1. Last Sunday night we studied in a general way the topic of “separation.”
2. Tonight we want to examine this subject matter again but be more specific.
3. Separation is a subject that may be divided up into different.
4. One specific area is moral separation.
TIME
AND TIME AGAIN IN THE BIBLE WE READ ABOUT THE WORD “WORLD” AND I WANT TO
QUICKLY CITE A FEW PASSAGES IN THIS REGARD.
a) Jesus said there is “care” in and from the world (Mk. 4:19).
b) Gal 1:4 refers to this present world and says it is “evil.”
c) Paul spoke about the world in Eph. 2:12 and said the way of the world is hopeless.
d) James taught (1:27) that we can be “spotted” (defiled, tainted, stained) by the world.
e) Peter (2 Pet. 2:20) specifically spoke of “defilements” in and from the world.
2) The world and its problems existed long before Jesus and the first century came.
3) The world and its evil system have been around for thousands of years.
4) The world affected the first people as well as the nation of Israel.
5) God has always wanted His people to not love the world – He wants us to be separate.
6) Listen to what John said in 1 Jn. 2:15-17 – READ.
a) God’s command is clear, but we might ask why it was given.
b) Why are we obligated to separate ourselves from the world?
c) A pretty good answer comes from the first 3 verses in Eph. 5.
d) According to Eph. 5:1, we are the children of God.
e) God is not all that enthused about this world; one day He is doing to destroy all that exists.
f) Along with the destruction of the world will be the eternal banishment of the unsaved.
g) God prepared a new place for His people, so this new place is to be where our hopes and aspirations lie.
h)
In life children often want to be where their parents
are.
i) Children and especially small children do not want to be in a dangerous place without parental support.
j) God says the world is a dangerous place. God is our Father and He wants us to make wise choices.
k) We must live her in the world for a while, but we do not believe or act as if this is our permanent home.
7) In Eph. 5:2 Paul continued the thought by saying Christ loves those He has saved.
8) This compliments the point in 1 Jn. 2.
9) The love of the entire Godhead is a motivating factor for our separating ourselves from the world.
10) The degree of separation God wants us to pursue is stated in Eph. 5:3 – READ.
a) As I considered this part of the verse this past week I thought about a recent news article.
b) A growing number of businesses are changing things in the workplace.
c) In years past, a boss might bring in doughnuts from time to time.
d) Workers could go to their break area and find all kinds of candy and snacks.
e) In some places, doughnuts are no longer being brought in by the management.
f) Doughnuts are being replaced with fruit.
g) Vending machines in some places no longer offer candy bars or non-nutritional items.
h) The change in thinking is so sweeping it is even affecting cafeteria food.
i) A burger and fries may in the work cafeteria may cost 2 or three times what a healthy meal costs.
j) Some businesses look at junk food and say, “let it not be found on our premises.”
11) We may not agree with or like that type of policy, but we can understand it.
12) Paul spoke of a similar thing in the spiritual realm in Eph. 5:3.
13) He spoke about the ways of the world, giving specific examples, and said, “let these things not be named among you.”
14) “Have no association whatsoever with these items.”
15) For this to occur in the spiritual realm, there must be a change of heart.
16) Part of this heart change is accomplished by repentance.
17) People willfully choose to make a separation from what is bad and inconsistent with God’s will.
18) As time passes, this choice becomes more and more apparent.
19) In Rom. 12:1 Paul spoke of presenting the body as a “living sacrifice.”
a) We practice moral separation from the world because we are a living sacrifice to God.
b) Over the years I have seen a lot of wedding gifts opened.
c) Such is probably the case with several others who are present tonight.
d) Who here has seen a newly married couple get a used wedding card?
e) By used I mean someone took a card from a previous wedding, crossed the names out, and wrote the new names on it?
f) Have we ever seen someone buy a junk garage sale item and give it as a wedding gift?
20) We realize that a wedding is a time for nice and new gifts as well as a nice and new card.
21) God says we are a sacrifice, and we are to be a specific type of sacrifice.
22) The word “holy” is used in Rom. 12:1.
a) God is not interested in a sacrifice that looks like a used piece of junk.
b) If we are joined at the hip to the world and come limping over to God, we are not a suitable offering.
c) None can be perfect, but it is possible to try and devote ourselves fully to God.
d) This necessitates separation from what is in the world.
SEPARATION MEANS WE MAKE LIFESTYLE CHOICES THAT ARE FAR DIFFERENT FROM WHAT WE SEE MOST OTHER PEOPLE MAKING.
a) We talk, live, speak, think, walk, worship, and serve in a way that most of the world does not understand.
b) This is the way and really the only right way to be a “light” like Jesus mentioned in Mt. 5:13.
c) Jesus was separate (undefiled) by sin and sinners (Heb. 7:26) and this is our goal as well.
d) Some have thought about moral separation and concluded we cannot have any non-Christians friends.
e) All our associates must be of the same faith.
2) This is not true.
3) In 1 Cor. 5:9 Paul said “avoid fornicators” (people involved with sexual sin).
4) If this is all that he hda said, we would avoid anyone involved with this sin.
5) Verse 10 adds some pretty important information – READ.
6) Paul had in mind situations where these people were in the church.
7) In cases such as this (people become involved in what is wrong and will not repent), avoid them.
a) We can and are supposed to associate with sinners just as Jesus did.
b) Being around people from the world does not mean we think and act like them.
c) We might be in an environment where people like to curse and swear.
d) Each day we might be around people who use literally hundreds of foul words.
e) This is probably not the best influence on us, but we are not obligated to separate ourselves from these people.
f) We are under orders to separate ourselves from the sinful things they do.
g) A similar thing may be true of anger.
h) We might come into regular contact with one or more people who have a temper they do not control.
i) At the slightest hint of a problem, their temper ignites and goes off like a bundle of dynamite.
j) That is not much fun to be around, but we can separate ourselves from doing the same thing.
8) We are separate ourselves from the world and we do this for many reasons.
a) One key reason is that if we do not think about and work on separation, we will go the wrong way.
b) Many things on this earth involve crowds.
c) If everyone is going one way or doing something, we can easily be just one more body in the group.
d) Such can also happen with separation.
e) When we choose to be separate, we are going against the tide. We are trying to row upstream.
f) 1 Cor. 11:32 speaks of “not being condemned with the world.”
g) Paul realized that it was easy to follow along with the majority.
h) He wanted to struggle against that temptation just as we must.
i) For most, this will be a daily battle as we have contact with the world.
j) On a regular basis we are tempted to live, think, act and walk as most of the population behaves.
9) Moral separation is practiced for a second reason: it allows us to be close to God.
a) A lot of people have an interest in finding God, or at least they think they want to find God.
b) In Acts 17 Paul said God is “not far from each one of us.”
c) God is not hard to find, but He must be found on His own terms.
d) One of those terms is separation.
e) Repentance, an act required for the non-Christian, should clue us in to a point about God ‘s nature.
f) Jesus said repent or perish (Lk. 13:3). This tells us that God requires a separation from sin.
g) Some seem to think they can cut the ties for a little while and then go back and do some patchwork.
h) Repentance means we start cutting ties and we keep cutting as we progress on the Christian way.
i) Separation from sin is necessary if we desire closeness with God.
j) We distance ourselves from the world Satan to get closer and closer to the heavenly Father.
10) As people age they often view separation from another perspective: it is something that endures.
11) When most are in the very early ages of life, shortly after the late teens, they may feel invincible.
12) They may feel like they will last forever and mortality is the last thing on their minds.
13) Age usually changes that type of outlook on life.
14) People get to a time when they think about the afterlife – is there something beyond this world?
15) What does it take to enter into the better life beyond this one?
a) Once people realize that this requires separation, Christianity often takes on a new and added meaning.
b) Separation becomes attractive because it is the path to life eternal.
c) Many figure this out very late in life and they sadly do not choose the way of separation.
d) The right time to see the need for moral separation is early in life.
e) Choose separation early and staying with that selection has eternal consequences.
16) A final reason for separation is that it can and does influence others.
a) True separation is both positive and negative.
b) Sometimes we may be left with the impression that separation is entirely negative.
c) We can certainly list a whole lot of things that Christians do not do; things we separate ourselves from.
d) Separation is as positive as it is negative.
e) Jesus talked about going “the second mile.”
f) The Lord spoke of the “good Samaritan.”
g) The good Samaritan was separate from others.
h) Carrying baggage for Roman soldiers in the first century was certainly not typical of most people.
i) When we are separate people who show that we are different.
17) God calls to the world through His word and says, “will you separate yourself from the world?”
18) That is a challenging question that millions of people have had to answer.
19) It is a question that is also put to us. What is our answer? Yes, we will be separate or “no thank you.”