2 Coríntios 6
Charles Spurgeon · Citado em PreceptAustin
2 Coríntios 6
Spurgeon reminds us that "Behold is a word of wonder; it is intended to excite admiration. Wherever you see it hung out in Scripture, it is like an ancient sign-board, signifying that there are rich wares within, or like the hands which solid readers have observed in the margin of the older Puritanic books, drawing attention to something particularly worthy of observation." I would add, behold is like a divine highlighter, a divine underlining of an especially striking or important text. It says in effect "Listen up, all ye who would be wise in the ways of Jehovah!" Acceptable (2144)(euprosdektos from eu = good + prosdechomai = accept) Acceptable, pleasant, well-received, approved. Pertaining to that which is particularly favorable or propitious—‘truly favorable. . A strong affirmation of acceptability, favorably received, This adjective is derived from prosdechomai, “to receive favorably.” The eu prefix emphasizes the positive aspect of the reception; thus it means “pleasant, acceptable,” and it is much like the term dektos, “acceptable.” Euprosdektos, unlike its parent word dektos, does not occur in the Septuagint; nevertheless it would probably not be incorrect to assume that euprosdektos contains some of the same cultic significance that dektos has in the Septuagint (“to offer an acceptable sacrifice,” e.g., Jeremiah 6:20; cf. Exodus 28:38; Leviticus 1:4). Paul, directed by the Spirit, clearly associated euprosdektos with cultic imagery in Romans 15:16 (of the Gentiles as an “acceptable” offering to God) as does Peter in 1 Peter 2:5 (of believers’ acceptable sacrifices to God). The cultic sense may be intended in 2 Corinthians 8:12 as well. The context totally allows for the image of “acceptable sacrificial giving” (cf. verses 1–7). However, Paul also regarded euprosdektos as a secular term. He hoped that his actions would be “acceptable” to those in Jerusalem (Romans 15:31). And from a different perspective, playing upon Isaiah 49:8 (dektos, Septuagint), Paul declared that now is indeed the “accepted time” of God’s salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2; cf. verse 1). Euprosdektos - 5x - acceptable (5x) - Ro 15:16 = "my offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable; sanctified by the Holy Spirit." Ro 15:31 = "my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints;"; 2 Co. 6:2; 2 Co. 8:12 = " if the readiness is present, it is acceptable according to what a person has"; 1 Pet. 2:5 = "to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." Pastor Brian Bell - No w is the acceptable time - When do you deal with insurance policies? - After you’ve had an accident? NO way! You don’t wait until the copper water pipe breaks in your house, to get homeowners insurance. You don’t wait until you get into an auto accident, before you invest in auto insurance. You don’t wait until you’re diagnosed with a fatal disease, before you think about medical insurance. And so, You shouldn’t wait until it’s too late…before you share the ministry of Reconciliation! Illustration: A Saxon king who put down a rebellion in the distant province of his kingdom, then placed a burning candle in the archway of the castle and announced that all who had rebelled would be spared if they put down their arms and took an oath of loyalty to the king. Clemency and mercy were offered, but the offer was limited to the life of the candle. [God’s candle is burning!] QUESTION - What does it mean that today is the day of salvation? ANSWER -God has told the sinful world, in no uncertain terms, to repent (Mark 6:12; Luke 24:47; Acts 3:19; 17:30). To repent means to change your mind from embrace of sin and rejection of Christ to rejection of sin and embrace of Christ. Those who refuse to repent and turn to Christ in faith will suffer eternal consequences. Given the fact of hell, mankind in his sin is in a dire situation. Why would anyone delay repentance? Yet many do, even while admitting their sin and claiming to see their need for salvation. There are several reasons not to delay repentance. First, the Bible’s command to repent is accompanied by an urgent appeal to do it now: Paul quotes Isaiah 49:8, which speaks of “the day of salvation.” Then he says not to delay: “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). Repentance should take place as soon as God the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins (see Jn 16:8). In other words, today is the day of salvation. “Today, if only you would hear his voice, Do not harden your hearts” (Ps 95:7–8). Another problem with delaying repentance is that no one knows the day he will die. And after death comes the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). The rich fool in Jesus’ parable (Luke 12:16–20) thought he had plenty of time to enjoy life, but God had news for him: “This very night your life will be demanded from you” (verse 20). We have today—we have the present moment—and we should use it wisely. Another reason to not delay repentance is that, every time we refuse to repent, we continue to sin and our hearts get harder (see Hebrews 3:7–8). Every time a person says “no” to what’s right, it becomes a little easier to say “no” the next time, too. There’s a gradual hardening of the heart, a searing of the conscience (1 Timothy 4:2), that can numb an unsaved person to the point of being past feeling. This is a dangerous spiritual condition to be in. Also, the harder a person’s heart becomes, the more “force” God will have to apply to bring him to repentance. This is illustrated in the increasingly severe plagues in Egypt. As Pharaoh continued to harden his heart, the plagues continued and worsened until culminating in a loss of life in every Egyptian household (Exodus 7–11). “It is hard for you to kick against the goads” (Acts 26:14). Tragically, there is a point of no return. God may eventually stop trying to bring the chronically rebellious to repentance and give them over to their own ways (Romans 1:28). We never know when this point of no return is, so the better part of wisdom is timely repentance. By delaying repentance, we are delaying certain blessings from God. At least three verses bring this to light: “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord” (Acts 3:19). “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy” (Proverbs 28:13). “Your wrongdoings have kept these [showers of blessing] away; your sins have deprived you of good” (Jeremiah 5:25). So, in delaying repentance, we miss out on God’s refreshment, we may not prosper (in God’s eyes), and we may be deprived of God’s goodness. It is true that God is gracious to us and that a person may be able to repent up until the day he dies. But we should not live presumptuously. We are not guaranteed tomorrow. Commentator Charles John
2 Coríntios 6
Spurgeon - Morning and Evening - "I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” —2 Corinthians 6:16 What a sweet title: “My people!” What a cheering revelation: “Their God!” How much of meaning is couched in those two words, “My people!” Here is speciality. The whole world is God’s; the heaven, even the heaven of heavens is the Lord’s, and he reigneth among the children of men; but of those whom he hath chosen, whom he hath purchased to himself, he saith what he saith not of others—“My people.” In this word there is the idea of proprietorship. In a special manner the “Lord’s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.” All the nations upon earth are his; the whole world is in his power; yet are his people, his chosen, more especially his possession; for he has done more for them than others; he has bought them with his blood; he has brought them nigh to himself; he has set his great heart upon them; he has loved them with an everlasting love, a love which many waters cannot quench, and which the revolutions of time shall never suffice in the least degree to diminish. Dear friends, can you, by faith, see yourselves in that number? Can you look up to heaven and say, “My Lord and my God: mine by that sweet relationship which entitles me to call thee Father; mine by that hallowed fellowship which I delight to hold with thee when thou art pleased to manifest thyself unto me as thou dost not unto the world?” Canst thou read the Book of Inspiration, and find there the indentures of thy salvation? Canst thou read thy title writ in precious blood? Canst thou, by humble faith, lay hold of Jesus’ garments, and say, “My Christ”? If thou canst, then God saith of thee, and of others like thee, “My people;” for, if God be your God, and Christ your Christ, the Lord has a special, peculiar favour to you; you are the object of his choice, accepted in his beloved Son. C H Spurgeon - Faith's Checkbook - “I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”—2 Cor. 6:16. HERE is a mutual interest. Each belongs to each. God is the portion of his people, and the chosen people are the portion of their God. The saints find in God their chief possession, and he reckons them to be his peculiar treasure. What a mine of comfort lies in this fact for each believer! This happy condition of mutual interest leads to mutual consideration. God will always think of his own people, and they will always think of him. This day my God will perform all things for me; what can I do for him? My thoughts ought to run towards him, for he thinketh upon me. Let me make sure that it is so, and not be content with merely admitting that so it ought to be. This, again, leads to mutual fellowship. God dwells in us, and we dwell in him; he walks with us, and we walk with God. Happy communion this! Oh, for grace to treat the Lord as my God: to trust him, and to serve him, as his Godhead deserves! Oh, that I could love, worship, adore, and obey Jehovah in spirit and in truth! this is my heart’s desire. When I shall attain to it, I shall have found my heaven. Lord, help me! Be my God in helping me to know thee as my God, for Jesus’ sake. David Jeremiah - TEMPLE ON WHEELS - 2Cor 6:16 We, the saints, were never meant to be restricted to one roof. What if you began to see yourself as a saint in circulation, a temple on wheels, so that God could say, “I will dwell in [you] and walk [with you]. I will be [your] God, and [you] shall be My people.” (2 Corinthians 6:16). What if you took your worship on the road, so that you rejoiced, prayed, expressed your thanksgiving, and exalted Him everywhere you went? You could think of yourself as a beautiful temple, a place fit for encasing the law of God, a place where all people could come to experience Him—for that’s one essential element of a temple, isn’t it? It’s a place for others to come together in God’s name. You may not have a ceiling and large rooms, but through you people can experience the living God just as they did in the old temple of Jerusalem. That’s the very idea of having the Holy Spirit come to live within us. It isn’t for the purpose of our having some private experience, but in order that we can serve God. (Sanctuary) 2 Corinthians 6:17 "Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE," says the Lord. "AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. KJV 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, NET 2 Corinthians 6:17 Therefore "come out from their midst, and be separate," says the Lord, "and touch no unclean thing, and I will welcome you, BGT 2 Corinthians 6:17 διὸ ἐξέλθατε ἐκ μέσου αὐτῶν καὶ ἀφορίσθητε, λέγει κύριος, καὶ ἀκαθάρτου μὴ ἅπτεσθε· κἀγὼ εἰσδέξομαι ὑμᾶς NLT 2 Corinthians 6:17 Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the LORD. Don't touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. ESV 2 Corinthians 6:17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, NIV 2 Corinthians 6:17 "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." YLT 2 Corinthians 6:17 wherefore, come ye forth out of the midst of them, and be separated, saith the Lord, and an unclean thing do not touch, and I -- I will receive you, ASV 2 Corinthians 6:17 Wherefore Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch no unclean thing; And I will receive you, CSB 2 Corinthians 6:17 Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord; do not touch any unclean thing, and I will welcome you. MIT 2 Corinthians 6:17 Consequently: Separate from among them. Distance yourselves, says Yahveh. Do not touch filth, and I shall take you in, NKJ 2 Corinthians 6:17 Therefore "Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you." NRS 2 Corinthians 6:17 Therefore come out from them, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean; then I will welcome you, NAB 2 Corinthians 6:17 Therefore, come forth from them and be separate," says the Lord, "and touch nothing unclean; then I will receive you NJB 2 Corinthians 6:17 Get away from them, purify yourselves, says the Lord. Do not touch anything unclean, and then I shall welcome you. GWN 2 Corinthians 6:17 The Lord says, "Get away from unbelievers. Separate yourselves from them. Have nothing to do with anything unclean. Then I will welcome you." BBE 2 Corinthians 6:17 For which cause, Come out from among them, and be separate, says the Lord, and let no unclean thing come near you; and I will take you for myself, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE: 2Co 7:1 Nu 16:21,26,45 Ezr 6:21 10:11 Ps 1:1-3 Pr 9:6 Isa 52:11 Jer 51:6 Ac 2:40 Rev 18:4 And I will welcome you: Joh 6:37,38 Ro 15:7 2 Corinthians 6 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries See J C Ryle's sermon "The World" Related Passages: Isaiah 52:11 (GOD GIVES 5 "STACCATO-LIKE" COMMANDS TO JEWISH EXILES IN BABYLON) - Depart, depart, go out from there, Touch nothing unclean; Go out of the midst of her, purify yourselves, You who carry the vessels of the LORD. Jeremiah 51:45 “Come forth (COMMAND) from her midst (TO THE JEWS TO COME OUT OF BABYLON AND ITS PAGAN PRACTICES!), My people, And each of you save (COMMAND) yourselves From the fierce anger of the LORD. Deuteronomy 17:16+ (SEPARATION FROM EGYPT - SOLOMON DISOBEYED AND NATION DIVIDED) “Moreover, he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor shall he cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, since the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall never again return that way.’ Revelation 18:4+ I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out (aorist imperative calling for dependance on the Holy Spirit to obey.) of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; 1 Corinthians 5:9-12+ (BALANCING COMING OUT FROM THEIR MIDST) I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; 10 I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. 11 But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler–not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? John 17:20-23 (BALANCING COMING OUT FROM THEIR MIDST) “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. A CALL TO SEPARATE FROM THE WORLD The word saint (hagios) is positionally one who has been set apart by God from the world and to Himself. And yet our privileged position calls for personal practice of continual pursuit of holiness. This section of Corinthians has a poor chapter break and should be read with Paul's additional call to holiness in 2Cor 7:1+ "Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Therefore - Term of conclusion. Paul now gives the logical conclusion (cf 2Co 2:8, 4:13, 16, 5:9, 12:10). Based on the defiling aspects of idols and who saints truly are in Christ, these truths call for the following conclusion which is in the form of 3 commands. These commands would apply especially to believers in Corinth who are already unequally yoked in some way with the ungodly. One cannot honor Christ in one’s walk, and at the same time walk with those who dishonor Him. COME OUT (exerchomai) FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE (aphorizo)" says the Lord - Great privileges call for great practice. Come out and be separate are both commands urgently calling for immediate obedience ("Just do it!" "Do not delay!") and are both in the aorist imperative (the "Nike Commercial command") calling for dependance on the Holy Spirit to obey. The verb be separate calls for severing ties with the unbelievers. This is especially interesting in that this same verb aphorizo is used to describe the final separation of the believers from unbelievers (Mt 13:49; 25:32). Just as the OT prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah (see passages above), called the Jews to separate themselves from pagan practices in Babylon, Paul is commanding the believers in Corinth to separate themselves from the rampant, corrupting idolatrous and immoral practices in Corinth. Paul is calling for radical "spiritual surgery" even as Jesus did in referring to lust and sexual immorality in Mt 5:27-30+. Gromacki - There cannot be separation within unequal associations. Separation is basically positive, toward God, but it can only take place after departing from sin and unholy alliances. The order of these commands verifies that conclusion. The concept behind “be separate” (aphoristhēte) is to mark off boundaries beyond which you will not go. These fences of restriction must be based upon obedience to the revealed truth of Scripture (ED: AND ENABLED BY THE SPIRIT, OTHERWISE ONE BORDERS ON LEGALISM!) Grant Richison adds that "We cannot love God halfheartedly. He wants all of us or none of us. To embrace one is to forsake the other. When we lose heart for God something else has displaced our love for God." (See Richison's Biblical study in his book Theology of Sex) Don’t roll in the mire to please the pigs. -- C H Spurgeon MacDonald "The problem abounds on every hand today among evangelical Christians in liberal and neo-orthodox churches. They are continually asking, “What shall I do?” God’s answer is found here. They should leave a fellowship where the Lord Jesus is not honored and exalted as God’s well-beloved Son and the Savior of the world. They can do more for God outside such a fellowship than they will ever accomplish inside it. (Believer's Bible Commentary) THOUGHT - Christians are not to stay intimately in the middle of evil in order to attempt to remedy it. I heard someone say years ago, such a practice usually ends up pulling the believer down,not the converse! Beware! Do not be deceived (pres imp w negative requires dependence on the Spirit - stop being deceived! - see deceitfulness of sin) “Bad (kakos) company (present tense - continually, definitely) corrupts (phtheiro) good (chrestos) morals.” 1Co 15:33+ AND DO NOT TOUCH (hapto/haptomai) WHAT IS UNCLEAN (akathartos) and I will welcome you - Paul says to "touch no unclean thing" and in context refers primarily to those things that relate in some way to idolatry which defiles everything it touches and was a common practice among the pagans in Corinth and was part of the "baggage" that many if not most of the Gentile believers brought with them into the church body. Note that the fruit of obedience is fellowship with the Father, I will welcome you being the first of three incredible promises. As Wick Broomall says "God cannot lovingly entertain those who are knowingly and willingly involved in evil." THOUGHT - Do you feel far from the Father today? Perhaps you need to use the "magnifying glass" of Paul's 3 commands and 5 rhetorical questions to see if you deceiving yourself and have failed in any of those areas. The Father is holy, set apart, and He calls set apart children into fellowship with Him. Although we are children of light, we can sadly still willfully sin and made the horrible choice to walk in spiritual darkness. As alluded to earlier, John says "If we say that we have fellowship (koinonia) with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." (1 Jn 1:6-7+) If you are walking in any area of spiritual darkness, this undoubtedly is the cause of your feeling far from the Father. Confess your sins and repent and He will welcome you (1Jn 1:9+, Pr 28:13+). It is worth noting that the first use of hapto in the Septuagint in Ge 3:3+ in which Eve misquoted God's command saying "You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die.’” God had said nothing about touching the tree in the Garden. Now in 2Co 6:17 God not commands His children not to touch what is unclean. There is a beautiful promise for the one who obeys these commands for God Himself will "put out the welcome mat" for us! J
2 Coríntios 6
Spurgeon - “Be ye separate.”—2 Corinthians 6:17 The Christian, while in the world, is not to be of the world (Jn 17:11, 16). He should be distinguished from it in the great object of his life. To him, “to live,” should be “Christ.” (Php 1:21) Whether he eats, or drinks, or whatever he does, he should do all to God’s glory (1Co 10:31). You may lay up treasure; but lay it up in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, where thieves break not through nor steal. (Mt 6:20-21) You may strive to be rich; but be it your ambition to be “rich in faith,” (Jas 2:5) and good works (1Ti 6:18). You may have pleasure; but when you are merry, sing psalms and make melody in your hearts to the Lord (Eph 5:18). In your spirit, as well as in your aim, you should differ from the world. Waiting humbly before God, always conscious of his presence, delighting in communion with him, and seeking to know his will, you will prove that you are of heavenly race. And you should be separate from the world in your actions. If a thing be right, though you lose by it, it must be done; if it be wrong, though you would gain by it, you must scorn the sin for your Master’s sake (cf Ro 14:23). You must have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them (Eph 5:11). Walk worthy of your high calling and dignity (Eph 4:1, 1Th 2:12). Remember, O Christian, that thou art a son of the King of kings. Therefore, keep thyself unspotted from the world (Jas 1:27). Soil not the fingers which are soon to sweep celestial strings; let not these eyes become the windows of lust which are soon to see the King in his beauty— let not those feet be defiled in miry places, which are soon to walk the golden streets— let not those hearts be filled with pride and bitterness which are ere long to be filled with heaven, and to overflow with ecstatic joy. Then rise my soul! and soar away, Above the thoughtless crowd; Above the pleasures of the gay, And splendours of the proud; Up where eternal beauties bloom, And pleasures all divine; Where wealth, that never can consume, And endless glories shine. J C Philpot - If we are entangled in the love of the world, or fast bound and fettered with worldly anxieties, and the spirit of the world is rife in our bosom, all our profession will be vapid, if not worthless. We may use the language of prayer, but the heart is not in earnest; we may still manage to hold our head high in a profession of the truth, but its power and blessedness are neither known nor felt. To enjoy any measure of communion with the Lord, whether on the cross or on the throne, we must go forth from a world which is at enmity against Him. We must also go forth out of self, for to deny it, renounce it, and go forth out of it lies at the very foundation of vital godliness. There must be “a mortifying, through the Spirit, of the deeds of the body;” (Ro 8:13+) a being “always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh” (2 Cor 4:11+); and unless there is a going forth out of self by this self-crucifixion, there is no walking in hand with Christ, no manifest union, no heavenly communion with Him; for there can no more be a partnership between Christ, the soul, and self than there can be a partnership between Christ, the soul, and sin. (Ears from Harvested Sheaves.) Coley - In Brazil, there grows a common plant, which forest-dwellers call the matador, or “murderer.” Its slender stem creeps at first along the ground; but no sooner does it meet a vigorous tree, than, with clinging grasp, it cleaves to it, and climbs it, and, as it climbs, keeps, at short intervals, sending out arm-like tendrils that embrace the tree. As the murderer ascends, these ligatures grow larger, and clasp tighter. Up, up, it climbs a hundred feet, nay, two hundred if need be, until the last loftiest spire is gained and fettered. Then, as if in triumph, the parasite shoots a huge, flowery head above the strangled summit, and thence, from the dead tree’s crown, scatters its seed to do again the work of death. Even thus worldliness has strangled more churches than ever persecution broke. (See related topic - Backsliding) First we form habits, then they form us. Conquer your bad habits or they will conquer you. – Dr. Rob Gilbert GOT MILK? - David Jeremiah Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean. 2 CORINTHIANS 6:17 Though previous generations enjoyed milk directly from the cow, today’s health officials warn that raw milk carries increased risk of contamination. But supporters of raw milk say pasteurization destroys nutrients. Although some of us grew up on farms, most of us now get our milk from stores where we have enough choices to make Betsy the Cow’s head spin: standardized, whole, reduced fat, low fat, skim, nonfat, buttermilk, organic, acidophilus . . Grabbing that gallon of milk forces us to make a choice about separation, whether we realize it or not. After it stands awhile, fresh milk has a tendency to separate into a high-fat cream layer on top and a thinner layer below. When we grab our particular jug of choice, we’re determining our preferred degree of separation. The processing of milk reflects a wider truth. At the last day, God will separate the cream from the skim, the wheat from the chaff, and the sheep from the goats. Until then, we should lead lives of separation, holy and pleasing to Him, to “come out from among them” and be separate. Perhaps there’s something we need to skim off the top of our lives today. (You Daily Journey With God) Insulated From Sin Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. —Romans 12:9 Today's Scripture: 2 Corinthians 6:11-7:1 I watched with fascination as workers from the Grant Tower Company dismantled each section of the transmitter tower. The powerful radio signal had been sent up a 1″ copper tube inside a 4″ protective steel pipe. At each joint and throughout the 20′ sections, nylon spacers kept the copper from getting too near the outside pipe and ruining the signal. A major lightning strike had blown out a transmitter bay and “fried” the transmission line at every weak joint, dirty connection, and worn spacer. A little preventive maintenance just might have kept that radio station on the air. Much as that transmission line had fallen into disrepair, the Corinthian church was becoming susceptible to destructive forces. The apostle Paul expressed deep concern and urged those struggling believers to keep themselves insulated from sin by keeping their distance from it. In fact, he appealed to them to be completely separate from the unclean things of the world (2 Cor. 6:17). The closer their connection with the world, the more they would be corrupted by it. O child of God, guard well your life From anything that stains your heart; Forsake those things that soil your mind— Your Father wants you set apart. —Fasick We can live in the world without letting the world live in us. 2 Corinthians 6:18 "And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me," Says the Lord Almighty. KJV 2 Corinthians 6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. NET 2 Corinthians 6:18 and I will be a father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters," says the All-Powerful Lord. BGT 2 Corinthians 6:18 καὶ ἔσομαι ὑμῖν εἰς πατέρα καὶ ὑμεῖς ἔσεσθέ μοι εἰς υἱοὺς καὶ θυγατέρας, λέγει κύριος παντοκράτωρ. NLT 2 Corinthians 6:18 And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty. " ESV 2 Corinthians 6:18 and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty." NIV 2 Corinthians 6:18 "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." YLT 2 Corinthians 6:18 and I will be to you for a Father, and ye -- ye shall be to Me for sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.' ASV 2 Corinthians 6:18 And will be to you a Father, And ye shall be to me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. CSB 2 Corinthians 6:18 I will be a Father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord Almighty. MIT 2 Corinthians 6:18 and I shall be as a father to you. You will be to me as sons and daughters, says Yahveh omnipotent. NKJ 2 Corinthians 6:18 "I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty." NRS 2 Corinthians 6:18 and I will be your father, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." NAB 2 Corinthians 6:18 and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty." NJB 2 Corinthians 6:18 I shall be father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to me, says the almighty Lord. GWN 2 Corinthians 6:18 The Lord Almighty says, "I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters." BBE 2 Corinthians 6:18 And will be a Father to you; and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord, the Ruler of all. And I will be a father to you: Ps 22:30 Jer 3:19 Jer 31:1,9 Hos 1:9-10 John 1:12 Ro 8:14-17,29 Gal 3:26 Gal 4:5-7 Eph 1:5 1Jn 3:1-2 Rev 21:7 Says the Lord Almighty.: Ge 17:1 48:3 Rev 1:8 21:22 2 Corinthians 6 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: 2 Samuel 7:14 (QUOTE ORIGINALLY GIVEN TO SOLOMON) “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, Jeremiah 31:1+ “At that time,” declares the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.” Hosea 1:9-10 And the LORD said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people and I am not your God.” 10 Yet the number of the sons of Israel Will be like the sand of the sea, Which cannot be measured or numbered; And in the place Where it is said to them, “You are not My people,” It will be said to them, “You are the sons of the living God.” John 1:12+ But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, Romans 8:14-17+ for all who are being led by the Spirit of God (HOW? SEE Ro 8:13+), these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. ALL IN THE FAMILY OF GOD OUR FATHER After issuing three commands calling for complete and immediate obedience, Paul does not leave the believers in Corinth "hanging," but now declares truths that should encourage them to become holy (separated) as God is holy. While not everyone sees a direct OT link with what follow Colin Kruse does writing "There follows an adaptation of 2 Sa 7:8, 14 (LXX): and I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. This promise, originally addressed to King David, Paul adapts by substituting the second person plural pronouns (you) and adding the words and daughters. As it stands in the present context the quotation further emphasizes the immense privilege of belonging to God’s people. What greater incentive could there be to abandon all idolatrous practices than knowing there was a welcome from the Lord Almighty who will treat them as his children?" (Full text of TNTC 2 Corinthians) Guzik thinks Paul is quoting from "Jeremiah 31:9+ to show the benefit of separating from worldly influence: a more intimate relationship with God (I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters). There is always a glorious promise for those who are willing to separate themselves from the world’s influences for the sake of godliness. McShane - All believers are in the family of God and can call Him Father, but here there is something more, for the special portion of those who separate is to enjoy His most tender care. In some cases those who left the idols’ temple may have found themselves in dire straits and those who left the Jewish synagogue may also have been ostracised, so both alike would need these promises to sustain them. (What the Bible Teaches) And I will be a father (pater) to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me," Says the Lord (kurios) Almighty (pantokrator) - Father refers to our heavenly Father (see What is fellowship with God?). He imparts life, from physical birth to the gift of eternal life through the second birth (regeneration, being born again). Through ongoing sanctification, the believer more and more resembles their heavenly Father. THOUGHT - Notice that our gentle, loving Father is the Almighty One (“the one who has his hand on everything”), so what do we have to fear if we have a holy (reverential) fear of Him? The blessedness of true separation is nothing less than the glorious companionship of the great God Himself. -- Unknown Henry Morris on you shall be sons and daughters to Me - This promise is not quoted explicitly from any Old Testament passage, though the sense of it can often be detected. There are also many explicit New Testament passages that do assert that those who receive Christ become children of God (e.g., Jn 1:12; Ro 8:16). By direct inspiration, if nothing else, Paul could assure his readers that being separated unto God from the world, through receiving Christ, would indeed assure them that He would receive them as His sons and daughters.(Defender's Study Bible) Guzik makes an excellent point - The call to purity and separation unto God flows from the offer of reconciliation mentioned at the end of 2 Corinthians 5. “A man cannot accept reconciliation with God and live in sin; because the renunciation of sin is involved in the acceptance of reconciliation. Paul never assumes that men may accept one benefit of redemption, and reject another. They cannot take pardon and refuse sanctification.” (Hodge) Father (3962) (pater) is the genitor (a begetter), by whom another is begotten. Stated more simply this is a man who has begotten a child. Father is the progenitor, the ancestor in the direct line (a forefather -- thus Adam was the "progenitor" of the Human Race). A father is one who imparts life and is committed to it. Father (title for God), (Jn 10:15; Lk 23:34.) God the Father (15x in NAS, Not once in the OT): 1 Cor 8:6; Gal 1:1; Eph 6:23; Phil 2:11; Col 1:3; 3:17; 1Th 1:1; 2Th 1:2; 1Ti 1:2; 2Ti 1:2; Titus 1:4; 1Pet 1:2; 2Pet 1:17; 2 John 1:3; Jude 1:1 God and Father (14x NAS, Not once in the OT): Rom 15:6; 1 Cor 15:24; 2 Cor 1:3; 11:31; Gal 1:4; Eph 1:3; 4:6; Phil 4:20; 1Th 1:3; 3:11, 13; Jas 1:27; 1Pet 1:3; Rev 1:6 Almighty (3841) pantokrator from pás = all + kratos = strength or might, especially manifested power, the power to rule or control) is literally the ruler over all or the One Who controls all things and Who has power over everything. The One in total control! Pantokrator thus describes God’s sovereign, omnipotent, irresistible power. Note that Vine gives the derivation of pantokrator as from pas = all + krateo = to hold or to have strength. Pantokrator, for “Almighty,” is used in the LXX. for “Lord of sabaoth,” and in the New Testament only occurs elsewhere in the Apocalypse. Pantokrator is used only of God, indicating that He is omnipotent (omni = all), universally sovereign. The Ruler of all things. The All-Powerful. The Omnipotent (One). Pantokrator is He Who holds sway over all things and the Ruler of all. It speaks of His supremacy over all things. In light of the fact that 9/10 NT uses of Pantokrator are in The Revelation, clearly Pantokrator is the characteristic title for God in the book which records the consummation of God's victory over sin and the evil one Satan and His awesome control over all the universe and all history. As noted above chapter 6-7 is a poor chapter break and clearly the next passage in chapter 7 flows in context from 2Co 6:14-18... Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (2Co 7:1+) NEW TESTAMENT PURITANISM 2 Cor. 6:11–7:1 Benjamin B Warfield IT is not easy to determine with exactitude the circumstances which gave occasion to this striking paragraph, which stands out so prominently on the pages of Second Corinthians as almost to separate itself from its context and form a whole of its own. Of two things, however, we may be reasonably sure. There was a party in the Corinthian Church which we may perhaps fairly describe as the party of the Libertines; and out of this party, too, there had arisen an opposition to the leadership of Paul, and a tendency to accuse him of insincerity and self-seeking in his work at Corinth. We must picture the Apostle, therefore, as compelled to defend himself and the purity of his ministry, in this Epistle, not only against a narrow Judaistic formalism, with its touch not, taste not, handle not, but also against a loose worldliness which was inclined to adapt its Christianity to the usages current in the heathen society about it. Differing in everything else, both parties agreed in unwillingness to subject themselves unreservedly to the guidance of Paul; and in defence of themselves represented him as acting towards the church from interested motives. Bearing this in mind, we may readily understand how, when in the course of his self-defence the Apostle has been led to dwell upon the hardships he had suffered in the prosecution of his mission, he should break off suddenly with an appeal to his Corinthians to separate themselves from heathen practices and points of view, and themselves to walk worthily of the Gospel they professed. “See, O Corinthians,” he exclaims, “how freely I am speaking to you, how widely open my heart is to you. You find no constraint on my part with reference to you; the only constraint there is between us lies in your own hearts. Give me what I give you—I am speaking as to may children; open wide your heart to me. Seek not your standards of life in the unbelievers about you. Remember who you are and what you should be as organs of the Holy Spirit; and be not content until you have attained that perfect holiness which becomes the children of God.” So the Apostle transforms his defence of his ministry into an exhortation to his readers, in which he again exercises his ministry of love in a disinterested plea to them to walk worthily of the Gospel of holiness. Dr. James Denney in his commentary on this Epistle, published in “The Expositor’s Bible,” heads the chapter in which he deals with this section, “New Testament Puritanism.” On the face of it, this is a very good designation for it. The note of Puritanism, which is the note of separation, certainly throbs through the section. “Come ye out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord”—that assuredly expresses the very essence of Puritanism. Or, perhaps, we may more precisely say that it is exactly that conformity with the world which, above all things, Puritanism dreads, that Paul here declares, almost with indignation, to be inconceivable in a true Christian. “For what fellowship,” he demands “is there between righteousness and iniquity? Or what communion is there for light with darkness? Or what concord of Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has a temple of God with idols?” Here certainly is Puritanism at the height of its expression. Nevertheless we must be careful not to give the Apostle’s exhortation a turn which does not belong to it. The Apostle is not here requiring of Christians a withdrawal from the world, considered as the social organism; and most certainly he is not asking of them to segregate themselves into a community apart, between which and the mass of men there shall be no, or only the least possible, intercourse. On a former occasion, when addressing these same readers, he does indeed command them not to keep company with fornicators. But he immediately adds that he means this aloofness only as a disciplinary measure towards sinning brethren. If a man who is called a Christian be a fornicator, Christian fellowship must be withdrawn from him, that it may be brought home to him that a man cannot be both a Christian and a fornicator. But, says the Apostle, I do not mean that you should not associate with fornicators of the world; else you would need to remove out of the world—a thing, he implies, which would be manifestly impossible; and let us add, for the leaven which is placed in the world, grossly inconsistent with the prosecution of its function in the world, which is to leaven the whole mass. And if we will scrutinize our present passage closely we shall quickly see that the separation which the Apostle is urging here, too, is not separation from men but from evil—applying, indeed, to the Corinthians in the way of exhortation what our Lord prayed for in behalf of His followers, not that they should be taken out of the world, but that they should be kept from the evil of the world. The exhortation: “Come ye out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord,” is immediately followed by the explanation, “And touch no unclean thing.” And the whole exhortation closes with a poignant prayer that they may “cleanse themselves from every defilement.” It is not from their fellow-men that the Apostle would have Christians hold themselves aloof; it is from the sin and shame, the evil and iniquity, which stains and soils the lives of so many of their fellow-men. This is the Apostolic variety of Puritanism. The opposite impression is perhaps fostered among simple Bible readers by the phrase which stands in the forefront of the exhortation in our English Bibles: “Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.” This certainly appears at first sight to represent any commerce with unbelievers as indecorous and to forbid it on that account. This impression is wholly due, however, to the awkwardness of the rendering given to an unusual Greek phrase. This Greek phrase is an exceedingly awkward one to render; and I am not sure that it is possible to give it an English equivalent which will convey its exact sense. The figure which underlies it is, no doubt, the yoking together, in the bizarre way of the East, incongruous animals for labour, say an ox and an ass. And the English version is a very creditable effort to bring the figure home to the English reader; for surely such a yoking of incongruous animals together is a very unequal one. Yet the English phrase fails to express the exact shade of meaning of the Greek term. This does not say: “Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers” but rather, “Become not bearers of an alien yoke along with unbelievers”—or, in other words, “Take not on yourselves a yoke that does not fit you, in order to be with unbelievers.” You see the point is very different from that which is often taken from the English phrase. What is forbidden is not that we should company with unbelievers; but that we should adopt their points of view and their modes of life. It is a question, in other words, not of intercourse, but of standards. What the Apostle is concerned about is not that his converts lived in social communion with their heathen neighbours; this he would have them do. What he is concerned about is that they took their colour from the heathen neighbours with whom they lived. He wished them to be leaven and to leaven the lump; they were permitting themselves rather to be leavened; and this made him indignant with them. We see, then, that the Apostle’s urgency here is against not association with the world, but compromise with the worldly. Compromise! In that one word is expressed a very large part of a Christian’s danger in the world. We see it on all sides of us and in every sphere of life. We must be all things to all men, we say, perverting the Apostle’s prescription for a working ministry; for there was one thing he would on no account and in no way have us be, even that we may, as we foolishly fancy, win the more; and that is, evil. From evil in all its forms and in all its manifestations he would have us absolutely to separate ourselves; the unclean thing is the thing he would in no circumstances have us handle. Associate with the world, yes! There is no man in it so vile that he has not claims upon us for our association and for our aid. But adopt the standards of the world? No! Not in the least particular. Here our motto must be and that unfailingly: No compromise! The very thing which the Apostle here presses upon our apprehension is the absolute conflict between the standards of the world and the standards of Christians; and the precise thing which he requires of us is that in our association with the world we shall not take on our necks the alien yoke of an unbeliever’s point of view, of an unbeliever’s judgment of things, of an unbeliever’s estimate of the right and wrong, the proper and improper. In all our association with unbelievers, we, as Christian men, are to furnish the standard; and we are to stand by our Christian standard, in the smallest particular, unswervingly. Any departure from that standard, however small or however desirable it may seem, is treason to our Christianity. We must not, in any case, take the alien yoke of an unbeliever’s scheme of life upon our necks. Interesting to us as this exhortation itself is, and important beyond expression for the guidance of our lives, it, perhaps, yields in interest to the grounding which the Apostle supplies for it in an explanation of the essential springs of a Christian’s life. This grounding he gives in a series of rhetorical questions, by means of which he sets forth the absolute contrariety of the Christian’s and the unbeliever’s points of view, sources of judgment and principles of conduct. The ordering of these questions is such that they begin by setting over against one another the obvious contradictions of righteousness and iniquity; and then proceed in a series of rapid and convincing antitheses until they end in setting the believer and the unbeliever over against one another as the embodiment respectively—at least in principle—of those contradictions, righteousness and iniquity. “What fellowship have righteousness and iniquity,” the Apostle demands in support of his exhortation not to take on themselves the alien yoke of unbelievers, “or,” he continues, “what communion has light with darkness? or what concord has Christ with Belial? or what portion has a believer with an unbeliever? or—clinching the whole matter with a reference to the source of the entire contrast—what agreement has a temple of God with idols?” The force of the appeal lies in the necessary—and inevitable—identification, as we go on through the series, of each pair with the preceding; so that with the fundamental “righteousness” is identified the light; and, of course, Christ; and because he is Christ’s, the believer, who is the temple of the living God: and with the fundamental iniquity is identified the darkness, Belial, and the unbeliever, because he is the worshipper of idols and partaker of the idolatrous point of view. The reason, then, why a Christian must not take on himself the alien yoke of unbelievers is just because it is to him alien; he is in and of himself, because a believer in Christ and, therefore, a temple of the living God, a different, a contrary, an opposite kind of being from the unbeliever; and it is, therefore, incongruous in the extreme for him to put his neck in the same yoke with an unbeliever, seek to live on the same plane, or consent to order his life or to determine questions of conduct by his standards, in any degree whatever. Now it is just in this contrast drawn by the Apostle between the believer and the unbeliever—in its firmness, its clearness, its extremity if you will—that we discern the most interesting, the most important, teaching of our passage. According to the Apostle, obviously, there are two kinds of men in the world, believers and unbelievers. And these two kinds of men stand over against one another in complete, not only contrast, but contradiction; as complete contradiction as righteousness and iniquity. There can be no compromise between them any more than between righteousness and iniquity. There may be intercourse—mutual action and reaction—but never compromise. The Apostle is far from saying, of course, that in any given individuals this fundamental contradiction is fully manifested. It finds its complete manifestation only in the abstract—in the contrariety of righteousness and iniquity; and in the full concrete manifestation of righteousness and iniquity in Christ and Belial. Between Christians and unbelievers the manifested contradiction is only relative. Compromise there ought not to be—in principle there can not be—but compromise in fact there is. Christians are not, like Christ, pure embodiments of righteousness; they require exhortation not to admit iniquity into the governing principles of their life. Alas, alas, though they are temples of the living God, they are far, far from having no commerce with idols. The Apostle recognizes all this. On his recognition of it he founds the urgent exhortation of our passage. Nevertheless he founds this exhortation also on the fact that this contradiction exists in principle—that Christians, like Christ, their Lord, are in principle righteousness, and that unbelievers are, like Belial, their lord, in principle iniquity. It is because Christians are thus in principle holy and unbelievers are thus in principle unholy that he proclaims that it is incongruous that Christians should adopt their standards of life from unbelievers, who are not merely their opposites but their contradictories; so that there can be no mean between them but every one must be one or the other. There are then, according to the Apostle, two kinds of men in the world, believers and unbelievers; and these two kinds of men stand in contradiction to each other. One may conquer and eliminate the other; but there can be no mixture between them. The ultimate source of the fundamental difference between them he finds in the indwelling in Christians of the Holy Ghost: “Or what agreement hath a temple of God with idols? For we”—emphatic here, in contrast with the unbelievers, “as for us, we are a temple of the living God.” The influx of the Holy Spirit into the heart constitutes, then, a new humanity. Over against those who have not the Spirit, and who are, therefore, as another Scripture puts it, earthly, sensual, devilish,—the children of Belial, as this Scripture suggests,—those who have the Spirit are a new creation, with new standards and new powers of life alike. There can be no compromise between such opposites. It has become customary among theologians to speak of these two kinds of men as the men of nature and the men of the palingenesis; or as it is now becoming fashionable to call them, once born and twice born men. They who are born of the flesh are fleshly; and they only who are born of the Spirit are spiritual; and to the spiritual man belong all things. The message which Paul brings to us in this passage is, then, that we who are spiritual, because we are believers in Christ Jesus, have in principle the righteousness which belongs to Him, and though it may not yet appear what we shall be, we must in all our walk comport ourselves as what we are, the temples of the living God, having the powers and potencies of a new, even a Divine, life within us. The ultimate reason why the Christian man is not to compromise with the world is, because as a Christian man, he is a new creature, born from above, with the vigour of the Divine life itself moving in him and with an entirely new life-course marked out for him. Why should—how can—such an one put his neck incongruously within the yoke of worldly policy or self-seeking, or evil-living with unbelievers; and seek to deflect his Spirit-given powers to a life on this lower plane and for these ignoble ends? O, says the Apostle, O, Christian men, this is surely impossible to you; do you not see that in the power of your new life you are to—you must—take an utterly new course, directed to a new goal, and informed with new aspirations, hopes and strivings? On the basis of this great declaration the Apostle erects, then, his exhortation. Nor is he content to leave it in a negative, or merely inferential form. In the accomplishment of the Spirit-filled life he sees the goal, and he speaks it out in a final urgency of exhortation into which he compresses the whole matter: “Having, therefore, such promises as these (note the emphasis), beloved,” he says, “let us purify ourselves from every defilement of flesh and spirit and perfect holiness in the fear of God.” It is perfection, we perceive, that the Apostle is after for his followers; and he does not hesitate to raise this standard before the eyes of his readers as their greatest incitement to effort. They must not be content with a moderate attainment in the Christian life. They must not say to themselves, O, I guess I am Christian enough, although I’m not too good to do as other men do. They must, as they have begun in the Spirit, not finish in the flesh; but must go on unto perfection. What are they to cleanse themselves from? Every defilement—every kind of defilement—not only of the flesh but of the spirit. Aiming at what? At the completion of holiness in the fear of God! The Apostle does not tell them they are already holy—except in principle. They obviously were not already holy—except in principle. They were putting their necks in the alien yoke of unbelieving judgments. They were contenting themselves with heathen standards. They were prepared to say, O, the Lord doesn’t ask all that of us; O, there is nothing wrong in this; O, I guess it will be enough if I am as good as the average man; O, you can’t expect me to live at odds with all my neighbours; O, these things are good enough for me. Such compromises with the spirit of the world are wrong; and the Apostle tells his readers plainly that they are unworthy of them as Christian men. They were, if not born to better things, yet certainly born anew to better things. Let them turn their backs on all such inconsistencies and live on their own plane of life as believers, believers in Christ, Christ the Light, Christ our Righteousness. Let them remember they are temples of the living God and have no commerce with idols. No, they were not perfect—except in principle. But in principle, they were perfect; because they had within them the principle of perfection, the Spirit of the Most High God. Let them walk in accordance with their privileges, then, on a level with their destiny. Hear God’s great promise. And having these promises, cleanse yourselves; O, cleanse yourselves, the Apostle cries; cleanse yourselves from every defilement whether of flesh or spirit, and so perfect—complete, work fully out to its end—holiness in the fear of God. Let your standard be the holiness of the indwelling Spirit whose temples you are. Let your motive be, not merely regard to the good of others, much less to your own happiness, but joy in God’s gracious promises. Let your effort be perfect sanctification of soul and body, cleansing from all defilement. Let your end be, pleasing God, the Holy One. In a word, says the Apostle in effect, here as elsewhere: O, ye Christians, work out your own salvation in fear and trembling, for it is God who is working in you the willing and the doing according to His own good pleasure. We perceive, thus, in the end that the thing Paul is zealous for is the holiness of his followers. For in their holiness he sees the substance of their salvation. We are saved by Christ and only Christ; and Christ is righteous; both for us and unto us. For it is by grace that we are saved, through faith; and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God—not out of works, lest we should boast, but unto good works, which God has afore prepared that we should walk in them. And if we walk not in them—are we, then, saved? Holiness of life is, I repeat, precisely the substance of salvation, that which we are saved to, that in which salvation consists. If then we are in Christ Jesus, shall we not live like Christ Jesus? “If we are in the Spirit, shall we not walk by the Spirit?” This is Paul’s final exhortation to us; since we are Christ’s, and the Spirit dwells in us and we are the temples of the living God, let us be careful of good works; let us, remembering the great promises He has given us, cleanse ourselves from all defilement of body and soul; and let us perfect holiness in the fear of God, so that we approve ourselves His children and He will be to us as a Father and we shall be to Him sons and daughters. THE WORLD by J. C. Ryle (1816-1900) 2 Corinthians 6:17-18 “Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. 18 “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty. 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" (1 Corinthians 9:22). (c) When Paul says, "Come out from them and be separate," he did not mean that Christians ought to take no interest in anything on earth except religion. To neglect science, art, literature, and politics--to read nothing which is not directly spiritual--to know nothing about what is going on among mankind, and never to look at a newspaper--to care nothing about the government of one's country, and to be utterly indifferent as to the persons who guides it, counsels and make its laws--all this may seem very right and proper in the eyes of some people. But I think that it is an idle, selfish neglect of duty. Paul knew the value of good government as one of the main helps to our "living peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness" (1 Timothy 2:2). Paul was not ashamed to read heathen writers, and to quote their words in his speeches and writings. Paul did not think it beneath him to show an acquaintance with the laws and customs and callings of the world, in the illustrations he gave from them. Christians who pride themselves on their ignorance of secular things are precisely the Christians who bring Christianity into contempt. I knew the case of a blacksmith who would not come to hear his clergyman preach the Gospel, until he found out that he knew the properties of iron. Then he came. (d) When Paul said, "Come out from them and be separate," he did not mean that Christians should be strange and odd in their dress, manners, demeanor, and voice. Anything which attracts notice in these matters is most objectionable, and ought to be carefully avoided. To wear clothes of such a color, or made in such a fashion, that when you go into company every eye is fixed on you, and you are the object of general observation, is an enormous mistake. It gives occasion to the wicked to ridicule Christianity, and looks self-righteous and unnatural. There is not the slightest proof that our Lord and His apostles, and Priscilla, and Persis, and their companions, did not dress and behave just like others in their own ranks of life. On the other hand, one of the many charges our Lord brings against the Pharisees was that of "making their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long," so as to be "seen by men" (Matthew 23:5). True sanctity and sanctimoniousness are entirely different things. Those who try to show their unworldliness by wearing conspicuously ugly clothes, or by speaking in a whining, snuffling voice, or by affecting an unnatural slavishness, humility, and gravity of manner, miss their mark altogether, and only give occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. (e) When Paul said, "Come out from them and be separate," he did not mean that Christians ought to retire from the company of mankind, and shut themselves up in solitude. It is one of the crying errors of the Roman Catholic Church to suppose that eminent holiness is to be attained by such practices. It is the unhappy delusion of the whole army of monks, nuns, hermits. Separation of this kind is not according to the mind of Christ. He say distinctly in His last prayer, "My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one" (John 17:15). There is not a word in Acts or the Epistles to recommend such a separation. True believers are always represented as mixing in the world, doing their duty in it, and glorifying God by patience, meekness, purity, and courage in their several positions, and not by cowardly desertion of them. Moreover, it is foolish to suppose that we can keep the world and the devil out of our hearts by going into holes and corners. True Christianity and unworldliness are best seen, not in timidly forsaking the post which God has allotted to us, but in boldly standing our ground, and showing the power of grace to overcome evil. (f) Last, but not least, when Paul said, "Come out from them and be separate," he did not mean that Christians ought to withdraw from every Church in which there are unconverted members, or to refuse to worship in company with any who are not believers, or to keep away from the Lord's table if any ungodly people go up to it. This is a very common but a grievous mistake. There is not a text in the New Testament to justify it, and it ought to be condemned as a pure invention of man. Our Lord Jesus Christ deliberately allowed Judas Iscariot to be an apostle for three years, and gave him the Lord's Supper. He has taught us, in the parable of the wheat and tares, that converted and unconverted will be together till the harvest, and cannot be divided (Matthew 13:30). In His Epistles to the Seven Churches, and in all Paul's Epistles, we often see faults and corruptions mentioned and reproved; but we are never told that they justify desertion of the assembly, or the neglect of the Lord's table. In short, we must not look for a perfect Church, a perfect congregation, and a perfect company of communicants until the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. If others are unworthy Churchgoers or unworthy partakers of the Lord's Supper, the sin is theirs and not ours: we are not their judges. But to separate ourselves from Church assemblies, and deprive ourselves of the Lord's Supper because others use them unworthily, is to take up a foolish, unreasonable, and unscriptural position. It is not the mind of Christ, and it certainly is not Paul's idea of separation from the world. I commend these six points to the calm consideration of all who wish to understand the subject of separation from the world. Far more might be said about each and every one of them than I have space to say in this paper. I have seen so many mistakes made about each one of them, and so much misery and unhappiness caused by those mistakes, that I want to put Christians on their guard. I want them not to take up positions carelessly, in the zeal of their first love, which they will afterwards be obliged to give up. I leave this part of my subject with two pieces of advice, which I offer especially to young Christians. I advise them, for one thing, if they really desire to come out from the world, to remember that the shortest path is not always the path of duty. To argue with our unconverted relatives, to "avoid" all our old friends, to withdraw entirely from mixed society, to live an exclusive life, to give up every act of courtesy and civility in order that we may devote ourselves to the direct work of Christ--all this may seem very right, and may satisfy our consciences and save us trouble. But I venture a doubt whether it is not often a selfish, lazy, self-pleasing line of conduct, and whether the true cross and true line of duty may not be to deny ourselves, and adopt a very different course of action. I advise them, for another thing, if they want to come out from the world, to watch against a sour, morose, ungenial, gloomy, unpleasant, bearish demeanor, and never to forget that there is such a thing as "winning without the Word." (1 Peter 3:1 - "Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives"). Let them strive to show unconverted people that their principles, whatever may be thought of them, make them cheerful, amiable, good-tempered, unselfish, considerate for others, and ready to take an interest in everything that is innocent and of good report. In short, let there be no needless separation between us and the world. In many things, as I will soon show, we must be separate; but let us take care that it is separation of the right sort. If the world is offended by such separation we cannot help it. But let us never give the world occasion to say that our separation is foolish, senseless, ridiculous, unreasonable, uncharitable, and unscriptural. III. In the third place, I will try to show "what true separation from the world really is." I take up this branch of my subject with a very deep sense of its difficulty. That there is a certain line of conduct which all true Christians ought to pursue with respect to "the world, and the things of the world," is very evident. The texts already quoted make that plain. The key to the solution of that question lies in the word "separation." But in what separation consists it is not easy to show. On some points it is not hard to lay down particular rules, on others it is impossible to do more than state general principles, and leave every one to apply them according to his position in life. This is what I will attempt to do. (a) First and foremost, he that desires to "come out from the world, and be separate," "must steadily and habitually refuse to be guided by the world's standard of right and wrong." The rule of the mass of mankind is to go with the stream, to do as others, to follow the fashion, to keep in with the common opinion, and to set your watch by the town clock. The true Christian will never be content with such a rule as that. He will simply ask, "What does the Scripture say? What is written in the Word of God?" He will maintain firmly that nothing can be right which God says is wrong, and that the customs and opinions of his neighbors can never make that to be an unimportant matter which God calls serious, or that to be no sin which God calls sin. He will never think lightly of such sins as drinking, swearing, gambling, lying, cheating, swindling, or dishonoring of the Lord's Day, because they are common, and many say, "Where is the harm?" That miserable argument, "Everybody thinks this way, everybody says so, everybody does it, everybody will be there," means nothing to him. Is it condemned or approved by the Bible? That is his only question. If he stands alone in the town, or congregation, he will not go against the Bible. If he has to come out from the crowd, and take a position by himself, he will not flinch from it rather than disobey the Bible. This is genuine Scriptural separation. (b) He that desires to "come out from the world and be separate," "must be very careful how he spends his leisure time." This is a point which at first sight appears of little importance. But the longer I live, the more I am persuaded that it deserves most serious attention. Honorable occupation and lawful business are a great safeguard to the soul and the time that is spent upon them is comparatively the time of our least danger. The devil finds it hard to get a hearing from a busy man. But when the days work is over and the time of leisure arrives, then comes the hour of temptation. I do not hesitate to warn every man who wants to live a Christian life to be very careful how he spends his evenings. Evening is the time when we are naturally disposed to relax after the labors of the day; and evening is the time when the Christian is too often tempted to lay aside his armor, and consequently brings trouble on his soul. "Then comes the devil," and with the devil the world. Evening is the time when the poor man is tempted to go to the bar and fall into sin. Evening is the time when the workman too often sits for hours hearing and seeing things which do him no good. Evening is the time which the higher classes choose for dancing, gambling, and the like; and consequently never get to bed till late at night. If we love our souls, and would not become worldly, let us be careful how we spend our evenings. Tell me how a man spends his evenings, and I can generally tell what his character is. The true Christian will do well to make it a settled rule never to "waste" his evenings. Whatever others may do, let him resolve always to make time for quiet, calm thought-for Bible-reading and prayer. The rule will prove a hard one to keep. It may bring on him the charge of being unsociable and overly strict. Let him not mind this. Anything of this kind is better than habitual late hours in company, hurried prayers, slovenly Bible reading, and a bad conscience. Even if he stands alone in his church or town let him not depart from his rule. He will find himself in a minority, and be thought an eccentric man. But this is genuine Scriptural separation. (c) He that desires to "come out from the world and be separate," "must steadily and habitually determine not to be swallowed up and absorbed in the business of the world." A true Christian will strive to do his duty in whatever station or position he finds himself, and to do it well. Whether statesman, or merchant, or banker, or lawyer, or doctor, or tradesman, or farmer, he will try to do his work so that no one can find occasion for fault in him. But he will not allow it to get between him and Christ. If he finds his business beginning to eat up his Sundays, his Bible-reading, his private prayer time, and to bring clouds between him and heaven, he will say, "Stand back! There is a limit. This is as far as you can go, and no further. I cannot sell my soul for position, fame, or gold." Like Daniel, he will make time for communion with God, whatever the cost may be. He will deny himself anything rather than lose his Bible-reading and his prayers. In all this he will find he stands almost alone. Many will laugh at him, and tell him they get along just fine without being so strict and particular. He will not listen. He will resolutely hold the world at arms length, whatever present loss or sacrifice it may seem to entail. He will choose rather to be less rich and prosperous in this world, than not to prosper about his soul. To stand alone in this way, to run counter to the ways of others, requires immense self-denial. But this is genuine Scriptural separation. (d) He that desires to "come out from the world and be separate" must steadily "abstain from all amusements and recreations which are inseparably connected with sin." This is a hard subject to handle, and I approach it with pain. But I do not think I would be faithful to Christ, and faithful to my office as a minister, if I did not speak very plainly about it, in considering such a matter as separation from the world. Let me, then, say honestly, that I cannot understand how any one who makes any pretense to real vital Christianity can allow himself to attend horse races and theaters. Conscience no doubt is a strange thing, and every man must judge for himself and use his liberty. One man sees no harm in things which another regards with abhorrence as evil. I can only give my own opinion for what it is worth, and entreat my readers to consider seriously what I say. That to look at horses running at full speed is in itself perfectly harmless, no sensible man will pretend to deny. That many plays, such as Shakespeare's, are among the finest productions of the human intellect, is equally undeniable. But all this is beside the question. The question is whether horse racing and theaters, as they are conducted, are downright wicked. I assert without hesitation that they are. I assert that the breach of God's commandments so invariably accompanies the race and the play, that you cannot go to the amusement without helping sin. I entreat all professing Christians to remember this, and to take heed what they do. I warn them plainly that they have no right to shut their eyes to facts which every intelligent person knows, for the mere pleasure of seeing a horse-race, or listening to good actors or actresses. I warn them that they must not talk of separation from the world, if they can lend their sanction to amusements which are invariably connected with gambling, betting, drunkenness, and fornication. These are the things "God will judge," and which "result in death!" (Hebrews 13:4; Romans 6:21). These are hard words! But are they not true? It may seem to your relatives and friends very strait-laced, strict, and narrow, if you tell them you cannot go to the races or the theater [movies] with them. But we must fall back on first principles. Is the world a danger to the soul, or is it not? Are we to come out from the world, or are we not? These are questions which can only be answered in one way. If we love our souls we must have nothing to do with amusements which are bound up with sin. Nothing short of this can be called genuine Scriptural separation from the world. I would like to note here that thoughtful and intelligent readers will probably observe that, under the head of worldly amusements, I have said nothing about dancing and card-playing. They are delicate and difficult subjects, but I am quite willing to give my opinion, and the more so because I do not speak of them without experience in the days of my youth. 1. Concerning "dancing" (or going to Balls), I only ask Christians to judge the amusement by its tendencies and accomplishments. To say there is anything morally wrong in the mere bodily act of dancing would be absurd. David danced before the ark. Solomon said, "There is a time to dance" (Ecclesiastes 3:4). Just as it is natural to lambs and kittens to frisk about, so it seems natural to young people, all over the world, to jump about to a lively tune of music. If dancing were taken up for mere exercise, if dancing took place at early hours, and men only danced with men, and women with women, it would be needless and absurd to object to it. But everybody knows that this is not what is meant by modern dancing (going to Balls and dances). This is an amusement which involves very late hours, extravagant dressing, and an immense amount of frivolity, vanity, jealousy, unhealthy excitement, and vain conversation. Who would like to be found in a modern dance-hall when the Lord Jesus Christ comes the second time? Who that has taken much part in balls and dancing, as I myself once did before I knew better, can deny that they have a most dissipating effect on the mind, like using drugs and the drinking of alcoholic beverages does on the body? I cannot withhold my opinion that dancing and the going to balls is one of those worldly amusements which "war against the soul," and which it is wisest and best to give up. And as for those parents who urge their sons and daughters, against their wills and inclinations, to go to balls and dances, I can only say that they are taking on themselves a most dangerous responsibility, and risking great injury to their children's souls. 2. Concerning card-playing and gambling, my judgment is much the same. I ask Christian people to judge it by its tendencies and consequences. Of course it would be nonsense to say there is positive wickedness in an innocent game of cards, for diversion, and not for money. I have known instances of old people of lethargic and infirm habit of body, unable to work or read, to whom cards in an evening were really useful, to keep them from drowsiness, and preserve their health. But it is vain to shut our eyes from facts. If parents once begin to play cards in the living room, children are likely to play cards in their rooms; and then comes in a whole train of evils. Moreover, from simple card-playing to desperate gambling there is but a chain of steps. If parents teach young people that there is no harm in the first step, they must never be surprised if they go on to the last. I give this opinion with much diffidence. I lay no claim to infallibility. Let every one be persuaded in his own mind. But, considering all things, it is my deliberate judgment that the Christian who wishes to keep his soul right, and to "come out from the world," will do wisely to have nothing to do with card-playing. It is a habit which seems to grow on some people so much that it becomes at last a necessity, and they cannot live without it. "Madam," said Romaine to an old lady, who declared she could not make it without her cards--"Madam, if this is the case, cards are your god, and your god is a very poor one." Surely in doubtful matters like these it is well to give our souls the benefit of the doubt, and to refrain. 3. Concerning "Sports," I admit that it is not easy to lay down a strict rule. I cannot go the length of some, and say that galloping across the country, or shooting grouse, partridges, or pheasants, or catching salmon or trout, are in themselves positively sinful occupations and distinct marks of an unconverted heart. There are many persons, I know, to whom violent outdoor exercise and complete diversion of mind are absolute necessities, for the preservation of their bodily and mental health. But in all these matters the chief question is one of degree. Much depends on the company men are thrown into, and the extent to which the thing is carried. The great danger lies in excess. It is possible to be "excessive" about hunting and as well as about drinking. We are commanded in Scripture to be "moderate in all things," if we would be successful in the Christian life; and those who are addicted to sports should not forget this rule. The question, however, is one about which Christians must be careful in expressing an opinion, and moderate in their judgments. The man who can neither ride, nor shoot, nor throw a fly, is hardly qualified to speak dispassionately about such matters. It is cheap and easy work to condemn others for doing things which you cannot do your self, and are utterly unable to enjoy! One thing only is perfectly certain-all overindulgence or excess is sin. The man who is wholly absorbed in sports, and spends all his years in such a manner that he seems to think God only created him to be a "hunting, shooting, and fishing animal," is a man who at present knows very little of Scriptural Christianity. It is written, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:21). (e) He that desires to "come out from them and be separate," must be "moderate in the use of lawful and innocent recreations." No sensible Christian will ever think of condemning all recreations. In a world of work and stress like the one that we live in, occasional relaxation is good for everyone. Body and mind alike require seasons of lighter occupation, and opportunities of letting off high spirits, and especially when they are young. Exercise itself is a positive necessity for the preservation of mental and bodily health. I see no harm in field sports, rowing, running, and other athletic recreations. I find no fault with those who play chess and other such games of skill. We are all fearfully and wonderfully made. No wonder the poet says, "Strange that a harp of thousand strings Should keep in tune so long!" Anything which strengthens nerves, and brain, and digestion, and lungs, and muscles, and makes us more fit for Christ's work, so long as it is not in itself sinful, is a blessing, and ought to be thankfully used. Anything which will occasionally divert our thoughts from their usual grinding path, in a healthy manner, is a good and not an evil. But it is the excess of these innocent things which a true Christian must watch against, if he wants to be separate from the world. He must not devote his whole heart, and soul, and mind, and strength, and time to them, as many do, if he wishes to serve Christ. There are hundreds of lawful things which are good in moderation, but bad when taken in excess. Healthful medicine taken in small quantities is good, but downright poison when swallowed down in huge doses. In nothing is this so true as it is in the matter of recreations. The use of them is one thing, and the abuse of them is another. The Christian who uses them must know when to stop, and how to say "Enough!" Do they interfere with his private religion? Do they take up too much of his thoughts and attention? Have they a secularizing effect on his soul? Have they a tendency to pull him down to earth? Then let him be very careful. All this will require courage, self-denial, and firmness. It is a line of conduct which will often bring on us the ridicule and contempt of those who know not what moderation is, and who spend their lives in making trifles serious things and serious things trifles. But if we mean to come out from the world we must not mind this. We must be "temperate" even in lawful things, whatever others may think of us. This is genuine Scriptural separation. (f) Last, but not least, he that desires to "come out from them and be separate" must be "careful in friendships, intimacies, and close relationships with worldly people." We cannot help meeting many unconverted people as long as we live. We cannot avoid having association with them, and doing business with them, unless we "leave this world" (1 Corinthians 5:10). To treat them with the utmost courtesy, kindness, and charity, whenever we do meet them, is a positive duty. But acquaintance is one thing, and intimate friendship is quite another. To seek their society without cause, to choose their company, to cultivate intimacy with them, is very dangerous to the soul. Human nature is so constituted that we cannot associate with other people without it having an effect on our own character. The old proverb will never fail to prove true: "Tell me with whom a man chooses to live, and I will tell you what he is." The Scripture says expressly, "He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm" (Proverbs 13:20). If then a Christian who desires to live consistently, chooses for his friends those who either do not care for their souls, or the Bible, or God, or Christ, or holiness, or regard them as of secondary importance, it seems to me impossible for him to prosper in his Christianity. He will soon find that their ways are not his ways, nor their thoughts his thoughts, nor their tastes his tastes; and that, unless they change, he must give up intimacy with them. In short, there must be separation. Of course such separation will be painful. But if we have to choose between the loss of a friend and the injury of our souls, there ought to be no doubt in our minds. If friends will not walk in the narrow way with us, we must not walk in the broad way to please them. But let us distinctly understand that to attempt to keep up close intimacy between a converted and an unconverted person, if both are consistent with their natures, is to attempt an impossibility. The principle here laid down ought to be carefully remembered by all unmarried Christians in the choice of a husband or wife. I fear it is too often entirely forgotten. Too many seem to think of everything except religion in choosing a partner for life, or to suppose that it will come somehow as a matter of course. Yet when a praying, Bible-reading, God-fearing, Christ-loving, Church-honoring Christian marries a person who takes no interest whatever in serious Christianity, what can the result be but injury to the Christian, or immense unhappiness? Health is not infectious, but disease is! As a general rule, in such cases, the good go down to the level of the bad, and the bad do not come up to the level of the good. The subject is a delicate one, and I do not care to dwell upon it. But this I say confidently to every unmarried Christian man or woman-if you love your soul, if you do not want to fall away and backslide, if you do not want to destroy your own peace and comfort for life, resolve never to marry any person who is not a true and devoted Christian, whatever the resolution may cost you. It would be better for you to die than to marry an unbeliever. Hold on to this resolution, and let no one ever persuade you out of it. Depart from this resolution, and you will find it almost impossible to "come out and be separate." You will find you have tied a mill-stone around your own neck in running the race towards heaven; and, if saved at last, it will be "as one escaping through the flames" (1 Corinthians 3:15). I offer these six general hints to all who wish to follow Paul's advice, and to come out from the world and be separate. In giving them, I lay no claim to infallibility; but I believe they deserve consideration and attention. I do not forget that the subject is full of difficulties, and that scores of doubtful cases are continually arising in a Christian's course, in which it is very hard to say what is the path of duty, and how to behave. Perhaps the following bits of advice may be found useful. 1. In all doubtful cases we should first pray for wisdom and sound judgment. If prayer is worth anything, it must be especially valuable when we desire to do right, but do not see our way. 2. In all doubtful cases let us often judge ourselves by remembering that God has His eye on us. Should I go to such and such a place, or do such and such a thing, if I really believed God was looking at me? 3. In all doubtful cases let us never forget the Second Coming of Christ and the day of judgment. Should I like to be found in such and such company, or employed in such and such ways? 4. Finally, in all doubtful cases let us find out what the conduct of the holiest and best Christians has been under similar circumstances. If we do not clearly see our own way, we need not be ashamed to follow good examples. I throw out these suggestions for the use of all who are in difficulties about disputable points in the matter of separation from the world. I cannot help thinking that they may help to untie many knots, and solve many problems. IV. I shall now conclude the whole subject by trying to "show the secrets of real victory over the world." To come out from the world of course is not an easy thing. It cannot be easy so long as human nature is what it is, and a busy devil is always near us. It requires a constant struggle and exertion; it entails incessant conflict and self-denial. It often places us in exact opposition to members of our own families, to relatives and neighbors, it sometimes obliges us to do things which give great offense, and bring on us ridicule and petty persecution. It is precisely this which makes many hang back and shrink from resolute Christianity. They know they are not right; they know that they are not so "thorough" in Christ's service as they ought to be, and they feel uncomfortable and ill at ease. But the fear of man keeps them back. And so they linger on through life with aching, dissatisfied hearts-with too much religion to be happy in the world, and too much of the world to be happy in their religion. I fear this is a very common case, if the truth were known. Yet there are some in every age who seem to get the victory over the world. They come out decidedly from its ways, and are unmistakably separate. They are independent of its opinions, and unshaken by its opposition. They move on like planets in an orbit of their own, and seem to rise equally above the world's smiles and frowns. And what are the secrets of their victory? I will set them down. (a) The first secret of victory over the world is a right heart. By that I mean a heart renewed, changed and sanctified by the Holy Spirit--a heart in which Christ dwells, a heart in which old things have passed away, and all things become new. The grand mark of such a heart is the bias of its tastes and affections. The owner of such a heart no longer likes the world and the things of the world, and therefore finds it no trial or sacrifice to give them up. He no longer has any appetite for the company, the conversation, the amusements, the occupations, the books which he once loved, and to "come out" from them seems natural to him. Great indeed is the explosive power of a new principle! Just as the new spring-buds in a hedge push off the old leaves and make them quietly fall to the ground, so does the new heart of a believer invariably affect his tastes and likes, and make him drop many things which he once loved and lived in because he now likes them no more. Let him that wants to "come out from the world and be separate," make sure first and foremost that he has got a new heart. If the heart is really right, everything else will be right in time. "If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light" (Matthew 6:22). If the affections are not right there never will be right action. (b) The second secret of victory over the world is a "lively practical faith" in unseen things. What does the Scripture say? "This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:4). To attain and keep up the habit of looking steadily at invisible things, as if they were visible-to set before our minds every day, as grand realities, our souls, God, Christ, heaven, hell, judgment, eternity, to cherish an abiding conviction that what we do not see is just as real as what we do see, and ten thousand times more important--this, this is one way to be conquerors over the world. This was the faith which made the noble army of saints, described in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, obtain such a glorious testimony from the Holy Spirit. They all acted under a firm persuasion that they had a real God, a real Savior, and a real home in heaven, though unseen by mortal eyes. Armed with this faith, a man regards this world as a shadow compared to the world to come, and cares little for its praise or blame, its hatred or its rewards. Let him that wants to come out from the world and be separate, but shrinks and hangs back for fear of the things seen, pray and strive to have this faith. "Everything is possible for him who believes" (Mark 9:23). Like Moses, he will find it possible to forsake Egypt, seeing Him that is invisible. Like Moses, he will not care what he loses and who is displeased, because he sees afar off, like one looking through a telescope, a substantial recompense of reward. (Hebrews 11:26) (c) The third and last secret of victory over the world is to attain and cultivate the "habit of boldly confessing Christ" on all proper occasions. In saying this I don't want to be misunderstood. I want no one to blow a trumpet before him, and thrust his Christianity on others all the time. But I do wish to encourage all who strive to come out from the world to show their colors, and to act and speak out like men who are not ashamed to serve Christ. A steady, quiet assertion of our own principles, as Christians--an habitual readiness to let the children of the world see that we are guided by other rules than they are, and do not mean to swerve from them--a calm, firm, courteous maintenance of our own standard of things in every company-all this will insensibly form a habit within us, and make it comparatively easy to be a separate man. It will be hard at first, no doubt, and cost us many a struggle; but the longer we go on, the easier will it be. Repeated acts of confessing Christ will produce habits. Habits once formed will produce a settled character. Once our characters are known, we shall be saved a lot of trouble. Men will know what to expect from us, and will count it no strange thing if they see us living the lives of separate peculiar people. It is a great thing to be able to say "No" decidedly, but courteously, when asked to do anything which conscience says is wrong. He that shows his colors boldly from the first, and is never ashamed to let men see "whose he is and whom he serves," will soon find that he has overcome the world and will be let alone. Bold confession is a long step towards victory, It only remains for me now to conclude the whole subject with a few short words of application. The danger of the world ruining the soul, the nature of true separation from the world, the secrets of victory over the world, are all before the reader of this paper. I now ask him to give me his attention for the last time, while I try to say something directly for his personal benefit. (1) My first word shall be "a question." Are you overcoming the world, or are you overcome by it? Do you know what it is to come out from the world and be separate or are you still entangled by it, and conformed to it? If you have any desire to be saved, I entreat you to answer this question. If you know nothing of "separation" I warn you affectionately that your soul is in great danger. The world passes away; and they who cling to the world, and think only of the world, will pass away with it to everlasting ruin. Wake up and see your peril before it is too late. Awake and flee from the wrath to come. The time is short. The end of all things is at hand. The shadows are lengthening. The sun is going down. The night comes when no man can work. The great white throne will soon be set. The judgment will begin. The books will be opened. Awake, and come out from the world while it is called today. Yet a little while, and there will be no more worldly occupations and worldly amusements-no more getting money and spending money-no more eating, and drinking, and feasting, and dressing, and dancing, and theaters, and races, and cards, and gambling. What will you do when all these things have passed away forever? How can you possibly be happy in an eternal heaven, where holiness is all in all, and worldliness has no place? Oh consider these things, and be wise! Awake, and break the chains which the world has thrown around you. Awake, and flee from the wrath to come. (2) My second word shall be a "counsel." If you want to come out from the world, but don't know what to do, take the advice which I give you this day. Begin by applying direct, as a penitent sinner, to our Lord Jesus Christ, and put your case in His hands. Pour out your heart before Him. Tell Him your whole story, and keep nothing back. Tell Him that you are a sinner wanting to be saved from the world, the flesh, and the devil, and beg Him to save you. That blessed Savior "who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age" (Galatians 1:4). He knows what the world is, for He lived in it thirty-three years. He knows what the difficulties of a man are, for He was made man for our sakes, and dwelt among men. High in heaven, at the right hand of God, He is able to save to the uttermost all who come to God by Him-able to keep us from the evil of the world while we are still living in it-able to give us power to become the sons of God-able to keep us from falling-able to make us more than conquerors. Once more I say, "Go direct to Christ with the prayer of faith, and put yourself wholly and unreservedly in His hands." Hard as it may seem to you now to come out from the world and be separate, you shall find that with Jesus nothing is impossible. You, even you, shall overcome the world. (3) My third and last word shall be "encouragement." If you have learned by experience what it is to come out from the world, I can only say to you, take comfort, and persevere. You are in the right road; you have no cause to be afraid. The everlasting hills are in sight. Your salvation is nearer than when you believed. Take comfort and press on. No doubt you have had many a battle, and made many a false step. You have sometimes felt ready to faint, and been half disposed to go back to Egypt. But your Master has never entirely left you, and He will never suffer you to be tempted above that you are able to bear. Then persevere steadily in your separation from the world, and never be ashamed of standing alone. Settle it firmly in your mind that the most dedicated Christians are always the happiest, and remember that no one ever said at the end of his course that he had been too holy, and lived too near to God. Hear, last of all, what is written in the Scriptures of truth: "Whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God" (Luke 12:8). "No one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields--and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life" (Mark 10:29-30). "Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, 'He who is coming will come and will not delay'" (Hebrews 10:35-37). Those words were written and spoken for our sakes. Let us lay hold of them, and never forget them. Let us persevere to the end, and never be ashamed of coming out from the world, and being separate. We may be sure it brings its own reward.