Consecration

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. I greet you this evening in the sweet and precious name of our Lord Jesus. Speaking of the bluegrass state, there's something about the bluegrass state that I am not very pleased about, and I'll tell you about it this evening. That is the motto on the license plate. It says, Kentucky, unbridled spirit. I'm not very pleased about that motto. An unbridled horse is not very useful. An unbridled tongue is damaging. [00:00:53] How much more of a blessing can we be if we allow the Lord to bridle us and harness these hearts and spirits of ours. 1 Chronicles 28 David, very old man now, and he knows that life is drawing to a close. So he gathers his princess about him and he prepares for dying. [00:01:34] David wisely knows that something is ahead of him, death is ahead of him, and he's preparing to pass the torch now to someone else. David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes and captains of the company that ministered to the king by course, [00:02:07] and the captains over the thousands and captains over the hundreds and the stewards over all the substance and possessions of the king and of his sons and officers with mighty men and with all the valiant men into Jerusalem. And David the king stood up upon his feet and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people. As for me, I had in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for the footstool of our God, and hath made ready for the building. [00:02:42] Now this next verse we could take and just make a pretty good argument for the cause of nonresistance, but that's not our topic tonight. But God said unto me, Thou shalt not build an house for my name, because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood. Howbeit the Lord God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever, for he hath chosen Judah to be the ruler and of the house of Judah and of the house of my father [00:03:12] and among the sons of my father he liked me to make me king over all Israel. Now we're going to jump down to verse 9. And now he's talking to Solomon. Thou, Solomon, my son, know thou the Lord of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart. And we said last night, a perfect heart is a heart that agrees with God. Remember that? And with a willing mind, for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts. [00:03:51] If thou seek him, he will be found of thee. But if thou forsake him, he will cast thee out forever. However, take heed now, for the Lord hath chosen thee to build a house for the sanctuary. Be strong and do it. Now we're going to jump over to chapter 29. Furthermore, David still speaking, David the king said unto all the congregation, Solomon my son, whose alone God has chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great. [00:04:26] for the palace is not for man but for the Lord God. And he goes on to say how that he had put the, gathered many building materials for the house of God and not only that, he had not only gathered by taxes but he had of his own, out of his own bank account he also subsidized this house. Now we're going to jump down to verse 5. And I have the last part of this verse underlined and it's an appeal that David made. We're reading now chapter 29 of 1 Chronicles verse 5. [00:05:11] Gold for the things of gold and silver for the things of silver And for all manner of work to be made by the hands of the artificers And who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord? That is a magnificent appeal Who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord? Now, the word consecration, according to Webster's, dedication, reverence, loyalty, love, surrender, offering, that's part of the list. [00:05:58] The word consecration is a very biblical word. The word consecrate, 14 times. The word consecrated, the same, 14 times. The word consecration, 9 times. And consecrations in the plural, 4 times. Total of 41 times. Now interestingly enough, out of these 41 times, only twice in the New Testament do we find this word, or a form of this word, consecrated. [00:06:33] Only twice in the New Testament, and neither of those times is it an appeal for someone to consecrate their lives or their heart or their will to the Lord God. Neither one of those times. But the word consecrate is found only twice, and it's in the book of Hebrews. And it's there and it's in reference to the Lord Jesus who says consecrated himself to the service of God. [00:07:07] And he poured out his life even unto death. I thought that was interesting. His whole life was an example of consecration. From a 12-year-old, Wist not that I must be about my father's business. to the prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, not to my will, but thine be done. And the Lord Jesus begs of us, pleads of us, asks of us to follow his steps. [00:07:49] The Christian life is not ever about minimums. We are asked by the Lord to love the Lord with all our heart and soul and mind and strength and there's not a minimum thing about that. Jesus laid down some guidelines for his disciples [00:08:22] disciples, and he said, unless we're willing to forsake all that we have, we cannot be his disciple. Now, last week, where do we start in this thing of consecration? Where do we start? Several weeks ago, I was asked to have a part in a wedding, and I accepted the invitation, And I went to John the second chapter [00:08:53] Because that, if you remember right, was the first miracle, recorded miracle that the Lord Jesus did Remember that? The Lord Jesus was invited to a wedding And it was interesting for me to note That in this wedding story Neither the bride or the groom is mentioned Isn't that something? You know what John sees as the object of interest in that wedding story? [00:09:29] Six stone water pots. Now what was it about these water pots that drew John's interest that he neglected to even mention the bride and the groom? He changed the contents of them. He changed the contents of them. And John was so thrilled about these water pots that had their contents changed that he neglected to mention that there was a bride and a groom at this wedding. [00:10:05] Jesus changed what lay inside. Now the scriptures are not very flattering when it tells what lays inside the heart of man. Now you open your Bible sometime and you go to the book of Isaiah and it says something like this, chapter 2, from the soles of your feet to the top of your head were filled with pretty ugly stuff. And then you go to the book of Romans, chapter 3, and it gives a whole list of things that man is like [00:10:41] And he caps it off saying, there's no deviation from this pattern, there's none that doeth good, no not one. You know, I believe that almost every day in the courts of America, there's a man stands before the judge. I don't know why. I don't know why I did it. I don't know why I did it. Well, just a few years ago, I was in the news of a woman, I think this actually happened in Kentucky, I'm embarrassed to say it, but a woman was drinking, and she run over a fellow, or hit a pedestrian, and this fellow was spraddled across her dash and his head inside the glass, the windshield, and she drove on home and parked the car in the garage and went inside, and he died there. [00:11:37] And she stood before the judge and she sat there weeping and she said, This is, that's not me, that's not me, I don't know why I did it. Well, I know why she done it. I know why people do wicked things. Because it's in there. It's in there. If it wasn't in there, it wouldn't come out. Now, I'm not very bright and I'll never be a rocket scientist, but if something ain't in there, it ain't going to come out. But it's in there, and it's going to come out [00:12:10] In fact, we're talking about John 2 The water pots that had their contents changed You go to John the third chapter, and there's a very respectable man there In fact, he was a leader of the Jews And Jesus told him, and using my own words now, you need a water pot experience You need a water pot experience You need to have the contents changed in your life. You need to be reborn. [00:12:40] You need to be born again. You need to have the contents changed in your heart. You need a water pot experience. And this was a decent man, but he wasn't born again. I love the verse Jesus says, Consider the lilies of the field, they don't toil, neither do they spin. And yet Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of them. And I often wondered, what was it about those lilies that the Lord remarked about? [00:13:11] Solomon, with all his wealth, he had access to the brightest and the best as far as his attire. But what was it that Jesus said, Solomon, in all his glory? Maybe it was this. Solomon, those beautiful robes were cast on the outside, were brought over on the outside. But those lilies grew beautifully from the inside out. From the inside. [00:13:44] And Jesus said, that's beautiful. You see, when something is beautiful inside, it begins revealing itself on the outside. And that's beautiful. A water pot experience means to be born again by the Spirit of the living God. I'd like to talk about this thing of consecration and this thing of being consecrated to the Lord God. And we will not and cannot be consecrated to God without being changed by the Lord God, by His Holy Spirit. [00:14:19] Now, I'd like to look at a verse that I expect 99% of you can quote by heart tonight, and that is Romans 12, verse 1 and 2. Romans 12, verse 1 and 2. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies, you present your vessels, You present these carcasses, these tabernacles, you present these bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. [00:14:59] And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed. Now we're talking again about a water pot experience, being changed from the inside out, being born again. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Now, consecration is a very personal thing. It's a choice that we made to yield ourselves to the Lord God. [00:15:32] It's a very personal thing. We are living. We are living, I feel, in a Laodicean age where there's lukewarmness and whatever is brought on by prosperity, I don't know. We're living in, as I mentioned last night, a restless age. People dissatisfied with this church, so they go over here. They don't like it there, so they go over here. They don't like it there, so they go over here. We're living in a restless time, a worldly time. [00:16:06] I think it's a time of sub-normal commitments to the Lord Jesus Christ. Sub-normal commitments. Apathy, lukewarmness, who has a right to legislate without a where? A time of questioning established practices, a laodicea in church age. And I think it has to do with subnormal commitments to the Lord Jesus Christ. [00:16:38] Subnormal consecration to the Lord Jesus Christ. I think we're living in a time where people are wondering what they can get out of it for how little they can put into it. It reminds me of two drunks. They spent the night in a nightclub. And the smoky foul air of a nightclub. And they walked out on the streets and they smelled the fresh air. And one of them asked, what's that I smell? And the other one said, I'm not sure, but I think it's fresh air. You see, they had become so accustomed to the foul air that they thought it was normal. [00:17:16] And I feel sorry for some of our young people and our children. They're looking at so many subnormal commitments. They're wondering, what is normal? Is this really the real thing? Is this normal for people to fuss and fight? I believe that a consecrated heart, a consecrated life, no doubt may seem a little odd to those who are living a subnormal, cold, cool, [00:17:55] No Christian trying to live a Christian experience like that. Consecration is a very personal thing. I beseech you. I beseech you. And we might lament. We might lament at the atmosphere of our community. We might lament at the atmosphere of our church. But consecration is a personal thing. And if we want to try to raise the standard in our churches, it's not going to begin until we ourselves, in a personal way, are consecrated completely and unreservedly to the Lord Jesus Christ. [00:18:42] That's how we begin. You see, a revival, somebody has said, is a heavenly disturbance on earth. It causes a disturbance, it causes some shame It causes, oftentimes revival brings with it confessions of wrongdoing And coming out with shameful things And we rebel against that, we don't want to do that We like to keep it like it is We don't like things getting upset [00:19:15] But it's a personal thing And too many of us don't want to be disturbed. And so, like they give us at the motels, they give you a little thing you hang on the doorknob. Don't disturb. Don't disturb me. I'm happy just like I am. I don't want to be bothered. Tonight, if you're concerned, if you care about consecration, review your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. [00:19:49] Review your prayer life. Review how little it takes or review what it takes for you to miss services. Review that. Review what it takes for you to miss your Bible reading in the morning, your personal time. Review your relationships. Review your relationship with your wife, your husband, your employee. Review your vows that you've made and attempt, like Zacchaeus, to do all you can to make those known wrongs right, be it restitution, be it confession, be it talking to mom and daddy. [00:20:40] Do what it takes to clear your heart and life as far as you know is possible, whatever it takes. Now I'd like to tell you something that happened in our community. There was a young couple came to us, nice young couple came to us, and they were from another community, would have had a desire to move in. So I said, well, let me talk to your bishop. And this young couple was an Amish couple. [00:21:12] And I talked to the bishop, and the bishop was a very warm person, very nice person. And he told me, he said, this couple, this couple's fine And he was reluctant to say anything, but he said he's had relationship problems He just seemed like there's been relationship problems And I said, well, who's it focused upon? And he said, well, I hate to say it, but me, it's me And so we met with a young couple as a ministry [00:21:47] And after discussing it together, we decided that this young couple, for their good, for their good, they would need to go back and we told them, we'd love to have you here, but for your own good, we think you need to go back and stay in that community for one year. You don't have any school children yet. You stay there for one year. [00:22:19] And you make those wrongs right as far as you can. And you humble yourself and you go back to those brethren who you spoke harshly to. And you make those things right. And in one year, we'll contact your bishop again. And they were brokenhearted. They were brokenhearted. They said, I never expected this. We never at all expected this. And I didn't think they'd do it. [00:22:53] I didn't think they were going to take our advice, but you know what? They did. Periodically, he'd call me. Not often. Maybe in that year, about twice. But then the year passed, and he said, I said, Brother Jim, me again, we still want to move. We still like to come to your community. I said, well, let me call your bishop. Remember, that was part of our thing there. That's right. He said, I know. Let me call your bishop. [00:23:26] And so I did. I said, brother, called him up, said, brother, calling about this young couple and said, what can you tell us about them? Said, this young couple's done wonderful. Said, you know what? Last year at this time, there were brethren of the church who would have loved for them to move, just to get out. They said, no one thinks that anymore. [00:24:00] So they made things right in front of the church. They've done it publicly. They've done it privately. They've cleared things up. And he said, we love them. They're blossoming. They're blossoming. We don't want them to go. But he said, we can recommend them to you. This is an Amish man. We can recommend them to you. So bless you now. Now, do you think that whole community changed? No. [00:24:33] But I know one couple did. And that one young couple changed, and somehow when they changed, I think it raised the bar for the rest of the community. It blessed the community. We don't want them to move now. It's a personal thing, see, and it has to begin on a personal level. It has to begin with you. Now, it's not only as a personal thing. Consecration is a passionate thing. I beseech you. I implore you. I earnestly beg you. [00:25:08] I beseech you, the Apostle Paul says, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to the Romans. I beseech you. That's a very passionate word. I think we could be a bit more passionate in our beseeching each other. Now, many, many years ago, there was a man who loved the Lord in a passionate way. [00:25:39] And he said, the world has yet to see what God can do with a man who sold out to Him. And I want to be that man. And God took that shoe salesman who was able to say Jerusalem in two syllables, took that shoe salesman and used him to the glory of God. I read of a young lady, very consecrated and loved the Lord with a passion. She was called to work in Africa and some of the family were trying to talk her out of that. [00:26:16] And they said it gets 110 there in the shade. And she said, I'm not planning on staying in the shade. And they said, you'll die there. She said, I've already died. I've died. You'll lose everything. I don't own anything, she said. I've laid it all on the altar. I'm not my own. I've been bought with a price. I've laid it on the altar. I beseech you, consecration is a very passionate, very passionate thing [00:26:52] And I'd like to look at this thing as we think of consecration at 1 Thessalonians 4 There we can talk about, there we can read about something that's very, very interesting to me 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 3 For this is the will of God Even your sanctification, that you should abstain from fornication That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor [00:27:25] Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter because that the Lord is the avenger of all such as we also have forewarned you and testified. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness but unto holiness. Now Paul besought us or beseeched us in Romans 12 that we would present our bodies [00:27:57] and here he is imploring the church, the Thessalonian church, that they would know how to possess his vessel, I think almost the same word as body, in sanctification and in honor. The word sanctification would mean, the way I understand it, is to be set apart for the purpose of God. Set apart for God. [00:28:28] This is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication, and so on. Now, in the Old Testament, in the tabernacle study, I read that there were utensils and vessels that were called holy vessels. And they were, after 20 or 30 years of use, they were well beaten and scarred, but they weren't discarded, because they were holy vessels. These were vessels that had been sanctified or set apart for the purpose of God. [00:29:07] When we become children of God, when we become Christians, we are set apart for God's purpose. Set apart for God's usefulness. Because of that, we are set apart for holy purposes. Verse 3, because of that then, because we are sanctified, and set-apart for God, we don't soil this vessel with fornication. Neither do we soil this vessel in verse 5, the lust of concupiscence. [00:29:39] This is God's vessel. We don't soil it. This vessel has been set-apart. It has been consecrated for the service of God. So we don't soil it with concupiscence. We don't use this vessel to defraud our brother, verse 6. We don't use this vessel for any unclean purposes. We don't soil it. This is God's vessel. It has been set apart for God. Now, many years before this book was written, I don't know if this is what Paul had in mind, but the Jews were carried off into exile by Nebuchadnezzar. [00:30:20] And it was because of their own willfulness. And along with that, the scripture says in Daniel, they carried with it the vessels, gold and silver vessels used in the tabernacle. Well, Nebuchadnezzar passes off the scene. Here comes grandson Belshazzar, and he's having a big beer party, a drinking party there, and all of a sudden, at the height of this drinking party, he gets this wild idea. [00:30:53] He says, let's use these vessels that were brought out of the tabernacle and let's drink out of them. Now why did he do that for? Do you ever think about that? What was it in Belshazzar? What spurred Belshazzar on to use these vessels that had been sanctified for God's use there in the tabernacle? And the temple. What was it? And here's an idea. I believe the unholy satisfaction that he got out of this was satanic. [00:31:39] Satan is a bad loser. And I think that ever since Satan is a bad loser, and ever since he was cast out of heaven, everything that God has cleansed and called good and set apart for holy purposes, it is Satan's desire to soil it and to bring to unholy use. And that's what Belshazzar said. Ha! Let's get those temples, let's get those vessels that were taken out of the temple. Yes, let's use them for unholy uses. [00:32:19] And the same way today, folks. These vessels, we as people of God, Satan's a hard loser. He'll be after you. He'd love for you to, this temple, this holy temple that God has redeemed, he'd love to soil that. And I'd love for you to fall back into sin and uncleanness. Watch it. Consecration is also a physical thing. It's a very practical thing. We present our bodies a gift to God. [00:32:53] And God will indwell these bodies with His Holy Spirit. I believe when our bodies become the temple of God and the vessel of God, He indwells there and affects and impacts every area of our life. Now, there's one verse parable that I looked at tonight while Daniel was reading, and it talked about this woman. [00:33:25] Now, usually leaven in the Bible is in a negative sense. But she said, she took this leaven and placed it in three measures of meal and the whole was leavened. Remember that little one verse parable. What did Jesus mean? Well, here's what he could have meant. That those three measures of meal could be in reference to us, spirit, soul, and body. Or body, soul, and spirit, as we're apt to say. [00:33:59] And I believe when the good leaven of the gospel finds its way into our life, it impacts our body, it impacts our soul, it impacts our spirit. Every part of us. It invades every part of our life. I remember an old friend of mine. He said one time the milk inspector came to his neighbor's place. This neighbor was a church member playing man. And the milk inspector came and got a little nitpicky and this plain man got very uptight. [00:34:34] Yeah, very uptight. And he said, and he just told that milk, he gave that milk inspector, he just really told him off. And this, my friend rebuked this plain man. He said, why that's not even Christian. And this plain man said, leave God out of it. This is business. Let me tell you something. Everything you leave God out of is going to rot. [00:35:13] Everything we leave God out of is going to erode out from under us. Jesus gave another parable about two men One built upon a rock and the other built upon sand And I remember this winter I thought about that parable As I stood on the sand there in Florida And I felt the waves go around my feet And it felt like it was just eroding under my feet And I thought of that parable And I think everything, I believe that everything we leave God out of Is going to erode out from under us [00:35:45] We don't leave God out of it God impacts our consecration for God impacts every area of our life It's going to impact husbands It's going to impact the way you act towards your wife And wives, it's going to affect the way you respond to your husband And it's going to affect the way we raise our children I just remember just a few weeks ago I sat in front of a couple [00:36:16] And I said, do you read the scriptures together? Do you gather your babies around you and read and pray together? And he said, no. And I said, well, why not? I said, that seems this most basic of a Christian father. Why not? And he said, you wouldn't understand. And I said, no, I sure wouldn't. I sure wouldn't. You've got me on that one. I wouldn't understand why someone wouldn't want to gather their children together and pray and read and sing with them. [00:36:50] I don't understand. I believe it's going to infect. When the gospel leaven has become, as we have taken it in, it's going to make a difference in every area of our life. One man said, it changed the smell of his breath. He was a heavy smoker, and he'd become a Christian as it changed the smell of his breath. He quit. There was once a drinker, and his wife said, the Lord didn't change water into wine in our case, but he changed wine into groceries. [00:37:27] It's even going to affect the way we treat our animals, I think. We have this treasure in earthen vessels. We have this treasure in earthen vessels. I have four vessels up here. I'm going to do a little object lesson toward the end. We have this treasure in earthen vessels, and that's not an excuse for failure. I've heard people use that as an excuse for failure. Well, you know, we have this treasure in earthen vessels. That's not what Apostle Paul was trying to, he was not trying to insinuate that we have reasons to fail. [00:38:08] No, he wasn't implying that at all. But we do have this wonderful treasure in an earthen vessel. In Judges, the seventh chapter, there's a very interesting little lesson there. The Midianites, wasn't it the Midianites? I think they were the ones, yes. They had invaded the land, and there was, so, Gideon, the Lord used Gideon there, and Gideon calls for an army, and there were 22,000, wasn't it? [00:38:46] I forget my number. 22,000 came out, and the Lord told Gideon, you've got too many of the kind you've got. And so he said, tell everyone who's scared that they can go home. And there was out of that 22,000, was it 12,000 went home? And so we now have 10,000. Then the Lord said, now put them to a test. And he told them, he told what the little test was. And out of that 22,000, wasn't it 300 that remained? [00:39:17] 300 out of 22,000. I wonder if that's about the ratio of today, I don't know. Probably not much difference, is it? But anyway, he told them, the Lord gave them instructions on how to fight this battle with the Midianites. What an unusual weapon. They were to take, I should have read this tonight and brushed up on it, but I'm thinking they were to take a trumpet, weren't they? and also a lantern with a candle placed inside a clay vessel. [00:39:59] And at a certain time they were to blow this trumpet and break this clay vessel and the light was supposed to shine out and that's what they did and the Mennonites fled. They thought they were surrounded. Now, young girls, let me give you a little hint. When you go considering a young man, don't consider a man or don't judge a young man on how loud he can blow the trumpet, how good he can talk. [00:40:30] But here's what you look for. Has that proud, carnal heart been broken? And is the light of the Lord Jesus shining out? That's what you look for. That's what you look for. Not all loud, somebody can blow the trumpet. 2 Samuel 23 Sing of consecration, that's a beautiful thing. [00:41:01] There's so many wonderful examples here. But here's one that I'd like to just point out, especially so since I have communion in mind. If I understood it right, you had communion last Sunday. Now here is David and the men. They are in the cave of Adullam in 2 Samuel 23, if you want to look at it. And the Philistines were camped nearby. Along with that, there was a garrison of Philistines about 12 miles away in Bethlehem. [00:41:33] And so here they were, David and his men, and they were in hold, the Scripture says in 2 Samuel 23. And I don't know what, perhaps David was longing and meditating one day and he was longing for his childhood days And then he said, oh, if I would have a drink from the well in Bethlehem And that was overheard by three men And they said, let's go get David a drink from his well in Bethlehem [00:42:06] Now that was a magnificent, magnificent and terrible, dangerous thing that they had tried to do. The Philistines were camped outside the cave. Not only that, there was a garrison of Philistines in Bethlehem. It was a suicide, someone could call it a suicide march, but they'd done it. They done it and they brought this water back to David. And now I'd like to read in verse 17, verse 16. [00:42:41] These three mighty men, three mighty men break through the host of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless, he would not drink it, but poured it out unto the Lord. And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their life? Therefore, he would not drink it. Now, did you notice in verse 17, I think this touched David's heart. [00:43:18] And when he took that vessel of water, whatever it was in, and he looked in that vessel of water, you know what he saw? He didn't see water. It says there, is this not the blood of the men? And he poured it out before the Lord, it says. He poured it out before the Lord. What did you see Sunday when you, I'm not sure how you served the cup. But what did you see Sunday when you took that cup in your hands and looked at it? [00:43:51] Did you see grape welches, grape juice? I trust you saw in your mind the blood, the sacrifice, what that took for you to enjoy what you're enjoying today. And you know, something that was very, very interesting to me, because I see it, I realize it, it's a part of the human constitution. When David saw that water and realized the sacrifice, it caused within him a desire as well to sacrifice. [00:44:35] He could have taken that water and drank it. But he had a desire himself to sacrifice, and he sacrificed it unto the Lord. When I took that cup a few Sundays to go, the same thing happened to me. When I looked at that great juice, I saw blood. Oh, I thought of the great, the blood of our wonderful Savior. And when I took a sip of it, you know what it done? Something welled up with me. I wanted to give something. [00:45:07] I wanted to sacrifice. I wanted to present my body a living sacrifice again to the Lord Jesus. The one who poured out his life for me. You see, consecration, we think of consecration of sacrifice, of giving, of ourselves, of laying our lives down. But you know what? Sacrifice, consecration brings peace. It brings peace. [00:45:40] There's a song that we sing at home a lot, when we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word. And then one verse says something like this. We never can feel the delights of His love until all on the altar we lay. I'm ashamed to tell you how long I struggled with some besetting sin. I could not give it to the Lord. I could not give it up. [00:46:11] I struggled with that thing. I held on to that thing. I latched on to that thing. I thought I couldn't do it. I'm ashamed to tell you how long I struggled. And you know what? I never had the peace. I never had the power that I should have had and could have had. And the Lord wanted me to have. And I never felt like the songwriter said the delights of his love until I committed myself to the Lord Jesus. Lord, this thing is yours. [00:46:43] I've struggled with it. I've tried. I've done all life, but Lord, this is yours. I sacrifice it to you, Lord. I'll do what it takes. I am yours. And then the peace that I experience. Consecration brings peace, folks. Sacrificing, giving of ourselves completely, yielding unreservedly brings a peace. Now, in Luke, the 18th chapter, in verse 18, and this is going to be the last scripture I'm going to look at this evening. [00:47:23] There is a story there of the rich young ruler. And God, the Lord Jesus himself, I'll read. Verse 18 of chapter 18. A certain ruler asked him, saying, Good master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? None is good save one, and that is God. Thou knowest the commandments. Do not commit adultery. Do not kill. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Honor thy father and thy mother. [00:47:57] And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lacketh thou one thing. Sell all that thou hast and distribute unto the poor And thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful, for he was very rich Now, another gospel says of this account That this young man went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions [00:48:31] But I would like to say that he did not have the great possessions The great possessions had him. They had his heart. And this was an area that the Lord pointed to and put his finger on and said, and he loved this young man, he said, this has to be mine. This has to be mine. You know what, folks? God has different ways to show us. [00:49:04] The things that we should sacrifice, the things that we should consecrate, the things that we're holding on to dearly, our reputation, be it our reputation, whatever it is, God has his ways. Here it was the Lord Jesus himself that said, young man, I want that. This has to be mine. This has to be laid on the altar, young man. [00:49:37] You know, with Abraham it was something completely different. He didn't ask Abraham for his money because Abraham already held that loosely. Abraham, your son. Abraham, your son, I want it. I want him. You know, sometimes God uses people to point out things in our life, to speak to us, to rebuke us, to talk to us, and we rebel. He didn't come in the right way. [00:50:10] He didn't use the right approach. He's as rough as a cob. You know, he came just rough as a cob, just steamrolled over me. Wasn't handled right. But all the time God is wooing, God is wanting you, And I think he uses people to point out things in our life and address these. And there's something else here, verse 28. I believe Peter was a keen observer of all this. [00:50:45] He made a statement there. Somebody said, Peter is the most American of all the disciples. He liked to toot his horn about what he was sacrificing. He wasn't really sacrificing much. Peter said, Lo, we have left all and followed thee. Why did he leave? He didn't leave much. A little fishing business. But I love what Jesus said to him there in verse 28. I'm trying to establish in our minds that we're not going to outgive God. [00:51:17] We consecrate ourselves to God. There'll be no disappointments. that are long-lasting. I think God can bless us and God can... No, we read. Peter said, this is following there, verse 28, where Peter said, Lo, we have left all and follow thee. And Jesus said, verse 29, Verily I say unto you, there is no man that has left house or parents or brethren or wife or children for the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time and in the world to come, life everlasting. [00:51:57] Now, we tend to neglect something here. We focus on that everlasting life, and that's a precious thing. But what about in this present time, more in this, who shall receive manifold more in this present time? Friends, there's blessings here and now for those who have laid all on the altar. The most blessed peace of God in our hearts. [00:52:30] The most beautiful people in the world surrounding us are our friends, the people of God. The Holy Spirit, a foretaste of heaven. and like our old bishop used to say, all these things and then heaven. Hallelujah. Now what do these styrofoam vessels mean in front of me? These represent people. The first one there looks pretty good, doesn't it? [00:53:02] Do you see anything wrong with that vessel? There's something pretty bad wrong with it. It's incomplete. The bottom's out. It needs help. I mentioned that God made us in His image a threefold being. In other words, spirit, soul, and body. And a person without the spiritual part is incomplete. [00:53:37] There's a facet of his life that's not as it could be. There's a beautiful facet of his life that's missing. He has nothing to offer. Not much to offer for anyone else who may be longing and thirsting for something different. Well, there's another one here. There's another vessel here, but it's been soiled. It's dirty. [00:54:09] The book of Isaiah says, Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. And this vessel needs a water pot experience. It needs its contents changed by the new birth. Well, that third one there, there's another vessel there. That represents willfulness. That represents the rich young ruler. Lord, this is a part of my life. You can have this and you can have this and you can have this, but this area of my life is mine. [00:54:47] This thing no one's going to find out about. This thing is too shameful for others to know. I'm not going to confess it. I can't confess it. I'm not going to be able to forsake it anyway. This is too shameful. God, no. Perhaps tonight there's someone here that there's an area of your life that you're saying no to God to. I think I can tell you folks, you'll never feel the delights and the satisfaction of the normal Christian experience [00:55:24] until that thing is opened to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now there's another vessel there. And this vessel is clean. And this vessel is complete. And this vessel is available and it's full. And there's something here to share. Jesus said that out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. You'll be able to help. You'll be a blessing to the church. You'll be a blessing to the family. You'll be a blessing to the community. You'll make a difference in eternity if you allow yourself to be cleansed and available and open to the Lord Jesus Christ. [00:56:10] Now the question way back in the beginning, if you remember about an hour ago, who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord?