Jeremiah 38:17-20 - "Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah,
"Thus says the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, 'If you will indeed
go out to the officers of the king of Babylon,
then you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your
household will survive.’But if you will not go out to the officers of the king
of Babylon, then this city will be given over to the hand of the Chaldeans; and
they will burn it with fire, and you yourself will not escape from their
hand.'" Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "I dread the Jews who
have gone over to the Chaldeans, for they may give me over into their hand and
they will abuse me." But Jeremiah said, "They will not give you over.
Please obey the LORD in what I am saying to you, that it may go well with you
and you may live."
In this passage Zedekiah had a choice to make. Either he could surrender and live (which was Gods will), or try to fight and die. This same decision faces every human being who will ever live. We have the choice of either surrendering to God and receive eternal life, or trying to resist Him and suffer eternal death.
Jesus said in Matthew 16:24-27 - "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds."
The first thing that we need to do to save our lives is, according to Jesus, deny ourselves. Several times in the New Testament Paul refers to himself as "the prisoner of the Lord" Once a soldier has surrendered they are no longer in control of themselves. They are in complete submission to their captors.
Jesus set the example for us. He surrendered completely and was totally submissive to the Fathers will, even to the point of death. He prayed in the garden - "yet not as I will, but as You will."
In Philippians 2:5-8 it says - "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."
In His self denial He was completely obedient. The result of surrender, the result of submission, the result of self denial is obedience. We have been set free from sin, and according to Romans 6:18 - "You became slaves of righteousness." A slave, just like a prisoner, doesn't follow his own will. Since we've accepted Christ and become slaves of righteousness, that should be what overcomes us. 2 Peter 2:19 says - "by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved." We are slaves of righteousness. Righteousness should be what overcomes us.
The more we submit to God, the more obedient we will be. And the more obedient we are, the more useful we'll be. We need to learn to completely surrender to God, "that it may go well with you and you may live."
James 4:7 - "Submit therefore to God Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
In this passage Zedekiah had a choice to make. Either he could surrender and live (which was Gods will), or try to fight and die. This same decision faces every human being who will ever live. We have the choice of either surrendering to God and receive eternal life, or trying to resist Him and suffer eternal death.
Jesus said in Matthew 16:24-27 - "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds."
The first thing that we need to do to save our lives is, according to Jesus, deny ourselves. Several times in the New Testament Paul refers to himself as "the prisoner of the Lord" Once a soldier has surrendered they are no longer in control of themselves. They are in complete submission to their captors.
Jesus set the example for us. He surrendered completely and was totally submissive to the Fathers will, even to the point of death. He prayed in the garden - "yet not as I will, but as You will."
In Philippians 2:5-8 it says - "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."
In His self denial He was completely obedient. The result of surrender, the result of submission, the result of self denial is obedience. We have been set free from sin, and according to Romans 6:18 - "You became slaves of righteousness." A slave, just like a prisoner, doesn't follow his own will. Since we've accepted Christ and become slaves of righteousness, that should be what overcomes us. 2 Peter 2:19 says - "by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved." We are slaves of righteousness. Righteousness should be what overcomes us.
The more we submit to God, the more obedient we will be. And the more obedient we are, the more useful we'll be. We need to learn to completely surrender to God, "that it may go well with you and you may live."
James 4:7 - "Submit therefore to God Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
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