Watermelon eating last night. Yesterday we picked a knot in the
garden that was going
bad on one end. I did not have much hope for it as Matthew brought
it in from the garden
with a big grin on his face. I cut the skinny, bad end off and
then sliced open the good
part. To my surprise it looked and smelled good and tasted even
better. All that was left
to do was to separate the good stuff (red, juicy part) from the bad
stuff (seeds). Now,
there are several ways to go about doing that but as far as I am concerned
there is really
only one that is of much use. Yeah, you know the one.
There is going to be another separation one day. God is going
to keep the good stuff and
spit out the rest. Whose fan [is] in his hand, and he will throughly
purge his floor, and
gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with
unquenchable fire
(Matthew 3:12).
In order to be ready for that time we need to practice the art of separation
in the here and
now. The bible has a lot to say about this and we are going to
look at a few of those
passages today.
We are to separate (distance ourselves )from:
I. From the Lusts of the Flesh (2 Tim. 2:22)
Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness,
faith, charity, peace, with them
that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
God tells us how to flee (run away from)youthful
lusts---occupy yourself with
things that matter. You won't have the time
nor the desire to get into trouble.
The first one, righteousness, comes to us through
Christ and Him alone (Romans
3:10) and continues as we "walk after the Spirit"
(Romans 8:4). The rest are the
result of the Holy Spirit in our lives (Galatians
5:22).
II. From the Lusts of the World (Titus 2:11-12)
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath
appeared to all men, teaching
us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,
we should live soberly,
righteously, and godly, in this present world;
It is interesting to note here that grace becomes
the teacher. When we come under
the grace of God and understand all He has done
for us in Christ Jesus then we
should want to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts
and live soberly, righteously,
and godly in this present world. An attitude
of "one day He will perfect me" does
not excuse us from the mandates of this passage.
A. Deny ungodliness---"I'm not gonna' do it
B. Deny worldly lusts. Defined by 1 John 2:16---For
all that is in the world, the
lust of the flesh, and the
lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the
Father, but is of the world.
Perhaps the lust of the eyes
should be place at the head of this list. Matthew
says:
The light of the body
is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body
shall be full of light.
But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of
darkness. If therefore
the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that
darkness! (Matthew
6:22-23)
III. From the Appearance of Evil (1 Thess. 5:22)
Abstain from all appearance of evil---boy,
that would keep us out of a lot of
trouble. The NIV says "avoid every kind of
evil". Either way it is pretty clear
what God is trying to say to us.
We must all ask ourselves the question, "In what
area of my life am I disobeying
God when it comes to this command?"
How many marriages would still be intact and healthy
in our world if Christians
would just obey this one command. How many
young people would still be alive.
How many drug dealers and breweries would be out
of business if people would
just adhere to this one command. How many
video stores video store would jerk
the trash off their shelves and replace it with
family fare if professing Christians
would avoid every kind of evil and even the appearance
thereof?
Romans 1:26ff.
What would the newspapers write about if folks would
avoid evil? We are to be
separate, called away from participation in the
evil of this world.
IV. From the Works of Darkness (Eph. 5:11)
And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works
of darkness, but rather reprove
them.
V. From the Companionship of Ungodly (2 Cor. 6:14-18)
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers:
for what fellowship hath
righteousness with unrighteousness? and what
communion hath light with
darkness? And what concord hath Christ
with Belial? or what part hath he that
believeth with an infidel? Wherefore come out
from among them, and be ye
separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean
thing; and I will receive
you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall
be my sons and daughters, saith
the Lord Almighty.
Put very simply we cannot have fellowship with the
world and fellowship with the
Father at the same time. It is very clear
from this text that to attemp this is a
reflection of a heart that does not know God.
If we want to be in on God's side of the separation
we better start practicing separation
now. Summarizing Jesus prayer in John 17 we
are to be in the world but not of the world.
Matthew 5:13-14---salt and light must be freely
distributed to the world to have any
earthly effect. Just don't let the world dilute
your salt or dim your light!