The dedication of a part the consecration of the whole.
The reference is to Numbers 15:1-41, where the ordinance is given that before the Israelites ate of the food of Canaan a portion of the dough should be taken as a cake offering to the priests. This was a recognition of God's sovereignty, of his care and goodness, and by this acknowledgment the entire food was hallowed.
I. THE APPLICATION TO THE APOSTOLIC ARGUMENT CONCERNING THE FUTURE Or ISRAEL. The Jews as a nation seemed cast away, stripped of former privilege and dignity. Yet, since the patriarchs and prophets and priests had been declared holy unto the Lord, and had served him according to his appointment, the remainder of the people must be accounted sacred, and thus the apostle was led to expect the future salvation of Israel when it should turn to the Lord. The inner life of the tree should be restored and invigorated, and then the branches should again acquire beauty and fruitfulness. They were still "beloved for the fathers' sakes."
II. THE SAME METAPHOR APPLIES TO THE RELATIONSHIP OF CHRIST TO HIS PEOPLE. His holiness wraps them round. Not only were individual institutions and officers symbolical and prophetical of the Messiah, but the nation as a whole typified the Son of promise. "When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt." This explains many references of Old Testament passages to Christ by the evangelists and apostles. The nation was the "servant" of God, by which title, therefore, Jesus Christ is constantly designated. Israel as a whole was claimed as God's peculiar possession. By right of redemption, and the death of the firstborn in Egypt, the tribe of Levi was allotted to Jehovah in recognition of his lien upon Israel, and the number of the firstborn over and above the number of that tribe was balanced by a money payment. Yet Israel was "a holy nation unto the Lord," and the service of the priesthood represented, not superseded, the service of the nation. So is Jesus Christ termed "the Firstborn from the dead," and the Christian Church is "the general assembly of the Firstborn." Christ sanctified himself for his people, that his merits might attach to them. We talk much today of the solidarity of the race, and this helps us to realize how the leaven leaveneth the lump. Great men are seen to be universal property; the use of their gifts blesseth all mankind. As one takes a common tool and by deft handling convinces us of what it is capable; as one cultivates his estate as a nursery and pattern for all gardens; as another enlarges the domain of science whereby the navigator, the manufacturer, the thinker, and the consumer all reap a benefit; so did our Saviour teach us how much may be made of human life, how grand and pure and beneficent it may become, and by his sacrifice opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. Well may we rejoice in his work! Our High Priest before the throne sanctifies all who come to God through him. At the jubilee festivities the Queen of Hawaii claimed precedence as a sovereign, and, her credentials being authenticated, her claim was granted; so may we, as the brethren of Christ, lift up our heads, being made "kings and priests unto God." It is our connection with him that ennobles our condition.
III.. SOME PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS TO CONDUCT AND PROPERTY. To consecrate the heart to God covers all the life, sanctifies all the issues which flow from it. Here is the difference between religion and morality; here is the reason why some of the characters of Scripture are called "saints," in spite of infirmities and lapses. The setting apart of Sunday as the Lord's day hallows all the week. We are then what we are not able to be at other times, free from secular engagements and absorbed in devotion. And like a garden well watered in the early morn, the busy life retains its vigour and freshness through the heated hours which follow. The dedication of youth is a consecration of the after-life. Youth is like the morning of the day, and should be watered betimes with the dews of prayer. Prayer should be the foundation-stone of each enterprise. "When first thy eyes unveil, give thy soul leave to do the like; give God thy first thoughts then, so shalt thou walk with him all day, and in him sleep." The devotion of a tithe or gift blesses all the increase. The beauty of recurring seasons may fail to arouse because of the very regularity of their succession. Nature's constant stream of blessings may lull the soul into forgetfulness of the Giver. Hence the rites prescribed to Israel. "The altar unlocks the reaping gate." The first grains feed the altar, the first sickle cuts an offering for God. The common household routine of baking is transfigured by the appropriation of a part of the dough to religious uses. And this, not as a burden, a hateful tax, but a task of love. Not instead of hearty devotion, but as an outward emblem of gratitude. The followers of Christ are to bless the world. They are "begotten through the Word of truth to be a kind of firstfruits of God's creatures." They are as salt to preserve, as light to illumine. All brought into contact with them should be the better because they were called with a holy calling.
CONCLUSION. The topic reminds us of our certain resurrection to heavenly activity and glory. Christ was the Firstfruits of them that sleep. Sad to us the interval when we see our friends no more; death's icy hand has grasped them, and the worms do their work. Yet as Christ rose, so shall the seed spring up, we know not how. Death's seeming triumph is a defeat. They shall be changed and glorified; the crumbling dust shall shine brighter than the noonday sun.—S.R.A.
Spiritual pride rebuked.
The pride of man is a bladder easily inflated, and the apostle performed a salutary service when he showed how readily it might be pricked. The throwing open to the Gentile world, with additional advantages, of the religious privileges formerly confined to the Jews, begot in many converts an undue elation. Christianity inspires men with such expansive hopes that there is a danger of overweening vanity and presumption leading to a neglect of the conditions under which alone these hopes can be realized. The mercy of God may be illegitimately strained; the consciousness of spiritual freedom has often degenerated into licence of behaviour, and the "goodness" of God has made men unmindful of his "severity." Hence the useful caution of the text. Distinguish, however, between "fear" and "dread." Reverential, humble fear is quite compatible with gladness of soul and with unwavering trust in the promise of a free and full salvation. Let us adduce considerations that justify the caution of these verses.
I. WE HAVE AN IMPARTIAL GOD TO DEAL WITH. An arbitrary capricious monarch may select favourites, and dispense his gifts without regard to the moral worth of the recipients. Gentiles receiving an account of the river of Divine love abandoning its previous channel and inundating with a flood of blessing the surrounding parched lands, might be lapped into a false security, as if this blessing once granted could not again be withheld, no matter what the use made of the fertilizing influences vouchsafed. This would be to overlook the fact that it was for reasons the Jews were stripped of their exclusive advantages, and that the same reasons of abuse and ingratitude might cause the story to be repeated in the case of Christians, boastful of their position of knowledge and close access to God, and omitting to cultivate the appropriate graces and duties.
II. THE LAW AND AIM OF GOD'S GOVERNMENT IS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Here we ascend to that essential attribute of God which is the guide and end of his dealings with his creatures. Well-being cannot be separated from well-doing. In no other way can the Almighty make his people happy than by inducing them to practise what is "lovely and of good report." Christ died to save men from their sins. His offering frees men from the overwhelming burden of their past enormities, wipes off the score against them, but requires the pursuit of holiness as the consequence and token of their forgiveness. The bearing of good fruit is the sure criterion of the improved condition of the tree. The rose which blooms not tells not of proper grafting. Faith in Christ admits to his kingdom, and continued faith showing itself by works of obedience keeps us united to the source of prosperity and progress. Heaven needs a prepared people to enter into its bliss and service. Greatly do men err, therefore, who plume themselves on their conversion and go not on unto sanctification of life.
III. HISTORY TEACHES US HUMILITY. History is God in action. The facts of history are naught apart from the revelation of a Divine order they bring to the illumined mind. The fate of Israel is a tablet whose letters of fire should brand themselves on the memory as a declaration of the forbearing goodness of God to the faithful, and his ultimate severity to the disobedient. God changes not; what he has done he may do again. If "the natural branches" were not spared, why should he spare the objects of his after-clemency when they too turn aside to rebel counsels? The story of the antediluvians swept away by a torrent of righteous indignation; of the inhabitants of Sodom smitten in their pride and idleness; of the Canaanites "spued out" of the laud for their wickedness; of Babylon and Nineveh, where civilization was a hot-bed of vice, its riot and fumes extinguished by the desert sands; of Judas, who by transgression fell from his apostleship; of the temple at Jerusalem profaned by its guardians and then given over to the flames; of the candlesticks removed when the Churches of Asia "lost their first love;"—all these are so many voices echoing the warning of the text, "Be not high-minded, but fear." God spares long, but at last the thunderbolt falls. Sin marches to its destined grave.
IV. THE DECEITFULNESS OF OUR HEARTS CALLS FOR CONSTANT VIGILANCE. Human nature remains true to itself, brings forth the same fruit in all ages. Even in the renewed nature of the Christian, "the flesh lusteth against the Spirit." The serpent of evil is scotched, not killed. Our environment exposes us to unceasing attacks. At any moment of relaxed tension, the foe may assault and carry the fortress. "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." The Saviour emphasized the caution, "What I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch!" Children are often reckless because they perceive not the danger; wise men neglect no precautions. Our safest course is to be intent on "the things that accompany salvation," to fill the hands with beneficent activities, to engage the thoughts on noblest themes. Press toward the goal, and no enchanted meadow shall beguile our steps. Like earnest competitors, read the rules carefully and sedulously conform to them. Prayerful meditation on the Scriptures, humble confidence in God, and the opening of the heart to the sway of the blessed Spirit, will correct any wrong attitude, and enable us to persevere to the end. "Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us," etc.—S.R.A.
HOMILIES BY R.M. EDGAR