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2 Tim. 4:7-8; 1 Cor. 6:20; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; Gal. 4:5; 2 Cor. 5:14-15; Rom. 12:1; Lev. 3:5, 11
I. The basis of consecration
II. The motive of consecration — God’s love
III. The meaning of consecration — to be a sacrifice
IV. The purpose of consecration — to work for God
V. The result of consecration — to abandon our future
In order to experience the Lord, we also must be a consecrated person, because the time it takes to grow is long. Between the time we are regenerated till the time we are matured, we will face many situations that we may not be happy about. If we are not clear about consecration and are not consecrated, then we may not be able to finish the course like the apostle Paul (2 Tim. 4:7-8). When we are supposed to run the race, we may run away from situations instead of experiencing life to grow. Therefore, we must be properly consecrated in order to go on and grow properly.
[In a normal condition these two experiences, salvation and consecration, are closely related. A saved person should be a consecrated person. Once a person is saved, he should consecrate himself to the Lord. To be saved without being consecrated is a very abnormal condition. Our gospel work must be done strongly to such an extent that people will immediately consecrate themselves as soon as they are saved.]
[On what basis must we consecrate ourselves to God? On what basis does God require us to consecrate ourselves to Him? We need to have a basis for whatever we do. For example, when we move into a house and live in it, it is because we have paid a price and rented or bought it. This renting or purchasing is the basis upon which we live there. Our God is one who is most legal and one who acts most reasonably. All His doings are legal and have a basis. He cannot obtain something in the universe without paying a price, and He also cannot demand something from us without a basis. When God, therefore, demands that we consecrate ourselves to Him, it cannot be without a basis. In this matter, He has a very solid basis, that is, His purchase. He has already bought us. He can, therefore, demand that we consecrate ourselves to Him.
First Corinthians 6:20 says, “You were bought with a price.’’ Our consecration is based on this purchase of God. God has bought us with none other than the precious blood shed by His beloved Son on the cross (1 Pet. 1:19). God used this precious blood as the price to buy us, that we may belong to Him. Galatians 4:5 says, “That he might redeem them that were under the law.’’ Because we became sinners, we fell under God’s law and were kept and retained by this law. If God, therefore, wanted to release us from under His righteous law, He must pay the full price to satisfy the demand of His law. This price is the precious blood shed by His Son. Formerly we belonged to the law, but now we belong to God. The right of ownership over us has been transferred from the law to the hand of God. It is on the basis of this transfer of right that God demands that we consecrate ourselves to Him.]
If we are clear about the right of ownership, we would consecrate ourselves to God immediately and continuously. We will never dare to think, speak or do things that are not of the divine life. We will refresh our consecration every morning and every day. It does not depend on our mood, it is based upon the fact of God’s purchase. [Each time something occurs that causes us to argue with God, we must bow before Him and say, “Lord, I am the slave You bought. My right of ownership has been purchased by You. I here and now declare Your right. Even in this matter I will let You be the Lord and decide for me.’’ Every time we depart from the position of consecration, we should feel that we are in a state of rebellion similar to that of Onesimus, the slave who fled from his master, Philemon.]
Many of us may still be runaway slaves. We must repent to the Lord right now and consecrate ourselves to Him again or for the first time. When we do this, right away we will experience life and grow.
[The motive of consecration refers to one’s heart in consecration. In order to have a good consecration, we not only need to realize its basis; we also need to have a motive. If the things which God purchased were inanimate objects, such as a chair or a garment, He could proceed directly to use them as He pleases. But what God has redeemed today are living persons, each with a mind, an affection, and a will. Although God wants to have us, we may not be happy to let Him have us. Although God has the legal right and basis to possess us, we may not have the heart to let Him do so. Therefore, when God desires us to consecrate ourselves to Him, He must move our heart. He must give us the motive of love that we might be willing to consecrate ourselves to Him.
Second Corinthians 5:14-15 says, “For the love of Christ constrains us (constrains in the original has the meaning of the rushing of waters)…and He died for all, that they that live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him who for their sakes died and rose again.’’ In other words, these verses tell us that the dying love of Christ is like the rushing of great waters toward us, impelling us to consecrate ourselves to God and to live for Him beyond our own control.]
In Revelation chapter two, Jesus said that the church in Ephesus had left her first love. She needed to repent. Are we crazily in love with Jesus? Do we love Him first and best? O Lord Jesus. If we also have left our first love, we need to turn to the One who loves us first. How we need to repent and love only Him
[When we touch the love of God and see that He truly is lovely, we will then consecrate ourselves to Him.] Without that touch of His love upon us, consecration is a bitter thing; in fact, it is hardly a possibility. The security of our consecration depends upon its basis; but the vitality and sweetness of our consecration depends on its motive power, that is, the love of God.
[What then is consecration? What is the meaning of consecration? Romans 12:1 says, “I beg you therefore, brothers, through the compassions of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice.’’ This verse shows us that the meaning of consecration is to be a “sacrifice.’’ What is a “sacrifice’’? The Scripture shows us that whenever a thing is set apart from its original position and usage and is laid on God’s altar, specifically for Him, this thing is then a sacrifice.] A cow was used for plowing; now, after being sacrificed, it is burnt to be a sweet savor to God. It becomes God’s food to satisfy Him (Lev. 3:5, 11).
[Since the meaning of consecration is to offer ourselves to God as a living sacrifice for God’s satisfaction, we should ask ourselves this question: Since our consecration, how much of our actual living and actual experiences have proved that we have indeed laid ourselves on the altar to be a sacrifice for God? Are we indeed willing to be God’s food that He might be satisfied? True consecration is never compelled by God; it is of our voluntary will. God takes nothing by force; everything is offered up by men willingly. Likewise, our consecration today must be made out of our voluntary will; it is we who willingly lie on the altar and dare not move off. Others may move about freely, but we dare not act in a casual way. Others may calculate and choose between the sweet and the bitter, but when we encounter a difficulty, we dare not consider escape. Others can reason and argue with God; we dare not say even one sentence. Others can evade God’s will and avoid being bound and limited; we would rather be restricted by His will and willing to be imprisoned in His hand. All this, because we have already offered ourselves to God and have been laid on the altar. We are already a consecrated people. We should be able to say continually to God, “O God, I have no choice; I have already consecrated myself to You; I am in Your hand.’’] Then, we may continually experience life and grow in life.
[Since the meaning of consecration is to become a sacrifice, the thing offered is something which is entirely for God. The purpose of consecration, therefore, is to be used by God, to work for God. But in order that we may work for God, we must first let God work. Only those who have first let God work can work for God. We can only work for God to the extent that we allow God to work.
When the bullocks and rams were killed and offered to God as burnt-offerings, it was first necessary for God to do His thorough work upon them, that is, to consume them by fire, if they were to be pleasing and acceptable to Him. If the sacrifices were not consumed by fire, they would be raw and foul-smelling and could never be acceptable or pleasing to God. Our consecration today is just like that. We have already offered ourselves, yet if we do not allow God to work first, but go out to work for Him and serve Him directly, that work and that service will be raw, untempered, and foul-smelling. It can never be accepted by God, let alone satisfy Him.]
Therefore, we must consecrate ourselves to be worked on by God. Then His life will flow and grow within us, thus, making us ready to work for His eternal purpose.
A truly consecrated man is a man who has cut his ties with the world and binds himself to God. To him, his all is God, his hope is in God, his future is God. He lives every day to contact God, to enjoy God, to be filled up with God and to overflow with God. He is sorrowful when God’s desires are not met. He is happy when God’s desires are met. He is just involved with God. His own thoughts, desires and choices are put aside for God’s. Because he always and only knows that his place is on the altar, his future is to be ashes in God.
[This giving up of the future is not a reluctant act after something has already occurred to wreck your future hopes; it is a willing surrender before such an event. It is not waiting till you have lost or failed in your business and then giving up. It is not waiting till you lose your job, till you cannot enter college, or till you fail to obtain a Ph.D. degree, and then give up. It is not this. When we speak of giving up the future, we mean that when a profitable business opportunity awaits you, when an excellent job awaits you, or when a Ph.D. degree awaits you, you willingly give it all up for the Lord’s sake. This is truly called the giving up of the future. Even if the entire glory of Egypt is placed before you, you can say to it, “Good-bye, I must go to Canaan.’’]
It does not mean that we should not do our duty as human beings on the earth. Yet, we should not be distracted and bound by all the earthly things. We should study hard and get the highest degree. We should do our job well to be advanced. But our future is God only, not a degree or a promotion. Whenever we find that our heart loves many things other than God Himself, we know that we need to be re-consecrated, to be ashes for God again.
[When we first consecrate ourselves, our experience is similar to an embryo in the mother’s womb — one cannot distinguish the ear, the eye, the mouth, and the nose. As we grow in life, however, these five points related to the experience of consecration gradually become formed in us. Then we really have a feeling that we have been bought by God and that all our rights are in His hand. We become a prisoner of His love because His love has pierced our hearts. We become a sacrifice indeed, laid on the altar for God’s enjoyment and satisfaction. We will be those who have been thoroughly worked over by God and are then able to work for Him. Our future will truly be as a handful of ashes. All our ways of escape outside of God’s will shall have been cut off; God only will be our future and our way. At that time the experience of our consecration will indeed have become matured. May we all, by the grace of the Lord, pursue and go on together.]
