“Whom will he teach knowledge?
And whom will he make to understand the message?
Those just weaned from milk?
Those just drawn from the breasts?
For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line,
Here a little, there a little.” Isa 28:9-13
I OFTEN speak about M&M verses of the Bible, “Must Memorize.” Many a time the most obscure references bring me the greatest comfort. Studying God’s word can be quite tedious and cumbersome, yet knowing and adhering to “precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little” is quite necessary in training the heart and teaching the mind to trust in Lord in all things at all times, “Whom will he teach knowledge?” – Are you teachable?
I RECALL quite vividly a moment is my life when I was faced with a most traumatic – unavoidable, fear filled event, which at the time I felt most ill prepared to deal with it. As I faced this enviable trial, I found myself unable to even voice my ritual morning prayers. Then I turn my thoughts to an embedded memory verse, “Surely, He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence.” (Ps 91:3) At that moment it came to mind that all my musings, meditations, and prayers (precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line) had prepared me for such a time as this, and I found that peace needful to get up and press-on.
“Where only the sun shines, only a desert grows.”
RIGHT now, I’m looking out into my backyard with warning rays of morning sunlight entering into an array of green flowering plants and blossom filled trees following on the heels of daily dark and cloudy skies and falling rains. …Gardens just don’t happen; they are the product of providence and perseverance. As I think about that life-threatening event so many years ago, I remember a quote I often repeated in my sons hearing that many-a-time they found irksome when they were facing difficulties: “Where only the sun shines, only a desert grows.”
SO, with that musing we come to today’s reading in Sanctification and Consecration – part 5, conclusion. — Line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.
For thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” (Isa 30:15)
In the wondrous blessings of Christ,
Joe
Neh. 8:10, Isa. 30:15 & Job 2:10
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Chapter 23—Sanctification and Consecration – part 5, conclusion
Scriptural Consecration
True, acceptable, abiding consecration is expressed most clearly in Romans 6:13, “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” Here we have the key statement in Scripture concerning consecration: “as those that are alive from the dead.“ We know that the old man did not rise from the dead. The wages of sin is death, and the sinful Adamic life was condemned and crucified in Christ on the cross (Rom. 6:6). But the recreated life, the new man in Christ Jesus, arose from the dead in His resurrection. “…you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him…” (Col. 2:12, 13, NASB).
It is this new life, our Christian life, the life that is already hid with Christ in God, that we are to yield, to consecrate, to set apart unto our Father. It is the only acceptable life—the life that He has already accepted in His beloved Son. In consecration we are carrying out our responsibility of responding to that which He has already done, of willing according to His will, of gladly yielding to Him that which already belongs to Him. In the matter of life, it is “yield yourselves unto God … and your members as instruments of righteousness” (Rom. 6:13). In the matter of service, it is “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable” (Rom. 12:1).
Consecration is based upon reckoning (Rom. 6:11). We turn from the old man by counting ourselves to have died unto sin and self. We turn to our position in the risen Lord by counting ourselves as new creations alive unto God in Christ Jesus. Abide above!
