Consecrate Yourselves Series

Henry Blackaby tells the story of a missionary family assigned to a predominately Moslem urban center in 1985. After decades of work they had started only 5 small churches. Some friends asked them to consider going to a place where the people were more responsive to the gospel. But, they were convinced God had called them to this city. They didn’t know how to reach this city but they knew God did.

With fourteen other believers they agreed to pray until God showed them how He would reach this city. During one of their all-night prayer meetings they sensed God saying to them, “Let Me tell you why I can’t reach this city for Christ. I don’t have any clean vessels to work with.”

They were missionaries - those you would least expect needed to be cleansed! They fell on the dirt floor of their worship center and wept as they confessed their sins. God began to reveal everything in lives that hindered his work. As revival began among that small group they began to speak the of Word boldly in the marketplace and to tell about love and power of Jesus. God then began to demonstrate His power at work through these now clean vessels. Over the next 3 1/2 years 132K people professed their faith in Jesus and 151 more churches were started by these now renewed believers

Before God can do any great work through us, His people; He must do a great work in us! Let’s ask ourselves today, “Am I a clean vessel through which God can do His work?

Joshua was leading God's people as they were are about to enter their Promised Land where God will use them to reveal himself and his purposes to the nations living there. But they first needed to consecrate themselves.

To be consecrated to God is to be set apart for His use. Peter says in 2 Peter 3:14,“Make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him,” when speaking about being prepared for Jesus’ second coming. The point being that being ready means making every effort to live a consecrated life – free from contamination of this world, so that no charges can be brought against us as we live our daily lives in harmony and at peace with God.

A. To Consecrate Ourselves is to SEPARATE Ourselves

To consecrate something is to set it apart for a special use. A Savings Account, for example, is money set apart. To consecrate oneself is to be separated from anything keeping us from being used for God’s purpose (not just sinful things). As the savings account money is separated from money used for other things (rent, food) we need to make sure nothing, not even good things (work or even family) is keeping us from being available for God to use for his purposes.

A pastor was trying to describe the intimacy God wants with us with another Christian as they were drinking tea together. He took a lump of sugar and stirred it into tea. A few minutes later asked, “Can you tell me where sugar is now, and where the tea is?” “No,” man said, “you have put them together and one has become lost in the other; they cannot now be separated.” God wants us to be separated unto Him to point where we cannot be separated from him.

B. To Consecrate Ourselves is to PURIFY Ourselves

To be useful to God we must be separated from what is unholy.

2 Corinthians 7:1,“Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”

We understand our need to bathe regularly or to wash up after getting dirty working in yard. We get contaminated coming into contact with dirty things.

We also need to wash up spiritually out of reverence for God. How do we wash up? 1. We Bathe in His Blood – the Priests of the OT were required to offer blood sacrifices in preparation for entering the Holy of Holies – the place where God dwelt; while we have gained access into God’s presence once and for all by the blood of Lamb - Hebrews 9:12-14.

2. Being Filled w/His HS. (NLT), ”Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, let the HS fill and control you.” What is the most effective way to remove air from glass? Fill it with water! The most effective way to remove the impurities of sin from our lives is to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

How do we let the HS fill and control us? We draw near to him, we get honest with him, we listen to him, and we agree with him that what he says is sin, is sin. James 4:8, “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.”