Bible separation is not a notation in Heaven, a membership card in some religious club or an imaginary line in
someone’s mind. Noah was in and the unbeliever was out, dying to get in; the Sodomites were locked out and so were
the Babylonians. You may know that you are different from the lost man, God knows this too, but the worldling
probably won’t unless there is real separation in your life.
What Was Outside That
Door?
In each case
there were two kinds of people outside – the ungodly and the unspiritual – lost and
backslidden.
Also outside that
separation was the judgment of Jehovah. Outside is the anger of God (James 4:4). If you hear the call for
separation and you refuse – you better brush up on your dog-paddling, because the rain will probably soon fall.
Stand outside the door of Lot’s house and you may be raped or murdered. What was outside the door of separation at
the First Passover? What was outside the temple door for the boy-king Joash? It is infinitely safer inside Bible
separation than outside!
Oh, but what
about the other example? Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego? There was no immediate judgment on Babylon! The key word
is "immediate." Just chalk that up to God’s longsuffering. Lack of fire from heaven is not proof that separation
from sin is outdated. God still says "...come out from among them and be ye
separate..."
What Was In That Separation?
What Effect Does It Have?
For Noah it was
salvation – deliverance. Salvation itself is a kind of separation, although not physical. Was Noah saved by
separation or was he separated because he was saved? The latter. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord before
ark construction ever began. And of course, the New Testament says, "For by
grace are ye saved through faith..." If you are not a Christian, there is
only one way to be saved.
Noah was saved
bodily by separation, and so it was with Lot.
For Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego, it was their testimony that was saved. When they willingly were tossed into the fire, they
were telling the world: "Jehovah is the only true and living God. He is worth living for and dying for. Your
ungodly religion is not worth a backward glance." These Jews were in all the papers – so to speak. This is what
Christianity needs today – righteous testimony empowered by lives of real Bible
separation.
And there was
something else inside that separation – I should say Someone else. God invited Noah inside the ark to be with
Himself. God’s angels were inside Lots’ house when he separated from the filthy. And there was One like the Son of
Man with the three Hebrews in that furnace.
Dear Readers, if there was no other benefit in separation than this alone – it would be enough. I want to be where
Jesus is – in Bible separation.
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