100 Sermon Illustrations on Consecration

The story is told of a wealthy Englishman who had added to his

valuable collection a rare violin which was coveted by Fritz

Kreisler, the celebrated virtuoso. When the owner persisted in

refusing to part with the instrument, Kreisler begged permission

to play it just once. The opportunity was granted and he played

as only a genius can play. He forgot himself. He poured his soul

into his music. The Englishman stood as one enchanted until the

playing had ceased. He did not speak until Kreisler had tenderly

returned the instrument to the antique box, with the gentleness

of a mother putting her baby to bed. "Take the violin," the

Englishman burst out; "it is yours. I have no right to keep it.

It ought to belong to the man who can play it as you did." --A.

B. Rhinow

In 1904 William Borden, heir to the Borden Dairy Estate, graduated from a Chicago high school a millionaire. His parents gave him a trip around the world. Traveling through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe gave Borden a burden for the world's hurting people. Writing home, he said, "I'm going to give my life to prepare for the mission field."

When he made this decision, he wrote in the back of his Bible two words: "No Reserves." Turning down high-paying job offers after graduating from Yale University, he entered two more words in his Bible: "No Retreats."

Completing studies at Princeton Seminary, Borden sailed for China to work with Muslims, stopping first at Egypt for some preparation. While there he was stricken with cerebral meningitis and died within a month. A waste, you say! Not in God's plan. In his Bible underneath the words "No Reserves" and "No Retreats," he had written the words "No Regrets."

The Koh-i-nor diamond is among the most spectacular in the world. Queen Victoria received it as a gift from a maharajah when he was a lad. Later as a grown man this maharajah visited Queen Victoria again. He requested that the stone be brought from the Tower of London to Buckingham Palace. The maharajah took the diamond and, kneeling before the Queen, gave it back to her, saying, "Your Majesty, I gave this jewel when I was a child, too young to know what I was doing. I want to give it to you again in the fullness of my strength, with all of my heart and affection, and gratitude, now and forever, fully realizing all that I do."

As believers in Jesus Christ, we need to reiterate those words offering again our lives to Jesus Christ: "I want to give You back my life, Lord Jesus, that I gave You several years ago. I want to give it again to You with gratitude, fully cognizant of all that I am doing."

====================================

Another version from David Jeremiah:

Queen Victoria received the stunning Kohinoor Diamond as a gift from a maharajah when he was a boy. Later as a grown man this maharajah visited Queen Victoria again and asked for the stone. Taking the diamond and kneeling, the maharajah gave it to the Queen again, saying, “Your Majesty, I gave you this jewel when I was a child, too young to know what I was doing. I want to give it to you again in the fullness of my strength, with all my heart and affection and gratitude, now and forever, fully realizing all that I do.”

David Jeremiah observes, “Many Christians gave their hearts to Jesus as a child, but how wonderful to come with greater knowledge and maturity and to say, ‘I know I’m Yours, but I want to be Yours with all my heart and affection, fully realizing all that I do.’

“Sometimes we need to renew our vows to Him, just as Peter did following the Resurrection. Sacrificing for God is worth it, and a renewed commitment is like a fresh start with a tried and true Friend.” (Turning Point Daily Devotional, 1/12/07)

[see also HolwickID #17247]

The story is told about a Russian lumberjack who lived many years ago when Russia was at war with the armies of Napoleon. Napoleon's troops seemed to be winning as they were advancing up into Russia. All the Russian people had retreated into the highlands except for this one fearless Russian lumberjack, who kept cutting down trees as the enemy approached. They captured him and decided to brand him and take him to Napoleon as a token of their conquest. After building the fire and getting the iron red hot, they placed the letter N into the man's palm. Before they realized what was happening, the lumberjack took the ax and cut off that hand, and spoke in his Russian language, "Now there is no part of me that does not belong to Russia."

This is surrender. What would happen if all Chirstians could testify that there is no part of their lives that does not belong to Jesus Chirst?

George Whitefield wrote: "I can call heaven and earth to witness that when the bishop laid his hands upon me, I gave myself up to be a martyr for Him who hung upon the cross for me. I have thrown myself blindfolded and without reserve into his Almighty Hands."

(see also HolwickID #848)

The expression "to fill the hand," used so often in the Hebrew of the

Old Testament and translated consecrate in the Authorized Version, is

a reference to the custom of placing a sacrificial offering in the

hands of the new priest, to symbolize his authority to offer

sacrifices and his consecration to the work of the priesthood. This

suggests to us that the Holy Spirit must give the seeker for entire

sanctification the spiritual conception that he has something to

offer. (To fill the hand in Hebrew -- see \reference{Exodus

28:41}{Exodus 28:41}, \reference{29:9}{Exodus 29:9},

######\reference{2 Chron 29:31}{2 Chronicles 29:31} The Strongs

numbers are 04390 and 03027)

######- The Meaning of Sanctification C.E. Brown 167

"The essence of consecration is in the sentence, `yield yourselves

unto God.' If you yield yourself, you yield everything else. All the

details are included in the one surrender of yourself. Yield yourself

unto God. Consecration is not to God's service, not to his work, not

to a life of obedience and sacrifice, not to the church, not to the

Christian Endeavor, not to the missionary cause, nor even to the cause

of God. It is to God himself. Yield yourself to God and your work,

your service, your obedience, your sacrifice, your right place and

your alotted duty will all follow in good time. Consecration is the

willingness and the resolution, the purpose to be and to do and to

suffer all God's will. Consecration being a definite transaction and

made once for all does not need to be repeated unless we have failed

to keep it. We consecrate just as we are married. The vow is upon us

and in the force of that vow we walk all of our days." - Dougan

Clark Meaning of Sanctification, Brown 184

"I do most joyfully yield myself entirely TO BE THINE.

Therefore this soul which thou hast made in thine own image is placed

wholly in thy hands to do with as seemeth good. This mind shall think

only for thy glory and the promotion of thy cause. This will is thy

will, O God! The spirit within this body is now thine do with it as

thou wilt, in life and death. This body is thy temple forevermore.

These hands shall work only for thee. These eyes to see thy adorable

works and the holy law. This tongue and these lips to speak only

holiness unto the Lord. These ears to hear thy voice alone. These feet

to walk only in thy ways. And all my being is now and forever thine.

In signing my name to this solemn covenant I am aware that I bind

myself to live, act, speak, think,. move, sit, stand up, lie down,

eat, drink, hear, see, feel and whatsoever I do all the days and

nights of my life to do all continually and exclusively to the glory

of God. I must have nothing in my possession or under my control but

such as I can consistently write upon, "Holiness unto the Lord." The

place where I live must be wholly dedicated to God. Every item of

goods or property that is under my control is hereby conveyed fully

over into the hands of God to be used by Him as He will and to be

taken from my stewardship whenever the great Owner wishes, and it is

not my business at all.

She whom I call my wife belongs forevermore to God. Use her as thou

wilt and where thou wilt, and leave her with me, or take her from me,

just as seemeth good to thee and to thy glory. Amen."

######- D.S. Warner Meaning of Sanctification, Brown 179-180

E. Stanley Jones has said: “Cease from struggling. Don't try to do this yourself; let Him do it ... You will be tempted to struggle and try instead of relax and trust and receive. When I gave all trying over, simply trusting, I was blessed.... As long as you are trying, you are on the basis of yourself; but the moment you begin to trust, you are on the basis of Christ; He becomes the center, not you.”

-- The Way, 76

Faraday, the great chemist, learned a great lesson in boyhood by

a very childish experience. As a little lad, humbly earning his bread

by selling newspapers in the street, he was waiting outside the office

of an Edinburgh paper for the morning issue, and thrust his head and

arms through the railings of the iron gate. He was a born

netaphysician and began to speculate on which side of the railings he

was. "My head and hands are on one side," he said to himself, "and my

heart and body are on the other." The gate was opened hastily before

he could disengage himself, and the wrench he received taught him, as

he said in after life, that all true work required head and heart and

hands to be on the same side.

- {The Sunday at Home}

See \reference{Mark 12:30}{Mark 12:30}

A converted Chinese, when in America on a visit, was deeply

impressed with the superficiality of many professing Christians. On

one occasion, with an expressive sweep of the arm, he said, "When the

disciples in my country come out from the world, they come clean out."

- from the {Sunday School Chronicle}

Once a chicken and a pig took a trip together. After many miles and many hours on the road, they got hungry. Finally, the sharp-eyed chicken spotted a restaurant. Approaching the door they read a sign which said, "Ham and Eggs: Our Specialty!" "Hold it!" shouted the pig. "What's the matter?" asked the chicken. "Plenty. All they want from you is a contribution. They are asking me for total commitment!"

________

[Holwick: this illustration is so well known it creates more groans than insight]

1. How I praise Thee, precious Saviour,

That Thy love laid hold of me;

Thou hast saved and cleansed and filled me

That I might Thy channel be.

Chorus

Channels only, blessed Master –

But with all Thy wondrous pow'r

Flowing through us, Thou canst use us

Evr'y day and evr'y hour.

2. Emptied that Thou shouldest fill me,

A clean vessel in Thy hand,

With no pow'r but as Thou givest

Graciously with each command.

3. Witnessing Thy pow'r to save me,

Setting free from self and sin,

Thou who boughtest to possess me,

In Thy fullness, Lord, come in.

4. Jesus, fill now with Thy Spirit

Hearts that full surrender know,

That the streams of living water

From our inner man may flow.

*

It's a battle every mother has fought in every generation. It's that three word charge that can mean the difference between getting sick or being well - "Wash your hands." Of course, it would be OK with most kids if washing their hands was a monthly thing, or at most, you know, like once a week. Our kids did it. I suppose you know at least one other who has done it. See, they come in from doing who knows what with those hands and say, "They're not dirty." Now, there may not be any brown slime dripping from those little hands, but you can be sure they're carrying plenty of nasty little critters. And it's amazing what happens when you get some soap and water on those hands - the sink is suddenly covered with some pretty yucky-looking stuff coming off those hands! Surprise, kid - you couldn't see it, but your hands were dirty, man. You just didn't realize how dirty!

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "The Dirty Hands Detector."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Chronicles 30:15, where some folks who thought they were clean found out about some dirt they didn't know they were carrying. It's the time of King Hezekiah, one of the greatest of Judah's rulers. When he takes the throne, the nation is a moral and spiritual sewer, with idolatrous altars literally on every street comer. But Hezekiah turns his entire culture around and leads the people into a powerful, national revival.

But it started with the spiritual leaders. It still does today. After cleaning out the neglected and defiled temple of God, Hezekiah calls the people together for a national Passover celebration. It's been a long time since the people of God have observed this holy remembrance of God's deliverance. Listen to what happens to the spiritual leaders, the priests and the Levites, as they begin to prepare for this holy moment. Here's what it says: "They slaughtered the Passover lamb ... The priests and the Levites were ashamed and consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the temple of the Lord. Then they took up their regular positions." Here the leaders are, in the middle of preparing for a service, and suddenly they stop what they're doing. They're ashamed. Suddenly, they are deeply aware of their own sin, their own compromise, their own failures. What do they do to get over the shame? They consecrate themselves to God ... they get rid of their garbage.

There's something very powerful here - something that any of us who have been given any spiritual leadership needs to absorb. Like these priests and Levites, you may have been entrusted with some spiritual responsibility - teaching, leading, broadcasting, parenting, preaching, counseling, organizing or administering God's work. Look what happened to the spiritual leaders in Hezekiah's day. As they began to handle the holy, they realized they were not holy enough to handle it. They didn't realize what dirt there was on their hands until they began to handle holy things.

That's exactly what should be happening to you and me as we do the work God has given us - seeing the dirt we need to deal with before we handle the holy. First, we need to always remember we are handling the very things of God - our holy, holy, holy God. Do not ever let your work for Him become careless, mechanical, self-serving. It's a solemn - even dangerous - mistake to handle the holy without clean hands. That's why God says in Isaiah 52:11, "Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure, you who carry the vessels of the Lord."

Serving Christ is not fun an games, or just a little spiritual exercise. It requires a holy life. It produces a holy life, if you let it sink in what an incredible honor it is to be asked by God to handle what is His. Like a child, you may look at what people can see of you and say, "My hands aren't dirty." But let your Savior begin to show you what you're doing that He can't bless - let Him cleanse your hands before you touch the sacred.

No child should handle food without clean hands ... no child of God should handle the holy work of God without hands, without a heart, that God would call clean.

________________

Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. "Practical Answers to Real Life Issues"

”I am dwelling in a generation to whom nothing is holy. Sacredness is an aspect people never assume toward anything. They revel in bald frankness which enervates moral consciousness. I feel it affecting me … Oh, to be holy! Just to sense for a moment that I have somehow, however small, simulated some measure of Thy character, Lord Jesus. A word from Horatius Bonar spoke to me tonight. ‘Holiness is not austerity or gloom; it is the offspring of conscious, present Peace.’”

— The Journals of Jim Elliot from 1949 — Christian Reader, Sept/Oct 1995

#25187

*

That Costly Spikenard

“Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.” (John 12:3).

Three times in the Gospel records we come across Mary of Bethany, and each time she is at the Master’s feet. We first meet her in Luke 10:38, 39, “It came to pass that He entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard (was listening to) His Word.” Next, in John 11, we see her mourning her brother Lazarus’ death, and she carries her grief to the feet of Jesus: She fell down at His feet, saying unto Him, “Lord, if Thou hadst been here my brother had not died.” The third and last time we see her is in John 12, where, six days before our Lord’s crucifixion, she breaks that precious “alabastrine” adoringly at His feet: “Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spike- nard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.”

From these three fleeting glimpses of Mary, we see a three-fold example from which we may learn much, if we will. She sat at His feet to learn (Luke 10:39). She took to His feet her grief (John 11:32). She gave at His feet her best (John 12:3). It is on the third of these that we are thinking about now. In that 12th chapter of John, where we see Mary bending with her costly gift at the Lord’s feet, we have an exquisite illustration of consecration to Christ.

There are five prominent figures in the story: Martha, Lazarus, Mary, Judas, and the Lord Jesus. Busy Martha typifies service; Lazarus (feasting) communion; Mary consecration; Judas the world’s attitude to consecration; while our Lord represents the divine attitude.

Mary’s bringing of that precious ointment to our Lord’s feet illustrates consecration in the following ways:

(1) It was “very costly”:

(2) It involved being “broken’:

(3) It shed fragrance.

(4) It was discerning – see our Lord’s comment.

(5) It was misunderstood by others.

(6) It was prized and blessed by our Lord.

Judas represents the world’s attitude. It was the attitude of condemnation — “Why this waste?” (Mark 14:4) The objection was plausible — “Why not sold and given to the poor?” Yet it was false and hypocritical — John 12:6. The world as represented by Judas stands condemned by hisstory, as well as by Christ; for consecration to Christ has done more for the poor and the suffering than any worldly treasurer’s bag ever did. All of our poverty alleviating movements have had a Christian origin.

Our Lord represents the divine attitude. By Him Mary’s lovely sacrifice was praised — a “good work” (Matthew 26:10); and it was prized — “Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.” Read those words over again. Do they not indicate that Mary’s lovely act of devotion meant something inexpressibly precious to Christ? So it is when our hearts are truly His.

Jesus is not rebuking the disciples, their faith was real, but it was disturbed; it was not at work in actual things. The disciples were scattered to their own interests, alive to interests that never were in Jesus Christ. After we have been perfectly related to God in sanctification, our faith has to be worked out in actualities. We shall be scattered, not into work, but into inner desolations and made to know what internal death to God's blessings means. Are we prepared for this? It is not that we choose it, but that God engineers our circumstances so that we are brought there. Until we have been through that experience, our faith is bolstered up by feelings and by blessings. When once we get there, no matter where God places us or what the inner desolations are, we can praise God that all is well. That is faith being worked out in actualities.

"... and shall leave Me alone." Have we left Jesus alone by the scattering of His providence? Because we do not see God in our circumstances? Darkness comes by the sovereignty of God. Are we prepared to let God do as He likes with us - prepared to be separated from conscious blessings? Until Jesus Christ is Lord, we all have ends of our own to serve; our faith is real, but it is not permanent yet. God is never in a hurry; if we wait, we shall see that God is pointing out that we have not been interested in Himself but only in His blessings. The sense of God's blessing is elemental.

"Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Spiritual grit is what we need.

When I was about twelve or thirteen years old, I was asked by our Sunday School teacher if I would be willing to play Joseph in the Nativity mime that Christmas. I must add as kindly but as truthfully as I can that the church itself was so rankly liberal that the Gospel was lost under the weight of ceremony. I was on the verge of saying no to this request, for I really did not know what all that meant. But then I was told what I would need to do: basically, to walk Mary to the altar with her arm in mine; stand there, turn around, have her put her arm in mine, and walk out. No words, no big acting skill needed. When I met who was going to play Mary, I decided this would be quite a thrill.

I arrived at the church early and was walking around with time to kill. At the altar, I saw a silver bowl with wafers in it on a table. Having very little knowledge of what this could be, I took a handful of those wafers and enjoyed them as I admired all the great art and statuary in that fine cathedral. Suddenly I saw the vicar coming out of the vestry and walking straight towards me. I politely greeted him and continued my enjoyment of the biscuits in hand. He stopped, stared, and quite out of control, shouted, “What are you doing?” As surprised by his outburst as he was at my activity, I said, “I am Joseph in the Nativity mime.” That evidently was not what he was asking. “What is that in your hand?” he demanded. As he stared me down from head to toe, he could see that there was more in my pocket, too. I received the most incomprehensible tongue-lashing to which I had ever been subjected. The word that he kept repeating was the word “sacrilege.” I chose never to check out its meaning for I was sure this was the end of the line for me, having done something I did not even know how to pronounce.

Years later, I could not help but chuckle when I was reading G. Campbell Morgan's definition of sacrilege. He said that it is normally defined as taking something that belongs to God and using it profanely. We all know the instance in the book of Daniel when Belshazzar took the vessels in the temple and used it for his night of carousing and blasphemy. That was a sacrilegious use. But sacrilege, said Morgan, does not only consist of such profane use. In its worst form it consists of taking something and giving it to God when it means absolutely nothing to you. That was the charge God brought against his people when He said, “You bring the lame and the blind and the sick as an offering, is it not evil?” (See Malachi 1:8).

Conversely, giving all that is your best to God is worship at its core. This cannot be done without the sacrifice of the acclaim and adulation of the world. If we were to only pause for a few moments and take stock, we would see how close we all come to sacrilege each day. Do we give Him the best of our time? Do we give Him the best of our energies? Do we give Him the best of our thinking? Do we give Him the best of our wealth? Do we give Him the best of our dreams and plans? Or does the world get our best and God merely gets the leftovers? As we look to the New Year, might our lives echo the heartfelt words of Charles Wesley:

O Thou who camest from above

The pure celestial fire to impart.

Kindle a flame of sacred love

On the mean altar of my heart!

There let it for Thy glory burn

With inextinguishable blaze,

And trembling to its source return

In humble prayer and fervent praise.

Jesus, confirm my heart's desire

To work and speak and think for Thee;

Still let me guard the holy fire,

And still stir up Thy gift in me.

Ready for all thy perfect will,

My acts of faith and love repeat,

Till death Thine endless mercies seal,

And make the sacrifice complete. (1)

________

1. Charles Wesley, “O Thou Who Camest From Above.”

________

Copyright © 2004 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

*

What kind of life do you want to lead? A life that creates a lasting impression, chiseled through imperishable deeds?

In order to live this kind of life -- a life written upon everlasting rock instead of temporal wind or waves -- we must have a goal that makes our lives significant. A purpose worth living and dying for, a passion that transcends our limited world, a cause bigger than we are -- such is the making of a life of purpose.

You can’t serve the generation that preceded you, because you weren’t there. You’ll never be able to serve the generation after you, because you won’t be there. You have to serve the generation in which you live, and you must do it by the will of God. The greatest way we can serve the generation in which we live is to live a life of purpose.

If we aren’t careful, we just let the years come and go, and we’re too tired, too busy or too distracted to find our purpose. We need to change from a passive, lethargic existence to a powerful and purposeful life. That was the secret of God’s heroes of earlier generations.

When the shepherd boy, David, decided to take on Goliath, he was disparaged by his brothers who resented his brash self-confidence. His response? “Is there not a cause?” (1 Samuel 17:29) Jesus once explained, “For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth” (John 18:37).

Have you determined what your life’s “cause” may be? Let me give you some ideas that will help.

Why did God place you on earth at this particular moment? Why did He give you the background, personality, gifts and life experiences that are yours alone? How can you find God’s purpose for life?

Give Him all there is of yourself. Say, “Here I am, Lord. Use me.” The famous Bible teacher F. B. Meyer, preaching in 1904 in Keswick, England, testified:

I remember so well when He [Jesus] came to my heart and

challenged me as to the keys of my life. Before I gave them to

Him, I put one small key in my pocket. He gave them back and

said He could not be King at all if He could not be King of

everything. I said, ‘I cannot give it; but I am willing for Thee

to take it,’ and He took it. Then they were all His.

It’s sometimes difficult to turn every area of life over to Christ, but He can only use what is wholly yielded to Him.

Ask Him to show you His purpose and plan for your life. Proverbs 3:6 says, “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

Seek Him in His Word. In Bible study, we often hear that still, small voice of God saying, “This is the way, walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21). I particularly recommend Psalm 139:16-17, where David testified, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!” God has a plan and purpose for every day of your life. It’s already mapped out.

Serve Him. Don’t wait for a lightning bolt of revelation. Find a need right now and fill it. Do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, and you’re doing it as unto Him. Jesus promised that if we are faithful in little, He will know we can be trusted with more later on.

Trust Him. Being faithful means we’re full of faith; we believe God wants to use us; He has placed us here; He will make us fruitful. Proverbs 3:5-6 says to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

Let’s give ourselves fully to His work, seeking His specific purpose for each of our lives, knowing that our labor in the Lord is carved upon the rock of eternity.

________

David Jeremiah is the founder of Turning Point for God

*

To whom would you be willing to swear undying allegiance?

During the Crimean War between Russia and Britain's allies, the "Charge of the Light Brigade" took place in 1854. British confusion was at the core of this disaster. Out of approximately 600 British cavalrymen, 247 were either killed or wounded by Russian troops. Later, though, Britain would be the victor in the Crimea.

After the dust had settled, British poet, Alfred Lord Tennyson would describe the allegiance of those soldiers with these words:

Theirs not to make reply,

Theirs not to reason why,

Theirs but to do and die:

Into the valley of death

Rode the six hundred.

Unswerving consecration was and still is the foundation of military campaigns.

Are you that devoted to your Lord and Savior? Jesus once said, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate...even his own life...he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26). Later, the Apostle Paul would make this request: "I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices...this is your spiritual act of worship." Are you willing?

Remember: God sees your mediocre life and says, "Give it up, I've got something better."

________

Holwick: I am not sure the Charge of the Light Brigade is the most convincing illustration of consecration - after all, they were slaughtered.

Have you ever wondered why, despite your sincere desire to walk with God, you still struggle with one sin issue that continually causes you to stumble? I’ll confess that has been my own experience -- though I hope you’ll understand if I don’t share the details here.

It’s a question that has perplexed me for years, and I’ve recently gotten an intriguing answer from what many of us would consider a most unlikely source.

John Owen was a leading 17th-century theologian, author of detailed commentaries and theological treatises that fill 24 volumes. He is, for most of us, an unlikely source of insight not only because he was born 390 years ago (we think only our own generation truly understands), but also because his writing was filled with the old-school “thees” and “thous” that made us so glad to see modern translations of the Bible.

Now two intrepid editors have “translated” Owen for our generation, publishing three of his classic works in one volume, under the title “Overcoming Sin and Temptation” (Crossway Books, 2006). The reading still is a challenge, but the result is that now I have benefited from the profound insights of a spiritual giant almost no one remembers -– on a topic our generation almost completely ignores.

Owen pointed me to Isaiah 58, in which God says that although his people “seek me day after day and delight to know my ways,” the Lord nonetheless turns a deaf ear because the people otherwise do what they please and society is filled with injustice. If the people would humble themselves before God and help the hungry and homeless, then God would give healing and cause their light “to break out like the dawn.”

The problem, Owen says, is that, like the Israelites, many of us worship God out of self-love and our obedience to Him is incomplete. The insight I found so intriguing is that God may refuse to give us victory over one sin, in Owen’s words, “to admonish us, and to humble us, perhaps to chasten and correct us for our general loose and careless walking.”

Owen writes: “God says, ‘Here is one, if he could get rid of this lust I should never hear from him again; let him wrestle with this, or he is lost.” Owen suggests that perhaps the reason I plead with God to free me from that sin is more because it distresses me, than the fact it grieves the Lord who died to set me free. Because some areas of my life are not lived God’s way, my soul remains weak and selfish and constantly provokes God, Owen says.

“Without sincerity and diligence in a universality of obedience, there is no mortification of any one perplexing lust to be obtained,” Owen asserts.

Those are challenging words for any individual whose culture tells him the goal of life is self-fulfillment, rather than serving God’s purposes. We all know how difficult it is to be completely obedient when society bombards us from every side with promises of money, power and sex. We want to honor God, but we also want to be accepted by others and to enjoy the good things our society offers. We find reasons to “go along and get along” -- convincing ourselves it doesn’t really matter.

Obedience, however, is complete or it is not obedience. The apostle who most struggled with his impulses wrote: “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:14-15 ESV). Those impulses, Peter said, “wage war against your soul.” (2:11)

When we teach and preach about salvation, we do not often mention obedience. In a society that places ultimate value on individual freedom, the Bible’s teaching that we are slaves goes against the grain. But the truth is that we all obey someone –- either God or his enemy -– and that obedience makes us slaves of one or the other. (Romans 6:16) Like a slave, I do not belong to myself, because I was bought with a price. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

It is not enough to cultivate private devotion and give ourselves to church work, to participate in whole-hearted worship, even to witness to others and participate in missions projects. If we in other areas of life are still pleasing ourselves or following our society, God rejects our religious activity, however well-intentioned. If we are ignoring the needs of the hungry and homeless, we will hear Jesus say, “Depart from me.”

That’s not easy to hear -– and God knows our hearts –- but if I want to experience freedom from that unrelenting sin, I have to give myself completely to living life God’s way -– and thoroughly root out the accommodations I have made for a culture that rejects the one who died so I could be free.

We make calls out of our own spiritual consecration, but when we get right with God He brushes all these aside, and rivets us with a pain that is terrific to one thing we never dreamed of, and for one radiant flashing moment we see what He is after, and we say – “Here am I, send me.”

This call has nothing to do with personal sanctification, but with being made broken bread and poured-out wine. God can never make us wine if we object to the fingers He uses to crush us with. If God would only use His own fingers, and make me broken bread and poured-out wine in a special way! But when He uses someone whom we dislike, or some set of circumstances to which we said we would never submit, and makes those the crushers, we object. We must never choose the scene of our own martyrdom. If ever we are going to be made into wine, we will have to be crushed; you cannot drink grapes. Grapes become wine only when they have been squeezed.

I wonder what kind of finger and thumb God has been using to squeeze you, and you have been like a marble and escaped? You are not ripe yet, and if God had squeezed you, the wine would have been remarkably bitter. To be a sacramental personality means that the elements of the natural life are presenced by God as they are broken providentially in His service. We have to be adjusted into God before we can be broken bread in His hands. Keep right with God and let Him do what He likes, and you will find that He is producing the kind of bread and wine that will benefit His other children.

Illustration: If at one of our church potlucks the cooks decided to serve us leftovers, how would we feel?

Say they prepared a scrumptious feast but instead of serving it to us they set the best aside for themselves and served us what was left?

Say the pastor’s wife took the new sack of potatoes home for her family, then mashed the old spuds under the sink, the ones with the mold, for the guests?

Commentary: In far too many ways the church is treating God in much the same way? How often do we set aside the best for ourselves and give God what’s left over?

Oh some will say, “I always write my tithe check first.” But let’s ask them, “What about your service to the Lord? Do you serve Him first before you serve others or yourself?” Let’s ask them, “What about your talents? Does He get the best of your ability and your intellect?

The Church must remember the main point of the “widow’s mite”? Recall that the Lord’s focus wasn’t the amount which was given, it was the heart attitude before, during, and after the act.

Twenty years ago I surrendered my sexuality to God. After days of wrestling with Him, I knocked on my wife’s door and asked her if I could come home. She said yes, and we began, inch by inch, the journey of surrender, restoration, redemption and rebuilding that we remain on today.

I had left her months earlier after having surrendered myself to my sexuality. For most of my life I had fought feelings and desires I did not want. When I finally gave up the fight, I felt liberated.

The inner tension that had defined so much of my life seemed to disappear. I felt free from the confines of my traditional sexual boundaries, free of the urge to hide myself and free of secrets.

Yet something was “off” inside me. Over time, I felt less free and began to feel unsafe. Everything I read said I should embrace it, learn to love it, and live with it. Escape was described as an exercise in futility. So I pressed on.

On Easter weekend 1997, through a testimony of a man who struggled as I did, I reconnected with Jesus. But it was not the Jesus I thought I had known. It was a very real, very strong, very powerful Jesus. I realized that He was offering me the freedom that I thought surrendering to my sexuality would give me.

He offered me love -- a love that loved me where I was and loved me too much to leave me there. And so, on April 17, 1997, I held up a white flag and surrendered myself to Jesus.

For years I had made demands of God under the guise of prayer, and when He failed to meet my demands, I decided that He either lacked the power to meet my demands or that He simply didn’t care. But on that day in 1997, I had no expectations or demands. I knew without a doubt that He was calling me back to Himself and to give up the fight.

Instead of demanding of God the result I wanted, I simply said, “God, I give this all to You. Do with it what You will.” He accepted my surrender, and nothing looks like I anything I could have imagined.

Over the years, people have often asked me about the current state of my sexuality, and about specific changes that might or might have happened in my desires. When I admit the existence of lingering struggles or the reality of ongoing issues, there is often this unspoken (and sometimes spoken) thought that surrendering my sexuality to God might not have been worth it. Other strugglers often seem to want proof that God will do certain things as they tally the pros and cons of surrender.

But surrender is not an act of assessing pros and cons. We often forget that we are not in a position to bargain when we surrender, coming to some sort of terms as to what we will keep and what we will give up.

We simply surrender all.

In 2 Corinthians 5:15, Paul says that Christ died for all, “that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” Two verses later Paul ties the idea of living for Christ with the idea of becoming a new creation. Ceding control of our lives to Jesus is the essence of what it means to be “new.”

There have been times when I have wanted to retract my surrender. While Paul says that we don’t regard “new creations” according to flesh, our flesh still exerts itself. I have been blessed with an amazing wife and many good friends who have reminded me of truth when I was tempted by the lie that what I walked away from was better than what I now have.

When I first began this journey, I was afraid of what I might look like when God was finished with me. But God has been faithful to reveal things to me as I am ready for them, and to prepare me for each new and exciting part of the redeemed and transformed life I have in Him.

Now, 20 years later, I feel safer and freer than I did 20 years ago. God-willing, 20 years from now I will look back on today and be equally amazed at how my life, under His care, love, leadership and ownership, has changed for the better.

The paradox of surrender is that in it we find freedom. In surrender, I found joy and purpose and security and abundant life. I have also discovered that I assert control and fight against God in many other areas of my life, areas like money and relationships and affirmation and acceptance.

As we live surrendered lives, we all have things that fight against the freedom God has for us, and in all of those things we are called to surrender. And as was true when I surrendered my sexuality 20 years ago, when we hand those things over to God, He does not leave us empty.

Instead, we get Jesus. We get the great liberator who lives inside of us -- empowering, enlightening, encouraging and embracing us just as we are, yet destined for so much more.

________

Mike Goeke is associate pastor of First Baptist Church in San Francisco.

Bind us together, Lord,

bind us together with cords

that cannot be broken.

Bind us together, Lord,

bind us together,

bind us together in love.

There is only one God,

there is only one King;

There is only one body,

that is why I sing.

Bind us together, Lord,

bind us together with cords

that cannot be broken.

Bind us together, Lord,

bind us together,

bind us together in love.