NAZARITESHIP

^[p. 322] NAZARITESHIP

Judges 13: 17 - 20; Judges 14:5; Judges 14:7-9; Judges 15: 14 - 20; Judges 15: 1 - 3; Judges 17: 22

I have before me the subject of Nazariteship, particularly its results as worked out dispensationally, that is in the history of the assembly: and what may be remarked at the outset is that as ever, this great subject — or the principle of it — has to be learned from Christ. For, indeed, in no other is any principle of God worked out perfectly, and it may be well, in order that our minds should be clear as to this section of Scripture, to see that it has to be understood dispensationally. For we should be greatly deceived if we were to assume that any one now could be guilty of Samson’s indiscretions and, indeed, sins, and yet be a vessel of divine power. It were an entire mistake to assume that anyone today could enter into the evil associations of Samson, and yet be a vessel personally of divine power and grace. So that it has to be taken account of dispensationally. But, in using that word, beloved, it is with no thought of occupying you with mere dispensational truth. I have before me, by the Lord’s help, to bring out certain features of Nazariteship which should appear in a practical way among the people of God. But, in order that the great principle should be clearly before us, the Spirit of God gives it in its abstract perfection in chapter 13, before He comes to the history of Samson, affording, as it does, such sorrowful events, for we must not conclude that God in any way overlooked or justified these occurrences to which I have referred — far otherwise. But He gives us in chapter 13, as I said, an outline of Nazariteship in its abstract perfection, and, in order to understand the working of it in a poor failing man like Samson, we have to have clearly in our souls the abstract idea — we have to see, dear brethren, that Nazariteship involves the ^[p. 323] negation of all that in which nature lives — even legitimate things. And so the angel appears, as you will know, on two occasions: first, to Samson’s mother, Manoah’s wife; and, secondly, to her and her husband. And, on each occasion, He insists on the principle of Nazariteship, so that they, at least should have it clearly in their minds, and, as you will observe, we have not only His words, but His wondrous actions. His name, as He says, is Wonderful, and you can understand that the working out of Nazariteship should be wonderful. And so He announced His name, which was indeed a secret (for Nazariteship itself is a secret). No one can be here for God unless he understands the secret of Nazariteship, and not only that he should understand it, but keep it. It is a great thing to learn how to keep secrets. God has shown us the way, beloved friends, for He kept secret, things from the foundation of the world. He kept secret the great thought of the Mystery. As we read in the Book of Proverbs: “The glory of God is to conceal a matter”, Proverbs 25:2 and a principle that runs through Nazariteship is that of secrecy. But the angel did wondrously. Who can he represent, beloved brethren, save our Lord, Jesus Christ? whose Name, as we read elsewhere, is called Wonderful. How wondrously the Lord in His pathway in this world maintains the great principle of Nazariteship! He was, indeed, a Nazarite unto God, from His birth in a most absolute way, and, yet, He came, as we are told, “eating and drinking”, as it says: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us”. John 1:14. He went in and out among the people as one of them and yet in the secret of His mind, and in every detail of His life, He was “holy, harmless, undefiled, and separated from sinners” Hebrews 7:26. How such a life, beloved, should be maintained in this world, and, yet, all that was due to God and to man, and to His parents, and to His relatives, should be fully recognised is the secret.

^[p. 324] And, so the angel, as we are told, did wondrously. What the wonderful things were are not stated. It is left for us, as having the Spirit of God, to trace out the wonders in the life of Jesus. It is after we have our need met through His death, and after we get the Spirit, that we may go to the gospels, and trace out these wonders. His Name is Wonderful. And so the gospels abound with illustrations of the wonders of His life of Nazariteship in this world. And in order to show that the end corresponds with the beginning, see how He went out. He who did wondrously in this world in maintaining in its absoluteness the idea of Nazariteship to God. The angel, as we read here, went up in the flame of the sacrifice. How infinitely pure and holy, beloved, was the life of that Man as portrayed for us in the gospels, particularly in Luke. He went out, as I may say, in the fire of a sacrifice. How infinitely delightful to God was such a life. Having maintained Nazariteship, He went out of this world, as one might say, in the fire of His own sacrifice. Oh, beloved, what a life the gospels present to us. And so we can understand the insistence in the Acts on the part of God that Peter and John should go and stand in the temple, and speak all the words of that life. So, the Angel goes up in the flame. He ascends up to Heaven in the flame of the sacrifice — in the flame of the Altar. You see, therefore, in the wondrous actings of the angel, the suggestion for us of this great principle of which I am speaking. So, when we take up the history of Samson, we have to face, alas, a history of failure — a history, indeed, in which dispensationally every one of us has had his part. It is well to identify ourselves, dear brethren, although we may be in the secret of Nazariteship, and although we may be reaping the fruits of it, as I hope to show, it is well for us, humbly and soberly, to take account of the history of the assembly in all its features. For we cannot be with God without ^[p. 325] taking account of things just as they are: and so the addresses to the assemblies have in view that the overcomer in each should have the mind of the Lord as to the occurrences — the sins — of the responsible body. And so I proceed to dwell for a moment on the features of Nazariteship that work out, notwithstanding the failure and these events of which I have read. And, dear, brethren, one point of great importance is that we should keep clearly in view the features of Nazariteship as outlined in chapter 13. For God never — He has never diverted one iota from these principles. If the results of Nazariteship come to us notwithstanding the failure of the vessel, this is only to magnify divine grace. How He can work out and recognise the features of the Nazarite and bring about the results therefrom, notwithstanding the failure is a subject of the deepest interest and the more we understand it, the more we shall magnify the grace of God that bears with us. For surely no one can read these chapters without being impressed with the forbearance of God in regard of Samson’s conduct. The consideration of it, as I said, viewed dispensationally, impresses you with the magnitude of divine grace, and it encourages you to rely on the infinite resources of grace which are with God. Well, now I want to dwell for a moment on the first scripture I read in chapter 14. I want to show, dear brethren, how Nazariteship results in life. You see Samson is met by the lion. Here, we may speak of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the outset of the dispensation corresponded, as we may say, with Him. The Philistine woman in the distance surely does not correspond. But there is here what does suggest to us the power of Christ. For, who but He, beloved, could rend the lion as one rends a kid, without a weapon? But, we are concerned with Nazariteship, and if we are to be among the bees, as one might say, we have to understand this secret. You see, secrecy ^[p. 326] is one of the features of these passages. The exploit was done unknown to others, but the presence of the bees in the carcase brings to our attention, dear brethren, a point of the deepest interest, for they represent unquestionably the energy of life — the energy of life in mutuality — in the most active co-operation with a definite end. And so I would point out, dear brethren, this great feature of Nazariteship — how the secret of it is known in our souls, the secret of the overthrow of death, for we are to have part in this. How very really these bees had to do with death. There can be no life according to God save as we maintain direct relation with the death of Christ. Any mutual relations — any active co-operation aside from direct relation with the death of Christ cannot issue in what is of God. There may be results, but they are not such as are according to the revelation of God in Christ. We know, it says: “we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren” 1 John 3:14. We know, beloved, we have passed from death unto life. It is not simply that we have passed out of the world into life. We have passed from death to life. If we touch life according to God at all it is life out of death. It is not simply that Jesus has been in death, and has annulled him that had the power of death. We pass out of death into life There is the definite acceptance of death. It is in the definite acceptance of death that we touch life. How very really these bees represent the activity of life in co-operation. How very vividly they were in death. They were in the carcase of the lion and so there was honey. You see, we want the pure product. Any active co-operation, with whatever good intentions, aside from rigid relation with the death of Christ, cannot result in the pure honey. This result is not a public matter — it is a riddle — it is a secret matter. As I said, we cannot be here for God, there cannot be results for ^[p. 327] God, aside from the secret. We have to understand in the secret of our souls, we have to do with the death of Christ, to be in direct relation to the death of Christ, and, hence, as the result of such active and mutual co-operation — the result is pure — we have got the honey. As the Lord says, in Canticles, speaking in Spirit: “I have eaten my honey with my honeycomb”. Song of Songs 5:1. He would not regard any impure products as His. He hates adulteration. He hates mixture as the type shows us. If He calls it My honey, it must be the pure product — it must be unmixed by the flesh. Well, now, I want to go on to the next chapter — chapter 15. I think I have shown that life with pure results for God is the direct outcome of Nazariteship, and I have no doubt that this answers to the early history of the assembly. There was hearty co-operation — baptism and the Lord’s supper were maintained, and in this way the death of Christ was in view, and the flesh shut out, so that there were pure results for God and for the saints. But now that we come to chapter 15 we have another feature of the death of Christ. For these conditions of which I have spoken have to be maintained, and chapter 15, I believe, sets before us the means of the maintenance of these mutual relations in life. I do not know anything, dear brethren, so practical as the thought of a circle of life, and every one of us here can prove satisfactorily to his own soul as to whether he is in it or otherwise, for it says: “We know we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren”. 1 John 3:14. The epistle of John insists on conscious knowledge. The gospel is more objective as we can readily understand. As the Lord says: “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life”. John 5:24. But the epistle says: “We know we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren”.

Did you ever look, dear brethren, for that evidence?

“Because we love the brethren”. It is an encouragement to all those of whom it is true, but it shuts out mere profession. We must have that subjective evidence if we are to enjoy this holy circle of life. And as I said, it is the product — the secret of Nazariteship. But how is this to be maintained? I think you will see, as I proceed, that these passages are what I may call constructive. If the conditions of life are to be maintained, there has to be what corresponds with the jawbone of the ass, and I would remark, for those who may not have the better translation, that the word ‘new’ is better rendered ‘moist’, ‘fresh’ — as we see in the margin. And I have no doubt that word ‘fresh’ or ‘moist’ is the key to this Scripture. For the constant tendency is that we should become stale or dried up. We all know how even the reception of precious truth or ministry into our souls, which, for the moment causes gladness or freshness, how quickly it fades, and how it loses its power, and so God has provided for continual freshness. And I have no doubt, dear brethren, that the Lord’s supper, in a striking way, corresponds with this section. One may speak reverently of our Lord Jesus Christ as having Himself been in death. The idea of death is surely in the carcase of the lion. But death has been overthrown through Jesus going into death. But look, beloved, He went into death, and the emblems of the Lord’s supper speak to our hearts of the fact that He Himself has lain in death. We can readily see the distinction that has to be made between an ass and a lion, the former representing a creature of great usefulness to men — indeed, in the east one of the most useful of creatures, and one may reverently regard our Lord Jesus Christ as become man. How available He was to man. The gospel opens up instance after instance in which the Lord is seen as serviceable. He came here to serve. “I am amongst you as he that serves”. Luke 22:27.

^[p. 329] He was here on account of man. He was here to serve man, and that service, that devotion, to man by the Mediator led Him into death. The precious blood of Christ was separated from His body, and this solemn fact is before us Lord’s day after Lord’s day, as we contemplate the emblems of the Lord’s supper. How it comes home to our hearts that He has been in death! The Lord of glory lay in death! Is that a matter of history? No, beloved. It is a matter of today. If you regard it as a matter of history it will not be a moist jawbone. It will be a dried up one, as it is, alas, to many. How dry the so-called sacrament is as taken all around us! Is that the divine intent in it? The very opposite. The idea is that things should be maintained in freshness. We are brought back through the jawbone. How much enters into it I have not time to go into now. But we all know that part of the face has to do with communications and how precious are the communications of Christ. What volumes His death speaks to us! And so Samson finds it says, a moist or fresh jawbone of an ass. I wonder if we have all found it. I speak to young ones here who may recently have come into fellowship, so to speak, and I would urge upon you the importance of finding this fresh jawbone. The Lord’s supper, of which you partake, is no mere historical incident. The death of Christ is as fresh in significance as it was when it happened. It is brought to us in the Supper. It is the power of that entering into the soul that gives it vigour and freshness and hence the great victory of Samson — and so may I not say, beloved, the victories of modern times. We are truly living in wonderful times. We are living in times, I believe, marked by this very thing, that the recognition of the love of Christ in His death, the acceptance of it in the souls of His people, have led to freshness and vigour and power, so that the Philistine hosts, that is to say,

^[p. 330] those big men who stood between us and the truth of God, have been overcome, and we have the truth in our hands. We have it living in us as the Lord intends we should have it. So we are free from Philistine domination. The Philistines were big men, and as you all know, inhabited the land of Canaan. They got into that land without going through death, and Israel was dominated by them. So the great victory of Samson. I believe we are enjoying the great fruits of this victory at the present time. It all lies in the secret of the death of Christ — that He Himself has been into death, He has been there in His love for us, He has been down to make known the heart of God to us — so Samson’s triumphant words: “Heaps upon heaps by the jawbone of an ass I have slain a thousand men”. Judges 15:16. But, then, that is not all, beloved. The Lord’s supper in itself will not do — wonderful as it is when rightly understood. You see, Samson thirsted. The Lord supper is meat and drink. And so Samson cries. I believe that, in connection with the revival of the truth of the Lord’s supper amongst the saints, and its effects upon them that we have had, brought into evidence the great importance of prayer, and I would urge the importance of it at this present time. I would urge it. This Enhakkore^† is the well of him that cried. Do you know anything about it, you Christian, here? That you can have refreshment, that you can be sustained in the power of the Spirit by prayer, by living in dependence upon God — calling upon Him. You see many of us live on the meetings. Precious, indeed, as the Lord’s supper is, precious as its effects upon our souls, it is not all. The meetings afford a wonderful income, but we must have private incomes. I would speak to young ones particularly. You must learn to have private means, as we say, for it is not at all according to God that you should live merely upon

^†Meaning “the Caller’s Spring.”

^[p. 331] the meetings. You will become thirsty. For you have not the meetings always with you. You have the six days of the week in which you have to tread the wilderness, and you have to learn to call upon God; you have to learn to maintain secret relations with God — to call upon God. If you begin definitely to pray in regard of every difficulty, every thirst, every want, you will find that you are beginning to accumulate a private income, and you will be able to contribute to the meeting — to the assembly — instead of being a tax. I proceed to the next passage, that is, the great exploit at Gaza, because I want to show you how the truth has come to light as a consequence of Nazariteship and when I speak of it in this way, I speak of it as having been worked out in certain ones. I am not prepared to undertake that all the saints have been in the good of it. Certainly, the public body has been marked by these sins which appear here, and I speak thus so that we may measure ourselves up and see how much we have been in Nazariteship — how much we have contributed to the recovery of these wonderful things which we are enjoying. So, what I find, what I understand, in the great exploit at Gaza, is the great truth of resurrection. So far, we have had the principle of life in the circle here, and the power that accrues from the Lord’s supper, and from the recognition of prayer, and from the power of the Spirit and now, when we come to the exploit of Gaza, we have the truth of the Son of God; in other words, dear brethren, we have the truth of the epistle to the Colossians. The Lord has graciously recovered for us that great truth that we are risen with Christ, and what comes into view now is that there is something that is before this world. It is a wonderful moment when it dawns upon the soul that God has a world. The Son of God has a world of His own. He was disdained in this world. He came into it. It did not know Him.

^[p. 332] He came into the world — the world was made by Him and the world did not know Him. But, now, in resurrection, He takes up another world. He inaugurates a world of His own, and Hebron stands for that. We are told it was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt. It is something that precedes this present world. How delightful to have the suggestion brought to us of the Son of God — and the world that He builds. As I ascend to the hill that is before Hebron, I get a view of it. As in the company of Him who takes the doors and gates of Gaza, bar and all, and carries them up to a hill that is before Hebron, see the power I have in my soul. I have a sense that I am with One who has power to overthrow this world, and I look across from the eminence on which I am now by faith as risen with Christ, and I see Hebron in all its spiritual significance. Would that every young person here could get a look at it! It would mean deliverance from this world. You would see what was in the mind of God before the foundation of the world. He had a world of His own there — the world established by His Son — by the power of which He was raised from the dead. You see the exceeding greatness of the power of God.

In closing, I just say a word on the re-growth of Samson’s hair. I have no doubt that the exploit at Gaza is the end of one chapter. Indeed, we read at the end of chapter 15 that Samson judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines. I have no doubt that that refers to the peculiar dominance which the truth of the Lord’s supper and the Spirit has given to the saints. But, although the Philistines exist and stalk about in Christendom in their fancied greatness, there is something much greater and, indeed, I may say that we are not in victory unless we understand there is that which is greater — that, in the recognition of the anointing, there is that which is greater than what these great men have. But, then,

^[p. 333] you see, Hebron is another step. Hebron takes us beyond their range. They may speak of the sacraments and the Spirit, but who among them knows anything about Hebron? I do not believe that there is a single person in any system of this world who understands Hebron. You cannot understand it as you remain in any system of this world. It is outside of this world. It is in resurrection. It is beyond the range of men to understand Hebron. Hence, beloved, the wonderful triumph of God — the victory He has given us through Nazariteship in whomsoever it has been seen. We have come into the light of the great fact that we are risen with Christ, and of the exceeding greatness of the power of God, which God wrought in him in raising Him from the dead. But, then, we go back, and we find that the sorrowful history of shame, leading up to the Nazarite being the sport of the world — being in the world’s prison. We cannot evade the shame of this. We cannot evade what the assembly has come to in this world, and so I take the re-growth of Samson’s hair to be a collateral suggestion in connection with chapter 15 and the exploit of Gaza. What does the re-growth of hair mean, but the energy of life? There can be no growth of hair aside from the energy of life. We all know how the loss of hair in nature signifies the wane of life. But, thank God, there is, in the history of the assembly, what corresponds to the re-growth of Samson’s hair. One would be very practical — one would urge to make inquiry as to whether our hair has begun to grow. It is a very simple thought, but it is the evidence of life, and it spells the overthrow of this world. You may think there is very little development of life in your soul, but that principle that is working in your soul spells the overthrow of this world. The Lord says: “Woe to the world because of offences”. Matthew 18:7. The world is guilty of captivating and corrupting the assembly, and the world has to pay the penalty.

^[p. 334] In the government of God, this world has got to come down. Because of its offences it has to come down. I look to myself, and I see in myself the development of divine life, and I say there is the principle by which this world has to come down. Is it not a great principle? But it says “Samson’s hair began to grow after it was shaven”. Judges 16:22. Can we not see at the present time the evidence of that hair growing? I can see it. Thank God! I can see it, and, as I see it, I see the world about to be overthrown. It is imminent. We have within ourselves, I believe, the means of discovering as to the end of things. Samson’s hair has begun to grow: as the Lord says to Philadelphia; “Thou hast a little power”. Revelation 3:8. There was life there — there was love there. Love is the evidence of life and the Lord credits what there is to the whole assembly — the nearer you get to the heart of the Lord, the more you shall find every member of His body in His mind when He is speaking to Philadelphia. Samson’s hair has begun to grow. There is the evidence of life, and, presently, the world is coining down by that same power. Think, dear brethren, of what a principle is working in us as the hair begins to grow — as the evidence of recovery is apparent. “After he was shaven ..”. after he had lost his Nazariteship, his hair is now beginning to grow, and there is, therefore, the unmistakable intimation that the world and all its glory has to come down. The Philistine house of mirth, with its three thousand nobility is undoubtedly a type of the world in its glory, and it comes down. I speak of it, because of its bearing upon us. How great is the principle that is working in us — no less than that by which the Lord will subdue all things to Himself — for the power that works in us is the power by which He was raised from the dead. It is God’s power that is in us, and it is about to apply to this world. It is coming down. I have no doubt the exit of the angel ^[p. 335] in that wonderful way into Heaven speaks of our exit out of this world. The Lord will see to it that we shall go up in all the purity and holiness that is according to heaven. There shall not be the least discrepancy between us and heaven as we enter into it. That is the prospect that is before us. And so one would urge this great principle of Nazariteship. We are living in days of material prosperity, and material prosperity induces natural enjoyment. It induces natural enjoyment. We tend to go in for legitimate things to the full, whereas, if we look into Nazariteship, it saves us in such circumstances. God withholds no good thing from those that love Him and walk uprightly. But we must be on our guard that our blessings do not become our curse. And the only escape from the danger of material prosperity lies in Nazariteship — in keeping in close touch with the death of Christ.