Defective Consecration - Part 1 — Manley Beasley

Good to see you tonight. It fascinates me as to what God can do with people if they'll just let him. And I want to let him tonight. And there's a number of passages of scripture, several passages of scripture that I want to give to you.

Romans 6 and the Choice of Whom We Serve

And I'd like for you to turn first to Romans, the sixth chapter. No you're not. Let me give you time to get there. That's one verse I want you to really see. Romans, the sixth chapter, the sixteenth verse.

No you're not. To whom you yield yourselves servants to obey. Now listen to this. His servants, you are to whom you obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness. Would God be thanked that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. Now Galatians, the fifth chapter, a verse that you're very, a passage that you're very familiar with. Galatians, the fifth chapter, sixteenth verse.

This I say then, walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And then over to James, the third chapter. Now I'm going to read just two verses out of this passage, but you might like to read yourself the tenth verse of the third chapter of the tenth verse through the seventeenth verse.

But I'm just going to read two verses, the eleventh and twelfth verse. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Does it send forth at the same time, the same place? Sweet water and bitter.

Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries, either a vine, figs? So can no fountain send forth, yield salt water and fresh. No fountain can send forth salt water and fresh. That's an interesting passage.

Saul's False Claim of Obedience

The book of 1 Samuel, you may not want to turn back there. I'll just turn back there and read the passage, 1 Samuel, the fifteenth chapter, the fourteenth verse. It says, and Samuel said, What meaneth then this blating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the ox, which I hear?

Let's pray. Lord Jesus, you are Lord tonight, and we know you Lord. And Lord, would you anoint us at this time with that special anointing for preaching. And Lord, bless your people with hearts to hear.

And Lord, may we go from this place tonight being a different people. In Jesus' precious but marvelous name we pray. Amen. Back years ago, in fact 1952, this happened to me, and I have never gotten over it.

A man came to the college that I was attending, and he has a little nasal tone in his voice, very quiet, mild-mannered type fella. And he made a statement that changed my life. He said, Jesus is either Lord of all, or he's not Lord at all.

He said, Jesus, and he said in a little nasal tone, Jesus is Lord of all, or he's not Lord at all. Now, I didn't understand in my mind what he was saying, but God's Spirit took that word from that man and literally shook my life.

I understood this much that he was saying to me, Jesus is either in charge of your life totally, according to the light that you have, he's in charge of your life, or he's not in charge of it at all. This bothered me, because I just quite didn't think the devil had anything going in me.

But I wasn't quite sure that Jesus had everything either. So I wasn't quite sure that Jesus had everything, and I just did not want to admit that a man is either controlled by the Lord, or he's controlled by the flesh, the world, and the devil.

And when you say it all, you're saying that if a man is controlled by the flesh, oh, Satan is in charge of his life. If he's controlled by the Spirit of the world, Satan's in charge of his life. And if he is in charge, Satan's in charge, of course, Satan's in charge.

A man does not like to admit that. He does not like to admit that one or the other, the Lord or the devil, is in charge of his life. And so the fascinating thing was that this verse just blew my mind, that Romans, the sixth chapter, the sixteenth verse.

Yielding Determines Whom We Serve

Now, it says, No ye not to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey. His servants ye are to whom ye obey. He says, No ye not to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey. In other words, you yield yourselves servants to obey someone.

You yield yourselves to obey the Lord. And let me just put it this way. If you do not yield yourself servants to obey the Lord, you have yielded yourself to the world, the flesh, and the devil. If you just do not yield yourself to the Lord.

And that's easily understood, at least understandable. It is understandable. But Beloved, when you realize that him you serve, that you're yielded to, you serve the one you're yielded to, that puts the whole thing in another ballgame.

In other words, you express, you manifest, you reveal the one that is in charge of your life. Now, it's so interesting. Saul, back to meet Samuel, and he had taken some ox and some sheep, and when he got to Samuel, Saul said to Samuel, Praise God.

Praise God, I've done everything God told me to do. He said, Hallelujah, I've done everything God told me to do. He said, I'm right with God. I don't know of anything else to do. Praise God, I am right with God.

That's exactly, my dear friends, the scripture says he came and rejoiced, manifested the fact that he was right with God. He said, I've done everything God told me to do. Did you know, I'll tell you, if this man was not lying, he was deceived by the deceitfulness of sin, and he thought he was telling the truth.

And, of course, obsession, obsession is when you tell a lie that's a lie, but you think it's the truth. And when a man's like that, he has obsession. He's obsessed. Obsessed, I'll get it out in a minute.

Manifestations Reveal Spiritual Allegiance

But Saul, I do not know where he just deliberately lied, or he really thought he'd obeyed God, but he said, Praise God, I've done everything God told me to do. And Brother Samuel said, Well, now, if you've done everything God told you to do, what meaneth the blading of the sheep and the lowing of the ox?

In other words, if you're right with God, why is it that you're having these manifestations in your life? If you're really right with God, you're really walking with God, you're really praising God, God is really in charge of your life, I want to know why, then are you having these manifestations in your life?

If God is really in charge of your life, why are you having these manifestations in your life? That's right. You say, Well, Brother Manly, what are you trying to say to us? I'm trying to say that that little chapter, the sixteenth verse, says, Know ye not to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey?

His servants are to whom you obey. You are serving the one that you're yielded to. And you're either yielded to the Lord, or you're yielded to the world, the flesh, and the devil. Tonight, either the Lord is in charge of your life, or the forces of hell are in charge of your life.

Now, you may not call the flesh the forces of hell, but the Bible would interpret the flesh as being under the control and power of Satan. You might not call the spirit of the world the forces of hell, but the Bible would indicate that Satan's in charge of the spirit of the world.

You're yielded to the one, my dear friends, you're serving tonight. You're yielded to the one that you're serving tonight. Now, let's go on. Galatians, that fifth chapter, that sixteenth verse, says, If you walk in the spirit, you'll not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Walking in the Spirit Instead of the Flesh

Some men might say before this message gets over tonight, Well, Brother Manley, you see, this thing is the situation. We're still in the flesh. We're saved and all of that, but we're still in the flesh.

And since we're still in the flesh, we're going to do fleshly things. But the Bible says, Walk in the spirit, and you'll not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Now, I know, my dear friends, as long as you're in the flesh, you're going to have to walk with God and keep your sins confessed up to date and walk in the spirit by faith.

But I want to say this. If you're walking in the spirit of God, you'll not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And you say, What do you mean, walking in the spirit of God? Well, what I mean by walking in the spirit of God, it would take about two weeks to preach all of it, but let me just try to illustrate what I'm talking about.

The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus

Walking in the spirit of God, to me, is that you're walking on such a level of obedience to life, having your sins confessed up to date in faith in Christ, to the extent that the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus is operating in your life and keeping the flesh from operating and overcoming the spirit of the living God.

Like, for instance, I have this pair of glasses, and I'm going to drop them, and they'll fall to this pulpit, and they'll stop there. That's called the law of gravitation. Now, I'll take that pair of glasses, and I drop them, and they fall in my hands.

Now, that was the law of gravitation, but those glasses did not fall on this pulpit. You know why? There's another law working against the law of gravitation, and keeping the law of gravitation from having its effect on these glasses.

And when a person is walking in the spirit of a living God, washed in the blood of the Lamb, saved by the grace of God, I want you to know, my dear friends, there is the law of life in Christ Jesus working in their life, overcoming the life of the flesh, and keeping that person from walking in the flesh.

Now, that's called victory. That's called victory. That doesn't mean they do not sin. That does not mean they do not sin. And my dear friends do not have need of getting right with God. But it means that the spirit of God is overcoming in their life.

Now, when that person is doing that, that person is walking in the spirit, my dear friends, the one they are yielded to is going to be manifested in that life, out of that life. Now, let me deal a little bit with another passage that I gave you, out of James.

Sweet and Bitter Water Cannot Flow From One Fountain

Now, I'm going to say sweet and bitter water cannot come out of the same fountain. And I do not believe I'm doing injustice to the scripture. That buffalo loathed me. Jesus is either Lord of all or not at all.

And I'd look at my own personal life, and I'd look at my life, and one minute, man, I was sweet as glory. Amen. I mean, I'd be so sweet, kind and nice, full of love, joy, peace, long-suffering, faithfulness.

I mean, I just a real model saint. And I mean, I could really do this, especially when there was no pressure, no problems, no difficulty. You know, everything was going right. I could really walk in the spirit.

And I could really go because I was walking in the spirit. And then something would begin to happen, and out of me, out of me, now would come bitterness and ugliness and resentment and fuming and fussing and criticism and slander and gossip and false finding, and all that junk just come rolling out of me.

And that scripture says, there, Jesus is either Lord of all or not at all. And I would look at this person. I would look at my person, and I would see sweet and bitter coming out of the same fountain.

And I was confused. And then this man comes along and says, Jesus is either Lord of all or he's not a Lord at all. And there's not going to be a mixture coming out of your life. And that really shook me.

So I wanted to know the truth. And I set about to find it. And so here's what I found. I was, I thought that I was the fountain. You see, I thought I was the fountain. But I found out something, that I was not the fountain.

Christ and Satan as the Sources Behind Our Conduct

I found out that Jesus was the fountain. And Satan was the fountain. I was the, not the fountain. No, you're not to whom you, now Jesus is the fountain, and Satan is the fountain. And my dear friends, you yield yourself to the spirit of the Lord, and you yield yourself to him, and out of your life is going to come the sweetness of the Lord.

But if you're not yielded to him, now remember what I said. I've said that three times already. If you are not yielded to him, you're already yielded to the world, the flesh, and the devil. And my dear friends, the wickedness of hell comes right out of you.

Because know you not to whom you yield yourself, servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey. That's right. My dear friends, the Christian walk is not about every ten years have an experience with Jesus.

It's not day by day. It's not hour by hour. It's moment by moment. And my dear friends, that we walk with Jesus. Now, it really blew my mind when I realized that if I was yielded to Jesus out of my life, regardless of my spiritual growth, I would manifest the Son of the Living God out of my life.

And what I mean by regardless of my spiritual growth, all along, I mean, I really wanted to say all along the journey of my spiritual growth, I would manifest the life of Jesus Christ. And my dear friends, if I was not yielded to the Lord, my friends, then all along the journey of my life would come the manifestations of the flesh.

The Lemon Illustration and What Pressure Reveals

Now, I want to give you an illustration. Now, you've heard this for 30 years from me, I guess. I don't know when I picked up this illustration. So many years ago. But I never get tired of using it. And you'll see why in a moment.

When you squeeze a lemon, when you squeeze a lemon, what do you get out of it? You get out of it what's in it. I was fascinated by this illustration some time ago, back several years ago. I told this up in Ponca City, Oklahoma.

And that was one of the big refineries headquarters there. And they have a number of, they had a number of scientists in the church. And one of the scientists came to me and he said, I love that illustration.

I said, why? He said, because we use lemons in our research. And we take all the lemon juice out of those lemons. And we put all kinds of chemicals in there to see how to react and preserve it and all this and that and the other.

And I thought about how absolute this is. When you squeeze a lemon, you get out of it what's in it. Now, you know what comes out of you and me when we squeeze the nut? You know what comes out of you and me?

What's in us. Now listen to me carefully tonight. The Lord is either in charge of your life. If he's not in charge, my dear friends, the world, the flesh and the devil is in charge of your life. Now that's called defective consecration.

Defective Consecration and False Assurance

It's man saying, I am right with God. Man says it all the time. I am right with God. I am right with God. And his wife pushes the right button and he loses his temper. Now, if he was right with God, his consecration was not defective at that moment, and she pushed the right button, he would get Jesus.

Jesus would come out of that man. That's right. No, you're not. To whom you yield yourself, servants obey. His servants, you are to whom you obey. And my dear friends, you can say what you want to. You say, Brother Manley, I heard of a man recently saying he had had an experience with God.

I don't doubt the fact that he may have had an experience with God, but let me tell you something. When you have an experience with God and you maintain that experience with God, your life is changed morally.

Moral Change as Evidence of Walking in the Spirit

And there's such a moral change in your life. As long as you're walking in the spirit and a person touches your life, there is that law of life in Christ Jesus working, my dear friends, delivering you from the power of the world, the flesh and the devil.

And I want you to know, Jesus Christ, the son of the living God, comes out. And if he doesn't come out, it's because, I used to put it like this, and I might as well, I've been wanting to do it all night.

You're just flat full of the devil. Amen. One of the easiest ways to find out is go right straight to an uncontrollable temper. Amen. You can catch more dogs in the henhouse on uncontrollable temper. My dear friends, getting away with getting the eggs and any other sin that a child of God commits.

It must be one of the basic problems with the human flesh. And here tonight, you say, blessed Lord, hallelujah, preacher, praise God, I'm right with God. I'll tell you, my dear friend, if that's the case, what meaneth the blading of the sheep and the lowering of the ox?

What meaneth the blading of the sheep and the lowering of the ox? You young people, you, you kiddos. I mean, your mother and dad tells you something to do and you pout and get mad and glow up like a stuffed frog and act like the devil.

And then you run down and say, I am right with God. Praise God. I've done everything God told me to do. And right in the house, you're acting like the devil himself. Defective consecration. Man loses his temper.

Practical Signs of Defective Consecration

He gossips, he criticizes, he slanders, he cast hails, he finds fault. Newspaper, more than he reads the word of God. Watches television more than he prays. There should be the name of God, hallelujah, I've done everything God told me to do.

Listen, folks, when we are right with God and the spirit of life in Christ Jesus is working in our lives, sweet water will flow spontaneously from our lives and bitter water will not come out at the same time.

And you know whether or not you're having trouble with this sweet and bitter. You know whether or not you're having trouble. I've just, I've just, all I noticed is it, you know, it just got quiet in here.

Spontaneous Christian Life and Growth in Grace

Amazing thing about the Christian life. It's a spontaneous life. I mean, spontaneous, brother. You're having trouble praying. You're having trouble witnessing. You're having trouble giving. You're having trouble with your temper.

You're having trouble with slander and gossip and criticism and fault finding and tail bearing. You're having trouble with smoking. You're having trouble with all that junk. My dear friends, there is no way in the world you can work your way to God by quitting that junk.

You have to come to Jesus and admit you're a sinner and confess it to God and believe God for victory. And then God gives you the victory and you have spontaneous life. I mean, it's spontaneous. I'm convinced the most difficult issue that the church in America has to face tonight is how to keep their children, God's people walking in the spirit.

The few that are saved, how do you keep them walking in the spirit? How do you grow them in grace? I'm convinced that's the biggest problem. He said, if you walk in the light as I'm in the light, you have fellowship one with another.

So I'm convinced that one issue that you and I have to face.