Difficulties Concerning Consecration

Consecration often leads to doubt because believers rely on feelings rather than faith.

The author emphasizes that consecration is an act of faith — once we surrender to God, we must trust that He accepts us, regardless of our emotions. Believers are encouraged to affirm their surrender, stand firm in faith, and rely on God's promises instead of feelings.

Christians must know the enemy's devices. He will oppose every step of the soul's progress. And, especially, he is busy when he sees a believer awakened to a hunger for righteousness. They seek to grasp all the fullness in the Lord Jesus Christ. One of the first difficulties he throws in their way is about consecration. The seeker after holiness receives the instruction to consecrate himself. He tries to do so. But at once he meets with a difficulty. He has done it, as he thinks. Yet, he feels no different.

Nothing seems changed, as he expected. He feels baffled and, in despair, asks, "How am I to know when I am consecrated?"

At this point, the one grand temptation is to feel. It always tries to assert itself, and it often succeeds.

The soul cannot believe it is consecrated until it experiences consecration. It cannot believe God has taken it, as it does not feel that. As usual, it puts feeling first and faith second. Now, God's rule is simple: faith first, feelings second, in all things. It's futile to try to change this.

To resist this temptation about consecration, take God's side. Put faith before feeling. Surrender yourself completely and without reservation to the Lord. Use your current understanding. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal anything in your heart or life that is against God. If He shows you anything, give it to the Lord immediately, and say in reference to it, “Your will be done.” If He shows you nothing, then you must believe that there is nothing, and must conclude that you have given Him all. Then you must believe that He takes you. You must not wait to feel either that you have given yourself or that He has taken you. You must simply believe it, and reckon it to be the case.

If you were to give an estate to a friend, you would have to give it, and he would have to receive it by faith. No one can hand over an estate. Its gift and reception are a mental transaction, and thus, a matter of faith. If you gave an estate to a friend for one day, you might wonder if you really had, and if he took it. You might then feel the need to renew the gift the next day. If, on the third day, you still felt uncertain, you would renew it again. You would repeat this process daily for months or years.

What would your friend think? And what would your mind be like after all that?

Your friend would doubt if you meant to give it to him. You would be so confused that you wouldn't know if the estate was yours, his, or someone else's. Now, is this not how you have acted towards God in this matter of consecration? You have given yourself to Him daily for months. But, after each time, you have wondered if you truly gave yourself to Him and if He accepted you. Since you felt no different, you concluded, after much doubt, that it was not done.

Dear believer, this confusion will last forever unless you end it with faith. You must accept the matter as settled. Only then can you expect a change of feeling. The law of offerings to the Lord proves that everything given to Him becomes holy. It is set apart and cannot be used for any other purpose. To do so would be disrespect.

"Devoted things, both of man and beast, are most holy to the Lord. “They cannot sell or redeem them.

Once the Israelites gave the devoted thing to the Lord, they reckoned it as belonging to the Lord." No one dared to reclaim it. The giver might have made his offering with reluctance and a lack of enthusiasm. But, once made, the matter was out of his hands. By God's own law, the gift became "most holy unto the Lord."”

It was not the intention of the giver that made it holy, but the holiness of the receiver. “The altar sanctifies the gift.” And an offering once laid upon the altar, from that moment belonged to the L ord.

I can imagine the one who had deposited a gift. He might then doubt his sincerity and honesty in doing so. He would return to the priest, anxious about his sincerity. I am sure the priest would have silenced him at once. He would have said, "I do not know your motives in giving your offering."

The facts are that you did give it, and that it is the Lord’s, for every devoted thing is most holy unto Him. "It is too late to recall the transaction now." All Israel, not just the priest, would be shocked at a man who, having offered his gift, tried to take it back. And yet, day after day, earnest Christians, who would shudder at a Jew's disrespect, are guilty of a similar act. They consecrate themselves to the Lord, then take it back through unbelief. Because God is not visibly present to the eye, it is difficult to feel that a transaction with Him is real.

If, when we consecrated ourselves, we could see Him, it would feel real. We would know we had given our word and could not take it back, no matter how much we might want to. It would have to us the binding power of a spoken promise to an earthly friend. It always has that power to a man of honor.

We need to see that God's presence is always a certain fact. Every act of our soul is done right before Him. A word spoken in prayer is as really spoken to Him, as if our eyes could see Him and our hands could touch Him.

Then, we will no longer have vague ideas about our relations with Him. We will feel the weight of every word we say in His presence. I know some will say, "Ah, yes. “But, if He would only speak to me and say that He took me when I gave myself to Him, I would then believe it."

"No, of course you would not. But, He does not usually say this until the soul has first proved its loyalty by believing what He has already said. It is he that believes who has the witness, not he that doubted. And by His very command to us to present ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice, He has pledged Himself to receive us.

I cannot imagine an honorable man asking another to give him a thing he was doubtful about taking. I can imagine even less a loving parent acting so towards a darling child. “My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways .” Proverbs 23:26.This is a sure warrant. It means that th e moment the heart is given, it will be taken by the One who has commanded the gift. We must, then, feel the utmost confidence. When we surrender to the Lord, as He commands, He then receives us. From that moment, we are His.

A real transaction has taken place. It cannot be violated without dishonor on our part. We know He will not violate it. In Deut. 26:17- 19 shows God's way of working: “You have declared today that the LORD is your God, and that you will walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules, and will obey his voice. And the LORD has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised .”

We declare the Lord our God. We will walk in His ways and keep His commandments. He declares us to be His, and we must keep all His commandments. And from that moment, He takes possession of us. This has always been His principle of working, and it continues to be so. “Every devoted thing is most holy to the Lord.” This is so plain that it admits no question. But, if you stil l doubt, let me refer you to a New Testament declaration. It approaches the subject differently, but it settles it, I think, quite definitively. It is in 1 John 5:14- 15, and reads: “ And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him .”

Is it according to His will that you should be fully consecrated to Him? There can be, of course, but one answer to this, for He has commanded it. Is it not also according to His will that He should work in you to will and to do of His good pleasure? This question also can have but one answer, for He has declared it to be His purpose. You know, then, that these things are according to His will. So, on God's word, you must know that He hears you. Now, you must go further. You must know that you have the petitions you desired of Him.

That you have, I say, not will have, or may have, but have now in actual possession. It is so that we “ Obtain promises” by faith. It is so that we have “access by faith” into the grace that is given us in our Lord Jesus Christ. Only by this do we know our hearts are "purified by faith."

We can then live, stand, and walk by faith. I want to make this subject so clear and practical that no one will have further trouble with it. So, I will repeat what your soul must do to resolve your doubts about consecration.

I trust you have faith in the Lord Jesus to forgive your sins. I hope you know what it is to belong to God's family and to be an heir of God through faith in Christ. And now you feel springing up in your soul the longing to be conformed to the image of your Lord. You must fully surrender yourself to Him.

Only then may He work in you all the good pleasure of His will. You have tried to do this, but with no success. I want to help you now. Now, you must come to Him again. Surrender your whole self to His will, as completely as you can.

You must ask Him to show you any hidden rebellion by His Spirit. If he reveals nothing, believe there is none. Your surrender is complete. We must, then, consider this a settled matter. You have abandoned yourself to the Lord. From now on, you do not belong to yourself. Never listen to any suggestion to the contrary. If you wonder if you've fully surrendered, assert that you have. Do not even argue the matter.

Repel any such idea without hesitation and with firm resolve.

You meant it then, you mean it now, you have accomplished it. Your emotions may clamor against the surrender, but your will must hold firm. God looks at your purpose, not your feelings about it. So, your will is all you need to attend to. Having made a surrender, never question or recall it. Next, believe that God takes what you have surrendered. Reckon it is His. Not that it will be at some future time, but is now; and that He has begun to work in you to will, and to do, of His good pleasure. And here you must rest. You have nothing more to do. You belong to the Lord now, completely in His hands. He has taken on the care and management of you. He will, as His word says, "work in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ."

But you must maintain a firm grip here. If you doubt your surrender, or God's acceptance of it, your faith will waver. A wavering faith will lead to a shaky experience, and He cannot work. But, while you trust He works, His work changes you. It makes you more like Christ, from glory to glory, by His mighty Spirit. Do you, now, at this moment, surrender yourself wholly to Him? You answer, yes. Then, my dear friend, reckon that you are His. He has taken you. He is working in you to will and to do of His good pleasure. And keep on reckoning this.

It will help you to put your thoughts into words. Say to yourself and to God, "Lord, I am yours. I yield myself to you, and I believe you do take me." I leave myself with you. "Work in me all the good pleasure of thy will. I will only lie still in thy hands and trust you." Make this a daily act of your will.

Many times a day, return to it as your constant attitude before Him. Confess it to yourself. Confess it to your God. Confess it to your friends. Always declare the Lord as your God. Commit to walking in His ways and keeping His laws.

You will then find that He has claimed you as His special people. You must keep all His commandments and be "a holy people unto the Lord, as He has spoken."

You may find a few simple rules helpful here. I advise using them in daily devotions. They should test the soul until we gain clarity on this matter.

I. State clearly your faith in Christ as your Saviour. Also, acknowledge that you believe He has reconciled you to God, as per 2 Cor. 5:18- 19 “ All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”

II. Definitely, acknowledge God as your Father. You are His redeemed and forgiven child, according to Galatians 4:5, “ to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

III. Surrender completely to the Lord, body, soul, and spirit. Obey Him in everything where His will is known, per Romans. 12:12. “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”

IV. Believe, against all odds, that God takes what you abandon to Him. He will work in you, unless you frustrate His grace. See 2 Corinthians. 6:17- 18 “ Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty .” , and Philippians. 2:13. “For it is G od who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

V. Don't use your feelings to test your relations with God. Focus on your will and faith instead.

And count all these steps you are now taking as settled, though the enemy may make it seem otherwise. Heb. 10:22-23. “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”

VI. Never, under any circumstances, should you doubt or feel discouraged. Remember, that all discouragement is from the devil, and refuse to admit it; according to John 14:1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me ” V27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

VII. Cultivate the habit of expressing your faith in clear words. Repeat often, "I am all the Lord's.

He is working in me now to will and to do of His good pleasure," according to Heb. 13:21 “ equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.

Amen.