Watch this message preached at CBC here
Dare To Be
Different Series
2 Corinthians 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be
ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will
receive you,
Intro: For some time I’ve wanted to preach a series
of messages on the Doctrine of Separation.
Though one of the most needful messages to believers today, it is one of
the most neglected.
I would go so far as to say that it is the singular most
controversial subject preached in our independent Baptist churches. Rarely are churches torn over doctrinal
issues per se, but there have been many church members leave a good, Bible
preaching church over the simple preaching of Biblical separation.
Pastors have been run off, good churches have been split and
rendered completely ineffective over their lack of reception to Biblical
preaching and teaching on the Doctrine of Separation.
Many believers have failed to grow in grace and knowledge
because of their failure to understand biblical separation.
Part I
God’s Expression of Separation
Genesis 1:4 And God
saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
A. It
was an Expression of Purity
The division was between two things – light and darkness.
Notice a few things about the first mention of darkness.:
It describes a world without God or His Spirit.
It was in a place without form.
DEFINITION OF WITHOUT FORM: confusion; without order
or shape; formless, chaotic
DEFINITION OF VOID: emptiness, waste
DEFINITION OF DEEP: abyss, grave
DEFINITION OF DARKNESS: obscurity
NOTE: Other use of this word: Isaiah 29:18 And in that day shall the deaf hear the
words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and
out of darkness.
There is not doubt about it – the darkness in Genesis 1:2
and 4 is a picture of the unsaved life.
In numerous places, darkness is symbolic of sin, wickedness,
and the life of the unbeliever.
·
Proverbs
4:19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they
stumble.
·
Isaiah
9:2
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that
dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
·
Romans
13:12
The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off
the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
·
John 3:19 And
this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved
darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Light is first mentioned in Genesis 1:3
NOTE: It was the
result of the Spirit of God moving.
It was the result of the WORD OF GOD.
It was instantaneous.
It was declared GOOD by Almighty God.
Light is a picture of the Word of God.
·
Psalms
119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Light is a picture of truth.
·
Psalms
43:3 O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me
unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.
Light is a picture of the life of the believer.
·
1 John
1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all
sin.
And on and on we could go.
Bottom line: God
separated the light from the darkness to illustrate a key Biblical principle:
SEPARATION!!
Just as God divided the light from the darkness, he calls
out the Child of God to COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM!!
·
Ephesians
5:11 And have no fellowship with the
unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
B. It
was an Expression of Practicality
The question in our text makes it very clear: separation is
a practical issue!
·
II
Cor.6:14-16 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? And what agreement hath the
temple of God with idols?
God asked the same question 5 times!!
It’s like a Thesaurus of words to communicate this
hypothetical situation.
·
What fellowship?
·
What communion?
·
What concord?
·
What part?
·
What agreement?
God is driving a singular point home – to not separate is
IMPRACTICAL!
The point is simple – INCOMPATABILITY!
It is completely insane; it is ridiculous; it is
counterproductive for believers to not practice separation!
This verse is based on an Old Testament civil law.
·
Deuteronomy
22:10 Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.
C. It
was an Expression of Purpose
God divided the Night
from the Day because they both serve a different purpose.
THE NIGHT:
·
I Thess.
5:7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are
drunken in the night. But let us, who
are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for
an helmet, the hope of salvation.
The night is when men sleep.
It’s when people rest.
It’s also when the wicked get drunk and commit excessive
sin.
THE DAY:
·
John 9:4 I must
work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no
man can work.
The day is when men work; when productivity is at its peak.
God divided the
Night from the Day because they both serve a different ruler.
·
Genesis
1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater
light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the
stars also. And God set them in the
firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day
and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that
it was good.
NOTE: God is the greater light. Satan is the lesser light. Even if
he transforms himself into an angel of light. : )
The same applies to the believer and the unbeliever.
The Unsaved
·
John 8:44 Ye are
of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.
Just as God had a purpose for dividing the Night from the
Day, He has a purpose for us to separate ourselves.
He gave two very specific motivations in our text.
1. The Reminder of who we are – “for ye are the temple of the living God…”
We are where the Holy Spirit has chosen to dwell.
In the Old Testament, God built a Tabernacle for His people.
In the New Testament, God built a People for His Tabernacle.
·
1
Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the
temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not
your own?
2. The Relationship – vs. 18 “…and I will be a father unto you and ye
shall be my sons and daughters…”
KEY PRINCIPLE:
Separation isn’t about a bunch of rules.
It is about building a relationship.
