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Intro:
Today, we will continue the message series I started last Sunday entitled, [Lord, Take Me Deeper].
The subject of today’s message is [Consecration].
On the first day of a New Year and a new decade, my prayer is that the Lord will take us deeper in Him.
There is so much God has available for us, and we have barely scratched the surface.
As I prepared this message, I thought of when I learned to play the piano.
At first I took lessons.
To tell the truth, it was miserable.
I wanted to learn how to play the piano so I could play in church.
She wanted me to eventually play Mozart or Bach.
She started me out slow with the most boring songs.
I learned how to play Mary had a Little Lamb.
At Christmas she taught me to play Jingle Bells with just two finger.
I stuck with the books until the song was, The Little Indian Dance, then I knew those books were not for me!
I asked her if she would help me learn When We All Get to Heaven, so I could play a special at church.
She begrudgingly said yes, and I eventually quit.
After quitting lessons, I would get the hymnal and try and figure out the notes.
I got When We Get to Heaven down, then The Old Rugged Cross, next was I’ll Fly Away.
As I played the songs I read the words, which is why I know so many of them.
Finally, I arrived to page 329, key of F, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.
The words in the chorus caught my attention, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of this earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.”
The things of this earth will grow strangely dim.
In preparation for this message, I thought of those words.
Last week I spoke about our confession.
If we are to go deeper in God, it begins with a confession.
We confess Him as our Savior.
Then we should confess our desire to go deeper in Him.
Confession is not enough though.
To go where God wants us to go requires consecration.
Consecration is defined, to devote to a purpose with deep solemnity or dedication.
A recent survey, asked people to categorize themselves as Ex Christians, unchurched, habitual churchgoers, and resilient disciples.
Listen to the statements and results of the habitual churchgoer and the resilient disciple, they caught my attention.
I believe living in relationship with Jesus is the only way to find fulfillment, 49% of habitual churchgoers agreed, but 89% of resilient disciples agreed.
My relationship with Jesus brings me deep joy and satisfaction, 48% of habitual churchgoers agreed, but 90% of resilient disciples agreed.
There were a couple other questions, but notice the difference.
Those who merely go to church, those who have made a confession of faith, did not enjoy their relationship with Christ near as much a those who consider themselves disciples who desire to go deeper in Christ!
Is God interested in our confession of faith?
Absolutely.
But He wants to take us deeper.
How does our confession cause us to live a consecrated life?
Remember, it was Peter who confessed Jesus as the Messiah.
Notice what Jesus said next:
Matthew 16:
Just after they acknowledged Jesus as the Savior, Jesus informed them of the cross.
The disciples knew what this meant.
The cross did not signal victory, it denoted defeat.
Peter, being the person he was, spoke to Jesus and told Him to be quiet about all of that cross stuff.
Peter was fine with the confession, but Jesus showed consecration!
In order to fulfill His role as the Savior of the world, the cross and suffering were involved.
Our lives are changed because Jesus was devoted and dedicated to do what God wanted Him to do.
Likewise, if we are to go deeper, we need to live a consecrated life.
Let’s look at Jesus’ conversation with His disciples.
There are three areas of consecration I want us to notice: [Consecrate our Self], [Consecrate our Schedule], and [Consecrate our Shame].
Let’s begin
1.
Consecrate our Self
Let’s try and think of what the disciples expected out of Jesus.
They declared Him as the Messiah.
To them this still had connotation of physically throwing the Roman Empire and setting up a restored Israelite Kingdom on earth.
Therefore to say yes I am the Messiah and I will take the cross was the last thing they expected to hear.
Then Jesus takes it a step further.
You are correct that I am the Christ, I am correct in the fact that I will have to go to the cross.
But, if you want to follow me, you will have to take up your cross.
When we think of a cross, we think of hope, eternal life, or victory.
We know it was because of the cross we are saved.
That was not the case in the first century.
The Romans used the cross to crucify hardened criminals.
The cross was such a gruesome death it was not a punishment for Romans citizens, only foreign enemies.
One author (C.S. Lewis I think) wrote that the cross did not become common in art or in churches until those who saw one in person died.
Now Jesus informed them, if you want to follow me, you have to take up your cross.
Automatically they thought death.
But notice how often Jesus explains followers need to take up their cross.
How often?
DAILY!
Following Christ is not a Sunday event, it is a daily event.
Therefore, taking up our cross means it is not longer about our feelings, our wants, our desires, our needs, or our opinions.
It is ALL about Jesus and what He wants us to do!
It is ALL about Jesus and the way He wants us to live!
Jesus consecrated Himself.
He followed the plan the Father had for Him.
Even when He prayed for the Father to let the cup pass from Him, He consecrated His will to the plan of the Father.
How does this affect us in our quest to go deeper?
A consecrated life is nonnegotiable.
We cannot follow Christ only when it is convenient.
We must faithfully and diligently serve Him everyday.
If we want to go deeper, it is no longer about us, it is ALL about Jesus.
One author explains, “Unless a believer denies himself and takes up his cross, he is not on the same road, he is not even headed the same direction Jesus took.”
(Horton, Matthew Commentary).
If we want to go deeper in God, we have to consecrate ourselves to His purpose and plan!
2. Consecrate our Schedule
Let’s stay on this track of taking up our cross and following Him.
When we make our confession of faith, standing before us are two roads.
We can take the easy route of Christianity, which includes casual church attendance, a crisis-centered prayer life, and inconsistency in our commitment.
Or we can follow Jesus’ path, which includes consecration.
Following Him, even when times get difficult.
MSNBC interviewed a group of new vegetarians.
One of the interviewees explained their position, “I usually eat vegetarian, but I like sausage.”
They are a group that never eats meat, unless they really like it and want to.
They call themselves flexetarians.
Christians have to be careful not to live that way.
They have made a confession, but are not overly interested in consecration.
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