However, Separation Is Found in the Word of God
“COME OUT”
2 Corinthians 6:14-18
I. The Principle of Biblical Separation A. The commencement of separation B. The characteristics of separation II. The Practice of Biblical Separation A. There is the incompatibly against which we are warned B. There is the injunction in which we are to walk C. There is the intimacy at which we willwonder III. The Purpose of Biblical Separation A. Separation is not an "end" B. Separation is about evangelism
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Separation is a word that is almost never heard anymore from the pulpits across our country, and yet separation is found in the Word of God.
A preacher of years ago said that a preacher never “appears in so forbidding a form…… as he does when he comes to deal with the subject of separation and with the relationship of the Christian to the world in which we live.” He went on to say that “many people are almost ready to account him an enemy of their happiness.”
However, separation is found in the Word of God.
The truth is God did not call His people to be inclusive but exclusive! We are called to be vastly different from the world around us!
Separation was sorely lacking in Corinth. Of all the churches mentioned in the New Testament, the church in Corinth was undoubtedly the most carnal and worldly.
Corinth was a worldly church dwelling in a wicked city. The evil of the world had penetrated the church at Corinth, and there was little distinction between them and the world around them.
God still expects His people to be different. He expects us to stand apart from the world around us and these verses tell us just that.
The world is moved most by those that contradict it the most. To make a difference you have to be different.
“Come out from among them, and be ye separate”
Separation is a Bible truth!
A.The commencement of separation
Separation finds it beginning with God Himself.
Genesis 1:4- “divided” is translated in other verses separated.
See also Genesis 1:7.
When God first called Abraham, He told him to "get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee" (Gen. 12:1). Abraham had to separate himself from much that had been near and dear to him.If Abraham were to follow God, he was going to have to separate.
Later, God even gave to Abraham and his descendants the rite of circumcision to mark them off from the heathen amongst whom they dwelt (Gen. 17:9-14).
In the law, God told the Jews, "And ye shall be holy unto me; for I, the Lord, am holy, and have separated you from other people, that ye should be mine" (Lev. 20:26).
The principle of separation may also be found in the word "church." The word “church” means a "called out" assembly. The church is an assembly of those called out from the world. The church is called out now from the world in salvation and will one day soon be called up from the world in the rapture.
B. The characteristics of separation
Biblical separation has two aspects to it, separation fromand separation unto.
Separation by definition has negative aspect – it involves separating from something. However, separation is primarily a positive truth – it is a
separatingunto someone or something.
In the area of health and surgery, the instruments to be use used are separated from any possible infection and they are separated unto the work of healing for which they exist.
In marriage the vow phrases are “forsaking all others and cleaving only unto each other, so long as ye both shall live.”
Biblical separation is from something, unto somebody.
1. Separation from
God also commanded His people to be holy, because He is holy (Lev. 20:26; I Pet. 1:16). The believer is to seek to be separate from sin, because God is separate from sin.
2.Separation unto
When you get the "unto" part right, then you will not have much problem with the "from" part.
The people of God need to recognize that they areseparated unto God. God told the Jews, "I. . . have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine" (Lev. 20:26).
Today, the saint is one who is to be separated untothe Son of God.
When a man marries, he separates himself unto his wife. As a believer, we are to separate from the world and unto the Lord.
See John 14:3."I will receive you unto myself.” Jesus is not satisfied in just taking us to heaven; He wants to take us into His own embrace. The glory of heaven is not in the gold of the streets or the jewels of the gates. The glory of heaven is the person of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I am not looking for an event. I am looking for the person. I am not taken up with the coming again of the Lord but with the Christ of the coming again. The soon coming Lord has a personal interest in me.
He calls us to be separated unto Him from other things. He wants us all to Himself!
From our text I want us to examine three truths that we need to understand in the practice of Biblical separation.
While the primary application here may be an unequal yoke in the marriage relationship between a believer and an unbeliever, the general application goes much wider to include even business partnerships with unbelievers.
A. There is the incompatibly against which we are warned(14,15)
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? andwhat communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? orwhat part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?”
MARRIAGE IS NO PLACE FOR MISSIONARY WORK!
The believer and the unbeliever are seen in stark contrast in these words: “what fellowship hath righteousnessswith unrighteouensss… what communion hath light with darkness… what concord[unity] hath Christwith Belial… whatpart hath he that believethwith an infidel…what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?”
How can you bring opposites together?They are incompatible.There are some things that just don’t mix!
Water and oil just don’t mix; just like light and dark! There is no need for us to attempt what the Bible declares just want work.
B. There is the injunction in which we are to walk.
“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing”
We are commanded to be separated from in order that we might be separated to and separated for.
1. There should be separation from sinful people(Psalm 1).
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.” The word “communications” means more than having a conversation. It speaks of “companionship.” Companionship with the ungodly, sinners, and the scornful always leads in a downward path.
“You are the same today that you are going to be in five years from now except for two things: the people with whom you associate and the books you read.”
On April 29, 1992 former U.S. Senator John Tower of Texas and 22 others were killed in a plane crash. A gear that adjusted the pitch of the left engine’s propellers was slowly worn away by an opposing part. National Transportation Safety Board spokesmansaid, “It acted like a file and over time wore down the teeth that controlled the propeller.”
The main reason for Christians crashing spiritually is often due to, too close of a relationship with the world. A refusal to separate from sinful and scornful people can bea hazard to your spiritual health.
2. There should be separation from sinful pleasures(Hebrews 11:23-25)
3.There should be separation from sinful poisons(Proverbs 20:1).
4. There should be separation from sinful practices!
Lying, stealing…..etc.
Two country fellows met on a back road one afternoon. One was going to down the road with his possum-hunting dog and the other asked, “How much will you take for the dog?”
The owner quoted a price of $100 and declared that the dog was an excellent hunter. The other man accepted the price and wrote out a check on the spot and handed it to the man. The owner of the dog shook his head and gave the check back.
“Why that check is good. I am a trustee in the Methodist Church,” said the buyer.
So the owner accepted the check and handed over the dog. A little bit later he met his uncle and asked him, “Uncle Josh, what does it mean to be a trustee in the Methodist Church?”
“I am not sure, but I think it is something like being a deacon in the Baptist Church,” replied the uncle.
“Oh, no,” said the man. “There goes my dog.”
C. There is the intimacy at which we will wonder
“…and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”
God becomes our Father when we trust Jesus Christ as our Saviour, but He cannot fully be to us a Father unless we obey Him and fellowship with Him. He longs to receive us in love and treat us as His precious sons and daughters. Salvation means we share the Father's life, but separation means that we enter fully into the Father's love.
Now all the redeemed are the “children of God,” and He is a Father to all the redeemed. However, just because all enjoy the relationship, there are many who do not enjoy the fellowship! Often, thereis a rift between the Lord and some of His children because of what they are allowing in their hearts and lives. When those things are taken care of and that child turns back to God in holiness and separation, that child will enjoy the sweet fellowship of the Lord once again!
A.Separation is not an "end"
Separation from sinful people, practices, pleasures, and poisons should never be an end in itself.
Separation is not something that we go around boasting about. I know of some who are so proud of their separation, and they will let you know if you are around them along enough (“I don’t chew; I don’t smoke, and I don’t run with them that do”).
To view Biblical separation as merely, the separation from sinful things without connecting it to the purpose of dedication to the Lord and His service makes separation an end in itself. This leads to the danger of separation for separation sake.
Separation is not isolation.It is not an end in itself,butit is rather a means to an end.
B. Separation is aboutevangelism
God’s purpose for the separated Christian life is for the believer to have an effective, powerful witness in the world.
The purpose of separated living is to show to a lost world the difference that Jesus Christ makes in an individuals’ life. The purpose of separation is so that the believer can testify of God’s saving power in the world. Christians are not to be isolated from the world, but rather are to live holy lives in the world.
Jesus stated this in His great priestly prayer in John 17. He declared that His disciples were not of the world; He then prayed not that the Father would take them out of the world, but that He would keep them from evil of the world. God intends that the difference in our life while we are in the might abound to others believing on Christ. Separation complements evangelism.
A church member once asked her pastor, “We have some neighbors who believe a false gospel. What literature would you recommend that I give them?”
The pastor thought and then answered, “How about the gospel according to you. Let them read your life.”
SEPARATED LIVES CANNOT BE HIDDEN.
SEPARATED LIVES ARE USEFUL LIVES!
Conclusion:
All believers are to practice Biblical Separation.
Will you heed the call of God to “COME OUT?”
IT IS THE LORD HIMSELF WHO IS CALLING YOU ANDITO A LIFE OF SEPARATION. The Lord Himself calls us to separate from all that is displeasing to Him and to dedicate ourselves completely to Him so that we are available for His service.
True Biblical separation is a matter of love! How much do you love the Lord will be seen in your separation!
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