THE DEMANDS OF CONSECRATION

Last week we looked at what Consecration involves. Today we are going to look at “THE DEMANDS OF CONSECRATION.”

In Romans 12:1 Apostle Paul said, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

 

1. Consecration demands a life that is totally yielded to the Lord. Consecration demands, from every Born-Again believer, a constant yielding of our lives (will) to God. 

 Now, what exactly is a Yielded Life? A yielded life is a life that seeks to please God and do His will at all times and in every situation, whether things are going well or not. 

 

A yielded life finds its greatest joy only when it is being fully utilized by God, and bearing much fruit for Him. 

 

Ask the person seating next to you: Are you being fully utilized by God? Are you bearing much fruit for Him? If the answer is no, you have a problem.

 

Here is the point: Consecrating your life demands the yielding of your life to be used by God in doing whatever He directs you to do, in preaching His Word as you find opportunity, and in winning souls to Christ, by sharing the gospel and trusting Him for the results. 

 

We can find all of these things demonstrated well in the yielded life of Philip (Acts 8:1-4, 29).  Our lives should be yielded, like the life of Philip, constantly busy seeking the Lord’s will, going where He wants us to go, and doing what He wants us to do. 

 

And it would be good to ask you now: Is your own life going to be like that of Phillip? Will you fully yield your life to God like Philip did? 

 

2. Consecration demands sanctification. Do you know that you can be consecrated but not sanctified? A good number of people are moving about doing one thing or the other for the Lord, giving out their money for the advancement of the Gospel, but there is something wrong with the sacrifice.

 

Look at Romans 12:1 says, a) “I beseech (beg) you brethren…. b) By the mercies of God………c) That you present your bodies a living sacrifice…. d) Holy…”

 

If you are not sanctified your sacrifice is not holy. And as such it is a dead sacrifice, a sacrifice full of dead works (Gal. 5:19-21). This type of sacrifice is not acceptable to the LORD.

 

A good number of people are moving about doing one thing or the other for the Lord, giving out their money for the advancement of the Gospel, but there is something wrong with the sacrifice. 

 

Here is the truth: Whether it is diseased, it is a sacrifice. Whether it is having Covid 19, it is a sacrifice. Whether it is crippled, it is a sacrifice etc.God is particular about the type of sacrifice placed on that altar.

 

What kind of sacrifice does God demand? A holy sacrifice? Not a defiled sacrifice. Not a sacrifice full of lust and immorality. Not a sacrifice that is soon vibrating with anger. Not a sacrifice that is full of pride. Not a witch or wizard. Not a sacrifice full of worldliness. Not a lesbian. Not a gay. Not a liar (Rev. 21:8). Not a sacrifice that is full of the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21). Not a sacrifice full of animosity, unforgiveness, bitterness etc. 

 

Listen, whatever you are laying on the altar as a sacrifice MUST be holy. If it is defiled in any way, God will not accept it.

 

In Malachi 1:7-8, 13-14 God warned us concerning bringing shameful things to His altar. For example, God said, “You don’t show respect for My table (altar). You bring blind and diseased animals as gifts to Me. Isn’t that wrong? You bring sick and crippled animals as gifts to Me. Isn’t that wrong? Try giving gifts like that to your governor, and see how pleased he will be! No! He would not accept those gifts!....But I will not accept those diseased animals from you. Some people have good, male animals that they could give to Me as gifts. But they don’t give those good animals to Me. They promise to give those good animals to Me. But they secretly exchange those good animals and they give me blind, crippled and diseased animals as gifts. Bad things will happen to those people.”

 

Let no body deceive you by telling you that you can serve the LORD no matter your spiritual condition. No! You cannot serve the Lord anyhow. You have to be holy in order to be a worthy sacrifice.

 

To qualify to serve the LORD: a) You have to have a willing heart and a reverent awe for God (Ps. 2:11).

b) You must have a desire to please the LORD, and walk in His ways (Ps. 101:6-7; 2 Tim. 2:19-21),

c) You must be loyal to God (Matt. 6:24),

d) You must be humble (Acts (20:19),

e) You must love others (Gal. 5:13),

f) You must have the desire to be led by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 7:6).

g) You must be sanctified (Isa. 1:16)

 

A holy sacrifice is one that is living according to the Scriptures, not selling alcohol, not selling cocaine, not doing any of those things that are not in line with the Word of God.

 

Do you know that you can be consecrated but not holy! In Isaiah 1:10-16 God said, “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When ye come to appear before Me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread My courts? Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto Me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hateth: they are a trouble unto Me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil.” 

 

In verse 16 God said, “First of all, go and put your house in order. Sanctify (wash) yourself. Make yourself clean.

When you have done that, you can then come.” When you have removed all those things that are contrary to the Word of God – attachment, weave on, jewelries, rings of all types, artificial fingernails etc. from your life, you can then qualify as a worthy sacrifice.

 

So, whatsoever you are doing for the Lord, you must first of all be holy. Are you paying your tithes, you must be holy? Are you singing in the choir, you must be holy? Are you the Pastor, you must first of all be holy.

 

So, God is demanding that our sacrifices must be holy.  You remember that Peter said to Jesus, “…Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life” (Matt. 19:27-29).

 

But do you know that in spite of their forsaking all, they were not sanctified? Even though they were casting out demons and healing the sick, they were not sanctified. Jesus had to pray for His disciples to be sanctified (Jn. 17:17).

 

Yes, they were not sanctified because they were still arguing among themselves who was going to be the greatest amongst them (Matt. 18:1-4). They had rivalry issues.

That is the situation in the church today. 

 

Many are running up and down doing so many things for God, but the kind of life they are living is not pleasing to God. They are not holy. That is why God demands the sacrifice must be holy. Even though God needs a man to carry out His purposes here on earth, it is not just any man. Here is the type of man God needs:

 

“If a man therefore, purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, SANCTIFIED, and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work.” (2 Tim. 2:21).

 

Brother, what are the deeds in your life that you need to get rid of so that you can become holy and fit for God’s use? Is it bitterness, anger, lust, pride, lying, rebellion, gossip, unforgiveness, stubbornness etc. in your heart? 

 

This is why you need to purge yourself of the things that will make you unacceptable to the Lord. When you do, you will be a living sacrifice, not a dead one. You will be a holy sacrifice. This is the only sacrifice that God will accept. This is your reasonable (spiritual) service.

 

That purging, that cleansing is sanctification. Do you know that there are a lot of people that do even great things for God but they have pride, anger, and lust in their hearts? 

 

When I have done everything, God asked me to do, and I stand before Him on the Day of Judgment, He will judge me based on sanctification, based on holiness because without holiness your service to the LORD will not be acceptable.

 

In Leviticus 11:44 God said, “For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy...”

 

One of the greatest challenges of the children of Israel was stubbornness. They gave to the Lord, yet God called them stiff-necked people.

 

And the LORD said unto Moses, “I have seen this people, and, behold, they are a stiff-necked people: Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation” (Ex. 32:9-10).

 

In the house of God today, we have so many stiff-necked believers. They choose the Word of God they want to obey. They select the Scriptures they want to obey and despise the others. They are very stiff-necked. You tell them what the Bible says, but they are not ready to accept it, they are not ready. They have already made up their minds which one to obey and which one to ignore. God is saying us circumcise your hearts.

 

In Deuteronomy 10:16 God said, “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked.”

 

Let your consecration make sense by sanctification. Let your consecration be acceptable to the LORD because you have circumcised your heart. 

 

Conclusion: Dear reader, God has given you only one life to live. Please invest that life wisely, by yielding it for God to use. You will find tremendous dividends from your investment. “Only one life and it will soon be over. Only what’s done for Christ will last.” 

Watch out for the next edition of the Good News from the Pulpit!

Your friend, I. I. Madubunyi (Senior Pastor, HOG).