DEATH TO CARNALITY -- No. 2

     Death to carnality implies confession and crucifixion. Consecration implies neither. Wherever Holy Writ represents or records the prayer of one seeking heart purity, it invariably carries the idea of confession, self-abnegation, and death. Let us notice some Bible characters.

     Jacob's experience at Peniel: While his previous life may not always have been exemplary, yet previous to that memorable night "the angels of God met him" (Gen. 32:1). The experience he received then and there was similar in some respects to that of every truly sanctified soul. He did not pray and consecrate for a few minutes, then claim it by faith, but put in a whole night wrestling, until the break of day found him willing to confess the "plague and sore of his heart."

     He could wrestle a whole night easier than confess his name. (His name was significant of his disposition -- a supplanter, a deceiver). Before he could confess acceptably, he had to break down at his strongest point -- the thigh. When the "sun rose upon him" It found him halting (the self-life gone), but his name (nature) was changed to Israel. Hallelujah! God knows how to break us down and bring us to the place of heart-rending confessions.

     Deception was the most prominent characteristic in Jacob's case, and by frequently yielding to it, it had become so deeply seated that he had a whole night's struggle before he could get rid of it. Likewise with every soul of man, carnal self becomes the greatest part of him, until the infinite hand of God alone can destroy it and not totally wreck the physical.

     Job's experience and life were a splendid type of justification, yet when he came to see his heart he said, "Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further" (Job 40:4, 5). Again as light shone, he confessed more deeply and said, "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth Thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:5, 6). "So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than the beginning."

     David did not say, "Consecrate me to Thy service and I shall be clean," but, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean" (Psa. 51:7). Hyssop was a prickly, bitter herb; doubtless David felt the need of drinking the bitter cup of confession and repentance to the dregs. He not only sought pardon, but a complete purging out of the principle that led him into open sin.

     Isaiah took the route of confession. "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me." First. he confessed; second, his sin was purged; and the outcome was to go and preach to the people who had ears and would not hear and eyes but would not see. Surely it required clean lips and a pure heart to preach to such a people.

     Lastly let us notice Agag, king of the Amalekites, 1 Samuel 15. Here we find one of the best, if not the clearest, representations of carnality in the Old Testament, and how to get rid of it. Samuel, the prophet, had anointed Saul king over Israel, and commanded him to go and utterly destroy the Amalekites because of what they formerly did to Israel. See Deut. 25:17-19. So Saul chose him out men and went to perform the command of the Lord; he destroyed all the people and "everything that was vile and refuse," but spared Agag and the best of the cattle. Herein he disobeyed the command of God, and for this was himself rejected as king.

     Doubtless Agag plead so piteously and promised such faithful obedience; besides, his being influential made it look quite plausible for Saul to spare him, as a relic if nothing more; for it would cause other kings and nations to fear. And then it seemed a pity to destroy all those beautiful cattle. Why not make a big display of the victory and use them for a sacrifice? Thus it is today -- if the preacher is not thoroughly dead himself, he may preach straight and destroy every kind of open sin, but should a seeker begin to suffer the agonies of crucifixion, he will ease up and think, "Things are going too far; there is danger of despair, or fanaticism." This meets with the hearty approval of Agag and he readily consents to offer up sacrifice -- a big shout, if the battle will go no farther.

     Not so with the eagle-eyed, sharp-eared Samuel "What meaneth then this bleating of sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of oxen which I hear?" There is something wrong; some way there is an uncertain sound; there is a sound of distress. "Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past." But not so; it had only begun. "And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal." To some, this might seem severe, as in many other cases where the children of Israel were commanded to utterly destroy certain individuals and nations, but they were types to show how God will neither spare nor pity carnality in us. The only souls who know how to deal with it in others are those who have died the death themselves.