Charles Spurgeon was saved on January 6, 1850, and on February 1 he wrote the following prayer of consecration: O great and unsearchable God, who knowest my heart, and triest all my ways; with a humble dependence upon the support of Thy Holy Spirit, I yield up myself to Thee; as Thy own reasonable sacrifice, I return to Thee Thine own. I would be for ever, unreservedly, perpetually Thine; whilst I am on earth, I would serve Thee; and may I enjoy Thee and praise Thee for ever! Amen.
Though thousands of years apart, both Hezekiah, the speaker in the above passage of scripture, and Spurgeon made the same commitment – to be wholly consecrated to God. They both purposed in their hearts to give themselves totally to His Will. That’s what consecration is. A technical definition of consecration means that you are to set yourself apart from evil, turn to the Lord, and be prepared to be used by God. The difference between sanctification and consecration is that in sanctification, God is setting you aside for His service, but in consecration, He is actually cleansing you for His service. The two go hand in hand – God sanctifies you and then consecrates you.
It is not all God though. You have a part in both sanctification and consecration. God takes into account your will – He does not force sanctification on you – He does not force consecration on you. He yields to the will of the individual. The individual must, after salvation, make a decision to separate himself from the world. Romans 8:1 tells us to “Walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Galatians 5:17 tells us to “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” He instructs us to cleanse ourselves from the world by not partaking in the world. He also tells us to draw near to God – James 4:8, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded.” In doing this, we allow Him to do the work of washing us – we begin to lose interest in worldly things. The Apostle John tells us in 1 John 2:15, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.” This is essential to our consecration.
In Matthew 23, Christ condemned the Pharisees because they cleaned the “outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.” These scurrilous Pharisees were hypocrites – “whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.” They wanted to appear consecrated, but were actually just putting on – pretending – hypocrites.
This consecration is a continual process. Christ says in Luke 14:27, “And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” This implies a continual bearing and a continual coming. It is not something that we do just once and our consecration is complete – No, it is an ongoing process. We will never get to the point on this side of the grave where we can put our cross down. 2 Corinthians 4:10 tells us, “Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus.” We must get used to bearing Him about with us – letting Him live in us – carrying Him wherever we go. This is what consecration is all about.
Quote – “People spend too much time making preparations for life on this earth, and not making preparations for eternity.” – Dr. Bob Jones, Jr.
