All right, amen, over there in Ezra chapter number nine.
And on Sunday mornings, we've been studying this idea of revival.
We've been going through the passages in scripture that either teach us about revival or we've
been looking at the great revivals in the Bible.
And if you remember, we've learned about different things that are going to be needed for revival,
things that we need to incorporate into our lives.
We've talked about dying to self, we've talked about revival through the house of God and
through the word of God and through prayer.
And this morning, I want to speak to you on the subject of revival through separation.
Revival through separation.
Now, the subject of separation and the doctrine of separation is something that you're not
going to hear a lot about today in most churches you go to, but as we'll see this morning,
it's something that the Bible talks a lot about.
And I want to begin this morning, and if you're taking notes, I'd encourage you to maybe write
a few of these things down and jot down these references in the back of your course of the
week.
There's a place for you to write things down.
I want to begin by talking about what is separation.
What separation is.
Now you're there in Ezra chapter nine.
I'd like you to look down at verse number one, Ezra chapter number nine in verse one.
The Bible says this, now, when these things were done, the princes came to me saying,
the people of Israel and the priests and the Levites, notice these words, have not separated
themselves from the people of the lands.
Here we have Ezra, the leader, who is bringing the restoration.
He's leading, and he's one of the leaders of the restoration of the nation of Israel.
Of course, you have Ezra and Nehemiah.
These two books are contemporary books.
These are leaders that came back from the captivity, and they are bringing biblical
religion back to the land of Israel.
Ezra is the spiritual leader rebuilding the temple, and Nehemiah is the political leader
rebuilding the wall.
Ezra gets this news from these people that he is leading.
I want you to notice again there in the midst of verse one, they tell him that the people
have not separated themselves from the people of the land.
He's being told that the people of God, the people that he's leading, that are coming
back to God have not separated themselves from the land.
If you're writing things down, especially if this idea of separation is new to you,
I want you to understand what the Bible teaches about separation.
The first thing that I would encourage you to memorize or write down is this.
When we talk about separation, it is separation from the world.
Separation from the world.
He says they have not separated themselves from the people of the lands.
He's talking about the people of this world.
The people that are around them.
He says doing according to their abominations.
He says the nations around us are heathen.
They are abominable people, and the people of God have not separated themselves from
the people of the land doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites,
the Hittites, the Persites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians,
and the Amorites.
Look at verse two.
For they have taken their daughters for themselves and for their sons.
Now here he's specifically talking about the fact that they're actually marrying heathen
people.
You know, the Bible teaches this concept that we as believers should not marry unbelievers.
The Bible says to not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers, and he's talking about the
fact that they've married, they've intermingled in marriage with unbelievers, but that's specifically
what's being done here and what he's talking about, but we could apply this to the fact
that they're just mixing themselves with the world.
Verse two again, for they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons
so that the, notice, holy seed, you see that word holy there?
The word holy means separated, set apart, sanctified, he says, so that the holy seed
have mingled themselves with the people of those lands, yea, the hand of the princes
and the rulers has been chief in this trespass, and it's interesting to me that as the people
have failed to separate themselves from the world, here Nehemiah, excuse me, Ezra is telling
us that the hands of the princes and rulers have been chief in this trespass.
You know, the Bible teaches this concept, the Bible doesn't say these words, but it
teaches this concept that everything rises and falls on leadership, everything rises
and falls on leadership, and here he's saying it is the princes and the rulers who are to
blame for the fact that the people have mingled themselves together, and look, when it comes
to separation, it is those of us that are in leadership that are responsible for teaching
those of us that follow us the concept and the idea of separation.
Now keep your place there in Ezra 9, that's our text for this morning, but go with me
if you would to the book of 2 Corinthians in the New Testament, chapter number six,
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians
chapter number six, and when you get to the book of 2 Corinthians, do me a favor and put
a ribbon or a bookmark or something there, because we're going to leave it and we're
going to come back to it, and I want you to be able to get to it quickly, we're going
to be coming back and forth between Ezra and 2 Corinthians throughout the sermon, I'd like
you to be able to get to it quickly, 2 Corinthians chapter number six and verse 14.
When we're talking about separation, separation, we're talking about separation from the world,
separation from the nations among us, look, and the truth is this, for us as New Testament
believers it is no different than Ezra as Old Testament saints, the people around us
are heathen, I don't know if you know that, the people around us are committing abominations,
the lands around us, you live around people whose lives are not pleasing to the Lord,
whose lives are not honoring to God, whose lives in many ways are an abomination unto
the Lord, and God tells us that we should be separated, we should live separated from
the world, 2 Corinthians 6 verse 14, 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 14, the Bible says this,
be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, he's saying look, you ought not be yoking
yourself up, you ought not be partnering up with an unbeliever, you say why is that, because
of the fact that that is an unequal yoke, notice, he says for what fellowship hath righteousness
with unrighteous, the word fellowship means to have a friendship or to exercise friendship
or to exercise a relationship with another individual, and he says look, what fellowship,
what friendship can righteousness and unrighteousness have together, and this is a rhetorical question
but the answer is obvious, he says none, righteousness and unrighteousness cannot fellowship together,
then he says this, and what communion, what is communion, communion is again, fellowshiping
is communicating and having communication, he says what communion hath light with darkness,
and here's the question he's asking, he's saying how much can you mix light with darkness,
and the answer is obvious, you cannot, you cannot mix light and darkness, you either
have light or you have darkness, but as soon as you turn on a light, the darkness goes
away, as soon as you put out the light, the darkness appears, he says look, what communion
hath light with darkness, then he says this in verse 15, he says and what concord, that
word means agreement or harmony, hath Christ with Belial, now Belial is a New Testament
word that basically means the devil, he says what agreement or harmony does Christ, does
Jesus have with the devil, or what part, and he's saying there how much of these two things
can take part together, hath he that believeth with an infidel, and what he's saying is this,
he's saying look, if you're going to be a Christian that is going to live for the Lord,
you're going to have to learn to live separated from the world, notice verse 16, and what
agreement, again the word agreement means to be in harmony or in accordance with, and
what agreement hath the temple of God with idols, for ye are the temple of the living
God, as God has said I will dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God and
they shall be my people, we're going to come back to that in a minute, notice verse 17,
he says wherefore, and I want you to notice this word wherefore, the word wherefore means
for this reason, and you might ask well for what reason, well for the reasons that he
just gave, he says what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness, what communion hath
light with darkness, what concord hath Christ with Belial, what part had he that believeth
with an infidel, what agreement hath the temple of God with idols, and the answer would be
a resounding none to all of those questions, these things cannot mix, Christ and the devil
cannot mix, light and darkness cannot mix, the temple of God and the temple of idols
cannot mix, and here's what Paul would say in verse 17, he says wherefore, he says for
this reason, come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch
not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, see when the Bible teaches the concept,
when we talk about the concept of separation, if you come to the very Baptist church for
any length of time, you'll hear me talk about separation from time to time, and when we're
talking about separation, I want you to understand that it is separation from the world, we are
to come out from among them and be ye separate.
Now keep your place there in 2 Corinthians, we're going to come back to it, but go with
me if you would to the book of Titus, Titus chapter number 2, if you're there in 2 Corinthians
you're just going to go past the book of Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and then
you'll find all those T books, they're all clustered together, 1 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy,
Titus, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, find the T books,
1 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, Titus, now I realize that you have your place in Ezra,
and I realize that I asked you to keep your place in 2 Corinthians, but I'd also like
you to keep your place in Titus, okay, we're going to come back to those 3 a little bit,
so please help me out and keep your place there so we can come back quickly if you can
manage that, Titus chapter number 2, and I want you to notice verse number 14, because
I want you to understand this, and I think this is where a big failure that happens when
we teach and preach about separation, especially as fundamental Baptists, is that we fail
to completely help people understand the concept of separation, because here's the truth, when
we talk about separation from the world, that's a pretty easy concept to understand, people
get it, we're not supposed to be like the world, we're supposed to come out from among
them and be separate, say the Lord, but I want you to understand that that is really
only one aspect of separation, to really understand separation you need to understand that yes,
it is separation from the world, but it is for the purpose of separation unto God, Titus
2, look at verse 14, Titus chapter 2 and verse 14, notice what the Bible says, who gave himself
for us, talking about Jesus, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, see when God
saved you, he saved you from all your sins, right, from all iniquity, but that's not the
only reason he saved you, he saved you that you might not go to hell, but it says that
he might redeem us from all iniquity and notice purify, what does the word purify mean?
It means to make pure, it means to cleanse, it means to clean up, it means to sanctify,
notice and to purify unto himself a peculiar people, what does the word peculiar mean?
It means unusual, special, different, set apart, see when God saved you, he saved you
from your sins, but he also saved you with the purpose that you might be separated, yes,
from the world, unto him, the Bible says and purify, notice these words, unto himself
a peculiar people, when we talk about separation, what do we mean?
It's separated from the world and unto God and I want you to notice what are our motivations
for separation, keep your place in 2 Corinthians chapter 6, we're gonna come back to it, keep
your place in Titus, go to the book of Ezra if you would, Ezra chapter number 9, there
really are two motives for separation, one is negative and one is positive, we'll start
with the negative one because that's the one we usually think about when we think about
separation, what are our motives for separation?
Separation is motivated by and should be motivated by God's judgment, notice verse number 3 and
I heard this thing, so Ezra, Ezra is just leading and all of a sudden he gets the news
that a bunch of people from the nation of Israel, people that he brought with him to
help restore the temple, people that he brought with him, people that agreed and said yes,
Ezra, we wanna help you bring biblical religion back to the nation of Israel, we're going
to work with you to create a land and to create a people that is called out unto the Lord
and now he gets the news that these same people who said yes, we'll sign up, yes, we'll help
you, yes, we'll separate ourselves unto God, these people have been intermingling and actually
marrying and forming relationships with the abominable world and I want you to notice
Ezra's response, verse 3, and when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle,
he ripped his clothes off and if you read the Old Testament, you know this is something
that's often done during times of humility and grief where they'll rent their clothes,
he said, I rent my garment and my mantle and plucked off the hair of my head and of my
beard and sat down astonished, and that's an old word for the word astonished, notice
verse 4, then were assembled unto me, notice these words, everyone that trembled at the
words of the God of Israel, see the truth is this, when you actually believe the Bible,
you will practice separation because when you actually believe the Bible, then you actually
believe that there is a God that judges, you actually believe that you will reap what you've
sown, so here Ezra, he's reading the Bible, he understands the Bible, the Bible tells
us that Ezra was already scribed and when he heard about this, he knew the consequences,
so he rent his garment and his mantle, he plucked off the hair of his head and his beard,
he sat down astonished and then everyone that trembled at the words of the God of Israel
because of the transgression, notice, because of the transgression of those that had been
carried away and I sat astonished until the evening sacrifice, verse 5, and at the evening
sacrifice I arose up, notice these words, from my heaviness, having rent my garment
and my mantle, I fell upon my knees and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God and said,
oh my God, and by the way, you know in the Bible, the only time you see people spreading
up their hands to God is during private prayer, this whole worship time of getting your hands
up, you don't see that in the Bible, the only time you see the people raising their hands
up is in a time of grief like this when they're calling out to God as their father, he says,
I fell upon my knees, notice verse 5, and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God and
said, oh my God, notice these words, he says, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face
to thee and here we see the heart of Ezra as a leader, everything rises and falls on
leadership and Ezra here is broken and I'll tell you, you know, I've never led a nation
but I've led a church and I will tell you sometimes you watch people, sometimes you
watch people make decisions and make mistakes and begin to go down a road where you know
those of us who tremble at the words of the God of Israel know where that will lead and
it weighs on you, it's heavy, he said, I arose from my heaviness, he said, I am ashamed and
blush to lift up my face to thee, my God, for our iniquities are increased over our
head and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens since the days of our fathers have
we been in great trespass unto this day and for our iniquities have we, our kings and
our priests, been delivered into the hands of the kings of the land, to the sword, to the
captivity, into the spoil, into the confusion of faith as it is this day, notice, look down
at verse number 14, same chapter, notice what he says, he says, should we again break thy commandments
and join in affinity with the people of these abominations, the word affinity means to join
in partnership, to create an alliance, he said, should we again break thy commandments and join
in affinity with the people of these abominations, he says, wouldest not thou be angry with us,
for thou has consumed us so that there should be no remnants nor escaping, I want you to notice,
please, please understand this, he said, what should motivate me to live a separated life
from the world unto God, you know, the first thing that ought to motivate you is the fact that God
is a God of judgment, I mean, if we were to draw close to God, if you were to get alone with God
and lift up your eyes to God and lift up your hands to God and actually say God is my life
pleasing to you, you might find yourself ashamed and blushed to even lift up your face to God,
see the motivation for separation ought to be judgment, ought to be the judgment of God,
ought to be the fact that a way of heaviness on us, listen, dad, there are a way of heaviness on you
when you watch your children making wrong decisions and going down the wrong road, hey,
there ought to be a heaviness on you that drives you to your knees in prayer and saying, God, I'm
ashamed, lift up my eyes to you, like Job would sacrifice for his children, hey, as a pastor,
sometimes the sins of the church weighs on me, most of the problems we have in a church like this
are due to carnal Christianity and it can be heavy, the Bible says obey them that have the
rule over you and submit yourselves for they watch for your souls as they that must give account
but they may do it with joy and not with grief and here we see Ezra having to give an account for
those that are following him and he's not doing it with joy, he's doing it with grief because
he realizes that these decisions, please listen to me, choices have consequences,
you don't get to just live for yourself and do what you want and I'm going to do this and I'm
going to do that and I'm going to go there and I'm going to just get involved in this sin and
that sin, look, your decisions will have consequences, you say what should motivate us
to live godly and Christian and separated life, well what ought to motivate you, what ought to
scare you is the judgment of God, the fear of the Lord, the Bible says is the beginning of knowledge,
separation should be motivated by the judgment of God, that's the negative but let me give you
a positive thought, not only should separation be motivated by God's judgment, separation should be
motivated by God's love, notice verse 8 and now I love these words when it comes to revival and
a passage on revival, Ezra chapter 9 is probably one of my favorite passages when it comes to the
idea of revival, in fact if you don't mind writing in your Bible I'd like you to underline a few
things, he says and now, he says for, I want you to notice these four words and if you don't mind
writing I'd underline these in your Bible, a little space grace, a little space grace
have been showed from the Lord our God, I don't know about you but aren't you thankful that God
for a little space has showed grace to you, shown grace to me and now for a little space grace
have been showed from the Lord our God to leave us a remnant to escape and to give us a nail in
his holy place, notice that our God may lighten our eyes, the idea there is give hope to our eyes
is give a chance to our guys, notice these words last part of verse 8 and give us notice these
words a little reviving, he doesn't give us a little reviving in our body you say oh you know
you guys are so negative you know you want me to serve God because God's going to punish me and
God's going to judge me and there's going to be consequences and God's going to come down hard
on me and look you ought to serve God for all those reasons but if you don't like the negative
how about this, why don't you serve God because you love God, why don't you serve God because
for a little space grace has been showed to you because God has allowed an opportunity
for a little reviving in our bondage, notice verse 9 for we were bondmen
yet our God hath not forsaken us, aren't you thinking that God doesn't forsake
or God has not forsaken us in our bondage but notice these words have extended mercy look all
of this can be applies to you and me, God has given a little space of grace, God has given a
little reviving, God has extended mercy unto us in the sight of the king of Persia to give us a
reviving to set up the house of our God and to repair the desolation thereof and to give us a
wall in Judah and in Jerusalem and now our God what shall we say after this we have forsaken
thy commandments he's saying how he's saying God when you have been so good to me when you have
been so good to us how could we but separate ourselves yes from the world but you know even
more than that unto God look at verse 11 which thou has commanded by thy servant the prophet
saying the land unto which you go to possess it is an unclean land with the filthiness of the
people of the land with their abominations which have filled it from one end to another with
uncleanness look at verse 13 after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our
trespass seeing that thou our God has punished us don't don't miss these words have punished us less
than our iniquities deserve you know every single one of us can say God has punished us less than
our iniquities deserve God has shown a little grace a little space of grace unto us which
were in bondage God has given the opportunity for a little reviving and God has punished us less
than our iniquities deserve and you say why why does that matter look when you realize that God
has punished you less than you deserve maybe that would motivate you to live for him and has given
us such deliverance as this did you keep your place in Titus go back to the book of Titus if
you would chapter number two see there is a motivation for separation that is this look God's
going to come down on you God's going to correct you God's going to chastise you you will reap what
you sow there are consequences for the choices we make but and that's real and that's true and
we don't want to minimize that but even more than that do you think God loves you like God sent his
son to die on the cross for you that you deserve to die and go to hell and look if you would have
if God would have allowed all of us to die and go to hell he would have been just and justified
and yet he has showed a little grace a little space of grace
he has not forsaken us he has given us a little reviving you know we ought to live for God we
ought to live separated lives just as a result of the love of God Titus chapter 2 look in verse 11
Titus chapter 2 verse 11 notice what the bible says for the grace of God for the grace of God
usually when we talk about the grace of God we talk about salvation right that's what he says
for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men what's the grace of God the
theological term for the word grace is unmerited favor favor that you did not merit that you did
not deserve that you did not earn for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves
that is the gift of God not of works not earned not something you merited he says for the grace
of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men notice verse 12 teaching us what is
teaching us the grace of God the grace that brought down salvation the grace that brought
down forgiveness the grace that brought down mercy to us that same grace that saved you
ought to teach us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust we should live soberly
righteously and godly in this present world you say why should i live soberly why should i live
righteously why should i live godly because of the grace of God
i don't like all these rules yes with teenagers i like all these rules hey how about you forget
the rules and just realize that God has allowed you to be raised in a home where you have a mom
and dad who loves you God is allowing you to be raised in a in a home where you know you say well
my home has problems your home may have problems but here's what i know you're here and there's a
whole lot of kids in this world that wish they were in a home that would bring them to a place
like this and God has given you a little grace and God has given you a little space and God has
given you a little time of reviving and you say well i don't like all the rules okay well how
about you keep the rules just because you love God for the grace of God bringeth salvation
and the grace of God is what teaches us that we have to deny ungodliness and worldly lust
and live soberly go to first john if you would chapter four towards the end of the new testimony
you start at the book of revelation and you head back you have the book of jude one chapter
third and second john they're each one chapter then you have the book of first john just right
towards the end revelation jude third john second john first john you can you can lose your place
there in titus and just keep your place there in first john because we're going to leave it
and we're going to come back to it first john chapter four i want you to notice these words
see sometimes we struggle i mean jesus said if you love me keep my commandments right
i mean the bible says that the first command the greatest commandment is to love the lord
thy god with all thine heart with all thy soul with all thy might and the second is like unto
it to love thy neighbor as thyself and you say well i struggle with this idea of loving
loving god i mean do i really love god i'm not motivated to love god and this is because we
begin sometimes with the concept of love in the wrong place see when you begin with the concept
of your love for god you've already lost because that's not how it works the truth is this first
john 419 the bible says we love him because he first loved us while we were yet sinners christ
died for us you say i don't have a motivation to love the lord well maybe you ought to focus on the
fact that god loved me we ought to dwell on the idea that god sent down his son for me
that god has shown a little reviving to me that god has not punished me
as badly as he should have or could have that he has punished us less than our iniquities deserve
when we begin with the thought of god's love toward us then hey we love him because he first
loved us paul said this the love of christ constrained the separation the concept of
separation is from the world unto god motivated yeah maybe initially or temporarily by the judgment
of god but in the long run it ought to be motivated by the love of god it's like marriage
a young man gets married a young lady gets married they walk down an altar they make vows
you know in that process they are committing themselves to each other right for better or
worse and richer or poorer so death do us part but what they're also doing is separating themselves
from everyone else right there is a separation for a young man i'm separating myself from every
other young lady out there and i'm separating myself unto this young lady that i am committing
my life to a young lady would say i'm separating myself from every other young man out there and i
am committing myself unto this man and look you have not lived your marriage the entire time just
oh this is just so many rules so much bondage you know i just look you ought to be motivated by
you a husband ought to be motivated by the love of his wife by the fact that he loves his wife
the fact that his wife uh she ought to be motivated by the fact that she loved him
to maintain separation from others we would use the analogy of a parent i mean this is the
analogy that god uses he calls himself the father look please understand this when we are raising
our children and they are young there is initially there is initially a motivation of judgment right
called spankings if you're not doing it you need to start you know and because look this is how god
this is how god motivates us you know he motivates us through punishment but you know that eventually
there should come a point there there should come a point and this doesn't always happen
but there should come a point in child rearing where there is a transfer that's done where kids
go from i'm not just listening to mom and dad because of the judgment because they're going
to spank them i'm listening to them just because i actually love them and respect them because i
don't want to hurt them there should come a point in in in the relationship of a child where you
you transition into i actually just love my parents i don't want to hurt my parents i
realize if i do this if i partake in this it's going to hurt them they're gonna be like ezra
uh lifting up their uh hands to god and shame i wish not to do that i'm not preaching about this
this morning but let me just go ahead and say this to you kids out there let that motivate
you to do right the fact that your sin will hurt your parents the fact that your sin will break
their hearts that'd be a motivation we love him and by the way you say i love my parents you know
why because they first loved you we love him because they first loved us go back to the book
of ezra keep your place right there in first john if you would keep your place in titus and go back
to ezra we talked about what separation is what is separation separation is from the world
unto god it is motivated by judgment initially but it ought to look in the maturing christian's
life it ought to go from the judgment of god to being motivated by the love of god the love of
christ constraineth us look please understand that i'm not trying to i'm not trying to demotivate
you i realize sometimes when i talk this frankly with people it's demotivating and i don't really
understand why and i'm praying the holy spirit helps me but if getting up and going soloing on
saturday morning is just a huge just draw you know i just hate it so much yeah just do it
because if i don't pastor's gonna make me feel bad please do me a favor just stay home look you say
what pastor why do you go swimming you ought to go swimming because you love the lord you
ought to get up on a saturday morning and say you know what someone took the time to give me
the gospel someone took the time to share with me the plan of salvation someone i was on my way to
hell and someone took the time to invest in me and the love of christ constrain god has denied
god has punished me less than my iniquities deserve god has given me a little space of grace
god has given me a little reviving and that love ought to motivate you say i got to show up to
sunday night church or pastor won't let me you know be an usher or pastor won't let me play in
the orchestra you know you gotta show up to sunday night church because you love god you gotta get up
and read your bible because you love the lord and if you're doing it out of just keeping rules and
taking rules and i got all these rules hey you're never gonna make it in the christian life because
the judgment and the punishment can only motivate you for a while look that only ought to motivate
a five a six a seven an eight a ten-year-old what time you're 19 20 you gotta just be
listen to your parents because you love them you respect them and look in the christian life
i better do it because pastor said all you're showing us is your immaturity as a christian
because eventually the love of christ ought to constrain us the grace of god that brings
salvation not to teach us to deny ungodliness worldly lust to live soberly
righteously and godly we talked about what separation is let's talk about what separation
does look at ezra chapter 9 there's two things separation does and maybe you can write these down
number one separation cuts ties with the world right separation from the world separation cuts
ties with the world ezra chapter 9 look verse 12 ezra just got done with this great prayer on
revival he says that he prays he pours out his heart to god now he gives us his action plan he
says this in verse 12 now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons neither take their
daughters unto your sons nor seek their peace or their wealth forever here's what here's what
i was saying you cannot love the lord and love the lord's enemies what concord what agreement
what part has light with darkness righteousness with unrighteousness christ with belial
he says don't seek their peace or their wealth that you may be strong and eat the good of the
land and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever look verse 13 and after all
that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great trespassing that thou notice our god
has punished us less than our iniquities deserve and has given us such deliverance as this he's
saying look we need to cut ties with the world from the world go the book of james if you would
if you kept your place there in first john if you go uh backwards you're going to go past second
first peter into the book of james james chapter four and look at verse four say why do i have to
cut ties from the world here's why because you cannot live in agreement with the world
and in agreement with god it's impossible light and darkness cannot mix james 4 4 ye adulterers
and adulteresses ye adulterers and adulteresses notice what he says know ye not that the friendship
of the world is enmity with god ye adulterers and adulteresses know ye not that the friendship of
the world is enmity with god it's interesting to me because he uses this terminology adulterer
and adulteresses talking about marriage look please understand something when you're married
you're you're a man and you're married to a lady hopefully right you're a lady and you're married
to a man you know that you know that me developing a friendship with another woman puts me at enmity
with my wife well that's not what the world teaches that's not what facebook teaches i don't
care what facebook teaches that's the truth i'm a lady i'm i'm married to this man then look as soon
as you get married you can't have any other male friends ladies men soon as you get married you
can't have any other female friends show me that in the bible okay ye adulterers and adulteresses
we're the bride of christ we're married to christ know ye not that the friendship of the world is
enmity the word enmity means puts you at odds with god whosoever therefore will be the a friend
of the world is the enemy of god see you cannot be a friend of the world and be a friend of god
it doesn't work that way if you're a friend of the world you're the enemy of god that that's
that's it there's no there's no neutral there's no middle ground there's no dead man's zone there
it's it's look you're either an enemy of god and a friend of the world or an enemy of the
world and a friend of god you can't have it both ways this is why the bible says and be
not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind go to first john
chapter two first john you're there in in in james you're going to go past first and second
peter back into the book of first john first john chapter two first john chapter two
verse 15 love not the world neither the things that are in the world see here's what separation
is separation is from the world unto god here's what separation does it cuts ties with the world
love not the world neither the things that are in the world if any man love the world the love of
the fathers not to him them in him we verse 16 for all is that word all that means everything
it doesn't say for most it doesn't say for some it doesn't say because there's a few things it
says for all that is in the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the
pride of life and by the way that's all that is in the world the lust of the eyes the pride of
life the lust of flesh he says it is not of the father but it is of the world he says look if
you're going to live a separated life you have to learn to cut you have to learn to cut separate
ties with the world because you cannot be a friend of the world it puts you at enmity with god
go back to the book of ezra if you would ezra chapter 9 what is it that separation does
separation cuts ties with the world separation cuts ties with the world for all that is in the
world look you got to look at your life and look at your life and look look at your life and decide
what is in my life that is from the world that is of the world you say i don't know what that
means okay that is conformed romans 12 to the world the word conforming is patterned after
that looks like the world that acts like the world that smells like the world that sounds
like the world what is in your life that is patterned after the world because paul said
hey be not conformed to this world this is why you walk into verity baptist church it doesn't
look like a rock concert in here you say you know most churches you walk into nowadays the
lights are off they've got some strobe lights and lasers and fog machines
you say why do they do that well i'll tell you why they do that because they're conformed to the
world because people like rock concerts they're trying to make their church seem like a rock
concert we're not trying to make our church seem like anything that resembles the world
be not conformed to this world notice ezra chapter 9 what does separation does what does
separation do it cuts ties with the world here's here's point two separation craves
a relationship with god notice verse 14 should we again break thy commandments
and join in affinity with the people of these abominations what is not thou be angry with us
till thou has consumed us so that there should be no remnant nor escaping oh lord god of israel
notice verse 15 oh lord god of israel thou art righteous for we remain yet escaped as it is this
day behold we are before thee in our trespasses notice what he says for we cannot stand before
thee because of this ezra says i we cannot stand before thee while not practicing separation we
cannot have fellowship with you while having fellowship with the world so what does separation
do it cuts ties with the world and it craves a relationship with god go back to second
corinthians chapter six look at what it says second corinthians chapter six second corinthians
six verse 16 and 17 are probably the quintessential verses on separation in the bible if you had one
verse to kind of explain separation or one passage to explain separation to someone this
is probably where you should take them secretaries 616 we already looked at it today but let's look
at it again and what agreement has the temple of god with idols for year of the temple of living
god as god had said now he just got done telling us the previous verse hey there's no concord
there's no a partnership there's no mixing of light and darkness evil and good christ and
now he says this and what agreement temple of god with idols for year of the temple of living god
as god hath said notice these words i will dwell in them and walk in them and i will be their god
and they shall be my people wherefore come out from among them and be separate saith the lord
and touch not the unclean thing notice the last part of verse 17 and i will receive you
see its separation from the world which cuts ties with the world and its separation unto god which
craves a relationship with god what separation does is it allows you to walk with god what
separation does is that it allows you to live in agreement with god you don't have to turn there
but amos chapter 3 and verse 3 says this can two walk together except they be agreed
look there there's there's a concept taught in scripture that you cannot walk in fellowship
with someone and not be in agreement with that individual you cannot walk with god and not be
in agreement with god this is why friendship with the world puts you at enmity with god
can two walk together except they be agreed we have a youtube channel here that the lord is
blessed and it's a blessing to lots of people and people listen to it and all over the country and
all over the world and from time to time people and they're good people and well-meaning people
and we're not mad at them of course but from time to time people will send us stuff all from all
over the country and all over the world clips and videos and things and they'll say hey maybe you
can use this and one of your videos you can use this and one of your documentaries you could use
this and that and sometimes i look at these things and i think to myself man this is great content
but i can't use this the music's too worldly i can't use this just the way they're acting the
way they're interacting it's just too worldly look it is important that we maintain separation from
the world why because you cannot walk with god while in fellowship with the world but god says
love not the world neither the things that are in the world for all that is in the world lust
the flesh the lust of the eyes the pride of life it's not of the father it's of the world
it's in your life and in my life we have to consider this idea of separation go back to
ezra if you if you can ezra chapter 9 while you turn there let me say this
separation
separation should not dominate the christian life i think the reason that people shy away
from the concept of separation the reason that churches like these that teach separation are much
less popular than the church that said oh no big deal come on in just you know you don't have to
change anything we're in fact we're gonna try to be like you come on in all worldly and lustful
and drunk just come on in no problem you know the reason that those churches in my opinion are so
popular is because we have this idea that separation dominates and when i go to church
like verity baptist church that this this christian life is gonna have to dominate me
it's gonna put me in bondage there's gonna be all these rules and my hair's got to be this
long or not this long and my skirt better be this long or whatever you know you have all these rules
please get this please get this well if you think that way if you think that way and and if we've
done anything if we've done anything to make you think that or feel that way about separation i'm
sorry we failed to communicate separation because separation is not in the christian life is not
something that should dominate you put you in bondage i have to do this separation should not
dominate but i will say this separation should permeate the christian life it should not dominate
but it should permeate okay what does that mean it means that it should be taken into every area
of your life in a sermon like this the tendency is to go through a big long list of of of things
that you ought to live separated and i and i don't think there's anything wrong with that and
i might do that from time to time but honestly i'd rather let the holy spirit do it i can say
this though in the christian life separation ought to permeate every area of your life look when you
get up and get dressed in the morning you gotta ask yourself am i being separated in my dress from
the world and unto god am i dressing like the world is this something that god would find
honoring when it comes to your music you gotta ask yourself is this separate from the world
and unto god when it comes to what you consume what you drink what you put in your body is this
honoring to god is this separate from the world when it comes to what you watch what you read
here's what i'm telling you say ah you're trying to dominate i'm not trying to dominate i don't
think separation ought to dominate your christian life but it should permeate your christian life
what do you allow your kids to read is it separate from the world and unto god what kind of
entertainment do you allow in your home is it separate from the world and unto god oh it's just
little kids watching video hey you know you let little kids watch videos with a bunch of worldly
music on it don't be surprised when they're listening to a bunch of worldly music as teenagers
is it separate from the world and unto god look the love of christ constrain it
it doesn't dominate my life it doesn't dominate my wife's life it doesn't dominate our home
but it should permeate everything we do everything we do not be done through this
lens is this pleasing to the lord is this is this something that i can do in agreement with god
is this separate from the world not for the sake of just separation from the world
look some people think separation is just for the sake of separation you start going out on
that road you're going to become amish i mean that's the truth we can't use technology well
what look is god against you using a phone you understand that it's not separation for the sake
of separation it's the purpose of separation from the world unto god here's what esra says look at
it again verse 15 oh lord god of israel thou are righteous for we remain yet escaped as it is this
day behold we are before thee in our trespasses he says for we cannot stand before thee because
of this please please get this is there something in your life there's something in your life that
is cutting off fellowship between you and god if there is and you gotta cut it cut the tie
crave a relationship to god and allow separation the concept the idea to permeate your life because
here's the thing you cannot you say how does this connect to revival can two walk together except
they be agreed we learned in the first week what is revival to know god and to make god known
how can you know god how can you walk with god when you're living at enmity with god let's bow
our heads in our board of prayer heavenly father lord we thank you for these concepts in scripture
i know they're not popular i know people don't like to hear it or listen to it in general i know
in this church people love you and they live separated lives lord i pray that you would help us
from time to time we need to be reminded why do we do what we do why do we live like we live
why do we have the standards and the separation for some sadly it's because mom makes us do it
dad makes us do it pastor makes us do it but lord i pray you'd help all of us to transition from
because we have to to because we want to not because separation dominates us but because
separation permeates us but i pray you bless us i pray you'd help us to raise a church filled with
people who say in every area of my life in every area of my life i want to please the lord i want
to separate from the world and unto god in the matchless name of christ we pray amen