The Apostle Paul said one time
to a group of people, he said, I came to you with fear and trembling. And you know, it's kind of how I feel tonight.
I kind of feel anxious. Anxious in the sense that I do
pray the Lord be pleased bless this message to His honor and
to our good, because I realize if He doesn't, it's just an embarrassment,
number one, to me. And I know it would not be profitable
to you. But I pray, and I mean this,
I'm sincere with you. In spite of me, in spite of all
that be in the way of hindrance, I
pray God be honored this evening. Turn with me to the book of Acts
chapter 21. Acts 21. In a couple of sentences, let
me just bring you up to where we are. James. has expressed to Paul that some questions had arisen
about some things that they thought Paul had said. And there were some converts. In fact, it says in verse 20
of this chapter, there were thousands. thousands of Jews that believed.
And they were all zealous of the law. And what that meant
was they were raised under the ceremonial law. They had practiced
it. There were some things that they
were taught. These are the things that we do. These are the things
that are right. These are the things that Moses
set down. They're now converted. And so
they're having some trouble in their minds getting it straight. What are we to do? I don't want
to be dishonorable to God. And so James said that basically,
Paul, would you help us out here? We've got some questions and
to just not settle. You know, when you want to be
settled on an issue, until you get it in your mind that this
is the way it is, you're just anxious. You're just back and
forth and you want to know. I want to know what's right.
I want to know. I want to do what's honorable
to the Lord. And I'm doing it for His sake.
I'm not doing it to bring you know, attention to myself. So
a suggestion was made. And that's what we're going to
look at tonight. Next week, Lord willing, so you
just understand exactly where I'm coming from. Next week, if
the Lord's pleased, I'm on a deal starting in verse 24 through
about verse 26. This is next week now. And what it is, where Paul went
in with four men that had taken the vow of a Nazarite. And so
I'll deal with that on why Paul did that. But I thought it fit. I thought it would be the right
thing to do this evening before I just go into that set of Scriptures
next week and say, okay, Now, Paul took the vow of a Nazarite.
Now, let me tell you the first thing you're going to think.
This is what I thought. Well, what is the vow of a Nazarite?
What is that? I mean, I've heard of it, but
what is it? What is it? So that's what I'd
like to look at for just a few minutes. Verse 23, Acts 21-23,
Do therefore this that we say, to thee." We have four men which
have a vow on them. Four men that had taken the vow
of a Nazarite. Now this vow was one that was
given by God to Moses Therefore, we know this, that it was according
to the law, and no doubt about that. Now the reason, before
I get into it and look at the vow of a Nazirite, the reason
that these four men were going to take this vow was because
it was consistent in their mind, with their conscience, And no
doubt, I'm not debating that it was according to a weak or
a young understanding that these men had concerning their liberty
in Christ. And when I say the liberty, that
means the freedom from the obligation of the ceremonial law. Now in
Christ, all of these ceremonies ended. There's no doubt about
that. There's not a doubt tonight that
the law, Christ was the end of the law. He was the fulfillment
of it. There was no more need. But, you still have to understand,
these people grew up under this. And when you grow up under something,
taught and stuff, you struggle sometimes with things that, you
know, and that's what these guys were doing. Now, the Nazarite
vow. I want you to turn to Numbers
chapter 6. And I want us to just look for
a few minutes at what these men were doing. Now, this vow, it
was a vow actually of devotion. Now just understand what this
is. This vow was an outward manifestation,
an outward expression, let me say it like this, of what was
actually to be an inward spiritual devotion. You're saying, I'm
going to dedicate myself to God. I'm going to give of myself to
the Lord. And for a believer today, Listen,
there is a giving of their heart. There's a devotion within, given
in that new birth. Paul said, in me, that is in
my flesh, there dwells no good thing. Now, he said, with my
flesh, I serve, I'm devoted to the law of sin in my flesh. And
that never changes. But he said, in my mind, in my
new mind, in my new heart, in my new creation, in that new
birth, that new nature, new spirit. He said, I'm devoted to the law
of God. I love God. Now that devotion,
that giving of this outward expression, that's what the law of the Nazarite
was. when this law was given to Moses
by the Lord. And you know that according to
the law, that all of these ceremonies, who did it picture? Christ. There was only one who could
be pictured in these ceremonies. So, the Scripture sets forth
In Numbers chapter 6, looking at that, we'll just look at a
few different verses, kind of skip around. Here's what it's
saying. First of all, in verse 8, concerning
this vow, it says, "...all the days of his separation he is
holy unto the Lord." Now, that ceremonial law was a symbolic
dedication. I know and you know that there
was nothing that was done by anyone that made himself an obligation
to take that vow of the Nazarite. You know that by the deeds of
the law no man was justified. You know that. So this is a symbol. It's symbolic. It was a vow of
separation. And it was absolutely fulfilled
only by our Lord Jesus Christ in His obedience to every jot
and every tittle of the law." So it's a symbol of one person,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who was actually the only true Nazarite
that was in Himself holy unto the Lord. No one else could fulfill
this. But it was a ceremony. It was a vow. Let's look at this
Nazarite vow. Numbers chapter 6, verse 1. Neither shall he drink any liquor
of grapes, nor eat moist grapes or dried. Now, all the days of
his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree
from the kernels even to the husk." Now, here was the first
part of this vow. These four men took a vow, the
vow of a Nazirite, and the first thing in this vow was while they
were taking it. Now, the vow could have been
for 30 days, it could be 60 days, it could be 100 days, or it could
be a lifetime. You could be a Nazirite for life. There's only three that were
actually ever mentioned that we know of that took the vow
of a Nazirite and it was for life. One of them was Samuel,
one of them was Samson, and the other was John the Baptist. So
they were lifetime Nazarites. All pictured one person, the
Lord Jesus Christ. But here was the first part of
the vow of a Nazarite. They couldn't drink wine. There was no wine or strong drink
that they could partake of. Now, why? What was being symbolized
by not drinking? Proverbs 20, verse 1 says, wine
is a marker. It's a deceiver. It makes a man
think that he's something when he's not. It makes him feel as
though that he's more than he is, that he's bigger than he
is, he's stronger than he is, that he can accomplish it. It's
a deceiver. It's a marker. It represents,
wine does, anything that breaks the current of our soul's communion
with the Lord God Himself. Anything that causes us to break
intimacy with Christ. Wine, as far as a Nazirite was
concerned, it was symbolic. of all that would steal our affection
and would excite our desires away from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anything. Anything. Anything. Anything
that would steal the heart, steal the thoughts, steal the emotions,
steal... The Lord Jesus Christ said of
Himself, John 4, 34, Jesus saith unto them, My meat, My food,
My sustenance, everything, is to do the will of Him that sent
me and to finish His work." Never deviated, not one time, did he
ever think anything other than the will of his Father, the work
that God had sent him to do. He never deviated. Nothing that
would cause the communication, the affection, the heart, the
desire, anything that would cause that to break that communion
with Almighty God. That's what wine symbolized to
a Nazarite. Nothing could deviate. So for
a Nazarite, abstinence from wine was saying, symbolically now,
you understand this, this is a symbol. The only one that could
actually do this was the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only one
that the Father said, this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well
pleased. No one else. But for that Nazarite,
by not drinking the wine, the symbol that was there was this,
I will not allow myself to be drawn away from singleness toward
Him. I'm just not going to do it.
Symbol. That's what it was. Now you think
about this. This was a promise that you couldn't
keep and I couldn't keep. I can say it. I can say this,
I'm not going to allow myself, I'm going to abstain from, you
know monks, how they used to separate themselves and go out
to a monastery. I'm just going to avoid any kind
of contact with that outside world. I'm just not going to
go out there. But you know what the problem
is? The problem ain't out there. Where's the problem? All they did is bring it with
them. I'm not going to go out there and mingle with sinners.
You're it. A Nazarite symbolically said,
I will do nothing that will cause my mind to be intoxicated with
the cares of this world. I will abstain from it. Only
Christ did that. Only the Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly,
the second part of the vow, Numbers 6, verse 5, it says, All the
days of the vow of His separation, there shall no razor come upon
His head until the days be fulfilled in which He separates Himself
unto the Lord and He shall be holy and shall set the locks
of the hair and shall let, I'm sorry, the locks of the hair
of his head grow. Here's the second thing. A Nazarite
couldn't cut his hair. His hair had to just grow. When I say he had to let it grow,
I mean that's all he did. He didn't do anything with it.
It just grew. I'm not saying it got long and
he braided it or something. He did nothing to it. It just
got longer. Now, this second part of this
vow, like the first part, lent itself to setting forth the abasement
and the humility of a man. What I mean is this, for a man
to let himself have his hair grow long, unkept, unshaven,
spoke of a lack of dignity. Now, I learned something. I learned
something here. Just turn to 1 Corinthians. 1
Corinthians 11. Verse 14, 15, 1 Corinthians 11, 14, 15. Doth not even nature itself teach
you that if a man have long hair, it's a shame unto him. But if
a woman have long hair, it's a glory to her, for her hair
is given her for a covering. This is an amazing thing. I've heard this verse of Scripture. And I would think, even then,
I would think, OK, for a man to have long hair, how long is
long? What is long to me and what's
long to you or to you? I mean, at what point does it
cross over into being long hair? But this is what it's talking
about. When it says long hair, it's actually unkept, uncut,
just grows. God has set a distinction. He said for a man to let his
hair grow unshaved, unkept, it's a shame to him. But it's dignity
to a woman. Now, whenever I let me let me
read a verse script turned to Ezekiel, I'm going to try to
remember this. I think it's Ezekiel 44 20. If my mind serves me right. Ezekiel 44. I pray it is. Yeah, yeah. Ezekiel 44 20. Now, this is an amazing thing
concerning the priest. Here's what the Lord said. I
could go back to verse 17, but I'm just talking about the priests
when they would serve. Neither shall they shave their
heads, nor surfer their locks to grow long. They shall only
pull their heads. Neither shall the priest drink
wine when they enter into the inner court. Now, whenever God
Almighty set forth that the priests were going to be ministering
in the tabernacle, This was the law concerning the priest. They
can't shave their head. That was for mourners. And they cannot let their hair
grow long. It says they'll just pull their
heads. I had to look that up. I didn't
know what that meant. It meant that they will cut it
the same length all the way around. There's going to be some dignity
to them. They're not going to be barbarians. They're not going
to be wild and unkept. God set a boundary on men and
women. And He said that for a man to
have hair that is unkept, unshaved, just gross, what it does is it
lends itself to that person having no dignity. The second part of a Nazarite
vow sets forth this truth. If there will be separation unto
God, we must be brought to the point that all of our dignity
is surrendered unto God Almighty, and that must never be any other
way in which a man sees himself." Here is the bottom line. A Nazirite
was saying, I realize this, to be separated unto the Lord, I
have no dignity to myself. I am nothing. Concerning the
Lord Jesus Christ, Philippians 2.7, the only true Nazirite Long
hair on a man was an abomination before God. Who said it? God
said it. And He said a Nazarite cannot cut his hair. He can't
drink wine. Secondly, he cannot cut his hair.
He is made undignified before men. Concerning the Lord, He
made Himself of no reputation. Man by nature says, I want people
to look at me. Christ took upon Him the form
of a servant and was made in the likeness of man and being
found in fashion as a man. He humbled Himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. The unshaven
head of a Nazarite symbolically said, I surrender myself to God
Almighty in admitting, admitting that I have surrendered to rebellion
in the fall of Adam and I lost all dignity that I ever had before
God. That's what a Nazarite said.
I have surrendered my dignity. Man was made upright before God. and he walked with God. And when
Adam fell in the garden and all mankind with him, what happened
to man's dignity before God? He died. He died before God. A Nazarite said, I'm going to
separate myself unto the Lord and I'm going to be honest with
God. Symbolically, this is what he said. Don't shave your hair. symbolic, a symbol, I'm sorry,
of no dignity. What did the Lord say concerning
Himself through David in the Psalms? I'm a worm. The Lord
said that of Himself. I'm a worm. What did Paul say
of himself? Oh, wretched man that I am. What did Abraham say when the
Lord spoke to him before he sent the two angels into Sodom? He said, I'm but dust and ashes. I deserve the lowest place. A Nazarite, one that dedicates
himself unto God, is honest. Honest. No dignity. Our Lord, this attitude was completely
epitomized in the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah, Isaiah 53. Isaiah, let me just read this
to you. Isaiah 53, verse 3 to 5. He was
despised. He was rejected of men, a man
of sorrows, acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces
from him. He was despised, and we esteemed
him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs,
carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, afflicted. He was wounded for our transgression.
He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, with his stripes were healed." Listen, what did
the Nazarites say in the vow? I don't have any dignity. I don't have any. And what did our blessed Lord
take upon Himself? Sin. Made sin. Now, if you want to get real
honest about it, He was made the lowest of the low. I'm talking
about the holy, spotless Lamb of God who was made what I am. I have no dignity. I forfeited
my dignity before God. I said to God Almighty in the
fall, I will not have you to rule over me. I don't have any
dignity. I am a barbarian before God as
being found in Adam. Christ was made that. He took
all of my undignity and made it His own." We talk and use
the word sin, and it's almost to that point to where we're
so galvanized to the understanding, to the sinfulness of sin, the
rottenness. I don't even know how to describe
it, but I can tell you this. All that it is, Christ was made. He took what I am. I had no dignity. And He made all of my non-dignity,
undignity, whatever the word would be, and He made it His
own. That's what a Nazirite said.
I want to separate myself unto God. And I will take in no wine. I will drink nothing. I will
do nothing that will cause me to deviate from Him, but in myself. Nothing. He was made what we
are. The third part, back in Numbers
chapter 6, the third part of this vow, verse 6 and 7 of this
Nazareth, all the days that he separated himself under the Lord,
he shall come at no dead body. He shall not make himself unclean
for his father, for his mother, for his brother, for his sister.
when they die because the consecration of his God is upon his head. The third part of a Nazirite
was this. He couldn't touch anything that
was dead. He couldn't touch it. He'd be
defiled. To do so was to defile himself
ceremonially and to make void his consecration to God. For
a Nazirite, his mama or daddy or anybody died, and that body
was there if he touched it. That vow of that Nazirite was
null and void. He started over. The Nazirite who abstained from that which
was dead, was set forth by our glorious
Savior, who was spoken of in Hebrews 7.26, and it is this,
such a high priest became us who was holy, harmless, undefiled,
separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. A Nazarite
could not allow anything to defile Him. I'm telling you, here is
a great mystery. He who became us, who was holy,
harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners, made higher than
the heavens, was made what we are. Our Lord and our Savior Truly,
he suffered in life and death, but in himself there was no taint
of sin found upon him because of his failure to obey the law
of God. No guile was found in his mouth.
He was obedient. Made sin upon the cross of his
humiliation and death. as our actual substitute. But
in Himself, there was the spotless Lamb of God. Now, let me tell
you something. As I've told you before recently, this is higher
than we can perceive. But I'm telling you, He who is
holy, harmless, undefiled, and separated from sinners was made
sin. And God accepted that Lamb. There was the spotless Lamb When
he was slain, his blood symbolized when Moses took that spotless
lamb in the nation of Egypt, killed that spotless lamb and
put his blood. And God said, when I see that
blood, I'm going to pass over you. Numbers 6-10. It says that, talking
about if the man had taken this vow, if he made a vow and he
did touch something that was dead. Look at Numbers 6, verses
10 to 12. It says on the eighth day, verse
9, if any man die very suddenly by him and he hath defiled the
head of his consecration, And he shall shave his head in the
day of the cleansing. On the seventh day he'll shave it. On
the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves, two young pigeons
to the priest at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, the other
for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him for that
he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day. And he shall consecrate unto
the Lord the days of his separation. and shall bring a lamb of the
first year for a trespass offering, but the days that were before
shall be lost, because the separation was defiled." Let me just tell
you what he said for the sake of time. If that Nazarite vowed
a vow, he couldn't drink any wine, he couldn't shave his head,
and he couldn't touch anything dead. If he did, if he did, the
only way that he was going to be released, the only way that
atonement was going to be made, he had to bring Three offerings.
If he was defiled, he had to have a burnt offering. The burnt
offering was an offering that was offered only for the satisfaction
of God. That was the burnt offering.
It was a sweet-smelling savor unto the Lord. What does that
mean? That means that when the Lord Jesus Christ died as our
burnt offering, He was pleased with him. That's what the burnt
offering meant. If the Nazarite was defiled because
he touched something dead, there had to be a burnt offering. There
had to be, secondly, a sin offering. In the same sense in which God
had to be satisfied with the Lord Jesus Christ, sin had to
be paid for. The sin offering was set forth
as Christ who died for what we are, the sin offering. But thirdly, there had to be
an offering if the Nazarite was defiled. There had to be a trespass
offering. That means that the Lord Jesus
Christ died also for what we do. He died for what we are and
He died for what we do. He put away the guilt of our
sin and now He pardons us now. He paid for what we are, Brother
Scott, sin. But I'm going to tell you something
we sin every day. Trespass offering. Thanks be
to God. When that Nazarite was defiled,
it took three offerings to set him free. A burnt offering, a
sin offering, and a trespass offering. And all three of them
we find in the Lord Jesus Christ. But continuing on, if he did
complete his vow, and that vow was completed according to the
law, this is how it ended. Verse 13, number 6, 13, this
is the law of the Nazarite. When the days of his separation
are fulfilled, he shall be brought into the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation. He shall offer his offering unto
the Lord. One he lamb of the first year without blemish for
a burn offering one you lamb of the first year without blemish
for a sin offering one ram without blemish for a peace offering
and a basket of unleavened bread cakes of fine flour mingled with
oil and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil and the
meat offering and their drink offerings and the priest shall
bring them before the Lord and shall offer his sin offering
and his burn offering and he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice
of peace offerings under the Lord with a basket of unleavened
bread. The priest shall offer also his meat offering and his
drink offering. The Nazarite shall shave the
head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of the
congregation and shall take the hair of the head of his separation
and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the
peace offerings and the priest shall take the sodden shoulder
of the ram and one unleavened cake out of the basket one unleavened
wafer and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite after
the hair of his separation is shaven and the priest shall wave
them for a wave offering before the Lord. This is holy for the
priest with the wave breast and heave shoulder and after that
the Nazarite may drink wine. This is the law of the Nazarite
who has vowed and of his offering unto the Lord for his separation
beside that that his hand shall get according to the vow which
he vows, so he must do after the law of his separation." Now,
let me tell you what he said. If this person that had taken
a vow, if he goes through, and whatever day there was, as I
told you there was a 30 day, a 60 day, a 100 day, or a lifetime,
after he took that vow, And he had fulfilled all of the obligation. He didn't drink wine. He didn't
cut his hair. He didn't touch anything that
was dead. Afterward, there were offerings that had to be made. And that Nazarite had to make
good on those offerings. They were the offerings that
was according to the law. That was the way that he would
be relieved from his obligation to the law. Now, all obviously,
these vows, these offerings pointed toward the Lord Jesus Christ. Whenever verse 14 says He will
offer His offering unto the Lord, one He Lamb of the first year
without blemish for a burnt offering, our Lord Jesus Christ was our
true Nazarite. Everything that He did was ours. He separated Himself unto Almighty
God. Every offering that was made
pictured Him. He was our burnt offering. He
was our sin offering. He was our peace offering. All
of the offerings set forth the Lord Jesus Christ. Then after
that, Nazarite had finished his offerings. He was to shave his
head. Now remember, the hair set forth
the expression, I have no dignity in myself. The Nazarite, after
he completed his vow, was to take and shave his head and take
the hair of that separation of that vow and put it in the fire
which is under the sacrifice of the peace offering. Because
I had no dignity in myself, he was made to be what I am, sin. He made himself no reputation. He made himself to be of no dignity. And God Almighty judged him in
my stead. Whenever that Nazarite would
shave his hair, After he had completed that vow, they shaved
his head and they took that hair and they threw it in the fire.
And there's the setting forth of Almighty God doing to him
and passing me by. That long hair set forth my non-dignity. Christ was made that. And it
went in the fire and peace was made before Almighty God. for
me. That which fuels my peace before
God is that Christ was God's Nazarite for me and for all that
God has everlastingly loved. He made Himself of no reputation
because I had no reputation of any dignity before God. The vow
of a Nazarite fulfilled by Christ, pleased God. And then after that
Nazarite that couldn't drink any wine, after that vow was
completed, the Scripture says he could drink wine. Ecclesiastes,
let me just read this for you. I'll read it and you just listen.
Ecclesiastes chapter 9, verse 7 and 8 says this. Ecclesiastes
9, 7 and 8. Go thy way. Eat thy bread with joy, and drink
thy wine with a merry heart, for God now accepteth thy works. Let thy garments be always white,
and let thy head lack no ointment." No peace. You are, before Almighty
God, able now to freely drink of Christ. He is our joy. He is our wine. the wine of Christ,
the wine of God's Spirit. Believers are sanctified and
set apart by the power and grace of Almighty God. Paul said in
2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13, We are bound to give thanks always
to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God has
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through Sanctification, whenever that
Nazarite sanctified himself, that's what it is. I'm going
to separate myself unto the Lord. God sanctified you in Christ.
God chose you in Christ by sanctification of the Spirit and belief for
the truth. Four men had made a vow, had
taken a vow upon themselves to obey God's law. That's what they
did. Thanks be to Him who actually
has done what this vow set forth in a symbol. You think about
what's being symbolized by that Nazarite vow, and you'll think
to yourself, nobody can do that but one. Nobody can separate
Himself Nobody can humble himself but Christ. I cannot because
I'm a proud, arrogant sinner in myself. For me to do good? That's impossible. Why? Because
there's none good. Not one. For me to seek God? No man seeks God. But what is it going to take
for God to be pleased? Obedience. That Nazarite, the
vow of a Nazarite, was a symbolic expression of something that
you nor I could do. I will not touch, I will not
look upon, I will not think upon anything that defiles my commitment
to God Almighty." You're not going to do that. You're not
going to do that. Nazarite couldn't drink wine.
That's what he was saying. I will bring no pleasure to myself. Nazarite was honest. I'm not
going to shave my head. I don't have any dignity to myself. Christ was made what we are.
Nazarite said, I will not touch anything that defiles. I will
not touch anything that was dead. Too late. I was born dead. Death had already touched me.
Only one is a true Nazarite. These four men made a vow according
to the law. And James came to Paul. He said, Paul got four men that
took a vow of a Nazirite. And whenever they took a vow
to be a Nazirite, there was only one way that they were going
to be relieved of it. They were going to have to satisfy
it. Well, symbolically, what they were going to have to do
is they were going to be separated into the temple. And after that
vow was done, after the 30 days was completed, they were going
to have to pay themselves for those sacrifices. They were going
to have to make good on those sacrifices. Every one of them
was going to have to pay for those sacrifices that was going
to be offered by the priest before they could get out of there.
Until those sacrifices were paid, they weren't going to be relieved
from the responsibility of that vow. James came to him, came
to Paul, and he said, Paul, these men made a vow. I'm going to
ask you something, Paul. Would you enter in with them
at whatever it cost to pay what these men owe? Will you go in
with them, Paul, and pay the debt? Because they can't pay. Next week, Lord willing, we're
going to look at a glorious picture of the gospel of free grace.
About four men that went in and obligated themselves to the law
like you and I have. One that went in with them and
made himself answerable. to the demands of the law. I
was going to go in with them and make good on them. The vow
of Nazareth, a beautiful picture of a man's obligation to God
to be faithful, but there has only been one. Thanks be to Him
that He stands and answers for us.