Sermon #1627[1] Miscellaneous Sermons

Title: Christ the Nazarene

Text: Matthew 2:23

Subject: Christ and the Nazarite Law

Introduction:

(Matthew 2:23) “And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.”

I am going to talk to you about Christ the Nazarene. In God’s wise and good providence, our Savior was brought to Nazareth as a baby by Joseph, that he might, in fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy be called a Nazarene. Should any ask, with Nathaniel, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” I reply, with Philip, “Come and see.”

The words “Nazarene” and “Nazarite” are really the same words. The word comes from the word “Netzar,” and means separated. “A Nazarene,” or “Nazarite” is one separated and given up to God. But where in the Old Testament is there a prophecy that says “He shall be called a Nazarene”? Have you ever tried to find such a prophecy? If you have, I am sure you were perplexed, because there is no such statement in the Old Testament. In fact, the statement is not found anywhere in the Bible, except in Matthew 2:23. The town of Nazareth was such a small, insignificant place in Zebulun that it is not even mentioned in the Old Testament. So where did Matthew get this notion that the Old Testament prophesied, “He shall be called a Nazarene”? — Did he take an oral tradition and call it a prophecy of the Old Testament? — Was he mistaken? — Is this an error found in the Bible? Such questions cannot be considered by one who believes God.

Must we simply say to ourselves — “Well, the fact that I cannot find where it is written in the Old Testament that “He shall be called a Nazarene” does not mean a thing. Matthew wrote it by divine inspiration. God the Holy Spirit who inspired this sentence is the same Holy Spirit who inspired the Old Testament writings; and he knows what he wrote better than I do.” That’s a pretty good way to handle the text. In fact, that is exactly the way I have handled it for years.

But the fact that the Spirit of God says it is there means that it is there. I am confident that he has shown me where it is written. Have I gotten your interest? — This is a prophecy written in bold letters throughout the Old Testament Scriptures, “He shall be called a Nazarene.” It is written so plainly in the Old Testament that I am embarrassed by the fact that I have missed it all these years.

Proposition: Everything regarding the law of the Nazarites, as well as the whole Volume of the Old Testament, declare that he who is the Christ is that One who is pre-eminently the Nazarite, the Separated One.

The Jews, contemptuously, called our Redeemer the Nazarite or Nazarene. Spitting on the ground in disgust, his detractors hissed out the name “Nazarene,” as if it were the climax of contempt. Yet, that blessed Nazarene, triumphant and glorious, “Jesus of Nazareth,” is that One whose glory is great in salvation! His is the greatest name among men.

(Acts 4:12) “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

Blind Bartimaeus understood perfectly well that the Christ, the Messiah, would be called “The Nazarene.” When he heard that it was “Jesus of Nazareth” who passed his way in Jericho, his heart was filled with hope of mercy from “the Son of David” (Mark 10:46-48).

(Philippians 2:8-11) “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (9) Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: (10) That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; (11) And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Dishonored by his foes, he is adored among his friends! While others deride him as “a Nazarene,” we adore him as Christ the Nazarene, Jehovah-Jesus, King of kings, and Lord of lords!

This title, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, was always designed of God, as the highest and strongest testimony to the peculiar and distinct character of our Savior as the one great Nazarite of God. — What do the Scriptures tell us about him?

(Matthew 2:23) “And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.”

Old Testament

The fact is, the whole body of the Old Testament Scriptures, when telling us about this gospel age and the glorious accomplishments of Christ in redemption and grace, tells us that “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

1. Genesis 49:1, 26

Jacob’s prophecy concerning Joseph, who was an eminent type of Christ, declared, “He shall be called a Nazarene” (Gen. 49:1, 26).

(Genesis 49:1) “And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.”

(Genesis 49:26) “The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.”

2. Deuteronomy 33:16

The word “separate” is Netzar, that is, a Nazarite among his brethren. Moses used that same word again in Deuteronomy 33:16, when pronouncing God’s blessings upon Joseph for generations to come, when he spoke of “the good will of him that dwelt in the bush.”

(Deuteronomy 33:16) “And for the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.”

Remember, Moses was referring here to the first revelation he was given of the incarnate God (Ex. 3:2; Acts 7:30).

(Exodus 3:2) “And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.”

(Acts 7:30) “And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.”

So both Jacob and Moses, declared by the type Joseph, that the great Antitype should be the Nazarite, one separate from his brethren.

Nazarite Law

3. Numbers 6

When God gave his law to Israel by the hand of Moses, one of the most thoroughly expanded laws given was “the law of the Nazarite” in Numbers 6.

(V. 1) “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, (V. 2) Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the LORD:”

There are many things in the law of the Nazarite that cannot be applied to our Savior. He both touched dead bodies and drank wine, though he was never made unclean by doing so. Yet, strictly speaking, as that one who was wholly devoted and separated to the Lord God, our Savior is the Nazarene typically referred to in this Old Testament law. He is the one and the only one man who perfectly fulfilled it. This is evident from the fact that the law is never mentioned again until we see it mentioned in connection with Samson (another type of our Redeemer) in Judges 13.

(v. 3) “He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried. (v. 4) All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ was solemnly set apart to the Father and to do his will from eternity, sanctified (John 17:19) for the salvation of our souls.— “And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.”

(v 5) “All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.”

Again, our Savior fulfills the type gloriously. The church is described as having hair like a flock of goats (Song 4:1). Like the hairs of his head, a vast multitude grow up in Christ and upon him. No razor shall ever separate us from our Lord. Like the hair on our heads, we live upon Christ, depend on him, and draw life and strength from him, because we are a part of him and can never be separated from him.

· As Samson’s strength and glory was his hair, so we are Christ’s glory. But our mighty Samson shall never loose his glory.

· The hair is the last part of the body to die; and we shall never perish, because Christ our Savior lives forever!

Therefore it may be said of every member of Christ Church, as we read in 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.”

(v. 6) “All the days that he separateth himself unto the LORD he shall come at no dead body. (v. 7) He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head. (v. 8) All the days of his separation he is holy unto the LORD.”

Christ was made sin for us; yet he knew no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. He was ever holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners.

(Numbers 6:9-21) “And if any man die very suddenly by him, (We died by him when he died.) and he hath defiled the head of his consecration (When he was made sin for us.); then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day (the day of grace, perfection and completion) shall he shave it. (10) And on the eighth day (the day of resurrection, new life, and new beginning) he shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: (11) And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and 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. (12) 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 his separation was defiled. (13) And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: (14) And he shall offer his offering unto the LORD, one he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings, (15) And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings. (16) And the priest shall bring them before the LORD, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering: (17) And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also his meat offering, and his drink offering. (18) And 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. (When Christ died, we suffered all the fury of God’s wrath in him, to the full satisaction of divine justice.) (19) And the priest shall take the sodden shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite, after the hair of his separation is shaven: (20) 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. (21) This is the law of the Nazarite who hath vowed, and of his offering unto the LORD for his separation, beside that that his hand shall get: according to the vow which he vowed, so he must do after the law of his separation.”

We must not overlook the fact that in all these offerings for sin shadowed forth the one great, all-sufficient sacrifice of Christ, our great Nazarite, by which our sins were put away. Waving the offering before the Lord was both an acknowledgement of sin before the holy Lord God and a celebration of sin’s pardon and removal by the blood of Christ.

In Mark 14:24-25, our Savior spoke of his work as the Nazarene being fulfilled, when he said, “This is the blood of the new testament, which is shed for many. Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

We have the clearest possible evidence that all that is seen in this Nazarite law refers to Christ and his great work of redemption in the last verses of this chapter. In these verses, upon the basis of the Nazarites obedience and sacrifice, God commands his blessing upon his people (Num. 6:22-27).

(Numbers 6:22-27) “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, (23) Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, (24) The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: (25) The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: (26) The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. (27) And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.”

Samson

4. Judges 13:5

The next time the word Nazarite is mentioned is in Judges 13:5. Here it is used to describe Samson, another great type of our Savior, in his consecration to God from his mother’s womb, as a Nazarite

(Judges 13:5) “For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”

(Judges 13:7) “But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.”

In Samson’s case, this vow was a matter of lifelong consecration to the LORD. So it was with our blessed Savior who, from his conception in the womb of the virgin to his last breath upon the cursed tree, did always those things that pleased and honored his Father. But there was a great difference between Samson and Christ. — Samson had the vow upon him. Christ willingly took it and fulfilled it! Still, in Samson’s case there are many things that show the correlation between the type and the antitype.

· Samson’s birth was announced in precisely the same was Christ’s was, by the angel of the Lord.

· Manoah’s wife, Samson’s mother, was barren at the time, as if to show that the birth of this child, though not miraculous, was extraordinary.

· The message the angel brought to Manoah’s wife, and to the Virgin Mary, were very much the same.

Indeed, the angel of the Lord who brought the good news of Samson’s birth, appears to have had in his mind and heart the much greater good news he would announce in years to come. When Monoah and his wife offered sacrifice to God, the angel of the Lord did gloriously! — The Angel of the Lord is Christ himself. He behaved gloriously because in all these things he was anticipating that which he would accomplish as our Redeemer, “the joy set before him,” for which he endured the cross, despising the shame.

· And above all, just as the angel concerning Samson declared, that he should be a Nazarite to God from the womb, and should begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines, so the angel announced to Mary concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, that he should be that Holy Thing, and be called the Son of the Highest, and should deliver “his people from their sins.” (Compare Judges 13:2-7 with Luke 1:26 and Matt. 1:20-21).

5. Isaiah 11:1

Isaiah also used this very word when he prophesied of Christ coming to save us by the sacrifice of himself (Isa. 11:1).

(Isaiah 11:1) “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch (netzar — Nazarite) shall grow out of his roots.”

(Isaiah 11:10) “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.”

6. Luke 1:26-33

Turn with me to the Book of Luke. Though our Savior was born at Bethlehem, in fulfillment of Micah 5:2, that fact tells us that he was, at the time of his conception in the virgin’s womb, “a Nazarene” (Luke 1:26-33)

(Luke 1:26-33) “And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, (27) To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. (28) And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. (29) And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. (30) And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. (31) And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. (32) He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: (33) And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”

“That Holy thing,” the man of the anointing, as Christ is declared by the angel to be, was immediately conceived, and the Nazarite from the womb was formed in the city of Nazareth, by the power of the Holy Spirit, just as Isaiah told us he would be, in the womb of a virgin (Isa. 7:14; 9:6).

(Isaiah 7:14) “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

(Isaiah 9:6) “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

In all these things, we see that Christ the Nazarene is “the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth,” having fulfilled it entirely as our Substitute and Savior.

7. Overruling Providence

Give me just a few more minutes of your attention. I just have to show you how wondrously the overruling hand of God’s providence arranged to have his darling Son called “a Nazarene,” that the Scriptures might be fulfilled, using even those who despised him and would have destroyed him to give him this glorious name.

· It was Herod’s determination to murder the infant King that forced Joseph to flee with him and Mary down to Egypt, that he might be called out of Egypt, to fulfil the Scriptures.

· When Joseph heard that Herod was dead, he started back to Judea, but heard that Herod’s son, Archelaus (who was just as vile as his father) reigned in his stead. So Joseph turned to Nazareth.

(Matthew 2:22-23) “But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: (23) And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.”

· It was the demons of hell, themselves, who were first compelled to call our Savior by this blessed name (Mark 1:24).

(Mark 1:24) “Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.”

· Next, Philip used this name to identify the Lord of Glory (John 1:45-49).

(John 1:45-49) “Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. (46) And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. (47) Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! (48) Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. (49) Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.”

· Then, the soldiers who came to arrest him in the garden, used this name to speak of the Savior, affording our Savior opportunity to show his great power and authority as our mighty Samson to deliver his Israel in the hour of his death (John 18:3-9).

(John 18:3-9) “Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. (4) Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye? (5) They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. (6) As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground. (7) Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. (8) Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way: (9) That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none.”

· Then Pilate, the Roman Governor, as if constrained by a mysterious, overruling power, as if to give his own testimony to Christ and reverse the ignominy he meant to put upon him, both subscribed to his royal authority and proclaimed him the Nazarite to God, writing it out in three different languages upon a placard that was put on the cross, — “Jesusof Nazareth, the King of the Jews” (John 19:19).

· After his resurrection, the angels at the tomb used this same name to identify our blessed Redeemer (Mark 16:6-7).

(Mark 16:6-7) “And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. (7) But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.”

8. His Glory

That which Satan, the demons of hell, and wicked men considered his great dishonor is truly our blessed Savior’s greatest honor. He takes this name, “Jesus of Nazareth” to himself with great delight, because he was separated unto God, he sanctified himself as Jehovah’s righteous Servant, that he might both deliver us from our sins and procure for us all the blessings of grace and glory from the Holy Lord God, just as was typified in the Nazarite law of Numbers 6.

· By this name, Peter identified him in his most glorious character as our Redeemer in Acts 2.

(Acts 2:22-24) “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: (23) Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: (24) Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.”

· Again, when he and John healed the cripple at the temple’s gate, he ascribed the work to “Jesus of Nazareth.” (Acts 3:6; 4:10).

(Acts 3:6) “Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.”

(Acts 4:9-10) “If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; (10) Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.”

· And the Son of God himself, when calling his chosen from heaven, calls himself the Nazarite (Acts 22:6-8).

(Acts 22:6-8) “And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. (7) And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? (8) And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.”

The Savior’s words here might be read, “I am Jesus the Nazarite, not a Nazarite, but the Nazarite, the very identical, yea, the only one.”

(John 17:19) “And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.”

From the first dawn of revelation back in Genesis, throughout the Scriptures, the Spirit of God sets the Lord Jesus before us in this character, that we might know that he is Christ the Nazarene, the Nazarite of God, by whose devotion and consecration we are saved.

Indeed, there is but one Nazarite. That Nazarite is Christ. All the legal, typical Nazarites were only foreshadowings of him. It is this exclusive personal character of our blessed Savior, as the Nazarite of God, that so sweetly endears him to us. — It is Christ the Nazarene who now sits upon the Throne of Glory.

· By Christ the Nazarene, Jehovah’s devoted. obedient, perfect Servant, we are redeemed (Heb. 10:1-14).

(Hebrews 10:1-14) “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. (2) For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. (3) But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. (4) For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. (5) Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: (6) In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. (7) Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. (8) Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; (9) Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. (10) By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (11) And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: (12) But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; (13) From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. (14) For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”

· By Christ the Nazarene, Jehovah’s devoted. obedient, perfect Servant, we have access to our God (Heb. 10:19-22).

(Hebrews 10:19-22) “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, (20) By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; (21) And having an high priest over the house of God; (22) Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”

· By Christ the Nazarene, Jehovah’s devoted. obedient, perfect Servant, we are blessed of God (Num. 6:22-27).

“Hail, thou precious blessed Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth! Blessings forever be on the head of him that was separated from his brethren! Verily, ‘thy father’s children shall bow down before thee.’ Here, and to all eternity, thou shalt be called the Nazarite of God!”

Robert Hawker

I sure would like to be known, as Paul was. Though counted by all men to be a pestilent fellow and a troublemaker, his greatest crime was thought to be that he was “a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes” (Acts. 24:5). As our Lord Jesus Christ consecrated himself to God for us, as “the Nazarite to God,” let us now consecrate ourselves to him (Rom. 12:1).

(Romans 12:1) “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

Amen.

[1] Date: Danville —Sunday Evening — July 24, 2005

First Baptist Church, Almont, MI (FRI PM 07/29/05)

Buck MT Baptist Church, Roan MT, TN (Thur. PM –08/04/05)

Mid-south Baptist Church, Merigold, MS (Sat. PM – 08/20/05)

Tape # Y-75a

Reading: Larry Criss and James Jordan