“Your fire will burn only for a time and will soon be extinguished. There is a fire you know nothing about: the fire of the judgment to come and of eternal punishment, reserved for the ungodly.” The governor was amazed and immediately gave orders for Polycarp to be burned alive. Just before the fire was lit, Polycarp prayed “O Father of thy beloved and blessed Son, Jesus Christ. . . . I bless Thee for counting me worthy of this day and hour, that in the number of the martyrs I may partake of Christ’s cup, to the resurrection of eternal life of both soul and body in the imperishability that is the gift of the Holy Spirit . . ..” When he finished his prayer, the fire was lit and great flames shot up. What a wonderful testimony! Now having this kind of willingness is perhaps the hardest part of it all. To be able to make the irrevocable decision of submitting to death without any hesitation at all, for Christ’s sake, is not easy for anyone to do. There are some who may hastily and without thinking, boast today that they are quite willing to die for Christ, but when the situation really comes, they quickly back out of it. Let us be careful to think through the whole thing carefully: whether we really are willing to sacrifice our life for Christ. Even Peter and the other disciples at the Last Supper claimed with heroic spirits that they were most willing to give up their lives: Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples (Matt 26:33–35). We know all too well what happened after that: When Christ was really arrested, all the disciples left him except for John. Peter, who had been the most outspoken in his boasting, denied that he even knew Christ at all, three times. Please be careful not to repeat the same mistake by hastily boasting that you are most ready to die for your Lord anytime. Carefully count the cost and prayerfully beg the Lord to grant you the strength and courage you need from God to do His will. And, more important than that, if you want to be willing to die for Christ, you first must be willing to live for Him. If you are not willing 96 A <strong>Consecrated</strong> <strong>Life</strong>
to even live for Christ, how then can you be willing to suffer and die for Him? So settle first the issue of whether you are committed enough to live your life daily for Christ, before you can think of whether you are committed enough to suffer and die for Him. What are you going to do with your life? “Only one life ‘twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.” Willing to Die for Christ 97
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Far Eastern Bible College Press Sin
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Contents Foreword..................
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Foreword A Consecrated Life—Roman
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Chapter 1 A Consecrated Life Text:
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God rather than our bodies? After a
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elong to him. He has to bear the lo
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from now on. It means living only t
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are afraid of embarrassment, and of
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Chapter 2 The Motivation for Consec
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people, but being mocked, insulted
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cross, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthan
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how can it ever be possible to feel
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suggested. It was done by the Roman
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permission to give Jesus a proper b
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Truly we must be greatly amazed tha
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was a church leader named Stephen.
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I. Busy in Doing Whatever the Lord
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Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Ari
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As Philip came nearer the carriage
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go around boasting to others about
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Abraham showed that he was willing
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life. It was not a static faith or
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- Page 53 and 54: Chapter 5 Hindrances to Consecratio
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- Page 57 and 58: But then something quite unexpected
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- Page 61 and 62: three generations. All the wealth t
- Page 63 and 64: III. Be Rich Toward God, and Not to
- Page 65 and 66: Chapter 6 The Objective Of Consecra
- Page 67 and 68: Another person whose life was wonde
- Page 69 and 70: II. Renew Your Mind and Conscience
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- Page 73 and 74: We must maintain the desire in our
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- Page 103 and 104: partners had sailed back to shore e
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- Page 107 and 108: If God calls you today to forsake a
- Page 109 and 110: III. The Grace We Have Received fro
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