And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in
the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only
evil continually. (Gen
6:5)
Article X. Of
Free Will.
(Thirty Nine Articles Of Religion Of Reformation Church Of England)
The
condition of Man after the fall of Adam is such, that he cannot turn and
prepare himself, by his own natural strength and good works, to faith, and
calling upon God. Wherefore we have no power to do good works pleasant and
acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we
may have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good will.
It is unfortunate hymns of this same devotional quality were excluded from the
1940 Hymnal. To their great credit, the Baptists include them. I am inclined to
believe the learned men who compiled the hymns for our Hymnal considered such
hymns as the one we expound upon today to be somehow unsophisticated or
undignified. I will admit that the poetry is not perfect, and the tune perhaps
drags a bit, but this hymn combines music with lyrics so spiritually powerfully
that the result is a stellar work of art in hymnology. The hymn speaks to the
heart first and not the intellect, and the knowledge and love of Christ must
first always be learned through the heart before it is accepted by the
intellect. That, perhaps, is the mystery of the Spirit working in common lyrics
to draw the pauper, and the king, to Christ. In the end, it is the Spirit of
God that moves in us to draw us to the Lord – not our own intellects or spirits
(which are evil).
There has long been a heated debate, dividing churches and friends, over the
issue of free will versus the providence and predestination of God. I can tell
you with complete certainty that if our wills are free to decide what our
hearts tell us, we would all be in bondage to the Dark Prince and not of free
will at all. The only freedom we can ever enjoy is that which comes from
surrendering our old ‘presumed’ free wills to that of God’s Will, and accepting
His Lordship in our lives. The will of man that is free does not belong to God.
This hymn comes to us from the pen of Judson W. Van De Venter in 1896. Mr. Van
De Venter came to write this poem, according to his own testimony, in the
following: “The song was written while I was conducting a meeting at East
Palestine, Ohio, in the home of George Sebring (founder of the Sebring Camp Meeting
Bible Conference in Sebring, Ohio, and later developer of the town of Sebring,
Florida). For some time, I had struggled between developing my talents in the
field of art and going into fulltime evangelistic work. At last the pivotal
hour of my life came, and I surrendered all. A new day was ushered into my
life. I became an evangelist and discovered down deep in my soul a talent hitherto
unknown to me. God had hidden a song in my heart, and touching a tender chord,
He caused me to sing.” No matter our previous conditions of life, we are
suddenly changed the moment we surrender our wicked wills to that of the Lord.
The moment that we opt to take up our crosses daily and follow Christ (not our
old wills but that of Christ working in our members) then are our wills joined
to that of God and not subject to wicked imaginations. The music is composed by
Winfield S. Weeden in the same year. The title of the hymn is engraved on
Weeden’s tombstone, and I pray, in his heart.
I Surrender All
All to
Jesus I surrender;
All to
Him I freely give;
I will
ever love and trust Him,
In His
presence daily live.
Refrain:
I
surrender all,
I
surrender all;
All to
Thee, my blesséd Savior,
I
surrender all.
All to
Jesus I surrender;
Humbly at
His feet I bow,
Worldly
pleasures all forsaken;
Take me,
Jesus, take me now.
Refrain:
All to
Jesus I surrender;
Make me,
Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me
feel the Holy Spirit,
Truly
know that Thou art mine.
Refrain:
All to
Jesus I surrender;
Lord, I
give myself to Thee;
Fill me
with Thy love and power;
Let Thy
blessing fall on me.
Refrain:
All to
Jesus I surrender;
Now I
feel the sacred flame.
Oh, the
joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to His Name!
Refrain:
“All to Jesus, I surrender; All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.” How
casually and sentimentally many sing the lyrics of this song Sunday after
Sunday, but without any sense of commitment to living them out in their lives.
After all, it is only a song, right? Wrong! A hymn is as close to prayer as one
can come without the closet. It is a public affirmation of a private commitment
and dedication. If you are holding ANYTHING back, if you are looking over your
shoulder toward Sodom or Egypt, if you are hiding the golden wedge where you
presume no one will know – you are lying by singing this stanza of the hymn.
Surrender is not an act of contrition – it is an act of hopeless submission
under overwhelming odds and resources against us. That is the time when the
sinner comes to the very end of his rope. There is no place left to go but to
fall into the gaping abyss. Without any other hope at all, he may recall that
hope his mother taught him of God’s love and redemption under every depravity
of life. If he does recall, he will grasp the lifeline and give up all that has
forced him to this point – the little sins as well as the great ones. This is
total surrender, and it is all that God will accept.
We cannot freely give anything to Jesus, for He owns it all –
even our bodies, souls, and spirits. All we can do is acknowledge the fact that
we are of no worth, and He is of ALL worth. When we have thus surrendered, His
worth becomes our worth, and his righteousness is imputed to us. Love engenders
trust. If we respond to His love beams, our love will become so full that our
hearts cannot hold that love. It will spill over and overflow as an effusion of
waters from the fountain of living waters. (My Cup runneth over)
All around will become invigorated by its refreshing springs. If we surrender
to Him; if we give up self and accept Him; if we respond to His immeasurable
love; and if we trust in Him unconditionally – we shall live in His presence
daily. Living in His presence entails also bearing the burden of our crosses.
“All to
Jesus I surrender; Humbly at His feet I bow, Worldly pleasures all forsaken;
Take me, Jesus, take me now.” If we have sincerely surrendered to Jesus
all that is in our grasp, if we have humbly bowed at His nail-scarred feet, and
if we have forsaken all worldly pleasures out of our love and submission to
Him; then we need not worry about the last phrase of this stanza for he has
surely already received us into His own.
“All to
Jesus, I surrender; Make me, Savior, wholly Thine; Let me feel the Holy Spirit,
Truly know that Thou art mine.” It is impossible to belong to Christ and not know it. The
Comforter is not given at some additional baptism, but granted at the first and
is ever present to encourage and strengthen us. Yes, we do suffer moments of
doubt when we have slipped by the wayside; but the Holy Ghost whispers softly
the quote of our Lord in our hurting soul: All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and
him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the
Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. (John
6:37-39)
“All to
Jesus, I surrender; Lord, I give myself to Thee; Fill me with Thy love and
power; Let Thy blessing fall on me.” When we surrender all to Christ, we shall, indeed, be
filled with His love and power. Lest we forget that it is His love, His power,
and His righteousness with which we live, walk, and have our being; we are
subject to many trials in life to the glory of God. Even before we came to
Christ, we were recipients of His blessings of life and many joys. But once we
have surrendered our beleaguered souls, furled our flags of self-righteousness
and self-will, and felt the overwhelming immensity of His grace and love, the
blessings will fall as the spring rain upon the high desert sands. What was
once a barren wilderness of soul will suddenly spring forth with life and
colors heretofore unimaginable. I once read of a young street boy who was drawn
to the service in small Midwestern church. The preacher’s sermon was
particularly moving, and it concerned surrendering all to Christ. When the
offering plate was passed around, the young boy reverently received it
from the usher and carefully placed it in the floor. He removed his dirty
canvas shoes and stepped into the plate. The ushers looked with disdain at this
act, but the pastor saw the significance in the act. He came down and embraced
the boy. He had not only given his all, but all that he was, to God.
“All to
Jesus I surrender; Now I feel the sacred flame. O the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to His Name!” There is no lament for blessing or filling with the Holy
Spirit in this last verse for the petitioner has arrived at the sure knowledge
of the security and assurance the believer always has in Christ. What a perfect
peace and comfort, even in the midst of the storm, to know that you are
Christ’s, and He is yours! The salvation is ALWAYS full for there is no half
empty glass of salvation. No longer does SELF loom large in our hearts, but only
His glorious Name fills our Mind’s Eye with unsurpassable beauty and delight.
Have you ever sung this hymn before, friend? Did you believe
the words you sang and, if not, do you now know and believe them with all your
heart, holding nothing back?
