into an appliance but the cord by itself is it worth much no but if you take that same cord and plug it into a power source on one end and plug it into an appliance on the other the cord does not become powerful but it becomes a conduit of power you and I are like the extension cord not plugged in either way the flesh profits nothing but you plug into the power source of Christ in you for the steps of obedience and usefulness the appliance we don't become powerful but we become conduits channels of the very life and power of almighty God now if you take that extension cord and let's say it's not plugged into the power source but you plug it into an appliance what happens nothing that's a picture of us when we go through all the right motions of doing right and create the form of godliness but deny the power thereof you see this idea that the Christian life is just obey is not accurate because it's form without power now let's reverse the illustration let's unplug it from the appliance well let's take the cord and let's plug it into a power source what happens nothing that's a picture of those who say they're trusting God but it's easy believism unsanctification they never take the step they never actually depend they believe that God can but they don't depend on him to do it so the Christian life is not just obey nor is it just trust because that's not trusting it's easy believism the Christian life rather is trust and obey trust to obey God dependence accessing Christ in you spirit enablement for the power to be right holiness and do right service Hudson Taylor died over a hundred years ago but God has used that life to impact multitudes even in recent years and I'm one of them how could a man who's been dead over a hundred years have that kind of influence because it was not merely the life of Hudson Taylor it was the life of Jesus the eternal life and thus there's a continuing carrying power it was the life of Jesus access to a very weak but surrendered dependent channel who learned what it is to live in the realm of the exchanged life have you discovered the blessing of the exchanged life let's bow our heads for prayer I wonder who tonight was a preacher I see it I've been trying I've been working I'm in this and I'm that but there's something wrong