Shawn Snobelen - Be Not Ashamed - Class 5 - Being Seperate

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:03

   This is Watch Anne Lake Bible School 2024. This is our third class this morning from our brother Sean Snowblood. His theme for this week is Being Not Ashamed and this is his fifth class titled Being Separate Brother Sean. Well, thanks for the Toby. Welcome to Class 5 being separate, you know, the Apostle Paul and our theme, you know, chapter for this week opens the letter of the Romans with a very powerful admission.

2. 0:46

   And let’s just turn back to that. We’ve looked at it before in earlier classes. Let’s look back at Romans chapter 1 just to set the. Stage as to why we’re talking about this particular subject and the apostle Paul of course says in Romans one verse 1, he says Paul a servant of Christ Jesus called to me an apostle set apart for the gospel of God separated for the gospel of God and the Greek meaning there of the word separate or set apart depending on your version. It means to be marked off for a purpose, marked off for a specific purpose.

3. 1:24

   The apostle Paul knew exactly what that purpose was. The apostle Paul was not ashamed to call himself a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ and Paul was not ashamed of his purpose to preach the gospel of God. And I wonder, brothers and sisters, and I asked this this question of myself as well.

4. 1:45

   Have we ever introduced ourselves to somebody that we have just? Met in this manner, in person, on social media, in any way that we communicate with somebody that we’ve just met, that we might. Say to this new person when they say, hey, and you know, who are you? And you say, well, I’m a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. I’ve been called to be an ambassador. I’ve been separated from this world to preach the gospel of God.

5. 2:18

   The apostle Paul is very specific, and yes, he’s writing a letter to believers, but this letter is to be read by whoever reads the word of God, including us. You know, I remember brother Bob Lloyd and. It’s amazing some of the things that he said and did in his classes, you just literally never forget and if you remember seeing this one, he had AT shirt imprinted with this with a huge bunch of letters across and. He opened up his dress shirt in the middle of the talk and he said, well, this is, this is what I say sometimes the people I just met.

6. 2:53

   I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ returned to this earth to set up his Father’s Kingdom. What do you believe? Anybody remember that? No, Two people, two people. And then he said you wouldn’t believe what kind of conversations that starts, what kind of spiritual precedent you set when God goes before you, when the image in which we’ve been created is what people see first.

7. 3:31

   Do we know what we’ve been called to do? We really understand what our mission is as servants of Christ, that we too are called to be apostles, ambassadors of the good news. That in fact we have been called out and separated and marked out for a purpose and seen as we know. That are we being separate 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 it’s the it’s a title verse on this slide. And it’s it’s a verse that we quote often in in exhortation and in Bible class and in public lectures at Bible schools. And the apostle Paul says, and again, this is another one of those powerful statements that that really motivates me and just centers me on the truth.

8. 4:24

   And he says, come out from among them and be ye separate, says the Lord, And I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters. That’s a very powerful message. But we have to look at what precedes this particular statement. Paul gives us a preamble of the things that we need to separate from.

9. 4:46

   Look what he says just a couple of verses before that. Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers? For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? What communion hath light with darkness? What concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part has he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God, as God has said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

10. 5:16

    And so, just as Paul reminds us. In the 1st chapter of Romans. This is what’s at stake here, brethren and sisters. That this is a world that’s filled with all of those things with those that do not believe, with those who unrighteous who are those who are filled with darkness and Belial just means anything that’s worthless and an infidel.

11. 5:33

    That’s that’s the opposite of faith. If faith is the term in the New Testament as pissed offs. This is a pistas. This is to be faithless completely the opposite of someone who is of faith. And this is a world that is filled with idols and idolatry. And therefore the apostle Paul says, wherefore come among, out from, among all of these. Things and be separate, says the Lord. And touch not the unclean thing.

12. 5:58

    And then the part that I purposely skipped was the ESV says And then I will receive you and I will be a father to you and you will be my sons and daughters set the Lord God Almighty. This is what it means to be separate is to identify the things in the world that we need to separate from and then actually do it.

13. 6:21

    And the word there for for separate in the Greek this word afrizo. It implies a very clear and deliberate action of setting oneself apart from the influences and behaviors and relationships or anything that is considered impure or incompatible with God’s truth. You know we like to use the word intentional, right? It’s a. Popular new word, you’ve got to be intentional in the things you do.

14. 6:47

    Well, really that’s what this word means. We have to be intentional in the things that we do and, and, and, and the places that we go and the things that we say. Intentional in keeping in line with the word of God and to be separate. Well, it’s actually the very first principle that I believe God gave us.

15. 7:10

    Turn it to Genesis chapter 1. As if this wasn’t important enough, that in the very beginning, when the Lord God Almighty was creating the universe, the heavens and the earth and everything all around us, he implants the very first principle. That, that, that’s to me how important this is. The very first act of our Father in heaven was to create light. His very second act, rather than sisters, was to separate the light from the darkness.

16. 7:51

    Now we look at verse 4 of Genesis chapter 1. Now what does light mean in the Old Testament? Hebrew. It just means light, luminosity. It’s it’s like God gave us a word that has its own definition, its own spiritual definition. It just means light and the Hebrew word for divided there it’s two different Hebrew words together.

17. 8:13

    The first word, Badal, means to separate, and we follow that word through the Old Testament. It’s a very specific word. It means to sever off. It’s used in relation to the sacrifices. When the sword was used to cleave it asunder, same word. It was used in the severing off of the clean and unclean animals, same word.

18. 8:30

    It was used in the separation of the Levites from among the people to be holy, same word. And the second part of that word, the Hebrew word for being separate, is this word bane. And it means to make a distinction between, to separate from and then make a distinction between to establish a boundary, to set something back, to create some space.

19. 8:56

    And this word is used a lot in the Old Testament, actually in reference to the covenant, the covenant that God made between Abraham and himself. Was a distinct covenant. The covenant that God made between himself and Israel was made in a distinct way same word that they might be separate from the world and. We had a bit of fun with this with the teen class. The word, the word there for, for, for darkness. It’s different from light, Light. This means light.

20. 9:27

    Darkness here means a lot of things. It’s translated in many different ways. It’s translated as evil, misery, destruction. And the root word for that Shay shack for darkness in the Old Testament, used right there in Genesis 1, it literally means to withhold the light, to withhold the light. Like in the plagues of Egypt when the locusts covered the land and they and it brought darkness.

21. 9:54

    The word is used there as well. And it meant that. They withheld the light. They literally blocked out the light, so dark was the blackness of it. And so I believe this is part of the thought that the apostle Paul is trying to convey to us in Romans chapter 1 and 8. For the 1 and 18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and all unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. They withhold the light.

22. 10:24

    And God is angry with those who are taking the principle of light and the principle of separation of darkness from light, and they’re flipping it on its head. And darkness has become the light, and evil has become the good. And it’s because of these evil deeds, the darkness. That they have obscuring the light of truth that God is so angry and while the locusts in their swarming were unwitting in their natural state and blocking out the light. Humanity is not.

23. 10:54

    And so from the very beginning, brethren, is this, there’s this principle exists in the middle of God’s creation of everything. He reminds us of this very great principle. And sadly, human nature’s been battling this ever since. How much effort do we make, brethren and sisters, every day to sever off the things of the world and make a distinction between us and them? Well, we need to be separated from this darkness, and we know this.

24. 11:29

    First Peter chapter 2 and 9 says But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may. Declare the put the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. The apostle Peter picks this exact same theme up, that we need to sever off the darkness from our world. This is this is Our Calling.

25. 11:48

    This is what we’ve been separated for, to be God’s special possession. And the apostle Paul in his letter to the Colossians, I think goes even one step further where he says, and I just added in parentheses the meaning in the Greek of those words because I think it’s a little more powerful. It’s like God himself is participating or willing to participate in our own separation from the world. He has delivered us.

26. 12:13

    He has rescued us from the influence of darkness. And carried us to his Kingdom by his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption and forgiveness of sins. This is an incredible gift that God has given us that he might even participate in our separation. He might even help us in that journey. God himself through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ carries us into the light. He’s delivered us.

27. 12:39

    He’s rescued us from this. We have therefore, brother and sisters, no excuse. But the lure of human nature is very powerful, and I want you to turn it to Galatians chapter 6, because our desire to please our human nature is very, very strong. And in this act of separation, the reason why God doesn’t say just stand back or just hold off, He makes such dramatic and specific terminology is because we like to mix things up. It’s like if, if God gives us a principle of light and darkness, the first thing we do is try to find the Gray area in between. Let’s see how I can figure this out. Let’s see if I can marry these two things together. The apostle Paul makes a different powerful statement in, in Galatians chapter 6 and one.

28. 13:26

    And the powerful statement that I love that he makes is he says, do I seek the approval of man or of God? And let’s just, let’s just listen to what he’s saying here. It’s very, very deliberate. Question, but here’s his lead up Galatians chapter 1 starting at verse one. This is from the ESV Paul an apostle, not from men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead and of the brethren who are with me to the ecclesias of Galatia, grace to you, and peace from God our Father in the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us. From this present evil aid.

29. 14:01

    So there’s the principle of separation that the Apostle Paul is bringing in. According to the will of God, of our God and Father, to whom the be glory forever and ever, Amen. So here’s here’s the gospel that Paul is speaking to us about that is not from men. It is from God. And so he’s making that very clear at the outset.

30. 14:21

    That was delivered to Paul by the Lord Jesus Christ himself through the inspiration of God. It’s a divine gospel, brethren and sisters. And the Word of God that we have conveniently bound up in print for us or electronically on our computers is a living miracle. And Paul says in the next few verses, verse 6, he says that it is.

31. 14:46

    Designed to deliver us from our sins. To. Deliver us from this present evil age and what? What sins and darkness surely were enduring in this present evil, evil age, brothers and sisters. And he goes on to say, he says, I’m astonished that you’re so quickly deserting him that called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel, not that there is another one.

32. 15:14

    The Apostle Paul says now what was? This different gospel that the apostle Paul was talking about, what was it was a different gospel because it had been distorted. He says in verse 7 that there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. And so he says then in verse 10, this powerful statement, he says, so therefore, am I seeking the approval of man or of God? Am I trying to please people?

33. 15:39

    If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave to Christ, the apostle Paul says. And interestingly, this word for please in the Greek, this word aresco in verse 10, it literally means to accommodate oneself to the opinions and the desires and the interests of others. Now that that’s not human nature, I don’t know what it is.

34. 16:00

    If that’s not humanism around us, I don’t know what other definition is that in the ecclesia of God with the gospel of life before us, that we might distort the truth in order to accommodate oneself to the opinions and the desires and the interests of others. You think, well, what’s what’s going on here? Well, in the context of of Galatians as a letter as a whole, of course there were false teachers that were trying to distort the truth they were bringing in, bringing back the baser elements of the law.

35. 16:38

    Right. Circumcision was one of those things and, and, and, and we’re not going to go through all those details in relation to what Paul was talking about specifically to the Galatians, but turn to chapter 6 because. I I think for us in this subject of separation is to understand why it was done turn to Galatians chapter 6.

36. 16:58

    There’s a few reasons why these false teachers were distorting the truth, and this is this is really, I think, key for us to understand in light of. Of what we just said about trying to accommodate the desires of others. So he says in Galatians chapter 6 and verse 11 he says see with what large letters I’m writing to you with my own hand.

37. 17:17

    It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who wood forest you to be circumcised and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. It might seem at first an odd thing what what Paul is saying that that the reason why these false teachers were trying to distort the truth was to make a good, good showing in the flesh.

38. 17:41

    And so if you look at it at the translation, the literal translation, it basically says for those who want to look good with external. Matters like, hey, I’m right and I want other people to think so or to try to make compliance with the philosophies of the world, right? To make a good showing in the flesh.

39. 18:06

    And that word for flesh there just means human nature. That that human nature has come into the ecclesial model and they’re trying to make a good showing for it. They’re trying to trying to adapt, trying to have one foot in both the world of God and the, and the world itself. And then he says that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. Well, in those days there was direct persecution from the Jewish authorities.

40. 18:26

    And so by bringing back in the base or elements of the law and circumcision, different things, they, the Jewish authorities, would back off on the persecution of the ecclesia.

41. 18:39

    And then he says in Galatians chapter 3 and 1, he says, oh, foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that the Lord Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed and crucified. Let me ask you only this.

42. 18:55

    So remember, we’re following the path of humanism here. Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? He says, having begun by the Spirit, are you now to be perfected? By the flesh, the net Bible says, are you, are you so foolish, Galatians?

43. 19:21

    Although you began with the Spirit, are you now trying to finish your course through human effort? And that word again, there is, is for human nature. Brethren and sisters, we can’t distort the Word of God to accommodate our human nature. We can’t change the gospel of truth to accommodate the desires of other people or the desires of the world. We cannot glory in the flesh.

44. 19:44

    How can we brethren and sisters invest a lifetime of service to our God only to veer off at the last? Minute and let human nature take over and think that that’s the way we will coast to the Kingdom. By accommodating the opinions and the desires and the interests of the world that we are called by the divine hand of God. But we choose to finish it off on our own power. And that’s what human nature causes us to do. We don’t like being controlled by somebody else. We don’t.

45. 20:31

    We don’t like being told that the things we’re doing are wrong. But if we choose to distort the Word of God, if, if we were to change the elements of God’s truth in order to accommodate the desires of the flesh, in order to conform to this world so that we might fit in a little bit better, not be persecuted by it, then this present evil age that Christ’s death and resurrection was meant to deliver us from will come crashing down all around us.

46. 21:00

    These are two completely incompatible goals, pleasing man and God. There is no possibility that the 2 can be together. And Paul underlines this in Galatians chapter 5 and I’ll just read that for you. Galatians 5 and verse 16. But I say walk. By the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh, for the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, For these are opposed to one another to keep you from doing the things that you want to do. And so when we sever off the darkness of the, of the world, when we make that distinction between our life and the truth and our life in, in the world, it has to be meaningful. It has to be intentional.

47. 21:45

    But unfortunately, there are all kinds of challenges that are coming into our particular community because of this particular issue that the apostle Paul brings up. And unfortunately, there’s probably 5 or 6 things that we should deal with here. But I I chose these. Because this is what came out of the team class when I asked them. And the first one is our challenge of tradition. I’m seeing in our community the challenge of tradition in in many different ways.

48. 22:15

    Now look, the the critics in the world say a lot of things about organized religion, right? That organized religion, you know, caused, waged wars and, and enslaved innocent people and, and murdered millions and, and, you know, changed governments and, and corrupted things and all those things are definitely true, but not the gospel according to Christ.

49. 22:39

    However, in our community I’ve noticed a lot of pushback. And you may have as well. Some argue we’re becoming too traditional. We’re hanging on too much to our traditions and that manifests. Itself in different ways that maybe our, our worship service is not exciting enough and, and our hymns aren’t, you know, look, there’s a number of hymns that that I don’t like, honestly, but there are so many hymns that are beautiful. And when we heard morning and I walked up here last night and we heard the choir practicing wouldn’t be lovely if we could just lease the choir for our individual Eccleses and have them sing the hymns for us because it’s so beautiful. When, when the pandemic came in, in January and February of, of 2020, and, and legally in BC and in Canada and many other countries, we had to shut down, we were not allowed to congregate together.

50. 23:29

    It was to me the beginning of the exacerbation of this problem of fighting back against traditional. And the I ran Zoom for for 10 months. The very first question I had in setting up the format and running Zoom for the moral services, can we drop from 4 hymns to three? Now it’s just a minor thing, but and it also made it easier for me.

51. 23:50

    But that’s just I just started to see that. And then of course, we started to like being online. Marnie and I liked being online. We were fellowshipping from the comfort of our. Couch with a. Coffee in our hand. But after a month or two, I think many of us started to go, this is this is not right that we’re not physically together. Sadly, some brothers and sisters really liked it. It became their thing.

52. 24:14

    And when we came back, when we were legally allowed to come back, we had pushback. And I would say at least 10% of our ecclesia has never returned. They’re on Zoom, but they’re not live. Hebrews 10 and 23 says, of course, let us hold fast to the convention. Of our faith without waving for he who promises faithful, let us consider how to stir one another up to love and good works.

53. 24:39

    Not neglecting to meet together is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near. And that was so difficult to do on Zoom to have conversations and fellowship and communication when you’re just I think brother Kitson mentioned you do you’re speaking and they’re just all these all the cameras are off.

54. 24:57

    It was so odd to speak over Zoom. You know, some question that we’re too formal. Why do we have to meet every Sunday? I’ve even heard this in the 1st century they didn’t go to meeting four times a week, then have sunny school and CYC and meeting and public lecture and I’m like turn to Acts 2 and 42.

55. 25:17

    Right the the the the formalization of our meeting in Acts 2 and 42, it says and they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching into fellowship, into breaking the bread into prayers and awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the. Apostles and all who believe we’re together and all had one thing, all things in common and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. And day by day or daily, as the ESP says, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes and they received their food and we’re glad with generous hearts praising God and having favor with all things.

56. 25:53

    And what was the result? The result was that the Lord added to their number day by day. Those who are being saved. You know, as much as we may push back against it, the, the, the early Christian believers, they were organized. They had to be organized. In fact, the Apostle Paul institutionalized the the practice of breaking a bread for our benefit because what we had done is we’d taken it and we turned it into a feast where the rich reading and the poor had nothing.

57. 26:21

    You know, I touched on this in in the earlier classes that that humanism has crept into the the mainstream, modern congregations, the modern churches, the big. Churches. Right. The United Church, the Anglican Church, even now the Roman Catholic Church. Now all of those efforts to to to change the traditional format of their services, bringing in rock bands, bringing in hiring in preachers that that are exciting and, and we’re emotional and trying to drive up the emotion in these allowing anybody to come in, you know, flying the rainbow flag out in front of of their church halls.

58. 26:59

    Guess what? Every single. Mainstream liberal church congregation in North America is declining, declining in membership, declining in reach, and it’s precipitous, like we’re talking 20. 30% decline annually. The United Church, I think in North America closes down something like 10 or 15 congregational groups every single. Month. They close them down, they sell the building. Now guess what?

59. 27:33

    What do you think is happening with traditional conservative congregations in North America? Almost without exclusion? They are growing. Now, why do you think conservative Christian groups are growing whereas liberal Christian groups are declining? Well, number one, we want doctrinal clarity. If you love the word of God, you want to know what it says, it matters what you believe #2 structure and consistency is good for us as humans.

60. 28:12

    We need structure, we need habit, we need consistency. We actually thrive on it. And when you let people just show up as they are in your shorts and flip flops, right at some point, there’s no separation between God and the world. And then what’s the point of even showing up for an hour, an hour and a half?

61. 28:32

    You might as well go bowling. Another thing is that Bible based groups they talk about the. Issues of sin and the solution of sin and they talk about the future, hope, the existence of God and the existence of God’s future. And they support community and family. They try to develop community and family. They get the kids involved, they focus on the community. So it took a long time for me to find out whether Christadelphia Worldwide was growing, and I almost didn’t want to know the answer.

62. 29:12

    We’re growing now. We’re growing in some parts of the world dramatically and we are declining in others. But according to the numbers that I have on good authority, probably 10 to 20% a year. In North America, apparently we’re holding our own. In the UK there’s been some growth because of the influx of it with immigration.

63. 29:36

    But in the African nations and in India it’s exploding, literally exploding. So the Christadelphian global community is growing and we are a conservative Bible based community. And then there’s the challenge of judgement because this new social order, the influence of the world, we, we preach that we have our own rights, our own human rights, right? We others can’t tell us what to do. You know, this mindset is becoming manifest, I think, to a certain degree within the ecclesia of the Lord Jesus Christ.

64. 30:09

    We’re, we’re influenced by the broader community. This whole thing about tolerance and acceptance. We talked about the other day how tolerance and acceptance are not biblical principles. They’re hardly even biblical words. Within our eclusion, we face this challenge. Look, either we fear being accused of being overly judgmental or, and usually because of that, we avoid judgment altogether.

65. 30:39

    If we are not to tolerate or accept bad behavior, then how do we address it when it’s manifest? Well, I’ll tell you it from the outset, we are commanded to work with our brethren and sisters and call out those things that stand in opposition to the morality and the righteousness of God. Turn to Matthew 7 and one.

66. 30:55

    And this is something we went over with with the teens. And so we’ll talk about it here because I. I think they totally understand this. I’ve even heard this first quoted to say that we shouldn’t judge that the Lord Jesus Christ said judge, not that you would not be judged. Well, they don’t know their their scripture. It’s often used as this blanket condemnation that any form of judgement, therefore towards others is a problem because our human nature resists being judged. Peter and I were just talking about that before the start. You, you say something to somebody. Hey, brother, so and so I just noticed that. Say what?

67. 31:32

    You know, what about you? Like, that’s kind of our reaction because we don’t want to be called out for the things that are they’re awkward. We don’t want to be held accountable for things. Let’s face it, judging our brothers and sisters, it’s it’s uncomfortable, it’s awkward, it’s difficult, but the Lord Jesus Christ gives us the prescription for it right after he says, judge that you should not be judged. He says, for with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. And so Christ gives us then this mini parable that I loved when we were doing the Bible readings as kids. It always made me kind of.

68. 32:07

    Giggle a little bit. The Lord Jesus Christ says why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye but fail to notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you? Say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye when there’s this log in your own eye, Christ as you hypocrite, First take the log out of your own eye and then you will clearly see to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

69. 32:30

    Now we always appreciate the simple teaching of Christ’s parables here there’s there’s two very powerful. Messages #1. There is a there’s a moral prescription here that ignoring our own issues and then focusing on others faults. It’s dishonest, it’s hypocritical. Romans 2 and one warns us. Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges, For in passing judgement on another, you condemn yourself, because you. The judge practice these same things, so that’s something we can’t do right?

70. 33:04

    We can’t be hypocritical in our judgement. We have to deal with our own issues, but there’s a practical element to this as well, because it’s very impractical to try to help somebody else’s issue when your own vision is clouded by issues that are unresolved in your own life, James, 1 and 23, says. Compare this to the person who looks in the mirror and after looking at himself or herself, immediately forgets what manner of person they are.

71. 33:29

    And that’s the other problem. Right, the truth of God is, is a magnifying glass on us to expose us in the issues and the problems that we have in our life and we’re to deal with those things so that we can help one another towards the Kingdom.

72. 33:46

    So what do we do? Well, we need to judge righteously. Turn to Galatians chapter 6 and one. See Apostle Paul’s very specific here, Galatians 6 and one. The Apostle Paul instructs us to judge rightly and justly, but with care and with love and with compassion. He says starting at verse one. Brethren, if anyone is caught in a transgression, you who are spiritual should restore. Him in a spirit of gentleness, keep watch on yourself, lest you to be tempted.

73. 34:15

    So we cannot relinquish our roles as shepherds and members of the flock. Our shepherds. We have to guide, we have to rebuke, we have to exhort where necessary, right? Second Timothy chapter 4 and two says, preach the word, be ready in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and understanding. Yet we often hesitate to confront those who have strayed from the truth because we ourselves are often entangled in issues of our own doing that are also unscriptural. So we have to get our own house in order before we help somebody else.

74. 34:51

    And the benefit then is to the House of God. We need to rise up and deal with the beam in our own eye and then help our brethren and sisters address their struggles. Ephesians 4 and 15 says the apostle Paul encourages us to speak truth in love so that we may grow up in every way unto Christ who is the head. Isn’t that why we are here?

75. 35:22

    Isn’t that why? We are here this week. That we might gather together and support one another and help one another grow. Then the other side of this, of course, is equally important. We have to learn how to accept rebuke and exhortation and correction and gentle guidance from others with grace and with acceptance, knowing that it will help. It’s difficult at the time it says in in Hebrews, you know, discipline is difficult in the moment that it happens. It’s painful, it hurts.

76. 35:57

    Proverbs 15 and 32 says whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence, and in Proverbs 9 and verse 8. It adds Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you. Rebuke the wise and they will love you. Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still. Teach the righteous and they will add to their learning brethren and sisters.

77. 36:24

    It’s about accountability. It’s about helping one another’s one another on the path towards the Kingdom. And it’s a sharp contrast from the things that we see in the world, this postmodern thought. Of non judgmentalism that we should let every man do what is right in their own eyes. But that’s not the biblical approach.

78. 36:43

    The biblical approach involves discerning and addressing sin for the purpose of growth and reconciliation. Remember, on that great day we will be judged by the Lord, and this is what God has done to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. And so I believe we are called upon. To do unto others. And so we need to separate ourselves from the things of the world.

79. 37:08

    But one thing we are not to separate ourselves from is is each other that we’ve been set apart unto Christ to be together. Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter 4 and 30. He says, for we are members of his body and and of his flesh and of his bones. And of course this this statement echoes the connection that is made with Adam and Eve in the beginning, that she was made from the rib of Adam, literally from the the piece of timber. That God made Adam bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. And again we find in Romans chapter 12 and 5:00. So we being many are of one body in Christ, individually members of one another.

80. 37:43

    We’ve been separated from the world so that we might be together in the family of God, this diverse group of people. Marty doesn’t like it when I say this, but you know, we’re a collection. We’re a bunch of weirdos. Like we’re all different. We all have our our idiosyncrasies and our our problems and our backgrounds that are all different. And yet that’s, that’s what makes us beautiful, this whole thing.

81. 38:04

    But we’re bound together in the same faith, the same hope. So that is our connection, this disparate group being called out of the world so that we might become the body of Christ. This is not some metaphor. This is not some fancy term. This is. Literally what God intends. You know the Greek word for for body that the apostle Paul uses there this word soma, the root word.

82. 38:32

    Actually means to save and deliver and protect that within that body we might be saved and delivered and protected and that’s precisely what Christ. Has done for the ecclesia turn to Romans or sorry, First Corinthians chapter 12, because part of the problem that we have within our ecclesial community, sometimes brethren and sisters, is that we don’t.

83. 38:57

    I’d be careful in saying this. We often find it hard to like our brethren and sisters, right? We also tend to, if you notice, fellowship with those that we like that are like us. And oftentimes that ends in the exclusion of brethren and sisters in the meeting. Now, my, my dad has often said we have a large family within our ecclesia.

84. 39:29

    Our ecclesia in Victoria is, has a number of large families and that that’s, that’s a blessing. It’s also a curse. It’s a curse because we tend to focus on the things that are closest to us and that often is, is our blood family. And, and the excuse is why we have big families.

85. 39:45

    So that’s why we invite them for lunch every week. Or that’s why we, you know, we’ve and that is that is all true, but then we forget we are. One body in Christ. So, so let’s just look at what the apostle Paul says here, First Corinthians 12 and verse 12. He says for just as the body is 1 and as many members and all the members are of one body, though many are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one spirit we were called and all baptized into one body, Jews and Greeks, slaves and free, we’re all made to drink of the one spirit.

86. 40:15

    For the body is not consistent of 11 member, but many. And so we understand the principle he’s trying to give us. Then he goes on to say, and this is, this is again the the dramatic part, because he paints a picture here. He says, he says sometimes we might question our place in the body or we might question other members places in the body. So then he describes this for us. He says, starting at verse 15, if the foot should say, because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong in the body, that would that would not make it any less part of the body. If the ears should say because I’m I’m an eye, I don’t belong to the body, that we’re not making any less part of the body.

87. 40:53

    If the whole body were an eye, he says, where it’d be the sense of hearing. If the whole body were an ear, where it’d be the sense of smell. And Paul’s argument is perfect. We can’t think of ourselves as being excluded because we are a different part of the body sometimes. Rather than sisters, we might actually feel that way. We might feel we don’t belong to the body of Christ because we don’t fit some model or some mold of what we see around us. We look around and we see arms and legs and eyes and ears, these important parts of the body. And sometimes we feel like we’re an elbow or we’re a knee pit or we’re an earlobe or something odd that that we’re not connected somehow.

88. 41:30

    We’re not. Useful. We’re not significant, we’re not important, and we’re not necessary. And Paul says that is absolutely not true. Paul makes it clear every part of the body has its function. No matter how seemingly insignificant, we need elbows and knee pits, otherwise the arms and the legs don’t work. We need a big toe for stability.

89. 41:55

    We need eyelashes to keep the dust out so we can see clearly. Every single part of the body is essential to the functioning of the ecclesial model. So we can’t think that there’s no place for us in the ecclesial body. There is a place for every single one of us. Do you know how many parts and systems?

90. 42:15

    And elements and organs there are in the human body, literally 10s of thousands of them. And each part of the human body is essential to the functioning of the whole. And so too is every member of the ecclesian. God has ordered it that way so that we might find everyone in their place. And here’s the beautiful underlining part of what Paul says in First Corinthians 12 and 18. After explaining all this to us, he’s going to remind us that the ecclesia is spiritually and divinely and pointed. He says, But now hath God set the members? Every one of them in the body as it has pleased him, the Young’s literal says.

91. 43:01

    And now God did set the members, each one of them in the body according to his divine will, So that brother or sister that you don’t like, and it might be you, you might be the one that people don’t like, that brother or sister that seems odd or disaffected or lonely or doesn’t come out that often.

92. 43:24

    The one that rubs you the wrong way, the one that creates sparks. You know, we talked about when iron sharpens iron. You know what happens when iron sharps iron? There’s sparks, brethren, in sisters. And sometimes that hurts. But it’s to our benefit. We have to remember when we look around our ecclesia, every one of our brethren and sisters is there because it’s God’s will. And he has placed every one of us in our respective ecclesias as he has planned.

93. 43:52

    It’s not a random act. We didn’t just stumble into some ecclesial hall and find each other. And they’re now we’re trying to figure out a way to make it all work. God brought us here. He placed us here, you know, as we mentioned earlier on, Brother Ken, right at the start of the week when we were talking about how our cliches need to operate as hospitals, as cities of refuge. Because sometimes, brother and sisters, we can attend when we’re strong and we can, we can give back and we can help our brother and sisters.

94. 44:27

    But sometimes we’re weak and we need to come and be healed and to be bound up and to be strengthened. And we can never, never forget, brethren and sisters, that we are the sheep of his pasture. And I, I intimated this in an earlier class. I said, you know why? Why did God not say that? We are predators that were wolves or were Pumas or were lions or were were tigers.

95. 44:53

    Well, it’s because there’s a very specific way that God wants us to operate. We are. The very meaning, as we know of the word ecclesia is we’re called out ones. We’re not isolated individuals, we’re not predators going out on the hunt. God gave us this ecclesial model so that together we might be able to withstand the darkness of the world.

96. 45:17

    We are sheep of his pasture. Psalm 100 verse. Three says that sheep instinctively stick together. We are sheep humble and submissive, caring for another John the the Lord Jesus Christ says in John 10 and four, when he has brought us out on his own, he goes before them. The sheep follow him. They know his voice.

97. 45:38

    You know when sheep are grazing, you notice they, they consistently raise up their heads and they look around and they stick their heads down and they graze again. Then they stick their head up and they look around and they bleep. You kind of think, well, we always think, oh, sheep are, you know, they’re kind of dumb in some ways they are. But in their instinctive ways that God has created them, they are very, very intelligent.

98. 46:04

    Every time they stick their head up and they look around, they’re looking around for their fellow sheep, making sure they’re there. Bob, there’s Sally there. Yep. Feed a little bit more strength and stick their head up again. What’s Mike here, brother? So and so. Yep, it’s good. Sheep love being together. Sheep love being in a herd together. I call it fellow sheeping.

99. 46:24

    Right. Instead of fellow shipping, we should be fellow sheeping. We should be caring for one another as part of the flock. And you know that the lambs always follow their elders. They always follow their elders and they they seek guidance and, and sheep move in herds and they do that for warmth, for comfort, for protection.

100. 46:41

     Sheep are deeply uncomfortable when they are separated from their own community. Sheep have no natural defense. They can’t kick like a horse. They can’t head butt like a goat. They can’t bite. They can only flee or herd together for safety.

101. 47:00

     And brethren and sisters, as much as we don’t like being sheep. We need to stick together, we need to fellow sheep together. We need to support one another together. Galatians 6 and 2 bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. And so sheep always maintain this visual link to each other.

102. 47:18

     They’re diligent and caring for one another, ensuring that their fellow sheep are OK. Philippians 2 and four let each of you look out not only for his own interests. But for the interests of others, we need to be genuinely concerned, genuinely care for our brothers and sisters. Encouraging, supporting, inspiring one another to help them in their separation from the world, that we might do good works as an essential part of our life together in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul says in Colossians 3 and 16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thanks.

103. 48:04

     Goodness in your heart towards God. And, and as we know, brethren and sisters, when we we think about this, this theme of separation and not being ashamed of, of the gospel, the harsh reality is that in the end, when the Lord Jesus Christ returns, there will be the final separation. It’s like we need to work today to practice on separating ourselves from the world, flocking together, fellow sheeping together as a congregation, helping one another.

104. 48:43

     Because when the Lord Jesus Christ returns, it says in Matthew 3 and 12, sorry, John the Baptist is describing the role of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says his winnowing fork is in his hand and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn. But the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. Our role now is to practice this process of separating from the world.

105. 49:10

     Matthew 25 the Lord Jesus Christ says in verse 32 speaking. Of the final judgment, he says We’re all Nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people from one another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

106. 49:25

     You’ll put the sheep on the right, and you’ll put the goats on his left. The sheep are those who are righteous. Who have been made right before God, who have separated themselves from the world, the goats over the wicked. And they will face eternal separation from their God. And so we have to be reminded, brothers and sisters, that while God is merciful and patient, he is also just. And the decisions that we make now and the decisions on how we live and whom we will follow and what we will value and with what will we associate will determine our place in that final separation.

107. 50:20

     And so we must strive to live lives worthy of being gathered as wheat and placed on the right hand of our Shepherd, that we might hear him say, well done by good and faithful servant, and by the grace of God might be in the Kingdom.

108. 50:40

     Let’s just turn up to Romans chapter 8, maybe my favorite passage in all of Romans. I just want to leave you with Paul’s very powerful assurance from Scripture about separation

109. 50:55

     and what it means to us. Brethren and sisters, to live a pure and a holy life, separate, no matter what the challenges are, no matter what the temptations are in this world, no matter the. Pressure to conform to its standards. Nothing can sever us from the bond that we have with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, that his love is our anchor and our strength and our assurance as we navigate this world and and there’s a call to action.

110. 51:25

     That’s embedded in these words. Let us commit ourselves, brethren and sisters, steadfast in our walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s not be swayed by the fleeting pleasures or the accommodations of the desires of this world, but instead let us draw closer to the One who loves us with an everlasting love. Submit yourself, therefore, James says in chapter 4. Submit yourselves, therefore, to your God. Resist the adversary, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Brothers and sisters, as we draw near to God, even this week, every day, it’s becoming more and more powerful for us as we’ve been energized by the classes, energized by our fellowship together, let us purify our hearts and minds, setting aside anything that would hinder us from our relationship with God severing.

111. 52:17

     Off those things. And when I was talking to the teens this morning about severing off TikTok and severing off Netflix, you know, Marnie said to me a couple of nights ago, she says, you know, Hon, she calls me Hon.

112. 52:35

     Not all the time, but. This time she says, son, we when we get home, we got to we got to disconnect Netflix, Jack. She said that to me and my got to be honest with you, it’s, it’s this is how bad it is. My in my brain, my face said yes. My brain was like, yes we do, but also Amazon Prime and Disney.

113. 53:01

     Plus we tossed that years ago. But I said this to the teens. I said you got to you got to switch it off, you know TikTok and Netflix and Insta Hoover and whatever would it face scram, whatever they are you like it’s. The more you switch things off, the easier it is to switch them off.

114. 53:18

     And then honestly, their heads were nodding and some of them were tired, but others were just nodding in agreement. And as I said before, the interesting thing about the young people is they say things. You know that, you know that. You know the reason why I talked about those two things of tradition and judgement is those are the two things that they brought up. They see our children, see what’s going on in our communities, and in some ways they’re almost more perceptive than we are about what’s going on. Romans chapter 8.

115. 53:58

     What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all. How will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?

116. 54:19

     Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? Is God Who justifies? Who is to condemn Jesus Christ? Is the one who died more than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us?

117. 54:41

     Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, the Apostle Paul says for your sake we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

118. 55:06

     No, in all these things. We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything in all of creation, we’ll. Be able to. Separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

119. 55:41

     Let us brethren and sisters be unashamed to shine as lights in this Dark World. Let us be unashamed to sever off the works of darkness, that we might be separated unto Christ and be counted worthy of God’s grace on the day of His Son’s return.