From: heb_roots_chr@mail.geocities.com
Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 1997 11:37 PM
To: Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup
Subject: The Consecration Offering - Part I
From: Mark Wilson
To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Subject: The Consecration Offering
In this study, so far, we have seen six outer court experiences.
First, repentance from dead works. Second, faith toward God and
forgiveness of sins through the blood of Jesus. Third, removing of the
old garments of nakedness. Fourth, baptism in water. Fifth, putting on
the priestly garments, being clothed with Christ. Sixth, receiving the
anointing, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. As we might expect there are
seven outer court experiences and foundations.
The seventh preparation is the consecration offering. After the
priests had completed the other six preparations, they still must be
consecrated fully to God and to the work that God called them.
After Jesus had come to Jordan and was baptized, the Holy Spirit came
upon Him. Most would think that He was now ready to begin His
ministry. However, He must fulfill the type. Therefore, the Holy
Spirit immediately drove Him into the wilderness.
LUK 4:1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and
was led about by the Spirit in the wilderness LUK 4:2 for forty days, being
tempted by
the devil. And He ate nothing during those days; and when they had
ended, He became hungry. LUK 4:3 And the devil said to Him, "If You are
the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."
Following the anointing must come the consecration offering. The
consecration offering has to do with doing the whole will of God,
whatever the cost. The Devil tested Jesus' resolve to serve God, and
Him only, in every way. When the Devil could not deceive Jesus in any
way and Jesus set His face to do the whole will of God, His consecration
offering was complete and He could begin His ministry. He still had to
complete the fullness and maturity of His consecration at Calvary.
LUK 4:14 And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit; and
news
about Him spread through all the surrounding district.
Sometimes we
confuse the fullness of the Spirit with the power of the Spirit. Jesus
went into the wilderness full of the Holy Spirit but He returned
(following the consecration offering) in the power of the Spirit.
We see many who have received the Holy Spirit, been baptized with in
Holy Spirit, been full of the Spirit but fail when tested by the Devil.
They fail to complete the consecration offering and forfeit the power of
the Holy Spirit. We attribute the failure to the "baptism" but the
failure was really in the consecration.
We see this failure in an Old Testament picture of Israel when they
were ready to enter Canaan. Israel was delivered by the Passover lamb
and the blood in Egypt. They successfully crossed the Red Sea in
baptism. They had participated in the Manna from heaven. They drank
the water out of the rock. Then they came to Mt. Sinai on the 46th
day. They had tremendous experiences on the fiftieth day, Pentecost,
when God came down upon the mountain. One year later they kept Passover
at Mt. Sinai and continued on to God's purpose. It was just a ten day
march to Canaan. They could easily have been in Canaan on the fiftieth
day to keep the Feast Of Pentecost and bring in the first fruits of the
harvest to God. However, they had many delays. The greatest delay came
when they were faced with their consecration offering. This offering
should follow the Mt.Sinai, (Pentecostal), experience. They arrived,
after much delay, at the border of Canaan on about the 46th day and
could have gone on in.
DEU 1:19 "Then we set out from Horeb, and went
through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw, on the way
to the hill country of the Amorites, just as the Lord our God had
commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea. DEU 1:20 "And I said to you,
'You have come to the hill country of the Amorites which the Lord our
God is about to give us. DEU 1:21 'See, the Lord your God has placed the
land before you; go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God of your
fathers, has spoken to you. Do not fear or be dismayed.' DEU 1:22 "Then
all of you approached me and said, 'Let us send men before us, that they
may search out the land for us, and bring back to us word of the way by
which we should go up, and the cities which we shall enter.' Instead of
going on into the land for the feast of Pentecost, they wanted to send
in spies to check out what God had said. Since they didn't fulfill
their consecration they couldn't go on. The Feast of Pentecost passed
while they waited for the spies. DEU 1:26 "Yet you were not willing to
go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God; They
never returned to Egypt but died in the wilderness, short of the plan of
God for their lives.
The restoration of the church from the reformation to the present day
has followed very closely the pattern of Israel traveling from Egypt to
Kadesh-Barnea.
The necessity of consecration is clear in the consecration offering
that the Priests, the sons of Aaron and Aaron had to offer in order to
minister in the Holy Place, which was as far as they could go in the
Tabernacle of Moses. Could there be a lessor requirement to participate
in the Tabernacle of God and to dwell in the New Jerusalem?
First, we will look at the consecration of Jesus, our High Priest.
HEB 10:5 Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, "Sacrifice
and offering Thou hast not desired, But a body Thou hast prepared for
Me; HEB 10:6 In whole burnt offerings and {sacrifices} for sin Thou hast
taken no pleasure. HEB 10:7 "Then I said, 'Behold, I have come (In the
roll of the book it is written of Me) To do Thy will, O God.'" HEB 10:8
After saying above, "Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings
and {sacrifices} for sin Thou hast not desired, nor hast Thou taken
pleasure {in them}" (which are offered according to the Law), HEB 10:9
then He said, "Behold, I have come to do Thy will." He takes away the
first in order to establish the second.
Jesus knew that sacrifices and offerings were not what God wanted from
His people and God really never took any pleasure in those things.
God's desire was always to have a people who would hear His voice and
obey. That was God's revealed will at Mt. Sinai and not sacrifices. At
Mt. Sinai Israel refused to come up the mountain and hear His voice.
They ask that Moses go up to hear what God said and come and tell them
but they didn't want God to speak to them again. Therefore, God gave
them the law, the statutes and the ordinances.
DEU 5:4 "The Lord spoke
to you face to face at the mountain from the midst of the fire, DEU 5:5
{while} I was standing between the Lord and you at that time, to declare
to you the word of the Lord; for you were afraid because of the fire and
did not go up the mountain. He said, DEU 5:6 'I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
DEU 5:7 'You shall have no other gods before Me. DEU 5:8 'You shall not
make for yourself an idol, {or} any likeness {of} what is in heaven
above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. DEU 5:8
'You shall not make for yourself an idol, {or} any likeness {of} what is
in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.
Etc. God gave them the 10 commandments. At that time He gave no more
law. DEU 5:22 "These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly at the
mountain from the midst of the fire, {of} the cloud and {of} the thick
gloom, with a great voice, and He added no more. And He wrote them on
two tablets of stone and gave them to me.
This is when Israel said they didn't want God to speak to them again.
Then God called Moses up the mountain again and gave Moses the Law, the
Statutes and the Ordinances. The reason was because they didn't go up
to hear God's voice, therefore they could not obey.
God wanted and required obedience of Israel but now something had to
substitute for His voice. God could not be GOD to those who didn't
obey. For that reason He gave them the Law, the sacrifices, the
statutes and the ordinances. However, God took no pleasure in those
things. All these things were given as a substitute for hearing His
voice and doing His will.
JER 7:21 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, "Add your
burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat flesh. JER 7:22 "For I did
not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought
them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and
sacrifices. JER 7:23 "But this is what I commanded them, saying, 'Obey
My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you
will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with
you.' JER 7:24 "Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked
in {their own} counsels {and} in the stubbornness of their evil heart,
and went backward and not forward. JER 7:25 "Since the day that your
fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you
all My servants the prophets, daily rising early and sending {them.} JER
7:26 "Yet they did not listen to Me or incline their ear, but stiffened
their neck; they did evil more than their fathers.
Jesus had the clear revelation that sacrifices were not what God
wanted. Therefore, when He came into the world He said " I have come to
do thy will, O God". That fulfills what the Law was all about, DOING
THE WILL OF GOD.
But now Hebrews 10:8-9 gives us four specific sacrifices that have been
taken away in order to establish one New Covenant sacrifice of doing the
whole will of God. HEB 10:8 After saying above, "Sacrifices and
offerings and whole burnt offerings and {sacrifices} for sin Thou hast
not desired, nor hast Thou taken pleasure {in them}" (which are offered
according to the Law), HEB 10:9 then He said, "Behold, I have come to do
Thy will." He takes away the first in order to establish the second.
The FIRST was (a) Sacrifices (b) offerings (c) Whole burnt offerings (d)
sacrifices for sin. The SECOND was doing the whole will of God. That
is all God wanted before the Law was given.
These four sacrifices were four of the six that was a part of the
consecration offering. The consecration process is found in Exodus 28 &
29 and in Leviticus 8 & 9. Some details are found in other places in
Exodus and in Leviticus. For this study we will just take an overall
view. The combination of these four sacrifices will give us a picture
of what it will cost and what it means to do the whole will of God.
Both Aaron, the high priest, and his sons, the priests, were required to
complete the consecration offering. This speaks to us of Jesus Christ,
our High Priest, and His sons, the consecrated church, His body.
To simplify the study we will combine all four sacrifices into one
sacrifice because they are all speaking of one thing, DOING THE WHOLE
WILL OF GOD. In order to see the details in Exodus and Leviticus we
would need to examine each sacrifice and combine the results. Or we can
make a composite sacrifice that shows many of the important details in
each sacrifice, which will simplify the study. Instead of being
weighted down with so many details we will just call this sacrifice "
The Consecration Offering". Always bear in mind that we are combining
four sacrifices to show this one sacrifice of doing the whole will of
God. You will not find this one sacrifice in these chapters as one
sacrifice but as four sacrifices combined. We are leaving out of this
study many details from each sacrifice. A full study of each sacrifice
would be helpful for those who need to see the details.
This study will show how completely Jesus gave Himself to do the whole
will of God and it will show us what is required of us to do the whole
will of God. We will be speaking of "the sacrifice" depicted as an
animal. In reality we are speaking of each one of us who is presenting
his body to do the whole will of God.
ROM 12:1 I urge you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and
holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, {which is} your spiritual service of
worship. ROM 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the
will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. The
K.J.V. says "this is your reasonable service". The Greek says "
Logikos" which means according to "spiritual intelligence" and not by
ritual or compulsion. The presenting of our body to do the will of God
is just LOGICAL. In other words, anyone should be able to see the
necessity for it. Three things are required to do the whole will of
God. Presenting of the body to God and the escaping from the world
system and the renewing of the mind. Most people who are seeking the
will of God for their lives, fail in these three things.
One error is asking God to show us His will and then we will decide if
we want to do it. God's method is for us to present our body to Him
first as an intelligent and logical sacrifice without compulsion but
with finality. Then God can easily show us His will. The world will
still be a problem if we try to conform the will of God to the world
system. Also, until the mind is renewed to understand from God's
viewpoint, the will of God will seem strange or even confused.
In this study we will just focus upon what it means to present our body
to God as a living sacrifice. This is the value of understanding the
consecration offering. It is a picture for us of presenting our body to
do the whole will of God. I say "THE WHOLE WILL OF GOD" because
people get the idea that if they have done something of the will of God
that is sufficient. For example: I have obeyed God in baptism
therefore I have done the will of God. That may be true but here we are
speaking of doing the whole will of God. The rest of it!
In order to bring the believer into the purpose of God for their lives,
he first must be cleansed, forgiven, washed in baptism and all that
means, clothed and anointed with the Holy Spirit. Then he must
immediately be confronted with the truth of consecration. His ability
to obey this truth will depend largely upon having been birthed in each
of these primary experiences.
JOH 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him,
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God." JOH 3:5 Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God.
PSA 87:5 But of Zion ( the holy mountain-- the city of
God) ( V 1 to 3) it shall be said, "This one and that one were born in
her"; And the Most High Himself will establish her. PSA 87:6 The Lord
shall count when He registers the peoples, "This one was born there."
Selah.
For example: If we have not been truly circumcised in heart we will not
love God sufficiently to consecrate all to Him to do His will.
DEU 30:6
"Moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of
your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with
all your soul, in order that you may live.
In 1 Cor 6:19-20 it is clear that He has purchased us in redemption and
we are not our own. He has the total right of ownership over us. In 2
Cor 5:14-15 we see the believer's response to God out of love for Him.
The basis of our consecration is His right to require it and our
response out of love for Him. The renewed mind will think this way.
Until this issue of consecration to do the whole will of God is settled,
the believer will not be able to go on with God and he will have a
stunted growth.
One of the purposes of this requirement of consecration is seen in
LEV 9:6 And Moses said, "This is the thing which the Lord has commanded
you to do, that the glory of the Lord may appear to you." Most of us
are interested in the manifested presence or the glory of the Lord but
are slow about making the consecration offering. Consecration is not
God begging us to serve Him but it is man begging God for the privilege
of serving Him.
EXO 40:34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting,
and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. EXO 40:35 And Moses was
not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on
it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
2CH 7:1 Now when
Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed
the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled
the house. 2CH 7:2 And the priests could not enter into the house of the
Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord's house.
Another purpose of consecration is attainment to the Kingdom of God.
MAT 7:21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the
kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in
heaven. MAT 12:50 "For whoever does the will of My Father who is in
heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother." It offends many to
hear that we must each do the will of God to be included in the family
of God. HEB 10:36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have
done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. So many quote
the promises to God as if that was all that was required. LUK 12:47
"And that slave who knew his master's will and did not get ready or act
in accord with his will, shall receive many lashes, Some read over
these truths as if that doesn't mean the church, only unbelievers. 1JO
2:17 And the world is passing away, and {also} its lusts; but the one
who does the will of God abides forever.
Even in this short study it is clear that doing the will of God is not
an option. It is a requirement for all those who are going on with God
into His purpose. The church should be taught that regeneration is an
event that we experience in a moment of time. Our spirit comes alive
and we are born again. However, salvation is a process that begins at
regeneration and continues until we leave this earth. Doing the will of
God is part of our salvation experience. Our sensitivity to the will of
God will grow with maturity. Failure to lead the church into full
consecration to do the whole will of God is the reason for the eternal
childhood of the believer. If the believer develops the erroneous
concept that only those who are going to serve God need consecrate, that
believer will see no need for his own consecration. Many think it is
proper to "just believe" and not worry about doing the will of God.
Many are deceived in this area because the church has preached a "
Gospel of salvation" rather than the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. In
the Kingdom, everyone does the will of God. According to "the gospel of
the giveaways" and the "gospel of the half priced sale" all God expects
is for us to believe something about forgiveness of sins.
The word for serving in the Old Covenant meant " to wait on". It
doesn't necessarily mean " incessant labor". It means to wait on to do
His bidding. It doesn't mean to be caught up in "works" but caught up
in doing His will. If He hasn't assigned you any work to do, you still
make yourself available to Him by waiting on Him for instructions.
2 Chronicles chapters 29 through 31 show what happens when the
priests are careless about their consecration and what happened when they
began to consecrate according to God's design. They came from a
lukewarm state to revival in a short time. This is also the pattern
for the last days revival. Just binding the Devil and living to
please ourselves is not revival ground. The Devil can deceive us by
some "gospel of the bargains" but he can't stop the revival when the
church makes a full consecration. In fact, that is how his altars get
torn down.
Consecration is not a rededication. Rededication has been worn down
to a nubbin. It produced nothing or very little. Rededication is an
admission that I have backslid and want to come back to where I was
before I backslid. Consecration is a step forward. Consecration is
for those who don't need to rededicate because they haven't backslid.
Their goal is to go on with God and bring joy to God's heart and
fulfill His purpose by doing His will, fully. This is not the status
quo but the status go. It is obvious that the status quo is not
working. Rededicating to the status quo is nothing.
Then how can this restoration be presented in a graphic way that even
the ignorant can understand and do it? How can we remove the
loopholes for the theologian and the intelligent? How can we skip
over the "gospel of the giveaways" to show the purpose of God and the
Kingdom of God?
The consecration offering is graphic, easily understood, offers no
easy way out and relates to the whole church, instead of just those
"professional ministers" who are in "full time service". This is how
the full time church gets into full time service!
We will present" one sacrifice" that is a composite of four
sacrifices related to the consecration offering. This one sacrifice
will show us how to present ourselves to do the whole will of God.
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