ONE-MONTH PERFECTING TRAINING
GENERAL SUBJECT
THE LORD NEEDING THE OVERCOMERS
SERIES ONE
THE LORD NEEDING THE OVERCOMERS
Message One
Consecration (1)—
Being Restored and Walking the Way of Consecration,
like the Light of Dawn
Scripture Reading: Luke 1:67-79; 2:30; 3:6; 19:1-3, 9; Lam. 3:55-56; Matt. 7:13-14; Josh. 1:2-3; 3:13-17; 6:1-20; 8:28; 12:1-24; Matt. 26:7-13; John 12:1-8; Prov. 4:18
I. As the Savior, Christ Himself is the salvation prepared by God for us and given to us—Luke 2:30; 3:6; 19:9:
A. In His humanity, as a horn of salvation in the house of David, and, in His divinity, as the rising sun from on high—1:67-69.
B. Jesus the Savior was the dawning sun to the dark age— v. 78:
1. The Man-Savior was conceived of God with His attributes to be the content and reality of His human virtues—v. 35.
2. The Man-Savior was born of the human essence with the human virtues in order to rescue these virtues from man’s fall and to restore and recover man’s virtues from the damage of man’s fall—Matt. 1:18, 20; Luke 1:27, 31-32.
C. The Savior is the salvation of God; when He comes, the salvation of God comes—3:6.
D. To see and receive the Man-Savior is to see and receive the salvation of God —19:1-3, 9.
II. Calling on the name of the Lord is to call out audibly “Lord Jesus, O Lord Jesus”; it is also to cry out to the Lord, and to experience spiritual breathing; for “whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”—Lam. 3:55-56; Rom. 10:13:
A. To be rescued from distress, trouble, sorrow, and pain—Psa. 18:6; 118:5; 50:15; 86:7; 81:7; 116:3-4.
B. To participate in the Lord’s mercy, and to partake of the Lord’s salvation—86:5; 116:2, 4, 13, 17.
C. To drink the spiritual water, to eat the spiritual food, and to enjoy the riches of the Lord—Isa. 55:1; Rom. 12:12.
III. “Because of the merciful compassions of our God, in which the rising sun will visit us from on high, to shine upon those sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” —Luke 1:78-79:
A. “Enter in through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter through it; because narrow is the gate and constricted is the way that leads to life, and few are those who find it.”—Matt. 7:13-14.
B. God has put before every Christian both a gate and a way; to enter a gate means to cross a barrier, and to walk on a way means to make progress.
C. According to the Bible, the spiritual pathway begins with an entry into a gate and is followed by a walk on a way; that is, it begins with the crossing of a barrier and is followed by a walk; a believer must first pass through the gate of faith before he can advance in faith, maintain an attitude of faith, and continually trust in God and walk the way of faith; faith is entering through the gate and then walking on the way—Josh. 1:2-3; 3:13-17; 6:1-20; 8:28, 12:1-24.
D. If we hope to walk the way of obedience, we must pass the gate of consecration; when you have really entered through the gate, offered yourself, and laid down everything, the Lord will come to test you; the Lord will test you to the point of His satisfaction, to the point that He is assured that you are for Him and to the point that you are also assured that you are for Him—S.S; 2:6; 6:3; 7:10; 8:14.
E. May God bless us today and open our eyes to see that for His sake nothing is too difficult, no price is too high, and no offering is too much—Matt. 26:7-13; John 12:1-8.
IV. “But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until the full day”—Prov. 4:18.