THE NAZARITES VOW
NUMBERS 6
By
C. A. COATES
Before entering upon
the subject of the Nazarites vow, I should like to say very plainly that the
salvation of a sinner depends altogether upon Christ and His perfect work on the cross, and it is received only
by faith. The prayers, works, self-denial, and
devotedness of the [regenerate] believer add nothing whatever to his [eternal*]
salvation. To suppose that our [eternal] salvation
depends in any way upon ourselves is to be fallen from grace,
and to he in darkness and uncertainty as to the whole
matter. But when we see that Christ is
the Alpha and Omega of our [eternal] salvation, that His atoning work has settled every
question that sin had raised between God and our souls, that His blood cleanseth us from all sin, and that we are on the
shoulder of the Good Shepherd who has pledged His word that we shall
never perish,
we find ourselves upon solid ground, and divine assurance
takes the place of alternating hope and fear.
[* It is of immense importance to distinguish
between the salvation which we (if regenerate)
presently
have - by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ(without works, Eph. 2: 8, 9) - from the salvation
which is the goal of our faith the salvation
of our souls. This future
salvation has to do with the glories that would follow:
(1 Pet. 1: 9-11). See also Heb. 10:
39; 1 Tim. 6: 18-21, and compare with 2
Thess. 1: 4-7; Heb. 2: 2, 3, etc.]
An important fact in
connection with salvation is sometimes overlooked, viz., that salvation is
linked with the recognition of the rights of the Lord Jesus. It
is written, If thou shalt confess with thy Mouth THE LORD JESUS,
and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt
he saved, Romans 10: 9. In a coming day* every knee will be made to bow to Him, and every tongue will have to confess THAT
JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, but the believer does it now. By-and-by the rightful but now rejected King will have dominion from sea to sea, and
from the river to the ends of the earth; but to-day His authority is only
acknowledged and confessed by those who believe on His Name. A little millennium is set up in the heart of
the believer, and he confesses Jesus as Lord.
[*
See, 2 Pet. 3: 7, 8.]
I fear that often
Jesus is trusted as the Saviour, but not fully recognised as Lord. He is regarded more as a passenger than as
captain of the ship. The captain has
authority from stem to stern; the ship sails whithersoever
he listeth; everything about the vessel and
her voyage is under his control. Now let
each of us ask himself the question, Have I Christ on board as a Passenger, or
as Captain of the ship?
Some Jacob-like -
will give Christ the tenth part; others will offer Him a larger Proportion; but
giving Him one-tenth or nine-tenths is not really owning His rights. The inhabitants of a besieged city wanted to
make terms with their enemies, but the answer was, No terms: unconditional surrender. That is what we must have if we want to
be Christians worthy of the name. No
terms with Christ, but
unconditional surrender to Him - the loyal and unreserved recognition of His
rights as LORD!
Is He not worthy? Think of His unconditional surrender for
us! See the Lord of glory stooping down
into the dust of death! He sacrificed
everything and laid down His life to make us His own. The love of Christ, expressed in death, has a
constraining power over every heart that really knows it; and it pleads with a
cogency which nothing but the hardness of unbelief can resist, that we should
not henceforth live unto ourselves, but unto Him. Do we believe that he gave
himself? Then
how can we make reserves in our surrender to Him? Shall we not fervently
exclaim -
Higher than the highest heavens,
Deeper than the deepest sea,
Lord, Thy love at last hath conquered.
Grant me now my spirits longing,
None of self and all of Thee?
May all bargaining and
compromise and reserve cease from our hearts here and now, and may that short
but all-comprehensive prayer of a surrendered and subject heart Lord,what wilt Thou have me to do? - be our
souls utterance to-day and evermore!
Surely none of us could
be content to quietly assume that because our sins are forgiven we need not
concern ourselves as to whether we are devoted to Christ or not! Let us not forget the judgment-seat! Let us remember that there is such a thing as
being saved yet so as by fire! Believer, your present happiness and your
future place in the kingdom [of] glory depend on your loyalty to Christ here on
earth. May God touch us with a little of
the fire that burned in the soul of a true Nazarite!
No one was compelled
to be a Nazarite; he was one who voluntarily devoted himself to the Lord with a
willing mind. Grace wrought in his
heart the desire to be wholly for the Lord, and then grace provided a way in
which that devotedness could be expressed.
The great need of to-day is more Nazarites - more thoroughly devoted men
and women. Spiritual young
men are a great testimony for
Christ in these days of secularised Christianity, and I should like every true
christian young man to have it impressed upon his heart that God has committed to him a stewardship of
the interests and glory of CHRIST.
If we have not an intense longing to be really for Christ, may God give
it to us now!
Notice the three words
- eight times repeated in this chapter -
UNTO THE LORD.
These words are the
key to the chapter. It is not under the law, but UNTO THE LORD.
There was no servile constraint - no legal bondage - about the
Nazarites vow. He was one whose heart
burned with a desire to be wholly devoted unto the Lord. Now I confess I know no arguments, and I am
acquainted with no power that will move the heart to devotedness except the
knowledge of the Lord Himself and of His love.
It is possible to read books by the score, and to listen to the most
faithful and blessed ministry for years together, and yet never know the Lord
as a present living object in heavenly glory.
I venture to say that it is impossible to see and know Him there by
faith without having an intense desire to be wholly devoted to Him here.
Do you think that we could gaze upon the glory-crowned Person to whom
angels and principalities are subject, and yet withhold the allegiance of our
poor hearts? Do you suppose for a moment
that we could see the hands, the feet, the side, that bear the tokens of His
love to us, and remain in a state of
passive indifference to His glory here? Could we see Him there - the exalted object of
the worship of heaven - and at the same time be content to compromise His glory
and dishonour His Name by conformity to the world which still sets Him at
naught?
A sight of that MAN in the glory [to be revealed*] takes the glitter from this corrupt and godless
world. Its charms attract and its shams
deceive no more. The heart says, What have I to do any more with idols? The ONE
in glory becomes the object bright and fair, to fill
and satisfy the heart, and the one who thus knows Him begins a new
life. Instead of the affections and the
energies finding their home and object in the world and self, they begin to
flow in the current of Numbers 6,
unto the Lord. It
is not that we deny our selves for an indefinite reason, or to improve our
spiritual standing or reputation, but there is a positive object - a Person of
infinite worth - before our souls, and for the sake and for the love of that
Person what would otherwise be painful self-denial becomes a source of deepest
happiness to our souls. I am bold to say
that the Nazarite who really devoted himself unto the Lord
got over whelmingly repaid for his self-denial in the blessing and joy of his
soul. I would ask, Are you prepared to
be a true Nazarite? Does the Person of
the Lord and His love so command you, that the deepest and most cherished
desire of your heart is to be devoted entirely to HIM.
[* See, - Matt. 25: 31; Luke 9: 26; Heb. 2: 10; 1 Pet. 4: 13; 5: 1,
etc.]
There were three
things the Nazarite was not to do; these three negatives being simply the fruit
and the expression of the positive fact that he was a man devoted UNTO THE LORD.
1.
He was not to eat or drink any part or product of the vine.
2.
He was not to cut his hair.
3.
He was not to come in contact with a dead body.
1. The Nazarite willingly devoted himself to a
life of
SELF-DENIAL,
and
for the Lords sake he abstained from that which would have been naturally pleasant to him. The testimony of scripture is that wine maketh merry, Eccleslastes 10: 19,
and maketh glad the heart of man. Psalm 104: 15, and hence wine becomes the type of
those earthly and worldly things that elevate and give pleasure to the heart
and mind of man. The ordinary Israelite
might indulge in wine and keep a good conscience, not so the Nazarite. The one who desired to be wholly for the Lord
must abstain so totally that from the kernels even to the husk
not a particle or drop that came from the vine of the earth must pass his lips.
Alas! my friends,
there are many professing Christians to-day who are ready to drink every drop
of the vine of earthly pleasure that they can get. They are ready to eat the whole vine-kernel
and husks and all. The strait-laced
legality of Puritan times has given place to a corrupt taste for pleasure and
amusement, which is being gratified to the full by a sickly, effeminate, and
unfaithful profession, so that there is hardly any form of earthly or worldly
pleasure which is not indulged in by professed people of God. Dear fellow Christians, if you are set for
the Lord, you will very soon find out that you cannot go to a cricket or
football match, to a dramatic or musical entertainment, or to a worldly party,
and you cannot read light or fictitious literature, without defiling the head
of your consecration. If you indulge in
such things you will find that they destroy your appetite for the word of God,
they take away your liberty in prayer, they bring a shade upon your spiritual
joy, and very soon - unless you repent -
they will deprive you of all power to be a living witness for Christ.
I speak plainly
because I judge you do not want to be merely a theoretical Christian. The things which I have already mentioned
carry so evidently the stamp of the world upon them that you have
probably shunned them ever since you were converted. Perhaps the girdle of truth needs to be drawn
a little tighter than this around the loins of our minds. There are many things which could not be
pronounced sinful from which a devoted heart would hold aloof. Each one has tastes and tendencies of thought
which if we had remained unconverted would have dominated and coloured our
lives. With one it is a love for
society, with another a taste for music, a third is held spellbound under the
magicians wand of the poet, the mind of a fourth is absorbed by mechanical or
scientific ideas, and so on. Remember I am not now speaking of what a man is
engaged in as his business or profession, but of the source to which he turns
for the pleasure of his heart when the claims of duty are discharged. All such things are products of the earthly
vine - not always evil in themselves, but when
the hearts affections are entwined round them, and the heart looks for its
solace and joy in them, they have diverted us from the true source of our joy;
they have displaced the Lord from His true place as our hearts absorbing
object, and the Nazarite is defiled.
Suppose a widow
passing through a place where her husband had been murdered a few years before;
you would hardly expect her to find much to gratify her heart there, however
interesting the occupations and however innocent and entertaining the amusements
of the place might be! Now do we look
upon this world as the place where the One we love best was murdered? The earth did not yield Him wine, but vinegar
and gall, and He has turned His back upon all earthly joys, saying, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall
come, Luke 22: 18.* His
joys are [now] with the Father and in heaven, and He would have us
so to know and to share them that we might count it a gain to turn aside from the vine of the
earth.
[* This kingdom
is yet future; and it will be established upon this earth when Jesus
returns with His holy angels. When the Son of Man
comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on the throne of his
heavenly glory.
Then the king will say to
those on his right, Come, you who are blessed of my Father; take your inheritance,
the kingdom
prepared for you since the creation of the world: (Matt. 25: 31, 34, NIV). See also Luke 22:
28: You are those who have stood my me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my
Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my
kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.]
Thy love is
better than wine ... we will be glad
and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine,
is the language of a heart truly
attached to the Lord, Song of Solomon 1: 2, 4; and David could say. Thou hast put
gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine
increased, Psalm 4: 7. Bear witness, every Christian! Have you not had seasons of joy in the Lord
which have infinitely surpassed everything that the vines of earth can afford? Would you willingly and deliberately
sacrifice the former for the sake of the latter? I think not.
Then take heed that you are not beguiled by the serpent, who ever seeks
to rob us of our true joys by turning us aside to things which promise fair,
but which yield no real satisfaction to the heart. It is a real loss to us when we turn aside to
these things, and we have to prove it so in the end; even as it is said of
Israel, My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the
fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no
water, Jeremiah 2: 13.
Those who selfishly
want to enjoy everything in heaven and on earth - often particularly the latter
- without caring much in what relation things stand to CHRIST, will lift up both hands in great surprise, and protest
against being deprived of innocent pleasures,
and will tell us very emphatically that they cannot see
any harm in these things. Well,
we shall have to let such take their own course, but the true Nazarite will
know very well who has the best of it even now; and a day is fast approaching when others may find out
that a different course would have been more to advantage.
Deuteronomy
29: 6 is instructive in connection with this subject: Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye
might know that I am the Lord your God. In the wilderness the Lord would make Himself
the
only source whether of
sustenance or joy to His people. In the
true spirit of this the altogether perfect One refused both the bread, Luke 4: 4,
and the wine, Mark 15 : 23. He would only accept
support from God. He would only have the solace and joy
ministered by His God and Father. Even
so He would have us to prove that He can
carry us through this wilderness world without either its support or its
solace. He would make
Himself our bread and our wine, and
instead of being worse off we should be infinitely better off, like Daniel and
his friends, who fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did
eat the portion of the kings meat. The devil is always ready to suggest that an
out-and-out Christian is a melancholy creature who does not enjoy life at
all. Every thread of that suggestion,
warp and woof, is a lie, and you may take it for granted that it is not
whole-hearted separation to the Lord that makes any unhappy.
Leviticus 10 : 9, 10
is another suggestive scripture as to this matter: Do not drink wine nor strong drink ... that
ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean. A man cannot indulge in earth-born joys
without having his spiritual perceptions blunted. If he goes on with them, he will presently
tolerate what he would have once judged to be evil. Then godly watchfulness as to the little
everyday details of life gives place to carelessness and laxity. Week by week the line of separation from the
world becomes less distinct. Solidity
and force of spiritual character is lost.
The holy is not sought, nor the unholy shunned, with that intensity of
purpose which once burned brightly in the soul; and ere long the once devoted
saint drifts along with the circumstances by which he is surrounded, with
little exeicise and less joy, and completely shorn of the beauty of his
Nazariteship.
Another solemn voice
reaches us from Lamentations 4: 7: Her Nazarites were
purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than
rubies, their polishing was of sapphire: their visage is blacker than a coal;
they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is
withered, it is become like a stick. How sad to think that the once lovely
Nazarite may be reduced to such a condition as this! Have you never seen a blighted and withered
Nazarite - a man who has lost the simplicity that is in Christ, and the beauty
of holiness, and all the devotedness and heavenly mindedness that once shone so
brightly in him? Now nobody can read
Christ in him. True, his name is on a
church-roll somewhere; he attends meetings perhaps; but he is not known in the
streets. The men where he works do not
know that he is a Christian, and it is as well they do not, for he is now more
like a spiritual scarecrow than anything else.
A man in that condition, instead of attracting souls to Christ, only
scares them away. Let that man be a
beacon-light to warn you from the rock on which he has
made shipwreck. The Nazarites decline
and fall begins by his turning aside to find pleasure in
some joy that is of earth and not of heaven.
The Lord loses for the moment His all-commanding and unrivalled place as
the object of the heart. This opens a
crack - very small, probably, at first - but the devil has got wedges which are
small enough at one end to get into the smallest crack;
and when they are once in he knows how to drive them home, unless divine grace works repentance and restoration. Then you get a man like one of Jeremiahs
Nazarites - worldly, conscience-smitten, and unhappy - a man who, sooner or
later, will feel his thorough wretchedness; for if he is a converted man the
Holy Spirit can neither give him the joys of heaven nor suffer him to be happy
with the joys of earth. Thus, in seeking
to enjoy two worlds, he for the present loses both.
The fearful results of
a defiled Nazariteship have also another voice to us. We should be not only constrained thereby to
keep ourselves pure, but we should be also reminded of our responsibilities in
regard to others. I raised up ... of your young men for Nazarites ... but ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink, Amos 2: 12. I believe I am right in saying that the
temptations which prevail most easily with the young in Christ are those which
come from professing Christlans. I have
seen many a promising spiritual life blighted by the company and example of
professed believers. In this respect, woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink! Remember the Saviours solemn words about an
offence, or cause of stumbling, given to one of His little ones.
2. I think we may find a key to the significance
of the unshorn locks of the Nazarite in a sentence from the apostle Paul: Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is
a shame unto him? 1 Corinthians 11:
14. The
Nazarite was found in a condition which, according to the thoughts of nature,
was one of reproach and shame. In
connection with this I should like to read Hebrews 11: 24-26. By faith Moses, when
he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaohs daughter;
choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the
pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming
THE REPROACH OF CHRIST
greater riches than the treasures in
To refuse and to choose
as Moses did requires uncompromising decision, or what the New Testament calls PURPOSE OF HEART. Jonathans armour-bearer presents a fine
example of a decided and devoted servant.
Do all that is in thine heart,
said he to his master: behold, I am with thee according to thy heart,
1
Samuel 14: 7. He was
thoroughly one with his master, regardless of consequences. It looked like tempting
This is the spirit in
which Moses acted. He recognised in the
toiling brickmakers the chosen people of the Lord. If Gods heart was with these poor toilers,
Moses heart would be with them too. Not
simply to pity and patronise them, but to suffer affliction and bear reproach
along with them. No doubt people thought
he was carrying things to extremes, and making himself foolish. So he was, from
Saviour, I long to follow Tlee,
Daily Thy cross to bear!
When a man was seen
bearing his cross, everybody knew that he had done with the world, and as long
as he remained in it he was an object of contempt. Now is that what we covet and expect? It is all very well to talk and sing about it
here in barracks, but how do we feel on the battle-field? We can all be very valiant for the truth when
it costs us nothing. But a soldier must
be prepared to stand fire, as well as to shine on the parade ground. It is at home, in the office, behind the
counter, in the workshop, and on the street, in ten thousand details of
everyday life, that the test comes. Are
we prepared to face the Egyptians and the Philistines and all the foes of our
Lord, ever saying to Him in loyalty of spirit, I am with thee
according to thy heart ?
Do we really look upon
the sneers and scorn of the world as our greatest treasure upon earth? We are not told that Moses submitted to the reproach or bore it well when it
came, but that he chose it and esteemed it greater riches than the
treasures in
There is another
scripture which I dare say has already occurred to your minds in connection
with this subject: Let us go forth therefore UNTO HIM without the camp, bearing his reproach, Hebrews
13:13. This
scripture appeals directly to the true Nazarite by the introduction of these
two central words UNTO HIM.
But here a much narrower circle is in question.
It is not now
It is an evil day for
the Nazarite when the questions begin to arise in his heart, Whatever will they think? What will Mr.
- say? When
he begins to consider the opinions of others, and to shape his course to please
men, whether they be friends or foes, the locks of his Nazariteship will soon
be shorn. His spiritual strength will depart from him, and then woe be unto him
when the Philistines come upon him!
A devoted Christian
must be a fool in the eyes of the world and of carnal believers. He is impelled by unknown motives; he suffers
loss with no visible compensation in any form; he goes calmly and steadily in
the opposite direction to everybody else; he despises the advantages which all
others are eager to pursue; he spends his time, his talents, and his means in
the service and for the glory of One who is only a myth to men of the
world. In a word, he lives UNTO THE LORD,
and he is glad to be a fool for Christs sake.
3. Finally, the Nazarite was not under any
circumstances to touch a dead body. In
connection with this let us read Romans 8: 12, 13: Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to
live after the flesh. For if ye live
after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the
deeds of the body, ye shall live. Nothing could be more solemn than this
scripture and its context, for it shows the absolute impossibility of living
to God as men in the
flesh. The lesson learnt by the painful
exercises of Romans 7 is that in me, that is,
in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing,
and the soul cries bitterly, O wretched man that I am! who shall
deliver me from this body of death? The figure
present to the writers mind was that of the dreadful punishment of lashing a
criminal to a dead body in such a way that it was impossible for him to free
himself, and then leaving him to die.
What was the dead body from which Paul had sought to he delivered? Was it not himself, and all that he was as a man in the
flesh? Nor did he look for deliverance
in vain. Having given himself up - as a
man in the flesh - as being a body of death,
he looked outside himself for deliverance, and could immediately exclaim, I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. He saw that the judgment of death had passed
upon him at the cross, and that grace now gave him a perfect title to take the
new ground that he was IN CHRIST JESUS. A door of life and liberty was thus opened to
him - for there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are IN CHRIST
JESUS - and, along with this, power by the Holy Spirit, so that he
could say, The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me
free from the law of sin and death.
Do not run away with
the idea that I mean anything mystical or visionary when I say that the true
Nazarite must live MORALLY APART FROM
HIMSELF as a man in the flesh. In
saying this, I am speaking the sober and practical truth of the word of
God. If ye live after the
flesh, ye shall die. He that soweth to
his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, Galatians
6: 8. You
cannot come morally into contact with the flesh without being defiled. The Holy Spirit wages perpetual warfare
against the flesh, and we are plainly told that if we walk in the Spirit we
shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh, Galatians 5 :16. The Holy Spirit is dwelling in us to maintain
us in freedom from that law of sin and death to which we
were in bondage when we were in the flesh. When a Christian thinks or speaks or acts
according to the flesh, he is practically acknowledging the man who is under
death - the man who was set aside at the cross.
To use the figure, he touches the dead body and defiles the head of his
consecration. And, inasmuch as he is
allowing that upon which death has passed in the sight of God, he has to reap
from it death and corruption. We have to
learn - it takes some of us a long time - that it does not pay to live
after the flesh; to do so brings darkness into the soul, robs the heart of its
divine joys, and entails the misery of an accusing conscience. We cannot afford to embrace or cherish that dead body any longer. They that are Christs
have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts, Galatians 5: 24.
If
we refuse the vileness and wickedness of the flesh, let us not forget that the flesh
has a moral and religious side which is equally defiling to the true
Nazarite. We are often, like Saul, 1 Samuel
15: 9, ready to spare the best
and the good of Amalek, while we would destroy
utterly everything that is vile and refuse.
The Galatians, having begun in the Spirit, were seeking to be made
perfect by the flesh. Some were
insisting on the necessity for circumcision and of keeping the law; they were
observing days, months, times, and years, and were glorying in the flesh in a
religious way. They were putting
themselves again in moral contact with the dead body of the flesh, and Paul
could hardly find language strong enough in which to describe their defilement
thereby. He speaks of them as being troubled, bewitched,
foolish, turned away
to weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage,
fallen from grace.
Christians are warned
against those who would spoil them through philosophy and
vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and
not after Christ; and they had to be asked, Wherefore,
if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though
living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances? Spiritual circumcision is the putting off the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Christianity is not the flesh educated, or
regulated, or decorated, but a new creation in Christ Jesus. If
you see a man setting himself off with a religious title, or a religious dress,
or even a bit of blue ribbon, you may be sure that he is not quite clear of the
dead body. He is not walking according to the rule of
the new creation, but according to a rule which can be equally well carried out
by an unconverted man. It seems a most
admirable thing for a man to pledge himself to touch not, taste
not, handle not some evil thing; but the very fact that
he puts himself under an ordinance as to it shows that he is upon the old
ground of a man in the flesh, on which ground he can never live unto God,
or be a true Nazarite. However fair it may promise, the flesh
can never yield anything but defilement, death, and corruption.
Then by what power can
the spiritual Nazarite hold himself aloof from the dead body of his former self as a man in the
flesh? Only by the Spirit of God. If we have not the Spirit, or if, having Him, we grieve Him, nothing can
preserve us from living after the flesh.
We naturally gravitate in that direction, and it is only as the
counteracting law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
is in operation that we are maintained in freedom from the law of sin and death. The spiritual Nazarite has no power to hold
himself aloof from the dead body save as he walks in the Spirit. No words of mine can convey the importance
and solemnity of this to your hearts, but I trust God will impress it upon us
all. Through the Spirit,
and only thus, can we mortify the deeds of the body,
and keep ourselves morally clear of the flesh both in its carnal and legal
aspects. There seems to be a great difference between flesh that is licentious and
self-indulgent and flesh that is exemplary, self-controlled, and ascetic. But flesh is flesh, and is always opposed to
what is of the Spirit of God; and the
better it looks, the more it is to be dreaded. The professing church has gone in for the
cultivation of mans intellect as a chief part of preparation for the
ministry. What is the result? Under cover of higher
criticism infidelity is now sown broadcast from many a pulpit from which
a few years ago the word of God was faithfully preached. On the other hand, there are those who
cultivate the religious sentiment of the people. With what effect? Popery, in everything but the name, has
spread itself over the land. They have
sown to the flesh, and of the flesh have they reaped corruption. Rationalism appeals to man as an intellectual
being, and Ritualism appeals to him as a religious being. But both ignore the fact that they that are in the flesh cannot please God;
both are clinging to the dead body which can
only defile.
What happens on a
large scale in christendom is just what will happen in the smaller circle of
our own lives if we do not walk in the Spirit, and as those who are alive unto
God IN CHRIST JESUS. May God keep us clear alike of the
self-indulgence, the wisdom, and the religiousness of the flesh! May He keep us by His Spirit morally apart
from that defiling dead body!
But what if the
Nazarite be defiled? I think everyone
will be profoundly thankful to know that grace has anticipated the posslibility
of defilement, and has made provision for it.
Yet let none of us overlook or think lightly of the solemnity of such a
thing. Indeed, this scripture is one of
peculiar impressiveness in the solemn light which it throws upon the
consequences of defilement.
The defiled Nazarite
has, so to speak, to begin again. He
shaves his head, and he brings a sin-offering, a burnt-offering, and a
trespass-offering to the Lord. When we
defile the head of our consecration there is no restoration until God brings us
back morally to the basis of all our blessing.
The only ground whether of our clearance from sin and judgment or of our
acceptance with God is the death of Christ, and our hearts have to return to a
sense of the infinite cost at which our clearance and acceptance have been
secured. While this is in one way deeply
blessed, and calls forth the full praise and worship of our hearts, it must, on
the other hand, inevitably lead to the most profound self-judgment as we are
brought to see in Gods presence that we have allowed that which Christ died to
remove, and from the judgment of which nothing but His death could save
us. Do you think it is a light matter to
discover that we have allowed the very thing which cost the Son of God His
life?
But there is another
thing! The days that
were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled. Is not this very solemn? The longer a Nazarite maintained his
consecration, the more serious it was for him if he suffered himself to be
defiled. I believe the longer we go on
right, the more serious it is for us if we turn aside. We have to make it up in moral time, which is not reckoned in days and
months and years, but in exercise of soul.
I trust that the Lord
will set our hearts very distinctly for Himself in this world, and that He will
use what has come before us to warn us against the things that would defile the
head of our consecration! It is worth
our while to be out-and-out for Christ.
There is not only the recompense of the reward
by-and-by, but an immense return in spiritual blessing even now. It is at the end of this chapter -
descriptive of a devoted man - that we find one of the most glorious
benedictions that the Old Testament affords: The Lord bless
thee, and keep thee: the Lord make his face shine upon thee, and he gracious
unto thee: the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. A devoted man is always a prosperous and
happy man spiritually. He honours the
Lord with his substance, and with the firstfrults of all his increase, and the
result is, that his barns are filled with plenty, and his presses burst out
with new wine. Melancholy and long-faced
Christians are not the out-and-outers but half-and-half men - those who want to
fear the Lord and serve their own graven images,
to make the best of both worlds, or to be pious according to the flesh.
Numbers 5
tells us about the bitter water of jealousy, and ends with a curse upon the unfaithful one; but Numbers 6
describes one who is loyal to the core, and ends with a blessing. It is even so with us. We are
reaping governmentally day by day either the curse or the blessing. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for
whatsoever a man soweth. that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the
flesh reap corruption; but HE THAT SOWETH TO THE SPIRIT SHALL OF THE SPIRIT REAP LIFE
EVERLASTING.*
[*That is, life in the age to come.]