Be ye Separate

[0:00] 2 Corinthians 6 verse 14! It's a familiar one.

[0:17] It says, Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?

[0:28] And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?

[0:41] For ye are the temple of the living God. As God hath said, 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 ye separate, saith the Lord.

[0:55] 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.

[1:07] Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

[1:19] Separation is one of the clear teachings of the word of God. The separated life, the Bible speaks of this.

[1:29] It teaches us of this biblical doctrine, the biblical doctrine of separation. It's grounded firmly in the very character of God.

[1:39] God's holy character. He is holy. Holy. He is called the high and lofty one that inhabits eternity, whose name is holy.

[1:52] The seraphim that Isaiah saw in his vision, they cried out with this one overwhelming attribute of the Lord. Holy, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.

[2:05] Is the Lord of hosts. Isaiah 6, verse 3. And this word in both Hebrew and Greek has the same sense of set apart, of separated.

[2:17] It's got that indication, that understanding, that holy means separated, separate, set apart. And you could say that the angels sang, separated, separated, separated is the Lord of hosts.

[2:34] God himself is separated. He is holy and he is separate. And we as a church, as God's people, are called to separation.

[2:45] To a separating from what God says to separate from. And what God says to separate unto. It's a commandment of God. Be ye separate.

[2:57] Now this separation, it's not an isolation. It's not that we are to be isolated or holier than thou as it were, as in others are looked down upon.

[3:08] But there's a separation that is our desire to be with God. To be his. To be in accord with him. And unto him.

[3:18] Because we have got a duty to all men. Our fellow men. Including those who do not know the Saviour. Someone has put a list together of the duties, the responsibilities that we all have towards all men.

[3:32] For example, we are to be a witness before all men. Christ's ambassador to all men. To preach the gospel to all men. To shine as light to all men.

[3:43] To shine as a light. To do good to all men. To walk in wisdom towards all men. To pray for all men. To provide things honest in the sight of all men.

[3:55] To live peaceably with all men. To let our moderation be known to all men. To honour all men. And to have a good report or a good testimony before all men.

[4:07] So this separation doesn't cut us off from that duty that we have to reach out to all men. It's very much part and parcel of that.

[4:19] So let's see some of the truths about biblical separation that we see in this text that we've just gone through. Firstly, biblical separation. It talks about a yoke.

[4:31] A yoke. Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Now, in those biblical times in that farming culture, there was this wooden construction that went around the necks of oxen and such like.

[4:49] To harness two oxen together so that they could go and work together. And the sense of it here is that we, as God's people, are not to be joined together in that kind of activity with an unbeliever.

[5:06] Of course, there's necessary day-to-day activities we do in the workplace with those who are not believers. But it's got that sense of joining together in a kind of joint endeavour. Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.

[5:20] So we're exhorted here not to have that unequal yoke. Now, brothers and sisters, we are soldiers in an army. We have an enemy. We have an enemy. An enemy that's committed against us.

[5:32] An enemy who is warring against us. And in times of war, we know that enemy forces sometimes infiltrate. And they try to join in in a propaganda warfare.

[5:45] And it's important we understand this spiritual truth that we're not to fraternise with the enemy. We don't want to compromise with the enemy.

[5:56] We're soldiers in a war. And so there's a fundamental separation, a fundamental difference that we're not to yoke up with unbelievers, with those who do not know the Saviour.

[6:08] We cannot join hands with unbelief. Now, I'm going to use a word now that is not a very popular word today because the media paint this word in a particular way.

[6:21] And it's got a particular connotation nowadays that we would not associate with. I'm going to use the word fundamentalist. Fundamentalist.

[6:31] We are fundamentalists. Fundamentalist Christians. Of course, we know the media says the fundamentalists are people who go around and blow other people up.

[6:42] We're not those kind of fundamentalists. But we are biblical fundamentalists. Biblical fundamentalists. And here's what the World Congress of Fundamentalists define as a fundamentalist in the Christian sense of it.

[6:56] In the biblical sense of the word fundamentalist. It means one who agrees to the following. And they go through a number of points. I'll just read them out. Maintains an immovable allegiance to the inerrant, infallible and verbally inspired Bible.

[7:15] Fundamentalist. That's what we believe. We believe the Bible. Secondly, we believe that whatever the Bible says is so. It is so. We don't try to redefine it, reinterpret it.

[7:28] We just take it as read. Thirdly, judges all things by the Bible. And is judged only by the Bible. The Bible is our measuring rod.

[7:39] It is our plonline. It guides us to what is right and what is wrong. As to what deviates and what complies. It goes on. Fundamentalists affirm the fundamental foundational truths of historic Christian faith.

[7:55] The doctrine of the Trinity. The incarnation. Virgin birth. Substitutionary atonement. Bodily resurrection. Ascension into heaven. The second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[8:06] The new birth through regeneration of the Holy Spirit. The resurrection of the saints to life eternal. The resurrection of the ungodly to final judgment and eternal death.

[8:17] The fellowship of the saints who are the body of Christ. These are fundamental beliefs. They're beliefs that the Bible tells us. God's true teaching is such things that we can know for sure it's true.

[8:32] God says these things. It goes on. Fundamentalists practices fidelity or faithfulness to that faith. And endeavours to preach it to every creature.

[8:43] Fundamentalists expose and separate from all ecclesiastical denial of that faith. Compromise with error and apostasy from the truth. And lastly, fundamentalists earnestly contend for the faith once delivered.

[8:58] So a fundamentalist is a militant, orthodox Christian. You know, it's what? It's really a Christian who believes the book. Isn't it?

[9:08] It's essentially a Christian who believes historic Christianity. That is a fundamentalist. Who believes in soul winning.

[9:20] Who has that zeal for God's truth. In this sense, we are fundamentalists. It's not a word that we shy away from. Of course, the modern connotations we do not associate with.

[9:33] But it's about who we yoke up with. We want to yoke up with churches and ministries and fellow believers who are like-minded in that fundamentalist faith.

[9:46] That we yoke up with that which is godly teaching. And there's a militancy about it. There's a sense where we're an army. We're soldiers.

[9:56] And we want to guard that. We want to guard these things. Just like a country guards its borders. We want to guard this yoke.

[10:09] The yoke that is the right yoke. We want to yoke together with godly, like-minded, like-faith churches and believers. And there's a yoke that is good, but there's a yoke we should shy away from.

[10:21] A yoke which is a yoking together with unbelievers. Sadly, in some quarters, it's like anything goes. Anything goes. Just about no discernment or drawing the line.

[10:35] You know, different churches draw the line in different places. I know that. Even amongst our own fellowships. Some people draw the line in a different place than I would draw the line.

[10:47] Now, I was talking to a brother lately. Some churches, I could say, well, they're a bit stricter than us. It's not necessarily that they're doing anything wrong. The pastor and the ministry draw the line in a different place than I would draw the line.

[11:00] And we all have to come as believers and find that place that we can honestly, prayerfully say for ourselves, we want to draw the line here. That's how we understand it biblically.

[11:11] A yoke. Secondly, fellowship. Secondly, fellowship. Paul says, for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?

[11:22] God calls us to a fellowship. It's got that sense of a body of believers, of believers of like mind. We call to that fellowship, that communion, that getting together with him and with one another in righteousness.

[11:37] What is righteousness? Righteousness is right doing. Right doing. We want to do that which is right. There was a preacher I heard once and his sermon was do right.

[11:49] Do right. Get with God and settle with God. Find out what is right and do right. Righteousness is right doing. And we as a fellowship, we want to join together.

[12:00] We want to band together with those who do what is right. What is right and godly and true. And this is the fellowship that we need. When there's so many fellowships we could choose to associate with, we want to fellowship with those who love righteousness.

[12:15] We love God's truth. We love God. We love his way. And we love the brethren. It says, we know we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren.

[12:26] 1 John 3.14. There's something we want to search after and hang on to. This kind of fellowship. This kind of righteousness. The Lord Jesus says, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

[12:40] And all these things shall be added unto you. People today, this world has a crying need to find righteousness. What the government says is right is not necessarily what is right.

[12:55] What the government legalises or turns, you know, winks at and doesn't condemn is not necessarily right. What the church by and large worldwide might say is right is not necessarily right.

[13:12] There's churches down the road who think that certain conduct is right, but the Bible says it's an abomination. When there's a conflict like that, we go with the Bible.

[13:23] We go with God, don't we? We go with what God says is righteousness. And we want to be associated with what is righteous. Not necessarily what is relevant or trendy, but what is right.

[13:35] What is right is a fundamental need. Right is being redefined today. What is right and what is wrong is being redefined such that they call evil good.

[13:46] And good evil. They call bitter sweet and sweet bitter. This is the madness of the world we live in. They call darkness light and light darkness.

[13:57] So people today, young people, older people today, it's fundamental that that which sets what we understand to be righteousness is what God says about it.

[14:09] So we see there's a yoke. We see there's a fellowship. Thirdly, we see there's a communion. Paul says, and what communion hath light with darkness?

[14:20] Now what bigger contrast can you get than that? Light and darkness. God calls us. God calls us to a communion with him, not with darkness, but with light. The Bible tells us about light.

[14:32] It tells us that God is light in 1 John 1 verse 5. It says of God's people that they're the children of light. Luke 16 verse 8.

[14:43] But of the wicked, it says they are children of the wicked one. They're in darkness in Ephesians 5 verse 8. What a contrast. And we've all got to settle it with God.

[14:55] Are you in darkness or are you in light? You know, the Bible says that we that are saved, we've been translated, we've been relocated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.

[15:07] There's been a total change of citizenship. A total change of life. The Bible says, thy word is a light unto my path.

[15:18] It is a lamb unto my thing. There's light here. There's light here. If you're looking for light, if you're groping in the darkness, there's light here for your soul. The word of God.

[15:29] It's a picture of truth. And we've got a crying need of truth today. To discern it from the false. Don't get sucked in with the world's messages that you can choose your own truth.

[15:44] There is only truth and error. And God defines it. His spirit is called the spirit of truth. In contrast with the spirit of error.

[15:57] So we don't share in common with the world. We're not here to accommodate the world, to have communion with the world. In Ephesians 5.11 it says, And have no fellowship, no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

[16:12] Speak against them. Don't try to dally around, pussyfoot around with darkness. Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.

[16:26] You know, there's some churches, they paint them black. I suppose it might be better for the video, or whatever it might be. Or so the disco lights will look that bit brighter, or better, or just give it that more disco feel.

[16:42] They paint the churches black. Darkness. His light. His light. Causes to light.

[16:52] We've seen the yoke. We've seen the fellowship. We've seen the communion. Another one is concord. Concord. Concord in verse 15. And what concord hath Christ with Belial?

[17:03] In other words, the devil. What concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? Now this word concord is, in the Greek New Testament, the same word that we get the English word symphony from.

[17:21] Symphony. There's no symphony, as it were. There's no harmony, as it were, between Christ and the devil. What a contrast again. There's no agreement between Christ and the devil.

[17:35] And we can lose our effectiveness when we try to blend everything. When we try to kind of put this unholy mixture, this mishmash together, truth can lose its cutting edge.

[17:50] When we try to accommodate error. So we want to be strongly loyal to the truth, to our Lord, not disloyal.

[18:01] The one who we want to align with is Christ. That is our model. He is our model. The focus of our separation is Christ. And right through the Bible, we see this fundamental separating.

[18:16] This fundamental separation. There's a dividing constantly between that which is right and that which is not right. And that which is of God and that which is not of God.

[18:28] In Hebrews 13, 13 it says, Let us go forth therefore unto him, without the camp, bearing his reproach. There's a sense where God's people had to go outside of that which was popular, that which was comfortable.

[18:47] To go outside of the camp, bearing his reproach. We see that right through history, where God's totally separated people were the persecuted church.

[18:59] And they still are today. Those who will not deny and compromise the gospel. Who would want to be like Christ, who is such a high priest.

[19:10] Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. Who is this Christ that we identify with? Is he some effeminate, long-haired Jesus, meek and mild?

[19:23] Or is he the Lord Jesus Christ of the Scriptures? Who says that I have come to cause division. John 7, 43 it says, So there was a division among the people because of him.

[19:37] John 9, verse 16. How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them. John 10, verse 19. There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these same.

[19:50] When Christ was on the scene, there was a division. Now there's a lot of talk these days about unity. Unity. Unity at all costs.

[20:01] I've seen some video footage lately of Kenneth Copeland and the Pope. They're really getting very pally with one another. There's a lot of talk about unity.

[20:17] Friends, we need to be very careful. Very, very careful about such moves. It goes on. Agreement is another aspect. Paul says, And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?

[20:30] Some people think we can just associate with whoever we like. Doesn't matter what people believe. Every church is pretty much the same as another. Doctrine is kind of an aside to some.

[20:44] But doctrine is too important to compromise. It's a matter of spiritual protection. When doctrine is compromised, it's dangerous.

[20:57] Dangerous. In one quote that I read, it says, And just get a load of this quote here. Doctrinal error is in fact a lie that is presented as truth.

[21:11] I'll say it again. Doctrinal error is a lie that is presented as truth. Who is the author of all lies? The devil. John 8, 44.

[21:24] So doctrinal error is really sin. It destroys. It damages God's church. It hinders God's people. From getting blessed.

[21:36] So we don't want to associate with what is contrary to the word of God. And some people might then say, Oh, you're a legalistic. Whatever they might want to call our church.

[21:47] Or this kind of message. They'll say this is, Oh, you're just way out there. You're just, you know, you're just, You're not going with the flow. You're getting cultic to say such things as that.

[22:02] But does it really matter? What really matters is that our loyalty is to the word of God. And let's be teachable too.

[22:14] We don't want to get proud and think, Well, we've got it and they don't. We want to be willing to search the scriptures and earnestly seek God for what He's saying to us.

[22:26] But where we can understand there's a mismatch. Where we can understand that there's a clash there. There's something contrary there. We will go with God's word. We must go with God's word.

[22:38] Even though we stand in the minority, We must go with God's word. And not allow false doctrine. False teaching. Not hang on to it, but let it go.

[22:50] Not bow down to idols, but to the living God. Amos 3 verse 3 it says, Can two walk together except they be agreed? There's no agreement between Christ and Belial.

[23:03] No agreement between the temple of God and idols. So we go on. Another aspect is biblical separation talks about our walk.

[23:14] Our walk. Verse 16 it says, 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.

[23:26] Who are you going to walk with? Who will you walk with? Walk with those who are in accord with you. Who are in accord with God's truth.

[23:39] 2 Thessalonians 3 verse 6 it says, Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.

[23:53] Now this word disorderly, it's got that same military application of not keeping in order, not keeping in line, getting out of line, getting out of place.

[24:04] It's someone who's kind of out of step with the body of soldiers, as it were. And it's used in 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 14 where it's translated unruly.

[24:17] Withdraw from those who walk disorderly. Those who break rank. It's got that intimation of those who neglect their duty or their obligation.

[24:28] Those who are really acting in the opposite of submission. The opposite of submission. There's a fundamental aspect of submission. All of us, everyone, myself included, we all need to be submitted to God and submitted to one another.

[24:45] There's a sense where we ought to keep rank as an army advancing, marching together. It's important that we're walking together with those who are walking in the same direction.

[24:59] We want to walk with God and we want to walk with those who love God. We're called to godliness. Separation guarantees the presence of fellowship of God.

[25:10] When we start walking contrary, then we get astray from God's purpose and head in the wrong direction. There's much that's said about separation.

[25:22] There's a verse that says, to the Corinthians, Paul cried, your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven, leaven of the whole love.

[25:34] We know that if you have a cake mixture, ladies or men as well, if you do some cooking, you put some yeast in that dough and it has an impact, it has an effect.

[25:45] Even a small amount has an effect. And likewise to a little leaven, in other words, a little compromise, has a permeating effect. I know last Sunday morning someone came to church and they're just an occasional visitor and they came up to one of our folk and they said, Paul, there's a new church opening in Smithfield and it meets such and such a place.

[26:09] It's a Pentecostal church. And I thought, that's a little leaven, leavening the whole lump. They encouraged them to go last Sunday night down to this church. And I thought, that is a little leaven that's leavening the whole lump.

[26:23] We don't want to recommend a church like that. We don't want our people to go to another church. We want our people to go where there's good, godly teaching. There's other godly churches we could recommend that they go and visit, but we wouldn't recommend a church like that.

[26:37] There's a little leaven that leavens the whole lump. We want to stand against that. We want to rebuke that because it's wrong and it's dangerous. We don't want to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers or with false doctrine.

[26:51] It's a little leaven that leavens the whole lump. And so we see the verse goes on. Paul goes on in verse 17. He says some things that we ought to do in terms of an application of biblical separation.

[27:04] He says, Come out. Verse 17, Wherefore, come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you.

[27:17] God calls us to a separation. He calls us to a getting out of error, a getting out of false teaching, a getting out of false practice.

[27:28] A famous preacher, Campbell Morgan, said of the urgent need for separation, and he said this, I quote, There is toleration which is treachery. There is a peace which is issues in paralysis.

[27:42] The church must say no to those who should ask communion with her in the doing of her work on the basis of compromise. And such standing aloof may produce ostracism and persecution, but it will maintain power and influence.

[27:57] We've lost that today, brothers and sisters. We've lost the power and the influence because of the compromise. And I could do better myself. I acknowledge that.

[28:08] This church could do better. A lot better. A whole lot better. Campbell Morgan goes on, If the church of God of today were aloof from the maxims of the age, separated from the materialistic philosophies, bearing her witness to the all-sufficiency of Christ and the perfection of his salvation, even though persecuted and ostracised and bruised, it would be to her that men would look in the hour of their heartbreak and sorrow and national need.

[28:38] We've lost our voice, brothers and sisters. The church has lost its voice. It's lost its impact because of the compromise that's endemic. And the reason, it quote goes on, The reason why men do not look to the church today is she has destroyed her own influence by compromise.

[28:55] Look where the churches were some years back. Salvation only as much as there's some room for improvement. In the early days, they were preaching the gospel by and large.

[29:10] But today, they're just jangling cans and anything goes. The Uniting Church, Methodists, Wesley. Again, those things I would go along with that Wesley preached.

[29:24] But at least he was forthright and he was bold. He was an aggressive witness for Christ in the time where the established church was dead.

[29:35] Wesley sounded forth the gospel message. Where's Wesley's church today? It's totally sick. God's totally sick of the Uniting Church today as it stands in Australia.

[29:46] It's totally, totally sick. There's pockets of people. There's believers in it. But it's totally astray from God's truth in many fundamental areas.

[30:01] Now, this might be a bit strong for somebody saying this, but honestly, when a church condones abomination, there's just no hope for it. It's totally lost its way.

[30:12] And so, the church has lost its influence because of this compromise. And God calls us, brothers and sisters, God calls us to fellowship with Him. To separate, to separate, to separate from the Soddivites of Hollywood.

[30:26] People today, watch what you watch. If you watch a television, be guarded with what comes out of that tomb.

[30:37] Be very, very guarded. Very, very guarded. When your children are there unguarded, there's great danger television.

[30:49] The Sodomites of Hollywood, they're the ones who run the place. It's filth. It's moral filth. It's a sewer pipe into your home, into your lounge room.

[31:05] You know, some might say, oh, you're being legalistic, you know, is what they always say. But, I'd rather be stronger than weaker, wouldn't you? I'd rather be called legalistic than liberal, wouldn't you?

[31:17] I'd rather be that. And this is not to condemn, it's just to urge, to exhort, to encourage you. We can all be subject to these things.

[31:29] It's not to condemn you, it's just exhorting you, pleading with you, beseeching you to be separate. Where it says be separate here, it's got the sense of a boundary.

[31:42] It means to make a boundary. Make a boundary. Draw a line, if you like, as mums and dads, as parents, as Christian folk, make a boundary around your home, around what you want to guard as precious.

[32:02] Make a boundary and stick to it. Separation. You know, friends, we're Christians, we're strangers and pilgrims, it says. You're going to be called an oddball.

[32:13] You don't fit in. You know, you're not going with what's popular, even in churches where, just, like I say, anything goes. There's just, you know, I was relating some time back where there was a particular church and some kind of men's fellowship outreach and they had beer on hand for the men to have a blokey time around the Bible study.

[32:38] You know, what is going on? Is there no discernment? Is there no understanding? Is there no boundary anymore? And then you see the kind of style of music and it's just fit for the nightclub.

[32:52] It's just the same trashy sound. This is what is going on. There's no boundary anymore. Friends, we're meant to be strangers and pilgrims.

[33:03] Strangers, we're meant to be such that the world will say, these are strange. The people going to this church are a bit strange. Pilgrims, we're passing through.

[33:14] Our citizenship is in heaven. So, I know some people might think, well, he's coming on a bit strong tonight, but friends, we've got to be strong. It's the time to be strong. It's the time to stand strongly and to speak strongly and to be challenged strongly.

[33:30] I'm doing this in love. There's a contamination, there's a corruption. It's like a little leaven. Once it gets its way, once it finds its way in, it leavens the whole lung.

[33:41] It corrupts. You know, worldly rock is unclean, isn't it? Isn't it plain obvious? We want to separate from that.

[33:52] We want to not touch it. We want to get away from it. The Bible says that friendship with the world is enmity, hatred towards God. We don't want to mess with that.

[34:04] We don't want to mess with churches like that. We don't want to have a bar of it. Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. James 4 verse 4 Biblical separation.

[34:17] It's a lost truth. It's a neglected truth. It's a truth that's not popular. Now this is totally out of the box for some people. This kind of teaching, this kind of message tonight.

[34:29] Verse 18 The Lord says, And I will be a father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Another aspect of Biblical separation is relationships.

[34:44] Relationships. Especially our relationship with our Heavenly Father. He says, If you separate, I will be a father unto you. You'll be my sons. You'll be my daughters.

[34:56] Not some man-made unity, but a heaven-sent unity. The kind of unity that is the family of God. The unity of the faith. The unity of God's truth.

[35:08] Now people today, they use such things as, let's agree to disagree. In other words, you have your truth, I have mine. Can't we just get along?

[35:20] Get along, you know. Don't preach controversial things. But true Christian unity comes from the truth of the word of God. This is the foundation.

[35:32] There is no other. It's God's foundation. We don't want to agree to disagree. We want to be in one accord with God's truth. That's where we want to be.

[35:43] That's what we want to set as our measuring stick. Because any unity that ignores biblical truth is dangerous. Romans 16, 17, Paul says, I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences, contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and avoid them.

[36:03] Avoid them. There's some people we ought to avoid, mark them, and avoid them. In 1 John 2 it says, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.

[36:14] If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

[36:26] And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. So friends, on a positive note here, there's relationships. We're separated from, but we're separated unto.

[36:39] We're separated unto the Father, as his children, as his sons and daughters. There's a sense of biblical separation is about relationships. And lastly, biblical separation is about cleansing.

[36:53] It's about cleansing. In chapter 7, verse 1, it says, Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

[37:07] God. Now, I used to work in the health sector, the health sector, and there was quite a push on washing your hands. It's almost like, isn't that obvious, you know?

[37:19] But some people don't wash their hands. They don't wash their hands. And if you're lying there with some dread disease, and some nurse comes along and man handles you and gives you your food or treatment, and then goes to the next person without washing their hands, contamination happens.

[37:38] Contamination happens. And so, as much as you would think it's plain obvious that wash your hands, they need to have posters up in hospitals to prompt people to do that.

[37:51] Basic thing. Cleanliness and contamination in the hospitals, it's a very important principle, it's a very important guideline for the people who work in those places.

[38:05] God says to us, cleanse yourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. There's strict standards in the hospitals, strict standards that must be maintained.

[38:21] Maybe it's time for some spring cleaning for us as God's church, to sense are we clean or are we not? To ask Him for His purifying work and we can all improve.

[38:36] This one in particular, there's a purifying that has to happen as God works in hearts. And God says, cleanse yourselves, cleanse yourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.

[38:48] God calls us to a holy life, a holy life, in other words, a set apart unto God, a life that is pleasing to Him. A life such that if someone was to dig into those secret areas of your life, if someone was to ask someone who knows you from the Monday through the Saturday that there won't be any mismatch between the person you are in the fellowship and the person you are through the working way.

[39:18] So that the language you use in the fellowship is the language you use in the workplace or the school place or the home place or the shopping place, that you will be above reproach.

[39:30] There won't be any dirt anyone can dig out about you. You'll live a consistent Christian life and where you mess up, you'll be quick to confess it to God and ask His help.

[39:45] It's not to mean we aren't fallible creatures. But God says cleanse yourselves, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

[39:56] What an aspiration, perfecting yourself, in the fear of God. Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 5 22, keep thyself pure. That's a tough ask, isn't it?

[40:09] Keep thyself pure. How do we translate that into some practical things? There's some things maybe, you know, we could question these things for ourselves and some of these things are conscience questions, the things that we ought to question ourselves about.

[40:25] How do we dress? Is it immoral? Things like social drinking, gambling, entertainment, worldly music, false doctrine.

[40:40] Let's be aware of all of these aspects of our life. Let's ask God to help us find his truth. Come to that conviction yourself personally. Your conviction might be different from mine, but I pray it will be a biblically based conviction, a biblical conviction.

[40:55] Let's be aware of the doubtful things, the doubtful things. Some preacher said this about doubtful things and he defined it like this. It's a good quote. Think about this, I'll say it now.

[41:07] Anything that dims my vision of Christ or takes away my taste for Bible study or cramps my prayer life or makes Christian work difficult is wrong for me.

[41:18] And as a Christian I must turn from it. I'll say it again. Anything that dims my vision of Christ, that takes away my taste for Bible study, that cramps my prayer life or makes Christian work difficult is wrong for me.

[41:35] And as a Christian I must turn from it. Watch your life. You have to answer for yourself before God. You have to settle it as it were before God for yourself today.

[41:49] These questions of dress, of attitude, of associations, of friendships, of fellowship, of courtship, of career, of speech.

[42:01] All of these questions, all of these aspects of our life. Let's put the lens of God's word over them. Let's look at them as God would look at them and understand what God would have us to do.

[42:13] be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?

[42:24] And what concord hath Christ with belial? And what part hath he that believed with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?

[42:38] For ye are the temple of the living God. As God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

[42:49] Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord. And touch not, don't even touch it, touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and I will be a father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

[43:11] Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

[43:21] I urge you today, think of these questions, think of the yoke, think of the fellowship, think of the communion with the concord, with the agreement, think of the association, are you a temple of the living God?

[43:36] Don't associate with idols, with that which is against God, or replacing God in your life. Let God dwell with you, walk with you, let him have that relationship with you, as your father, as you as his sons, as his daughters.

[43:55] Come out, be you separate, make that decision to break that fellowship with that which is contrary, that which is out of accord, that which is not biblical, and he says, I will receive you, and you shall be my sons and daughters.

[44:11] Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves, cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. God, let us Maybe this message might have struck a chord with you, maybe it's hit a nerve with you, maybe you're annoyed with me tonight, maybe you're annoyed with God, maybe you don't like this kind of teaching, this kind of preaching, maybe you'd rather have that fellowship, that agreement, that concord which is contrary to God.

[44:39] I urge you people tonight, don't play around with God, don't play games with God, stop playing church, and let's get right with God, let us pray.