SEPARATION

"Wherefore come ye out from among them, and be ye separate,

saith the Lord, and
touch no unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be to you a
father, and ye
shall be to me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." 2
Corinthians
6:17-18 RV.

INTRODUCTION. -- In this text we have a very precious promise,

but also a
very plain and explicit commandment.
All of Israel's ills in the Old Testament arose from the fact that
they did not heed
Jehovah's call to separation. Psalm 116:34-36, 39-42. The
believer's failure to heed
God's call to separation is the cause of the powerlessness and
lack of blessing in
the individual and the church.

I. First of all it is clear that we must separate ourselves

from every form of sin.
Ch. 7:1.

II. In the next place there should be separation from the

methods and
practices and fashions of the world. Romans 12:1-2.
A Christian is a citizen of another world, and has no right to take
his pattern from
this. (Philippians 3:20 RV.)

III. There should be separation from worldly affiliations.

This comes out clearly in the words which precede our text. Vs.14-
16. The child of
God has no right to enter into any partnership with the unsaved. A
woman who is a
believer, i.e., who has a saving faith in Jesus Christ, has no right
to enter into a
matrimonial yoke with an unbeliever, i.e., one who has not a
saving faith in Jesus
Christ. Nehemiah 13:26.
A Christian has no right to be yoked together in business
partnership with an
unsaved man.

IV. There should be separation from everything that

entangleth. 2_Timothy
2:4.

V. There should be separation from professed Christians

who are living in
known sin. 1_Corinthians 5:11.

VI. There should be separation from professed Christians

who walk
disorderly, i.e., who refuse to obey the teachings of the
Word. 2 Timothy
3:6,14.
This does not mean that there should be separation from a
brother who is merely
{weak} in the faith.
VII. The Commandment is not, "come out from the
church."
It was coming out from unbelievers and idolaters that Paul was
talking about. Read
vs. 14:18. Nothing was further from Paul's thought than telling
people to come out
of the church. True separation is not merely separation from but
separation to. Our
separation is from all uncleanness UNTO CHRIST.

VIII. True separation will not only be a separation unto

Christ but also a
separation unto all those who belong to Christ.