These 2 will always
remain of divine interests until the day when Jesus comes to take His people
away.
God wants the church to
remain unspotted, and He wants the world to become converted and also be saved.
But, even while the church strives to remain unspotted in the world while
reaching out to the same world with the good news, the church must be careful
not to become worldly. This is gradually becoming the case; the church has
become worldly all in the name of winning over the world, and then the world is
becoming churchy.
Let us know that in the
beginning things were not so. In the beginning God spelt out a clear
demarcation between the church and the world; between light and darkness.
“Wherefore
come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the
unclean thing; and I will receive you” (2 Cor. 6:17).
“For
such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from
sinners, and made higher than the heavens” (Heb. 7:26)
“For
thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine
inheritance” (1 kings 8:53).
In the beginning, God
put a wall of separation between the church and the world. There was a wall of
separation, and this wall was an emblem of God’s standard of holiness which has
never changed.
This is the wall that
separates the church from the world. It is the line of demarcation between the
light and darkness; between the sons of God and the sons of the world. At some
points, it was very easy to differentiate between someone who is a child of God
and another who separates himself from God. This was evident in speech,
dressing, attitude, character, lifestyle, etc. But today, that wall of
separation and line of demarcation have been removed; the old landmark has been
removed.
Today, it is very
difficult in many quarters to distinct between the church and the world. The
church instead of winning the world has copied the world. We are no longer
different in the ways we dress, talk, and live. Secular music have been changed
to look churchy; worldly dances have been brought into the church...the world
has crept “unawares” into the church, and the church is filled with mixed
multitudes.
There are multitudes that
have entered the church not because they want to be saved but they have a
satanic mandate to steal the salvation of the saints. When a congregation
becomes too hot for them, they change places. They want to be pampered and not
warn about sin. When you preach against sin, not only do they react angrily,
they also instigate the saints to rebel against God’s word and standard of
holiness. They are the mixed multitudes.
The Mixed Multitude
“And
a mixed multitude went up also with them” (Exodus 12:38)
When God called the
Israelites, there was a mixed multitude that went with them. One would think
the mixed multitude should be given time perhaps they would repent. But it
never was to be.
“And
the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of
Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?” (Numbers
11:4).
The mixed multitudes
became the problem of the Israelites, and the same way there are strange people
who have entered the church today and causing so much rebellion among God’s
people.
But the time of
separation will soon come.
“Now
it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel
all the mixed multitude” (Nehemiah 13:3).
“And
the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and
confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers” (Nehemiah 9:2).
The Time of Separation
Friends, God never
intended us to mingle with the world. He wants us to reach out to the world
with the word of salvation and not for us to copy the ways and styles of the
world and bring them to the church. It is unfortunate that today secular and
worldly musicians are invited to the church to sing all in the name of winning
them over. This is like bringing strange fire to the altar and this is
unacceptable to God.
Youth picnics have
become secular parties in the name of maximizing the strength of the youths.
There are no more retreats for revival and discipleship among us.
The wall of separation
must be rebuilt now. God commands us to come out from the world and be
SEPARATE! We must restore the old landmark. Our dressings, speeches, lifestyles
in all facets must represent the holy kingdom we belong to.
And when the time of
final separation shall come, we shall neither be ashamed or afraid. The time is
coming...
“When
the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then
shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered all
nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth
his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the
goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come,
ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:31-34).
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