Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
For thousands of years, hunters have created specialized traps in order to catch their food. One of the simplest ones that I can think of is taking a big boulder, and propping it up on a small stick. When the hair trigger is set, and the animal gets too close to the bait, it acts as a deadfall trap and kills the creature instantly. In the military, they do similar things because soldiers will place different types of mines that are triggered according to different types of hidden sensors. For example, they might be buried in the ground, and be activated by a pressure switch, exploding from the weight of a car, or even a man. Some of them can sense vibrations in the ground such as a heavy tank, or be set off simply because of a change in the air pressure, causing them to explode. Others use a type of sonar, and with the use of radio waves will activate when you disrupt certain frequencies. They even have infrared proximity mines that send out an invisible laser beam. This means that even without any wires attached, they can sense your presence as you walk by, and will detonate if you get too close to them.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
Like getting too close to a proximity mine, it can be inherently dangerous to get too close to people who are involved with the wicked works of darkness. If you choose to walk into that minefield, you are putting yourself into an extremely hazardous situation. You have to be very careful who you associate with, because evil workers are all over this world. Soldiers of Christ must step slowly and cautiously to avoid them at all costs, keeping our distance from them and coming out from the world and being separate.
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 (KJB) 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? 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, 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.
Many people claim that God is their Father, and will even pray the Lord’s prayer, but this passage teaches us that He is a Father to us only when we make the choice to come out from the world to be separate. Separate is defined as existing independently, or in a different space. It is also to be disconnected from others, and viewed as a unit apart by itself. We must make the choice to distance ourselves from the wicked activities that worldly people are involved with. When your close friends are people who are involved with all kinds of sinful living, then a lot of it can rub off on you. This is because bad associations corrupt good morals.
Ephesians 5:11 (KJB) And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
Some of you have gone to public schools and maybe you can remember your parents telling you to keep away from the bad crowd. Rather than sitting in the back of the bus, you would sit in the front seat instead. Rather than hanging out in the back alley behind the high school at lunch time, you would stay in the lunchroom instead. Essentially, this is exactly what the Apostle Peter did when he became a follower of Christ. He no longer was spending time with the old gang that he used to hang around with, but he separated himself in order to serve the Lord Jesus.
1 Peter 4:3-5 (KJB) For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.
We are all sinners, but when you become a believer in Christ Jesus you must develop new relationships with others who are serving the Lord. There is great hope for sinners, but they must repent of their sins and follow the teachings of Christ. If they really are not going to do that, then you need to keep your distance from them and associate with other faithful and obedient men.
2 Timothy 2:22 (KJB) ……. follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
The Apostle Paul kept his distance from those who were involved with the works of darkness.
Romans 1:1 (KJB) Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
Someday the sheep of God are going to be separated from the goats forever, and that process begins here upon the Earth, when you make the choice to walk in goodness, righteousness and Truth, and separate from those who are involved with evil, wickedness, and mischief. After all, men of God have kept separate for thousands of years, choosing to come out from wicked men, in order to seek and to serve God. Moses is a prime example of this when he completely separated himself from all of the idolatry and wickedness that was going on in Egypt. Noah spent many years building the ark, and kept himself separate from the world that God was going to destroy. Lot came out from Sodom and Gomorrah, in order to separate himself from the immorality that surrounded him and vexed his soul from day to day. John the Baptist separated himself from the evil works in this world, and lived a simple life out near the Jordan River.
Being separate involves detaching yourselves from those who are involved in evil activities. This also involves separating yourself from false forms of Christianity that are filled up with heresies, wickedness, and led by false prophets. They are referred to as an unclean thing, because they have Jezebel preaching and teaching scripture, and are ordaining openly wicked and impenitent people to lead their groups. I don’t know how many churches I went to before I realized that God wants us to come out from this false form of rebellious Christianity, and keep separate! Some people just can’t do this because all of their buddies have been sitting in the pew next to them for the last forty years. Others can’t do it because all of their relatives are there. At that point, their friendships have become more important than obedience to Christ.
James 4:4 (KJB) Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Who you spend your time with is very important, because if the majority of it is spent with people who are corrupt inside of their hearts, then you are going to have to make a change. To be separate is to be autonomous, which is to be independent and not controlled by others. It is having the ability to operate apart from others, rather than surrounding yourselves with them. Some people will yoke up by getting a job in the world, where each day they surround themselves with people whose conversation and activities are filled with wickedness. People who you work with are some of the closest relationships that you are going to find, but be forewarned that hanging out with people who are living in wickedness is opening yourself up to a ticking time bomb. If people cannot separate from the world, (which is something that Lots wife could not do,) then just like her, they are headed for disaster, but that’s what happens when you choose friendships with the world, rather than God.
Come out and be separate, and don’t get too close to them, otherwise you are going to suffer the same consequences as somebody who walks too near,…..
……..The Proximity Mine
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.
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