The Church in Action. Lesson 4 Lesson Text— Hebrews 11:35-37 Hebrews 11:35-36 35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured,

The Church in Action

Lesson 4

Lesson Text—Hebrews 11:35-37

Hebrews 11:35-3635 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:


Hebrews 11:3737 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;


Hebrews 11:38-4038 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

Lesson Text—Acts 4:29-31

Acts 4:29-3029 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.

Lesson Text—Acts 4:29-31

Acts 4:3131 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

Focus Verse—Romans 12:1-2

Romans 12:1-2I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the

mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,

which is your reasonable service.And be not conformed to this world: but be

ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good,

and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Focus Thought

God’s consecration of the church

through suffering and service

results in blessing and growth.

IntroIntroduction

For Christians, full commitment and consecration is the setting aside of everything so one can worship and serve God. To commit or dedicate oneself to God is to devote one’s all to the Savior. However, in the words of Charles G. Finney, “It does not imply the abandonment of our possessions and friends to go on a pilgrimage.”

IntroWhile this is true, commitment and consecration do require turning away from all our selfish interests. We can no longer consider worldly possessions—or even our lives—as being our own. After our consecration, we are merely the stewards of a heavenly Master who always knows what is best.

IntroThe apostle Paul asked, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (I Corinthians 6:19-20).

IntroThe believers’ awareness of the price paid at Calvary drove the early church to commit their all to the Lord. They once had been in bondage to sin, but now they were free. They once had existed in misery and despair, but now they lived in peace and joy. Their lives had been changed—transformed by the grace of God. They, who at one time had been the enemies of God, were now reconciled by His blood. (See Acts 20:28.) What amazing mercy straight from the heart of God!

Romans 5:6

“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ

died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:6).

I. Consecration Begins with a Call to Commitment

Consecration Begins with a Call to Commitment

In Romans 11, Paul explained how God had extended mercy to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews. God had chosen the Roman believers to whom Paul wrote, which the apostle affirmed in his opening of the letter.

I. Consecration Begins with a Call to CommitmentThey were “the called of Jesus Christ . . . to be saints” (Romans 1:6-7). It was because of God’s call and His compassion that these believers needed to commit themselves to the Lord.

Romans 12:1-2“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,

that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable

unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove

what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of

God” (Romans 12:1-2).

A. Growth of Commitment

A. Growth of CommitmentThe commitment to which God has called us as Christians is not a one-time experience. Rather, it is a process that develops as we mature in the Lord. As Paul stated in his letter to the Romans, commitment requires a sacrifice of ourselves and a separation from all the ungodly influences of the world (Romans 12:1-2). We should die to our sinful desires and live to please our Savior, which causes us to make a number of costly personal decisions along the way.

A. Growth of CommitmentLike Abraham of old, the pilgrimage of faith always demands courage as well as discipline: “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went” (Hebrews 11:8). The writer Herbert Lockyer pointed out that Abraham exchanged certainty for uncertainty, the known for the unknown.

A. Growth of CommitmentAbraham must have questioned both himself and God as he traveled from place to place through the rock-strewn land of the Middle East, dwelling in tents or cloth huts (Hebrews 11:9). His thoughts must have included times of misgivings, and certainly he experienced struggles. The Scriptures plainly reveal some of the glaring failures of the man, yet Abraham proved himself a true friend of God as he grew in commitment.

A. Growth of CommitmentCommitment is costly, and it often requires long-term dedication. A marathon runner once noted that real commitment begins at mile eighteen in a twenty-six mile race. After eighteen miles, the temptation to quit becomes extremely difficult to battle, causing between 30 and 50 percent of all marathon runners to stop before they reach the finish line.

A. Growth of CommitmentIt is the individual who has rigorous training behind him and the genuine passion for the finish line within him who completes the race. How significant, then, are the words of the apostle Paul as he neared the end of his ministry and the end of his life: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (II Timothy 4:7).

A. Growth of CommitmentFinishing the course—being faithful to the end—is all important. There are always those who will bolt and run at the fiercest point in a prolonged battle. More than half of married couples walk away from a lifelong commitment to their marriage when the pressure becomes intense.

A. Growth of CommitmentThe course God chooses for His children to follow often is rough and thorny with deep valleys of disappointment as well as high mountains of discouragement. However, by consistently and faithfully serving the Lord, we gain new dimensions of God’s blessing and ultimately finish the course.

A. Growth of CommitmentNear the end of his course Paul wrote, “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (II Timothy 4:8). The apostle was saying that God sees every effort and sacrifice we have made. The Lord is righteous in His judgments, and He will reward us according to the deeds done in our bodies.

A. Growth of CommitmentWe can take comfort in the fact that God notices every believer who gives sacrificially, and He will respond to every Christian who prays earnestly for a Holy Ghost revival. To those who are reviled and persecuted Jesus declared, “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven” (Matthew 5:12).

A. Growth of CommitmentCertainly, the rewards laid in store for believers when we see Jesus will make every difficulty and adversity of life worthwhile. There will be no talk of suffering then, and no one will complain of the difficulties experienced in the Christian life. Paul proclaimed, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (II Corinthians 4:17).

B. Demonstration of Commitment

B. Demonstration of Commitment

God has set aflame the hearts of those who have a burning commitment for the cause of Christ. He has filled believers with His Spirit, taking them beyond an experience of merely “accepting Christ as their personal Savior.”

B. Demonstration of CommitmentThe committed go on to invest themselves in whatever promotes the kingdom of God, which involves witnessing, financial giving, and encouraging others. Further, it may entail some of the most mundane things imaginable such as mowing a lawn, fixing a broken water pipe, or baking a cake for a shut-in. Repeatedly revealing itself in numerous ways, commitment must take action or it will eventually die.

B. Demonstration of CommitmentThrough their fervency and faithfulness, the early church demonstrated their zeal for the Lord. In the fourth chapter of the Book of Acts, the magistrates cast the apostles Peter and John into prison after the Lord miraculously healed a lame man for whom they had prayed. Boldly, Peter had accused the people of being responsible for the death of Jesus:

B. Demonstration of Commitment“And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all” (Acts 3:15-16).

B. Demonstration of CommitmentUnflinchingly, Peter affirmed that the name of Jesus—although He had been rejected by the rulers of Israel—was the only saving name (Acts 4:12). The Sanhedrin’s threatening them and even beating them did not stop the apostles from preaching (Acts 5:40-42). These empowered Christians were determined to exalt the name of Jesus, their Savior.

C. Product of Commitment—Consecration

C. Product of Commitment— Consecration

A returned missionary explained that he had thought he was committed and consecrated when living in the homeland. However, when he went to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), he made a startling discovery. Walking out into the night over snake-infested jungle trails demanded a greater dedication than he had ever experienced.

C. Product of Commitment—ConsecrationMany seem willing to serve God—to a point. They are willing to receive of the Lord’s full and free forgiveness and to receive the Holy Ghost. However, to really commit themselves to a life of sacrificial service is quite another matter. They fail to see that it is only by making a complete commitment—full consecration of body and spirit—that they will receive God’s best.

II. Consecration Involves Complete Surrender

Consecration Involves Complete Surrender

Sometimes circumstances simply demand more than we are able to cope with on our own. Often our minds require renewal; that is, our thinking has to change. The pressures of everyday life are draining and even overwhelming to the point where we can lose all spiritual perspective.

II. Consecration Involves Complete Surrender

In the final analysis, either our world is changing us or God is transforming us. (See Romans 12:2.) The only real confidence we can have in Christ comes as His Word and Spirit touch our hearts. Real strength comes only through the complete submission of our wills to the will of God.

A. Requires a Yielded Will and Trusting Heart


At times, God speaks to an individual’s heart to do the unusual. No one else may hear the same message and no one else may feel the same passion. Despite the indifference or the negligence of others, a person whose heart is willing always wants to respond. It was that way with the lad who held a little lunch of five barley loaves and two small fish.


It seems the disciples had dismissed as impractical the Lord’s idea of feeding about five thousand people. Certainly, Andrew thought that the boy’s lunch was really nothing, but little is much if God is in it. God performed one of His greatest miracles because a young lad yielded all he had to the Master.

B. Seen in the Church’s Persecutions


The following is an excerpt from a note found on a desk of an African martyr: “My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my Guide is reliable, my mission is clear.”


We get a picture of real consecration when we see how others have suffered and died for the gospel. It is easy enough for us to talk about sacrifice in our comfortable homes and modern churches, but the early church endured terrible persecution. (The Greek word for persecute actually means “to pursue.”)


Loyal to their faith, many of the early believers refused to bow down to images, even images of the emperors. As a result, governors often regarded Christians as anarchists or revolutionaries. During the second century, Marcus Aurelius, the Roman emperor, had thousands upon thousands of Christians either beheaded or thrown to wild beasts.


Early in the fourth century, Emperor Diocletian passed an edict that demanded that Christians either apostatize or face death. The determination of believers to stand true in these ages was reminiscent of Hebrews 11:35: “Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection.”

III. Consecration Results in Blessing

Consecration Results in Blessing

The first-century church was not only a suffering and bleeding church, but it was also a blessed church. Persecution helped to reveal the great passion and commitment of these early Christians. Purified by the fire and by the sword, they became a brilliant light shining out into their darkened world.

A. Blessing Follows Breaking


God often has used broken things—a broken rock at Horeb, broken vessels, broken bread, broken hearts, and the broken body of Christ. Strangely, some things become most valuable to the Lord when they seem the most useless to others. The feeding of the five thousand is proof enough of what can be done with that which is fully yielded to the Savior. The boy offered five barley loaves and two small fish—just a boy’s lunch!

John 6:9

“But what are they among so many?”

(John 6:9).


Broken in the hands of the Creator, the small lunch was enough—and more than enough—to feed a hungry multitude. The twelve baskets of fragments were amazing evidence of God’s blessing upon genuine sacrifice.


Adam awoke to God’s miracle—woman. What an amazing miracle God performed while Adam slept! God created the first woman as a full-grown female, without a natural father or mother.


Eve, made from a rib from her husband’s side, is a type of the church and the wonderful relationship that it has with Christ: “For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones” (Ephesians 5:30). Likewise, Adam said of Eve, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23).


Even as Adam’s body was broken so that Eve might live, Christ’s body was broken so that we might live (I Corinthians 11:24). In the day of her creation, Eve bore her husband’s name (Genesis 5:2), and we now bear the name of our heavenly Bridegroom.


What a thrill it must have been when God brought Eve, a perfect bride, to Adam, her husband! In a similar fashion, Christ will present “to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing” (Ephesians 5:27).


God revealed His pattern—blessed, broken, blessed. The Almighty has a plan for shaping the lives of people whom He chooses to use for major tasks. We often observe a familiar pattern in the way He molds these chosen vessels. At first, God makes Himself real to these individuals, often blessing them in unprecedented ways.


The Lord sees their potential and they begin to see His greatness. He may call them from a place of obscurity to a place of prominence, or contrariwise, the Lord may lead them from prosperity to poverty. Nevertheless, they experience dramatic changes in their lifestyles as they run a gantlet of difficulties and gradually learn that God is the source of all that is meaningful and magnificent.


Job was an upright individual in his day. Satan questioned Job’s consecration, but God, knowing the man’s heart, stated, “There is none like him in the earth” (Job 1:8). Job was both righteous and rich. His flocks and herds were so numerous that in wealth he “was the greatest of all the men of the east” (Job 1:3).


Every good man will be tested, and every believer’s faith will be tried. Job was stripped of his possessions, his servants, his sons, his daughters, and finally his health. As if that were not enough, his wife became bitter, and three friends who should have comforted him became his accusers.


More remarkable than even his terrible trials, however, was Job’s steadfast trust. After his storm-tossed experiences, things dramatically changed: “The Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning” (Job 42:12).


Joseph went from being a favored son to becoming a distrusted slave. During the great trials he endured and during his later promotion to the second-most important position in all of Egypt, Joseph’s commitment to God never changed. His morals and his principles remained intact. Since the Lord saw that Joseph could be trusted in a dungeon with disappointment, He trusted him in a palace with power.


God takes adequate time to prepare those whom He wishes to use for special purposes. It was certainly so with Moses. God sent him through forty years of rigid training on the backside of a desert before He used him for forty years as Israel’s leader.


As with Christ, Moses learned “obedience by the things which he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). If we follow the steps of Moses’ life, they lead from a palace to a pasture, and from the backside of a desert to the edge of the Promised Land.


David, who once was a national hero, became a national outcast. He became a deposed monarch, a fugitive on the run from his own subjects. It was this same David who committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband executed.


As serious as his sins were, Jesse’s son had a heart that consistently longed after God. Because of his passion for God and his repentant attitude, David’s reign became memorable in that the Messiah came from his lineage.

A. Blessing Follows BreakingBeloved of the heavenly Father, heralded by angels, Christ came into our world. He came as our healer and our worker of miracles, but most of all He came as our Savior. “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted” (Isaiah 53:4). What humiliation Jesus suffered as He gave up His life on the cross. What a triumph when, on the third day, God raised Him from the tomb!

B. The Church Grew and Multiplied after Each Crisis


Although opposition endeavored to beat down the revival fires that had begun in Jerusalem, it miserably failed. Instead, it only caused the conflagrations to intensify, and the flames swept out into other areas. When threatened, believers “spake the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31); when beaten for preaching Jesus, they rejoiced “that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name” (Acts 5:41).


In Acts 2:47 and Acts 5:14 we have record of the Lord “adding” to the church, and after the apostles were thrown into prison, the number of disciples “multiplied.” (See Acts 6:1, 7.)

C. God Blesses What He Can Fill

C. God Blesses What He Can Fill

Wherever spiritual hunger exists, there is a heavenly resource to meet the need. Jesus taught, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). Nothing of our so-called righteousness can remain when we desire God’s abundance. Our vessels must be emptied and washed clean of all our pride and carnality. God’s grace presupposes human emptiness, and His mercy is based on human unworthiness.

A. God Does the Consecrating

Consecration Accomplished by God

for ServiceA. God Does the Consecrating

Craftsmen built the Tabernacle articles according to God’s command. God’s purpose in giving Moses the Tabernacle plan was so He might dwell among His people, Israel.


It was a marvelous and precise plan that spoke of our salvation in types and shadows. The Lord commanded Moses, “According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it” (Exodus 25:9).


Bezaleel was the principal workman or overseer in the erection of the Tabernacle. Significantly, his name means “under God’s shadow.” The Scriptures say he was both called by God and filled with God’s Spirit. (See Exodus 31:1-3.)


In type, Bezaleel represented the Holy Ghost, who alone could assign individual work to skilled craftsmen and alone could “devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze” (Exodus 35:32, AMP). Today, all that is productive and beautiful in the Lord’s church is the work of the Spirit. (See I Corinthians 12:11.)


The priests anointed the articles of the Tabernacle. In fact, they had to anoint every piece of furniture and every vessel with “an oil of holy ointment” (Exodus 30:25). As priests of the most high God, we too must experience God’s anointing as His chosen vessels. All we are and all we possess really belong to Him.


God’s glory sanctified and consecrated the articles. It was mankind who made the boards of acacia wood, the curtains of fine twined linen, and the sacred vessels, but it was God who sanctified the whole.

Exodus 40:34

“Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled

the tabernacle” (Exodus 40:34).

A. God Does the ConsecratingIndividual Christians must repent of their sins and prepare themselves fully for receiving the Lord’s presence, the Holy Ghost. The Lord desires to fill us with His Spirit and consecrate us to His holy purposes for our lives. As God anointed and consecrated the Old Testament vessels for His use, so He does the same for the New Testament vessels—believers filled with His Holy Spirit.

B. Consecration Always Denoted a Purpose


It became obvious to all in Israel that the Tabernacle was a holy place where the nation could commune with the Almighty. In like fashion, we can fellowship with God only at a place of consecration. It is only there, where our hearts are sanctified and our wills are surrendered, that we will see His glory.


We are to bring a living sacrifice—ourselves—for the purpose of worshiping the One who first loved us. Someone once stated that we should always be standing at the altar (Romans 12:1). In every dispensation there has been a need for sacrifice, a need to give God the very best.

C. Consecrated Articles Were Used in Service

C. Consecrated Articles Were Used in Service

Every article and every piece of furniture within the Tabernacle was devoted to the worship of God. When the altars, the golden candlestick, the snuffers, the bowls, and the basins were anointed, they were then to be used in sacrifice and service. We too must be set aside for God’s purposes. We too are touched by the sacred oil of His Spirit to be consecrated instruments in His kingdom.

ReflectionsConsecration is a costly thing. To meet the approval of Jehovah, the Tabernacle had to be built with careful precision and at great expense. Moreover, priests put to death thousands of bullocks and sheep under the sacrificial system of the Old Testament.

ReflectionsNow, however, Christians offer a far different sacrifice. Paul appealed to the Roman Christians to offer their bodies as living sacrifices to God. It was the only reasonable thing to do, the apostle maintained, since the Lord had been so gracious to them.

ReflectionsThe church of the first century set a tremendous example in this matter of commitment and consecration. Boldly, the believers in the Book of Acts preached the gospel and fearlessly faced the oncoming persecution. They were tremendously effective in their day because they were filled with the passion and power of Jesus Christ.

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The Church in Action. Lesson 4 Lesson Text— Hebrews 11:35-37 Hebrews 11:35-36 35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured,