IT IS doubtful if there ever was a time when the note of Separation needed
to be sounded more than today. The world has become so churchy and the
Church so worldly that it is hard to distinguish the one from the other. The line of
demarcation has been so completely broken down that churches, where revivals
once flourished, whose spiritual life was at one time deep and strong, are today mere
social centres over which God has long ago written the word "Ichabod "-- "The
glory has departed."

People seem to have the idea that we must mingle with the world and become
like it in order to win souls and influence lives for God. Yet when a man falls into
a deep well no one ever dreams of jumping down alongside of him in order to get
him out. Instead he stays away up at the top and from there lets down a ladder or
rope and thus lifts him up.
Ah, no 1 The men who have won souls and influenced other lives for God have
been the men who have walked with God far above the masses, and thus from an
altitude of spirituality have drawn others up to their level. The only way to win
others is to be different ourselves and thus attract by something they lack, and by
prevailing with God prevail with men.
Had Abraham gone to live with Lot in Sodom his influence would have availed
but little. It was when he separated himself and stood afar off on the highlands of
faith with God that his intercessions secured Lot's deliverance. Let us be separate.
We must dwell apart with God.

Then I want to say that the world expects the Christian to be different. It has
its own standard of what a saint should be. And even when it succeeds in drawing
us down to its level it but mocks and laughs at our plight. No longer does it respect
us nor reverence our position. We are then no better than others.

A young woman who saw no harm in dancing decided to do some personal
work during the dance, and while gliding over the floor with her companion, she
suddenly turned and asked him if he was a Christian.
"A Christian! No! Why, are you?" he exclaimed in amazement.
"Yes," replied the young woman. "I'm a Christian." "Well, then, for God's sake,
why are you here?" was the unexpected response.
Ah yes, the world expects the Christian to be different. Otherwise how will anyone know which is which? If there is no line of demarcation how will people
know which side we are on? If we dress and act like the world how can anyone tell
whether we are Christians or not? There must be a difference.

Now, separation has always been God's standard. Abraham had to leave his
country, and his father's home, and in complete separation go he knew not whither.
Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer
affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
esteeming the reproach of God greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. So also
with the Israelites. They were a peculiar people, entirely separated from the nations
around about them, representing God. In Ezra 9 and io and Nehemiah 13, when
the line of separation had been broken down by mixed marriages there was no
leniency shown. Heathen wives must be put away and separation of the severest
character again instituted.

Yes, and separation is still the call of God. "Come out from among them, and
be ye separate, saith the Lord," and, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with
unbelievers" (2 Cor. 6: I4-18). The world must be forsaken and separation
maintained.

Let us remember our character. According to God's Word we are "pilgrims and
strangers," "sojourners," a heavenly people in a foreign country. This is not our
home.

I'm but a Pilgrim here,
A stranger from afar;
And to my distant home
With many a battle scar,
My Lord will bear me safe at last
When Pilgrim days on earth are Past.

Enmity and hatred is the attitude of the world toward the true child of God. "If
ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the
world, therefore the world hateth you" (John 15: iq). What about it? Does the world
hate you? If you are not of it, if you do not belong to it, and if you make it clear that
you are a pilgrim and a stranger, then you will very quickly discover that the world
hates you. You see it depends on the attitude you take toward it.

Now, the evidence of the separated life lies in the attitude of the heart, not the
actions, towards the world. "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the
world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him (i John 2: I5).

Hence, it is not necessary to actually take part in the things of the world. The real
question is: Do you want to? Is there a desire?

Does the world appeal and allure? If
so, then there is no heart separation after all.
Listen again: "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship
of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world
is the enemy of God"(Jas. 4 : 4).Pretty plain language!Talk about a "worldly
Christian"!God declares that the world's friend is His enemy. The one who loves the world does not love God. What then is my heart attitude? That is the important
question, Do I love the world or do I love God? Am I the world's friend or God's
friend? Would the word "adulterer" or "adulteress" be applicable to me? What is the
real attitude of my heart toward the world? Not my actions but my thoughts, my
likes and dislikes.