We have read in the "Sit" series the absolutely amazing grace that God has provided for us in His love. What is our response to His love?

Romans 12:1-2 says, "I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, in order to prove by you what is that good and pleasing and perfect will of God."

This Scripture says that in view of all the amazing things God has done for us, that our reasonable response should be to present our entire life to Him, offering our body to Him a living sacrifice. This is compared to the traditional sacrifice at the altar, which in the Old Testament was a complete burning of the sacrifice of consecration. Now God is saying that He still wants a sacrifice of consecration, but this time when we offer our bodies we should continue to live.

This type of consecration can be easily defined by looking at a marriage. See Ephesians 5:25. When two people get married, they consecrate to each other, or they state "I am totally yours and you are totally mine. You will no longer date other men or women, you are mine and you can depend upon me to be there for you." Then they swear it in a blood covenant by taking communion with bread and the fruit of the vine. It includes loosing your name and taking on another name, changing one's family through blood. It is absolute committal, making that one first and last, forgetting about all other people and things.

Why is it so powerful?

Demons flee when you are married to Jesus! James 4:2-10; Acts 19:15 are just two Scriptures that tell about this.

"And the evil spirit answered and said, 'Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?'" (Acts 19:15).

"You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"? But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up" (James 4:2-10).

Notice in Romans 12:1-2 that there is a very good benefit for this type of consecration.

"I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, in order to prove by you what is that good and pleasing and perfect will of God. It says that we will "prove the perfect will of God."

This word "prove" comes from when someone puts gold in a refiner's fire to burn off the junk and end up with pure gold. It does not say that we will know the will of God, but that we will prove it. That means to me that as we present ourselves to God complete and totally, that He will make sure that we will walk out the will of God. The people we see and speak to and the things that come into our paths will potentially be the will of God. Many of these situations that confront us will be tough things and unpleasant things; however we will "prove" them to be the will of God. We will convert them through the fire to be the perfect will of God for our lives.

Why did the Rich Young Ruler refuse the offer of consecration? What did he trust in? What do you trust in?

The Rich Young Ruler missed it. He could have been one of the wealthiest men for God in the Kingdom if he had given to the poor.

Matthew 19:16-30 says, "And behold, one came and said to Him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? And He said to him, Why do you call Me good? There is none good but one, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments. He said to Him, Which? Jesus said, You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, honor your father and mother, and, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The young man said to Him, I have kept all these things from my youth up; what do I lack yet? Jesus said to him, If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in Heaven. And come, follow Me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. Then Jesus said to His disciples, Truly I say to you that a rich man will with great difficulty enter into the kingdom of Heaven. And again I say to you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When His disciples heard, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus looked on them and said to them, With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Then answering Peter said to Him, Behold, we have forsaken all and have followed You. Therefore what shall we have? And Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of His glory, you also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. But many who are first shall be last; and the last shall be first."

What was his problem? The Rich Young Ruler had his powerful political position, his great riches, his youth, and he was a "religious" person who went to "church" and obeyed God's laws (he thought). But his heart condemned him. He was far from God. He had too much to trust in! God would have returned his giving more than he could have imagined. Proverbs 19:17 says, "He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and that which he has given He (God) will repay to him." The man missed a big harvest! Matthew 6:4 says you can't trust in both God and something else. Jesus said to His men that all of this was impossible with man, but possible with God (if we are consecrated, God will trust us with money). Look at Matthew 20 when Jesus gave his men an example of how things work. They work by grace, but by grace to those who abandon.

A child has nothing to trust in except his parents. Abandonment is the key.

A child cannot control things when they are taken away; he can pitch a fit, but he is not strong enough to possess anything.

Money is not the only thing that people trust in. Whatever you are trusting in to get you through life outside of total abandonment to God must be offered up. God does not always ask every person to give away all of his/her money. But God is always after the one thing that keeps us from total abandonment, or consecration, to Him.

God did indeed ask me to give away all of my money when I got saved in 1979. I did obey Him. It took a few years, but little by little I gave and gave and gave until I was totally empty financially. I kept looking for the return, but it did not come immediately. Then one day He spoke and told me, "Larry, you have sown the corruptible, that which you have earned by your own power (and even deceit). Now you will reap the incorruptible from Me". I can tell you since that day I have not gone without one thing. It has not always been comfortable and easy, but God has come through with every financial need I have ever had. I received the Kingdom of God for my finances - amazing grace!

If we offer up what we have, we receive grace in return!

Look at the Rich Young Ruler in Matthew 19. He had it all together. Jesus asked him to use the things that his own abilities had produced and to use them as seeds for something better. He refused. Then Jesus taught his staff about GRACE in Matthew 20.

Look at Elisha in the Old Testament. I Kings 19:19. Elijah was the main prophet representing God, God's work through the Holy Spirit and God's Word. He came to Elisha and anointed him to take his place. That would be like the Holy Spirit coming to you today and calling you to work for God. Elisha was a wealthy farmer. He had at least 12 yoke of oxen, a yoke (farming equipment) and several acres producing good farm produce. He was successful in the world, he was a good performer, and he had accomplished much. God did not even ask him to give it all up, Elisha just did. He wanted to follow God more than anything. He killed the oxen, had a town barbecue using his yoke and fed all of his neighbors a steak dinner.

What was the result of Elisha's sacrifice? He received grace. He received something that he did not deserve, something that he could not perform, something that was beyond his wildest imaginations. Elisha divided the Jordon river, healed the polluted waters, procured water for an entire army, did the miracle of increasing the widow's oil, raised a child from death, healed the polluted "pottage" or stew, fed a multitude by a miracle, healed the leper Naaman, caused iron to swim, disclosed the plans of the Syrian king to Israel, smote the Syrians with blindness, prophesied for a famine stricken city and watched plenty arrive, secured restoration of land for the Shunammite woman, prophesied on his death bed and even was responsible for a post mortem (after his death) miracle from his grave.

What was his secret? His desire for the reception of a double portion of grace enabled him to live in the spirit of continual victory. In today's language, and from the Lord's point of view, grace is not something that God just hands out to us in a cafeteria line when we are in need. The Bible is clear, grace comes with the Holy Spirit, Who is called THE SPIRIT OF GRACE (Zechariah 12:10). We cannot receive grace outside of the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 2:10 says that we are saved by grace through faith, and even that faith is a gift of God, not of ourselves lest we should boast. Most of the time even the Holy Spirit comes via the Word of God. "My Words are Spirit and they are life" (John 6:63).

Here is the principle. Man was not created to live by his own works. Matthew 4:4 says, "Jesus answered, It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Man was created to live by grace through faith in God's Word. But that grace usually will not work for us if we are strong, or think we are strong in ourselves. We either must know that we are failures, or we must purposely give up those things that we feel can make us successful. It is stated in I Corinthians 15.

Sow the perishable seed, what you can produce, and you reap the imperishable. What a deal. Plant an old dead seed that is good for nothing, and obtain something of eternal value!

Read I Corinthians 15:1-10 and 35-50. Sow what you can accomplish, reap a crop of what God can accomplish! That is what Elisha did, that is what the Rich Young Ruler would not do. IF, the Rich Young Ruler made it to heaven, (we do not know that) what do you think a conversation between he and Elisha would sound like?

Jesus taught His men about grace after this incident with the Rich Young Ruler.

Matthew 20:1-16 says, "For the kingdom of Heaven is like a man, a housemaster, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. And he said to them, You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you. And they went. And he went out about the sixth and ninth hour and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, Why do you stand here all day idle? They said to him, Because no one has hired us. He said to them, You also go into the vineyard, and you shall receive whatever is right. So when evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his steward, Call the laborers and pay them their wage, beginning from the last to the first. And when they who were hired about the eleventh hour came, they each one received a denarius. But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they also each one received a denarius. And receiving it they murmured against the master of the house, saying, These last have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them and said, Friend, I do you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take yours, and go; I will give to this last one the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I want with my own? Is your eye evil because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last, for many are called, but few are chosen."

The ones who were waiting in the marketplace for a job all the way into the late afternoon were probably not as well qualified, perhaps even handicapped or disabled. Yet they continued to wait. The story does not tell us about the ones who did not wait in the market place, who trusted in what they could do. This is not a story about being lazy, or about God blessing not working hard, no way! This is a story about God seeing those who need grace, and giving it to them. If we are proud like the Rich Young Ruler, we will not receive much grace. "God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6). In truth, we are all like those who were handicapped and did not get the job until the late afternoon, but many of us do not realize it yet.

When will you experience Heaven, now while you are living, or after you die?

I believe that Jesus was telling His men that the ones who were weak in their natural abilities would experience the Kingdom of God now on this earth before they die. And the ones who feel that they are strong and have a lot of things to trust in will receive the Kingdom, but after they leave this earth, or perhaps after they realize that they are not so strong. Notice in Matthew chapter 20:1 that Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven is like something. Then he goes on to tell a story about when people receive the Kingdom. He was encouraging us that we can live in God's Kingdom now. Matthew 4:17 says, " From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent! For the kingdom of Heaven is at hand."

For the weak and dependent the Kingdom is for this life and the next; for the strong and the proud or the "first," they will receive it when they die (or perhaps not at all). Thank God that the Gospel is for the weak, poor, sick and disabled, not for the strong.

Grace means receiving a FAVOR. When we ask for a favor, it is something we do not deserve, we did not work for and probably do not expect to get. When you work 8 hours you do not ask your boss to do you a favor and pay you, no he owes you.

How does all of this apply to your consecration?

Whenever you offer to God those things in the natural that make you strong and self-sufficient, whenever you totally abandon yourself to Him and rid yourself of whatever is giving you something to trust in besides Him, He responds by giving you the reality of the Kingdom of God right now! He responds by giving you grace for all of your needs, the Kingdom way, not your way.

Remember Romans 12:1-2, "I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, in order to prove by you what is that good and pleasing and perfect will of God."

The rest of Romans 12, 13 and 14 shows some very practical ways to present ourselves a living sacrifice.

The real test in life is how we live out the daily workload, the daily grind, and the small things in life. It is in how we treat those around us when we don't feel good, etc. God is watching our faithfulness in little things, but to Him they are not little, but big!

Romans 12

Renew our minds through the Word of God.

Don't be conformed to the world's standards.

Don't think too highly of yourself compared to others.

Pursue the natural gifts God gave to you.

Let your love be sincere.

Hate evil.

Be zealous and burning with the Spirit, serving the Lord.

Rejoice even when things are not going well.

Be a giver; share your money and hospitality.

Be honest.

Live at peace with others if it depends upon you.

Never avenge yourselves or take revenge.

If your enemy is hungry or thirsty feed him or give him drink.

Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 13

Obey civil laws.

Be subject to the authorities appointed to you.

Pay your taxes.

Keep out of debt

Love one another.

Conduct yourselves honorably.

Clothe yourself with the character of Jesus.

Romans 14

Do not be critical of your weaker brother or sister

Do not pass judgment on one another

Help the weak

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