April, 1940
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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• Empty your hands of what ever you have taken from the world. Then hold up these emp tied hands to God, and as surely as He is holy, as surely as He is loving, as surely as He is gracious, He will fill your — even YOUR — hands with Christ. And when you find yourself standing thus, holding up Jesus between yourself and God, hiding yourself beneath Him, confessing Him to be your only merit, glory, and power, you, too, will be ,consecrated. —Frost.
By ETHEL M. CLARKSON
In my blessed, living Jesus, Dead to sin am I, Ris’n with, Him and glory-crowned, Seated now on high. In the bosom of the Father, There, in Christ, I dwell, Knowing, midst earth’ s sore amaze, All for me is weU.
The Misuse of "Consecration" By E. H. DALLIMORE Merrivale, Natal, South Africa I T IS often asked: “What is meant by consecration?” Though the form of reply may vary, the ex
but always the central feature of the service was the filling of the hands with meat (flesh) and bread. How this act was the central feature in the set ting apart of the high priest is told in Exodus 29. In this chapter and the corresponding chapter, Leviticus 8, the service is described with a minuteness of detail that exhibits the value that God places on the preparation of all who would minister to Him. This ritual was never repeated. This picture serves to illustrate the New Testament truth that every good and perfect gift is from above. This view is far removed from the concep tion of self-consecration—a conception arising from the misconception on the subject, which, as W. Graham Scroggie has said, overshadows it: Misunderstanding of the things of God results in disappointment which en-> genders doubt; indifference follows, and that which should be a possession be-. comes a mere profession. Thus Chris tianity may become a religion rather than a life.
Error of Long Standing This misconception concerning conse cration has existed since the days of the Reformation when the Mass became the Holy Communion. The liberty in which men found themselves during that period militated against thorough ness of investigation. This fact was no where more apparent than in the trans fer of the word from the Latin to the English Prayer Book and its continua tion in liturgical services. The Roman Church had appropriated the word which had been used to mean the deifi cation of the Roman emperors. It was later applied to anything set apart. But Rome claimed that only priests could consecrate, by which was then meant “to impart holiness,” or to “transub stantiate.” All things, of the church were “consecrated.” Men consecrated each other and themselves. Self-consecration is a Romish super stition. In the Mother of Perpetual Help Service is “An Act of Consecration” which reads: “I definitely consecrate myself to the service of the Blessed
pression is generally held to mean: Giv ing oneself to God. This expression again is not easy of comprehension. To tell a young Christian to “give himself to God” would lead him to conclude that he had arriyed at a climax in Christian experience; but unless that “giving” is whole-hearted dedication to God, in order that the individual may be consecrated by Him, it is self-effort that leads on to futility. Consecration is a divine gift. It is God’s “perfecting” of men that they, may minister to Him. It is an underlying theme in the New Testament. The substance may be found in 2 Corinthians 4:5, 6. Paul, separated from the world, declares his unreserved dedication to God that was followed by his consecra tion by God. The Bible Meaning In Old Testament days, “consecra tion” meant to “fill the hand.” The origin of this word is lost in antiquity,
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