Consecration: Servant, Soldier, Priest

The book of Exodus quickly chapter 21 Exodus chapter 21 I'd like to speak a little word this morning maybe tie these two messages together in a word of consecration. Consecration. Exodus chapter 21 and verse number 2. If the lion Hebrew servant six years he shall serve in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing if he came in by himself he shall go out by himself if you were married then his wife shall go out with him if his master have given him a wife and she have born him sons or daughters the wife and her children shall be her masters and he shall go out by himself and if the servant shall plainly say I love my master my wife and my children I will not go out free then his master shall bring him unto the judges he shall also bring him to the door or under the doorpost and his master shall bore his ear through with an all and he shall serve him forever 2nd Samuel please chapter 11 read about demand Uriah the Hittite verse 7 for the sake of time and when Uriah was come unto him David commanded of him how Joab did and how the people did and how the war prospered and David said to Uriah go down to thy house and wash thy feet and Uriah departed out of the king's house and there followed him a mess of meat from the king but Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his Lord and went not down to his house and I guess verse 10 and when they had told David saying Uriah went not down unto his house David said unto Uriah camest thou not from thy journey why then didst thou not go down into thine house and Uriah said unto David the ark and Israel and Judah abide in tents and my Lord Joab and the servants of my Lord are encamped in the open fields shall I then go into mine house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife as thou livest and as thy soul liveth I will not do this thing and first Peter now quickly we're leaving three places to get three aspects in which it would do us well to be consecrated first Peter in chapter 2 verse 5 he also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ verse 9 but he had a chosen generation a royal priesthood and holy nation a peculiar people they should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light and the Lord of us to a serene of his word what we've listened to already I'd like to look at consecration being set apart in the Old Testament the word that we read is is Kodash it is consecrated it is sanctified it is set apart for God and you've been had a foundation that was laid in the baptisms this morning and an instruction was given and so if we're going to take that which we have learned and we're going to go through with it we're going to need to be consecrated to be set apart for God to be dedicated a consecrated Christian is hard to find as I look at myself what about you completely entirely devoted to the things of God three aspects very quickly the servant that is consecrated to his master the soldier that is consecrated to his king and the priest that is consecrated to his sacrifice to offering up we read in Hebrews and Peter excuse me of a spiritual sacrifice and we also read the royal priesthood showing forth the praises so very simply three things to continuing in Hebrews chapter 21 you've got the Hebrew servant and you'll notice in this servant if you put yourself in the story how would you like to be a bond slave how would you like to be bought and now have to serve six years for the same man day in and day out no doubt in your mind there would be a time that would come that would be anticipated you would look forward to the day of your release where do you not oh it's a six it's a very beginning I can't wait till the seventh year then I'm going to go out and I've got all these plans and I'm going to get a farm and I'm going to farm I'm going to get a business I'm going to get a family and I've got all these plans that I want to do that's the first year that would be every one of us would it not but time would go on and every day as days go by faster and years go by faster the time would go by and as you would spend time with this one that is the master something amazing would transform in your mind now we're speaking of a master like the Lord Jesus now not like any earthly master who's only got you there for their own good and for their own for their own blessing and maybe in year two you're given a wife and maybe you're three or four whatever the junior comes along and the family comes along and every day that you labor with the master you learn how he thinks you learn how he loves you learn about him intimately because you're with him day in and day out and now that day comes that you had looked forward to for so long and now there's a great choice to make you're gonna go out free are you gonna stay tough choice what happened in those six years you got to know someone you never knew before you learn to love someone like you've never been loved before and now you have a choice to make I believe that consecration is a daily thing but I also believe that there's a moment in a person's life when before God in a broken state or maybe an appreciative state an individual says God I'm yours use me whatever you want me to do Lord show me this man now has a choice to make he's gonna stay he's going to go to the and he's going to plainly declare I love my master my wife and my children I will not go out free so he goes to the door you see the story isn't about the servant it's about the master and that's what life is about isn't it life isn't about the servants of God life is about God life isn't about the servants of Christ it's about Christ and here's a dear here's a man and he's got the message because he's come to know through relationship every single day that the yoke is easy and the burden is light and that everything that he needed has been supplied by the master it's a no-brainer isn't it if I'm with the master I have everything and not only me but my family my wife and my children he can do far better for them than I could ever do and so a servant that was consecrated and he stays just for the sake of argument and some of you have heard this line before the next day the another servants sixth seventh year comes and he goes and in stays and two weeks later there's another one then another one what's going on here you see it's all about the glory of the master the glory of the master judges and the judges would confirm that what they heard is true what did not resonate with their mind what is it about this master why everybody stays and serves him what is it about him oh I wonder if there's ever a day where I find myself that needs to have a master maybe he would be mine you see in service consecrated the man could have went out and free would have been absolutely legal would have been a legitimate possibility but he was devoted and he was consecrated to his master because he knew his master could I ask you a question today those of you that are facing this choice this weekend what are you going to do there's so many things in life that are appealing there's so many dreams that you want to fulfill and yet you know that there's a life to believe for God what are you going to do we depend on how well you know the master how well you appreciate him and what he has done for you saved you know it's a sad thing to see people saved not that part but to be saved and say okay Lord I'll see you in heaven thanks for a wonderful life and you never see him again you wonder if they ever got the root of the matter what's it going to be for you your young person consecrated to the master entirely devoted to the God into the things of God into the assembly of God into the people of God consecration to the servant and then I'm going to jump to the priest because I want to end with the soldier you've got the holy priesthood in the royal priesthood every single person that is saved is a priest we don't have a clergy we don't have a hierarchy in God's assembly that's not God's plan God is God is supreme God is overall but as Christians as those that are saved those in the assembly testimony as well you don't have to be an assembly testimony to be a priest some people have never heard the truth of the assembly and are saved but the holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices to be set apart to be consecrated morally to God to offer sacrifice spiritual material it's a spiritual sacrifice it must be spiritual material where do you get spiritual material for a spiritual sacrifice spiritual this means not carnal not carnal are you going to get spiritual material from the world to sacrifice to God no you won't get spiritual material from a car world where then do we get this material first of all we said what it is it is not carnal it is spiritual material and when you get spiritual material you get it from spiritual places spiritual persons you get it from God from God I can honestly say I've never had an original thought in my life and if you've ever honest you will too you let everyone from God from the Spirit of God you see God teaches us God shows us from the Word of God and so you're going to be mining in the Word of God you're going to be digging in the Word of God and you're going to be getting spiritual material and there's going to be the precious stones that are going to be added to the building but it must be spiritual material the carnal material the wood and the hay and the stubble the things that are flammable that's not an acceptable sacrifice is it and so you've got spiritual material because it is a spiritual sacrifice it comes from the Word of God it comes from spending time with God it comes from experience with God you notice the to the servant it was the time with the servant the master it was from the master being a Christian is a tremendous thing everything that we have we've been given from God your salvation was a gift was it not absolutely and those of you that have toiled and have labored with your hands and the Lord has give you something did you where did that come from there's been people out there work harder than you've worked for less you got it from God everything we get we have from God to be dedicated in spiritual things to offer a spiritual sacrifice then you've got the kingly priesthood the royal priesthood to show forth or to publish his excellence to publish it to declare it forth have you stopped have you stopped serving God I'm asking hard questions today why did you stop have you stopped offering spiritual sacrifices have you stopped offering the fruit of your lips giving praise to God have you stopped digging for the material why did you stop digging it's one thing to know the truth and to be instructed in the truth but to continue to not fall out by the way but to continue in the Word of God spiritual sacrifice and I know I'm just skimming the surface but brother let us continue have the things of God come to a screeching halt have we wasted a year why the things of God have not stopped maybe your sphere of service has changed and maybe you can't work like you used to work but the work still needs to be done it still needs to be done the Lord still must be obeyed the gospel still must go forth maybe we need to be creative in our methods but the work hasn't stopped the worship the sacrifices have they stopped how about your own personal worship let me go there has it stopped well if you've stopped digging for spiritual material how has it affected your worship searching question my time is about gone I want to go to the soldier so you've got the happy Hebrew servant you've got the humble Hittite soldier in first and second Samuel and what I want to focus on here just before lunch is this the battle the battle you're right I was a mighty man he was a lovely character in the Word of God I think of this man is one of David's mighties as he's listed twice David would have loved this man David would have appreciated this man but we know the story in the earlier part of the chapter that we didn't read of David's sin against this man and now David with all the plan of a cover-up he calls this man with a big with a fake vacation and he says come with the excuse of tell me how the battle is going I wonder what Uriah thought what's the matter David you call me from the front lines to come and tell you how the battle is going you know how the battle is going Uriah was no fool maybe he didn't know why but something doesn't right and so he goes there to the king and the king sends him home when you see this devoted man he sleeps at the door of the king he wouldn't go why wouldn't you go home well he says why he said in the David verse 11 the ark where was the ark take it it was at the battlefield and then he says in Israel if the ark wasn't at the battlefield is speaking to me of the presence of the Lord in Israel and Judah they abide in tents so the ark was in a tent the battle wasn't over that's the point here's a man he's dedicated and what God had given him to do he was a mighty man he was a rare man he was he was someone that God was using and he was a humble man and the battle wasn't over and he wasn't going to go home on vacation well there was still a battle to be fought and his brother and we're still there and the honor of God was still to fight for he was dedicated as a soldier for the king because the battle wasn't over it wasn't over he couldn't bring himself to do it he says as as the king lives as his soul as he would not do it he would not do it such was his dedication not only to David but to God and to the things of God and to the purposes of God and for the glory of God because Israel was God's people and this man had a grip he had a grip of his purpose in this life brethren the battles not over it's not over it soon will be over but it's not over yet and this dedicated man he finds himself in the heat of the battle did he know he was too close to the wall he knew it was too close to the wall but that's where the battle was the hottest and that's where he was put you see he was dedicated how dedicated are you today and you understand that this has been a personal word to me long before today am I a dedicated servant of Jehovah of God am I a dedicated service to Christ the one who has brought me with his blood am I a consecrated priest in holiness offering spiritual sacrifices to God that which God has given you can you give it back am I a dedicated soldier today the battle is not over you and I have fought and as I read this this past week I thought you know it reminds me of the martyrs of whom the world was not worthy the martyrs whom the world was not worthy those who went on for God and those who served God and those who fought God and brethren it's a marvelous thing to have a conference but I want to say this if we miss out on something to challenge us to go on for God and God himself we've missed it fellowship is important and it's absolutely necessary but we need God and we need God today Lord bless his word we'll pray