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February 1931
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
c. The will of God enjoyed, as well as known and done. By daily con secration we prove and thereby approve God’s will in these three ways, and we thus reach the cli max and culmination of Christian consecration—the acceptance and enjoyment of God’s will in daily life. * * * One other short outline on this passage is a s1 follows : 1. The Basis of Holy Living —Revela tion—“The mercies of God.” 2. The Method of Holy Living— Conse cration—“Present your bodies . . . . unto God.” 3. The Outcome of Holy Living —Trans formation—“Be ye transformed.” In Bunhill Fields cemetery there is the following epitaph on the tomb of an in fant: “In memory of Westfield Lilley, son of Westfield and Sarah Lilley, who died June 2, 1798, aged one year and ten months. “Bold Infidelity, turn pale and die, Under this stone an Infant’s ashes lie. Say—Is it Lost or Saved? If Death’s by sin, it sinned, for it lies here; If heaven’s by works, in heaven it can't appear. Ah, reason, how deprav’d 1 Revere the Bible! (sacred page) the knot’s unty’d; It died, through Adam’s sin; it lives, for Jesus died.” The Best Book Religious books are profitable, but the best of them do not contain the juices and marrow which you will find in every word of Holy Scripture. One sentence will often be enough to fill the mind, and up hold and strengthen it through the day. Who cannot return over and over again to the sacred writings,; finding continually new delight? Most human writings grow tedious to us after we know them well. — Believer’s Magazine. —o— The Heavenly Calling and Mind O UR necessities link us with the world. Man has to labor “in the sweat of his brow” for daily bread. Hence it is godly to be linked by my necessities to the world, but ungodly to be linked to it by my affections. My necessities ought to be waited upon, but while the world is the scene of my labor in providing for those necessities, yet is heaven my home, my inheritance, my hope, and His word to me is , “I f ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things that are above , where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God’’ (Col. 3:1).-— Our Record. — o — An Infant’s Epitaph
2. The Character of Consecration (1). a. It is voluntary —“Present.” The word is associated with gifts for the temple (Lev. 1:3; 16:7). It occurs in Rom. 6:13 where it is translated “yield.” b. It is complete —“Your bodies.” A comprehensive term meaning spirit, soul, and body. Christ is the Saviour of the whole man; and redemption necessarily includes spirit, soul, and body. Every part of our life is to be His. c. It is sacrificial —“A living sacri fice, holy, acceptable unto God.” The Old Testament sacrifices were offerings of dead animals, but the Christian’s sacrifice is liv ing. We present our living bod ies to Him as the Old Testament believers presented their slain sac rifices to God. d. It is practical— “Your . . . . ser vice.” The end and outcome of consecration is definite work for God. e. It is rational —“Your reasonable service.” This might be translated “your logical service,” that is, the service which is the logical outcome of our position as believers in Christ. 3. The Demand of Consecration (2). a. Negative —“Be not conformed to this world.” Any definition of world or age really means everything in the ex isting order of things which is outside the kingdom of God. The believer must therefore avoid tak ing his shape from the world around. Unless we are particular ly careful, we shall find ourselves influenced by and fashioned like the world and given up to its spirit and life. b. Positive —“Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” . The only way to prevent the out ward shape of our life from be ing fashioned like that of the world is to take care that the in ward spirit of our being is trans formed by the renewing of our mind. It is very important to pon der this idea of moral transforma tion by means of what we think. “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.” “That ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” a. The will of God known is the first result of the consecration effected by presenting ourselves to God and by avoiding conformity to the world and becoming transformed within. To prove means to “ap prove, to test and attest.” It re fers to spiritual discernment which is the inevitable result of inward transformation. There is no surer mark of a growing, progressive Christian life than this faculty of spiritual discernment. b. The will of God done necessarily follows the knowledge of it; and this is the practical obj ect, out come, and effect of consecration, for God’s will is everything in the believer’s life. 4. The Effect of Consecration (2).
John knew what the gospel was when he wrote that last message of Christ to the churches, recorded in Rev. 3 :20: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” It is opening the life to Jesus and letting Him come in. d. The Glory of God — “Eternal life.” The fourth word need not oc cupy much time, though it is tre mendously important. “That who soever believeth on him should not perish but have eternal life.” Man does not need to perish. God has provided a way of escape. That way leads to the very home of God. An eternity with God—what a prospect 1 —o— 'T 'H IS is a fitting subject to follow last week’s topic, as consecration logically follows salvation. The word “consecrate” means “set apart for a holy use.” The next step for a believer, after having accepted Christ as his personal Saviour and received the gift of salvation, is to seek to make his life well-pleasing to Him who has called him from a life of sin and made him a child of God. Too many Christians are just inside the door of the Christian life; they have accepted Christ and have entered into the new life, but they are not enjoying the privileges and pleasures which are theirs, because they have not gone on with Christ into the more abundant life which He wishes to give. r _ The apostle Paul, from the time of his remarkable conversion on the Damascus road until his death, typifies for us one whose life was wholly consecrated to Je sus Christ. His epistles to the churches are all prefaced with such terms a s : “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ” ; “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ.” The term “ser vant” means a ‘‘bond-slave,” one who is wholly surrendered to his Master. Such should be the relation to Christ realized by every one of His followers. It should be the complete submission and loving ser vice of one who has been bought with a price and will not go free. Dr. W. H. Griffith Thomas in his book on Romans presents some excellent mater ial on the subject of consecration, using as a basis Rom. 12:1, 2. We present the outline, changed in some particulars, as a splendid example of a doctrinal treat ment of an individual passage of scrip ture. P rinciples of C onsecration Rom. 12:1, 2 1. The Ground o f Consecration (1). The word “therefore” must be care fully studied. It connects this section with all that has gone before and em phasizes the essential unity of doctrine and life. “The mercies of God.” The grace that saves is necessarily _ the ground of all Christian consecration and mo rality. It is because we are already recipients of the mercies of God that we must and can live the true life. March 29, 1931 Consecration
Faith needs no feelings to rest upon.
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