Lesson for the Lord’s Day
Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 1 John 3:16
After a naval battle in which the British fleet defeated a French fleet, the French admiral came aboard the British flagship, HMS Victory, to offer his surrender. The admiral had prepared for the ceremony by dressing in his finest regalia, with a handsome sword swinging by his side. He approached Lord Nelson and put out his hand to shake that of the British admiral. But Nelson shook his head and said, ‘Your sword first, sir’. Humbled, the French admiral unbuckled the sword and with bowed head presented it to Nelson. Only then did Nelson accept his greeting and handshake. That ceremony reminds us a little of our own salvation. God could never accept our surrender until we were willing to give up that last secret sin, that last pathetic bit of our own independence. Only when our surrender was total did He receive us with open and glad welcome. Our text today is not specifically speaking of that great moment of conversion, but of another surrender that is set before us in our Christian experience, the surrender of our lives.
Our great Example is the Lord Jesus, Who surrendered His life at Calvary, a surrender of total obedience to His Father’s will, and total sacrifice for lost and helpless sinners. His surrender was absolute in terms of His willingness and His fulfillment. So we are to surrender our lives to the will of God in service and devotion to Him, as well as surrendering our lives in service and devotion to the Lord’s people. For some Christians, this surrender has cost them their lives in martyrdom. For others, this has cost them their homes and families. For others, the cost has been their livelihood, their comfort, their former life’s ambitions, their health, and their popularity. For most of us in this part of the world, the cost has not been so high. But if there is no cost to us to lay down our lives for our Lord and for our brothers and sisters in Christ, we know nothing of the surrender that is to accompany our salvation.
In his challenging book My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers makes the following observation concerning this surrender: ‘If I am a friend of Jesus, I must deliberately and carefully lay down my life for Him. It is a difficult thing to do, and thank God that it is. Salvation is easy for us, because it cost God so much. But the exhibiting of salvation in my life is difficult.’ So today’s message is a challenge. Let’s compare it to the purchase of an item in a department store. You approach the item with a desire to own it. And you look at the price tag. Your decision whether to own that item is then based on whether you are willing to pay the price, whether you deem the asking price to be within your value of that item. What is the price tag that God has placed on our obedience to His lordship? Laying down our lives for the brethren. What is the asking price for displaying the love of Christ in our lives? Laying down our lives for the brethren.
You now know the price of true discipleship. Will you pay it? – Jim MacIntosh