02.02. Part 2

Part II But 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 Christians. 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 Saviour’s 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 Pharaoh’s 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 Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward." Here was a man most singularly favoured by Providence as to his position in this world, who deliberately turned his back upon wealth, power, and honours, when all these things were within his grasp, and threw in his lot with people who were in circumstances of the lowest degradation. No doubt he made himself a laughing-stock for Egypt, but the laughing did not last very long, while the gain on the other side can never be calculated. To use the figure, Moses presented himself to Egypt with the unshorn locks of a true Nazariteship. He dld not shrink from shame and reproach. To "refuse" and to "choose" as Moses did requires uncompromising decision, or what the New Testament calls "PURPOSE OF HEART." Jonathan’s 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 Providence, as people say, for two men to attack an army. Common sense would say, They will certainly he defeated, perhaps slain, or at any rate taken captive. The odds were fearful. The field of battle was a precipitous and unlikely place. Everything was against them. Nevertheless he says, "I am with thee according to thy heart." This is the spirit in which Moses acted. He recognised in the toiling brick-makers the chosen people of the Lord. If God’s 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 a fool of himself. So he was, from Egypt’s point of view, but he does not regret it to-day. We were singing just now Saviour, I long to follow Thee, 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 Egypt." The spiritual millionaires are the men and women who have most of the reproach of Christ. In the coming day of kingdom glory, I have no doubt, many of the brightest crowns will be found upon the brows of people unknown to fame. Many an obscure saint has to face from morning to night the full, fierce tide of "the reproach of Christ." I have no doubt theirs will be a rich reward, while many a bit of showy service will be found in that day to have yielded "nothing but leaves."

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 "Egypt," but "the camp"; i.e., the professed people of God. I cannot enter upon the subject now, but it would be easy to prove to you that the great religious bodies of Christendom occupy a position almost identical with the Jewish "camp" referred to here. In fact, much of the Christianity of today is only Judaism with Christian terms introduced into it, and there is as little true subjection to Christ and obedience to the will of God as there was in Israel when Moses pitched the tabernacle "outside the camp." The Nazarite would not be true to his consecration "unto the Lord" if he were to acquiesce in this kind of thing. Hence he is called to "go forth therefore unto him without the camp." But let him not suppose that his action will be either understood or commended by the "ten thousands of Israel!" He will be roundly abused by many. "Pharisee" and "Bigot" will be the names hurled at him by some; while others will say that he is "peculiar," "narrow-minded," and "a man of very extreme views." In short, he must be prepared to carry his locks unshorn, and to bear "the reproach of Christ."

It is an evil day for the Nazarite when the questions begin to rise 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 Christ’s 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 vii. 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 writer’s 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 be 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 judgement 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 Ghost, 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 Ghost 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 Ghost 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, be 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. Brethren, we cannot afford to embrace or cherish that "dead body" any longer. "They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affection and lusts" (Galatians 5:24). But 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." The Colossians, too, needed to be 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? The Holy Ghost had to tell them that spiritual circumcision was "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 had 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 it is always opposed to what is of the Spirit of God; and the better it looks, the more it is to be dreaded. In England the dissenting bodies have gone in for the cultivation of man’s 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, the Establishment, under the influence of Puseyism, has laid itself out to cultivate the religious sentiment of the people. With what effect? Popery, in everything but the name, has spread itself over the land. Both 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 present will be profoundly thankful to know that grace has anticipated the possibility 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 brief hints which I can give you in the few moments that remain will, I trust, be followed up and searched out for yourselves. 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 judgement 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-judgement as we are brought to see in God’s presence that we have allowed that which Christ died to remove, and from the judgement 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 be 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—of course, I mean spiritually. He honours the Lord with his substance, and with the firstfruits of all his increase, and the result is that his barns are filled with plenty, and his presses burst out with new wine. Your 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. They have never learnt in their souls’ experience the truth of Luther’s definition of a Christian—that he is "a new man in a new world." At any rate, they are not practically owning that "new man" and living in that "new world."

Numbers 5:1-31 tells us about the bitter water of jealousy, and ends with a curse upon the unfaithful one; but Numbers 6:1-27 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."

C.A.C.