I Surrender All (All to Jesus I Surrender)
Judson Van De Venter's words of complete surrender have inspired countless Christians since he wrote them. Have they touched your life? Hear the story behind the song, and a deep dive into the lyrics, here.
It's time for another Friday Classic Hymn. Last week on my Patreon supporters group—the people who support my ministry by donating—I put a poll out and asked for a hymn that people wanted. Out of the three I gave, this was the one that they chose: I Surrender All.
A few weeks ago I made the bold statement that "Take My Life and Let It Be" was the best consecration song of all time, the greatest song of commitment to God. But once again I'm wondering if that's true. Looking at the words of this song, I'm starting to think this one is up there, at least equal to "Take My Life" as a song of dedication to God.
Do you know the song? Do you have memories of it? Do you love it? Please share your comments and thoughts down below under the video. I'd love to hear from you and get to know what you think about it.
Let's start where we always do: taking a look at the history and the story behind the song.
The Story Behind "I Surrender All"
The words were written by Judson Van de Venter. His name sounds Dutch or Afrikaans to us in South Africa, but he was born in Michigan, United States, in 1855. Straight away it was obvious that this child had a real talent for art. He became an art teacher but longed for his work to be recognised and to become a popular or famous artist.
At the same time, his faith was growing and he was a layperson at the Methodist Episcopal Church in town. People there started to realise that he had a great commitment to his faith, and soon enough his friends said to him, "You should become an evangelist. You've got a particular passion for it and a particular gift for it. Why don't you become an evangelist?"
This great wrestling match started in Van de Venter's soul. Should he stick to his arts and really pursue it, try to make something of it, try to become a well-known artist? Or should he give it up and go on the road to preach the gospel and do the work of evangelism?
For five years he struggled with this, until one day in 1896 everything changed. This is what he said about it:
For some time I'd struggled between developing my talents in the field of art and going into full-time 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, caused me to sing.
He wrote that day I Surrender All, and he became an evangelist. He travelled extensively throughout the States, England, and Scotland, and shared the good news with many. It all came at this moment when he said, "I'm giving You my all and I'm not holding anything back."
Billy Graham, the great evangelist of the 1900s, tells about how Van de Venter used to come to their Bible college in the 1930s. He was an old man by then, but he used to sit with the students and talk to them and encourage them in their faith. Billy Graham said he was very much inspired by Van de Venter's preaching. He ended up using this song in most of his evangelistic meetings as he went around the world. Billy Graham thanked God that Van de Venter surrendered all—because we wouldn't have this beautiful song, but more than that, we wouldn't have many people saved by the grace of God if he hadn't said yes and done what he was called to do.
I wonder if you've experienced a similar wrestling match in your heart, wanted to give your all to God but just held back, saying, "I want to do my thing instead." I wonder what riches the world is missing out on because we do this. If we would truly surrender, what would change?
This is a song that has endured through the years. The tune was written by a friend of his and is still very singable today. Many modern musicians sing this one because it still feels relevant, still feels quite modern when you sing it. But of course it's endured more so because of the words. Oh, the words of the song are just stunning! Let's have a look at them and see what exactly he wrote about.
What Do the Lyrics of "I Surrender All" Mean?
Verse 1
The classic first verse: All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give.
I like that—not under compulsion, but I give freely.
I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily live.
Daily, he said. I will surrender myself to Him daily and live in His presence all the time. "I will ever love and trust Him" means there will not be a moment when I'm not loving and trusting in Him. That is true surrender. It is true surrender. It's a beautiful, beautiful phrase.
The chorus is pretty straightforward:
I surrender all, I surrender all; all to Thee, my blessèd Saviour, I surrender all.
There's something powerful about singing this and repeating that phrase time and time again. Much like I said when I did the "Take My Life and Let It Be" video, if we are to sing this and really mean it, you know the world would change. Christians would truly bring about changes in our societies. If we can sing such a strong phrase—I surrender all—and mean it today.
Verse 2
All to Jesus I surrender, humbly at His feet I bow.
That's a picture of surrender, right? Surrender is when you fall down and say, "Okay, You won. You take whatever You want."
Worldly pleasures all forsaken, take me, Jesus, take me now.
Such a theme of the New Testament and of all Scripture—abandoning the pleasures of the world and of godless people, and sinking yourself into the treasures and pleasures of God.
There are some Christians who forget this. They know that they're loved by God, so they just carry on with their worldly pleasures. God is saying there's a better way: forsake your worldly pleasures and surrender all to Me.
Are there pleasures that you hold on to even though they're not of God? Do you just say, "Lord, I want a little bit of this in my life. I'm not going to give You this"? This is a song that says, "Oh, my worldly pleasures I'm forsaking because I want to be that committed to Jesus." What commitment! Let's do that ourselves.
Verse 3
All to Jesus I surrender, make me, Saviour, wholly Thine.
In other words, make everything in me, make all of me honour You.
Let me feel the Holy Spirit, truly know that Thou art mine.
In other words, let me get the assurance that I'm surrendered. This is a real Wesleyan way of thinking. He was a Methodist, this man, and that Wesleyan theology comes out in this song.
Wesley was passionate about people knowing and being assured by the Spirit of God that they were saved—that if their lives reflected it and the Spirit gave them the peace that they were saved, they could know they had been saved.
He says, "Let me feel Your Holy Spirit and let me know that I am Yours." He's asking for that assurance of salvation that the Spirit gives. If you look at the rest of the song, I'm sure he received that, because his joy is apparent and clear.
Do you know the assurance of salvation? If you know that you've given yourself to God without holding anything back, the Spirit will surely give you peace and remind you today, if you ask Him to, that you are His and that you don't need to wonder.
Verse 4
All to Jesus I surrender, Lord, I give myself to Thee.
It's that same sort of phrasing: "Take me, Lord. You know I am Yours."
Fill me with Thy love and power, let Thy blessing fall on me.
Again, a very Wesleyan sort of thinking. Fill me with Your love so that I may love others. Fill me with Your power so that I may be free of sin. Let Thy blessing fall on me.
This is also very much the Wesleyan thing of God's blessing, God's grace being a blessing. Some Wesleyan churches hold to the "second blessing" theology, which says God blesses us with justification, and then when we, subsequent to that, finally surrender all, He blesses us with the second blessing, which is sanctification. He cleanses our hearts and makes us wholly committed to Him.
Verse 5
If you look at verse 5, you'll see this. This is a verse that we don't really sing—it's been swept under the carpet because people don't really like what it says. He wrote:
All to Jesus I surrender, now I feel the sacred flame.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit, the baptism of fire.
O the joy of full salvation! Glory, glory to His name!
Now that's a very Holiness Church phrase: "full salvation." We are saved to the full—not just saved from feeling guilty, but cleansed and made new so that we are saved from sin.
He seems to be talking about this here: "O the joy of full salvation." I have now surrendered myself to God, been blessed by Him with not only forgiveness but with cleansing of my sinful nature, so that I can live holy for Him. What a joy to be blessed and to receive that infilling of the Holy Spirit, that baptism of the Holy Spirit by fire!
Conclusion
How about you? Have you given yourself to God? Have you gone further than just receiving His forgiveness? Maybe you haven't. Maybe that's where you're starting today and you need to surrender to Him and say, "Lord, forgive me and free me from this guilt of what I've done in my past."
But you know what? It needs to go further. It needs to go further, and you need to receive the blessing of God's sanctifying grace, freeing you from sin and enabling you to live the life of love that He calls you to.
For many people, this happens a long time after they were saved. They become sanctified and holy when they finally fully surrender to God.
Is this going to be your moment? Maybe as you sing the song now, you're going to fully surrender to God and not hold anything back anymore. Let these words bless you just as they blessed the man who wrote them, and let them represent a change in your life just as the man who wrote them changed forever after writing such words.
If you enjoyed this video, please consider subscribing to the channel. You can support this ministry through Patreon or PayPal. For more hymn studies, check out my Friday Classic Hymns series.
References
Judson Van de Venter biography and quote regarding the writing of "I Surrender All" (1896)
Billy Graham's recollections of Van de Venter at Bible college (1930s)
Hymn lyrics: "I Surrender All" by Judson Van de Venter
