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NAZARITES

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, Cal. · Jul 4, 1906

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 32, No. 26.

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NAZARITES.

By A. Carter

WHAT is a Nazarite?—One separated, or set apart, for the service of God. This being true, how very impressive are the words found in Lev. 20:26, “Ye shall be holy unto Me; for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples that ye should be Mine.”
For how long is that condition to continue? —Forever. Was not Christ, as a man on earth, a life-long Nazarite? Does not faith in Him and having His Spirit in us make us true Nazarites? Of course we are not under the old Mosaic law; but being free men in Christ Jesus, and our bodies being temples of the Holy Spirit, all of us ought to refrain from following the foolish fashions of the Gentile world. Of every believer it can be said, “All the days of His separation he is holy unto the Lord.” Num. 6:8.
In the New Testament, also, the thought of complete separation is found. Here the command is, “Come out from among them, and be ye separate.” From whom are we to be separated?—By reading 2 Cor. 6:14 it will be seen that it is unbelievers. Why should we be so urgently commanded to withdraw from intimate association with them?—Because in being yoked with them we become associated with unrighteousness. Yet, notwithstanding the results in prospect, many souls prefer such association, and disregard the call to come out. Surely it behooves us all to beware of the opinions of men who are living in unbelief. Their sentiments can not be a safe guide in either social or religious life. It is sad to note that many professing Christians in these days are so influenced by public opinion (or the ideas of those who are in the New Testament designated “unbelievers”) that they readily conform to the fashions of the world.
John the Baptist was a true Nazarite, and no greater teacher, excepting Christ Himself, ever lived. Self indulgence is inconsistent with the life which the Lord calls us all to live in order to fit us for service as forerunners of His second advent. A. CARTER.