"Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord."
2 Corinthians 6:17
The text which heads this page touches a subject of vast importance in
Christianity. That subject is the great duty of separation from the world.
This is the point which Paul had in view when he wrote to the Corinthians,
"Come out from them and be separate."
The subject is one which demands the absolute attention of all who
profess and call themselves Christians. In every age of the Church,
separation from the world has always been one of the grand evidences of a
work of grace in the heart. He that has been really born of the Spirit,
and made a new creature in Christ Jesus, has always endeavored to "come out
from the world," and live a separate life. Those who only wore the name
"Christian," without the reality, have always refused to "come out and be
separate" from the world.
The subject perhaps was never more important than it is today. There is a
widespread desire to make things pleasant in Christianity--to saw off the
corners and edges of the cross, and to avoid, as far as possible, self-
denial. Everywhere we hear professing Christians declaring loudly that we
must not be "too narrow and exclusive," and that there is no harm in many
things which the holiest saints of old thought would be bad for their
souls. That we may go anywhere, and do anything, and spend our time in
anything, and read anything, and keep any company, and plunge into
anything, and all the while still be good Christians--this is the saying of
thousands. In a day like this I think it is good to raise a warning voice
and bring attention to the teaching of God's Word. It is written in that
Word, "Come out from them and be separate."
There are four points which I will try to show my readers, in examining
this great subject.
I. First, "That the world is a source of great danger to the soul."
II. Secondly, "What is not meant by separation from the world."
III. Thirdly, "What real separation from the world consists."
IV. Fourthly, "The secret of victory over the world."
And now, before I go a single step further, let me warn every reader of
this paper that he will never understand this subject unless he first
understands what a true Christian is. If you are one of those unhappy
people who think everybody is a Christian who goes to a place of worship,
no matter how he lives, or what he believes, I fear you will care little
about separation from the world. But if you read your Bible, and are
serious about your soul, you will know that there are two classes of (those
who call themselves) "Christians"--converted and unconverted. You will
know that what the Jews were among the nations of the Old Testament,
this the true Christian is meant to be under the New. You will understand
what I mean when I say that true Christians are meant, in like manner, to
be a "peculiar people" under the Gospel, and that there must be a
difference between believers and unbelievers. To you, therefore, I make a
special appeal this day. While many avoid the subject of separation from
the world, and many absolutely hate it, and many are puzzled by it, give
me your attention while I try to show you "the thing as it is."
I. First of all, let me show that "the world is a source of great danger
to the soul."
Remember, that by "the world," I do not mean the material world on the
face of which we are living and moving. He that pretends to say that
anything which God has created in the heavens above, or the earth
beneath, is in itself harmful to man's soul, says that which is
unreasonable and absurd. On the contrary, the sun, moon, and stars--the
mountains, the valleys, and the plains--the seas, the lakes, and
rivers--the animal and vegetable creation--all are in themselves "very
good" (Genesis 1:31). All are full of lessons of God's wisdom and power,
and all proclaim daily, "The hand that made us is Divine." The idea that
"matter" is in itself sinful and corrupt is a foolish heresy.
When I speak of "the world" in this paper, I mean those people who think
only, or chiefly, of this world's things, and neglect the world to
come--the people who are always thinking more of earth than of heaven, more
of time than of eternity, more of body than the soul, more of pleasing man
than of pleasing God. It is of them and their ways, habits, customs,
opinions, practices, tastes, aims, spirit, and tone, that I am speaking
when I speak of "the world." This is the world from which Paul tells us to
"Come out and be separate."
Now "the world," in this sense, is an enemy to the soul. There are three
things which a baptized Christian must renounce and give up, and three
enemies which he must fight with and resist. These three are the flesh,
the devil, and "the world." All three are terrible foes, and all three
must be overcome if we would be saved.
Let us turn to the testimony of the Holy Scriptures. If the texts I am
about to quote do not prove that the world is a source of danger to the
soul, then there is no meaning in words.
(a) Let us hear what the Apostle Paul says:
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2).
"We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from
God" (1 Corinthians 2:12).
"Christ gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age
[world]" (Galatians 1:4).
"You were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live
when you followed the ways of this world" (Ephesians 2:1-2).
"Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me" (2 Timothy 4:10)
(b) Let us hear what James says:
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to
look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from
being polluted by the world" (James 1:27).
"Don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God?
Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of
God" (James 4:4).
(c) Let us hear what John says:
"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the
world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world--
the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what
he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. The world
and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives
forever" (1 John 2:15-17).
"The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him" (1
John 3:1).
"They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the
world, and the world listens to them" (1 John 4:5).
"Everyone born of God overcomes the world" (1 John 5:4).
"We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under
the control of the evil one" (1 John 5:19).
(d) Let us hear, lastly, what the Lord Jesus Christ says:
"The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who
hears the word, but the worries of this life [this world] and the
deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful" (Matthew 13:22).
"You are of this world; I am not of this world" (John 8:23).
"The world cannot accept Him [Holy Spirit], because it neither sees Him
nor knows Him" (John 14:17).
"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first" (John 15:18).
"If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you
do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That
is why the world hates you" (John 15:19).
"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the
world" (John 16:33).
"They are not of the world, even as I am not of it" (John 17:16).
I make no comment on those texts. They speak for themselves. If any
one can read them carefully, and fail to see that "the world" is an enemy
to the Christian's soul, and that there is an utter opposition between the
friendship of the world and the friendship of Christ, he is past the reach
of argument, and it is a waste of time to reason with him. To my eyes they
contain a lesson as clear as the sun at noon day.
I turn from Scriptures to matters of fact and experience. I appeal to any
old Christian who keeps his eyes open, and knows what is going on in the
Churches. I ask him whether it is not true that nothing damages the cause
of Christianity so much as "the world"? It is not open sin, or open
unbelief, which robs Christ of His professing servants, so much as the love
of the world, the fear of the world, the cares of the world, the business
of the world, the money of the world, the pleasures of the world, and the
desire to keep in with the world. This is the great rock on which
thousands of young people are continually being crushed against and
destroyed. They don't object to any of the truths of the Christian faith.
They do not deliberately choose evil, and openly rebel against God. They
hope somehow to get to heaven in the end; and they think it is proper to
have some religion. But they cannot give up their idol: they must have the
world. And so after running well and longing for heaven while boys and
girls, they turn aside when they become men and women, and go down the
broad way which leads to destruction. They begin with Abraham and
Moses, and end with Demas and Lot's wife.
The last day alone will prove how many souls "the world" has slain.
Hundreds will be found to have been trained in Christian homes, and to
have known the Gospel from their very childhood, and yet missed heaven.
They left the harbor of home with bright prospects, and launched forth on
the ocean of life with a father's blessing and a mother's prayers, and then
turned from the right course through the seductions of the world, and
ended their voyage on the reef and in misery. It is a sorrowful story to
tell; but it is all too common! I can clearly see why Paul says, "Come out
from them and be separate."
II. Let me now try to show "what does not constitute separation from the
world."
The point is one which requires clearing up. There are many mistakes
made about it. You will sometimes see sincere and well-meaning
Christians doing things which God never intended them to do, in the
matter of separation from the world, and honestly believing that they are
in the very will of God. Their mistakes often do them great harm. They
give opportunity to the wicked to ridicule all Christianity, and supply
them with an excuse for having none. They cause the way of truth to be
evil spoken of, and add to the offense of the cross. I think it a plain
duty to make a few remarks on the subject. We must never forget that it is
possible to be very dedicated, and to think we are "doing God service,"
when in reality we are making some great mistakes. There is such a thing
as having a "zeal that is not based on knowledge" (Romans 10:2), for
example, "A time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is
offering a service to God" (John 16:2). There are few things about which
it is so important to pray for a right judgment and sanctified common
sense, as about separation from the world.
(a) When Paul said, "Come out from them and be separate," he did not
mean that Christians ought to give up all worldly callings, trades,
professions, and business. He did not forbid men to be soldiers, sailors,
lawyers, doctors, merchants, bankers, shopkeepers, or tradesmen. There
is not a word in the New Testament to justify such a line of conduct.
Cornelius the centurion [soldier], Luke the physician, Zenas the lawyer,
are examples to the contrary. Idleness is in itself a sin. A lawful
calling is a remedy against temptation. "If a man will not work, he shall
not eat" (2 Thessalonians 3:10). To give up any business of life which is
not necessarily sinful to the wicked and the devil, from fear of getting
harm from it, is lazy, cowardly conduct. The right plan is to carry our
Christianity into our business, and not to give up business under the false
pretense that it interferes with our Christianity.
(b) When Paul said, "Come out from them and be separate," he did not
mean that Christians ought to decline all association with unconverted
people, and refuse to go into their society. There is no warrant for such
conduct in the New Testament. Our Lord and His disciples did not refuse
to go to a marriage feast, or to sit at dinner in the home of a Pharisee.
Paul does not say, "If some unbeliever invites you to a meal," you must
not go, but only tells us how to behave if we do go (1 Corinthians 10:27).
Moreover, it is a dangerous thing to begin judging people too closely, and
settling who are converted and who are not, and what society is godly and
what ungodly. We are sure to make mistakes. Above all, such a course
of life would cut us off from many opportunities of doing good. If we
carry our Master with us wherever we go, who can tell but we may "save
some," and not be harmed? "To the weak I became weak, to win the
weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I
might save some" (