Christian Separation

RV219-02

As always, my job is to explain Scripture to you. Your job, in the privacy of your own priesthood, is to believe it or discard it. It is not your job to get mad at what you hear, or to become indignant if it counters your opinion. You go ahead and believe whatever you want to believe, and you act in any way that you choose to act upon the information given to you. So, if you hear something that causes your hair to stand on end (those of you who have hair), just let it stand there. It will come back down. One nice thing about grace is that you don't have to believe what I tell you. You don't have to accept the connections. You're on your own, but you do deserve to be informed. So, if you hear something this morning that distresses you, put it on the back burner. You might just be wrong.

As one lady one time told me, when somebody was complaining to her about something that I had taught, she said, "I looked this lady in the eye, and said, 'Let me ask you this one thing. How many times have you found Dr. Danish to be proven wrong in what he taught, or in implication of the application of doctrine?'" She said that the woman stood there in silence, and couldn't say a thing.

When you stick with what the Word of God says, which is no mystery, then you will not be going astray with things that are misinforming people. Therefore, you should be very careful when you want to be negative toward something that you hear in instruction in this ministry, which, because of that instruction, is the apple of God's eyes.

Socialism

This political economic structure is, of course, the final goal of Satan's world system under the antichrist. Government dominating the lives of people, with that government as the ultimate benefactor of the citizens, was actually part of what began in Babylon by Nimrod. Nimrod was the original governmental tyrant. It was Nimrod who wanted to bring people under control where the government would be the dispenser and the decider of the well-being of people. He taught them an idolatrous religious system, and then he taught them to look to the power of his authority to be the source of their blessing. Nimrod was, of course, the great liberal of his day. God hates the aspect of Babylon's corrupting influence in terms of government and economics as much as He hates the corrupting influence of Babylon in religious matters.

Liberals

You have, I'm sure, heard the canard repeated again and again about the greed of the 1980s. What that means was that the eighties was a time of great profit-making. Some of you sit here, and are part of that greed group, because during the 1980s, your net worth increased tremendously, because it was a time when, as soon as government reduced taxation, the amazingly natural result took place that the revenues of the government doubled. Yet, we're told that people suffered in the 1980s, and the rich became richer. The truth of the matter is that all boats were raised equally by that tide of prosperity, and it became the longest period of prosperity ever in American history, simply because government got out of the way and said, "Don't look to us to take care of you." There were screams and howls of pain, but the result was what America is all about – rugged individualism.

When people talk to you about the greed of the 1980s, do not be deceived. The statistics were that everything got better for everybody. And once government began taxing, everything has been on the downside for everyone once more. When they speak of the greed of the 1980s, they mean that you made a profit, and that's dirty pool. That is not so.

This is why, in the Bible, the man who did not take the money that the master had given to him and invest it, because he was afraid he was going to lose it, God said, "You shiftless, unworthy servant, you should have invested this in the bank so that when I got back I would have received my money with a profit. The man who had invested and reproduced ten times was rewarded authority over ten cities. And the man who had reproduced five times what the master left with him was awarded, commensurate with his ability, authority over five cities. Profit is the way that God has designed the human race to be improved.

All of this is what's going to be destroyed in the tribulation. That's my point. And it is not going to happen overnight. It's going to happen by gradual increments before the tribulation. We are now living in the time of liberalism, which is the handmaiden of the antichrist. It is now fashionable for government to punish the great achievers in various ways. Anybody who stands out above the crowd has to be cut down, because we must all be equal.

Outcome-Based Education

A lady stopped me at Sears this week and said, "You're Dr. Danish." I said, "Yes." ... And I didn't recognize or remember her. Then she told me her name, and I said, "Oh yes, your son was in our school." She said, "Yes, two years ago, but we had to leave. We ran out of grades." And she said, "How we wish he were there now. But it was always tough. We had five children. But how much better it was when he was in the academy than when he is out in the public school system, because the contrast is so great once you've been in a school like BCA.

So, it's fashionable for government to want to cut down achievers. We get all kinds of flak from people over our award ceremonies in the academy, because we recognize achievers, and everybody doesn't get recognized. And we have to struggle: "Well, should we even do this? Should we take the flak? Should we just say, 'Forget about it. We're not going to recognize the achievers?'" I think it would be great to have a school where you were awarded a school emblem that a kid could sew on his jacket, by which he was recognized that he got a letter for being an achiever.

Liberals, brethren, in short, constantly seek to create an increasing dependency on government in order to provide for people's needs. That's called "compassionate," but that is not compassion. That is domination by government, and it is exploitation of people. Liberals cannot exist unless they are constantly creating a larger group of people who are dependent upon the government. That is because if you're dependent upon the government, and you've become used to what the government is giving you, then you're going to vote for that person that you know is going to keep that goody coming to you.

A French philosopher in colonial times came over and looked over the American society to see why it was such a marvel, even at that time, among nations. He said, "America is great because America is good." What he meant was that we were a biblical society that operated on biblical laws, which is based on rugged individualism: "Take care of yourself, buddy; and, if you won't work, you don't eat." Consequently, everybody is free to hustle without government punishing you for being a winner.

Tocqueville also said, "When American citizens discover that they can vote benefits to themselves from the national treasury, the nation will be in decline." How perceptive he was. That's where we are. That is what liberalism is all about. Satan uses liberalism to prepare the world for the antichrist. The antichrist doesn't just come on full-blown without a lot of preparation, and we're seeing it happen. This is precisely the world of dependency that will exist under the antichrist. It will be to the extent, we're told in the Bible, that you won't even be able to buy things and sell things without the approval of the government. The government will be the source of all beneficence.

The U.S. Constitution

Equal Opportunity

The pharmaceutical companies have quadrupled their profits because of their research and because of the terrific medications that they have put together: discovered; and, put on the market for us, and because they have improved the physical well-being of citizens. But they're achievers. They're profit makers. And the government which now dominates the liberal mentality in Washington zeroed in on the pharmaceutical companies and said, "You greedy beasts. You have made a great profit." Instead, they should have said to all the nation, "Look at the pharmaceutical companies. Imitate them. That's how to get ahead. Be an achiever."

Well, the pharmaceutical companies now have cut back on research. They have discharged hundreds of employees. They've lost their jobs because they're going to pull back. They're going to hunker down, and they're prepared for the storm that is going to overwhelm them. And who will be the poorer? They? Oh, no, but we will be.

There's an innate desire in man to be free; to be independent; and, to be able to depend on himself in order to better his lot and the lot of his family – not to depend on government. People have to be trained to do this. We have people now, in our young people who have grown up, and this is the only thing that they have ever learned. Instead of being pointed to self-reliance, which is the keynote of our Constitution, and to be guided by personal moral integrity, we have trained a generation to be dependent upon government.

It was John Adams who said, "We now have a government with our Constitution which will bring us great blessing, but it will only work if we are a religious and moral people. You can't run around controlling everybody's conduct. You have to have citizens who are convinced that the Bible's moral code is right, and that's what blesses us. So, here you have freedom for a person to enjoy the fruits of his own labor, and to knock himself out to any extent that he wants to in order to improve his lot in life, but to act within biblical morality of integrity. And what happens? You have a tremendous, prosperous nation.

Liberals hate it when people take care of themselves because then they cannot exercise power over them with government handouts in order to secure the votes of those people for reelection. That's the name of the game of liberalism: constant reelection by distributing benefits to people so that they're hooked, and they need you. Liberals quite correctly view personal freedom and self-reliance as a threat to their existence and to their philosophical control of the masses. This is what makes America, the greatest country that has ever existed in the history of the human race. And why? Because it has become so great on these principles of freedom; self-reliance; and, personal integrity. Those things must be ruined so that this country will be willing to be part of the world of the antichrist.

I'm calling your attention to the fact that you are seeing history in the making. Don't pass off liberalism as just another political point of view. It's more than that. It's a powerful instrument of Satan to prepare for that world.

The Antibodies to Liberalism

So, we Christians champion God's values, and we pay the price for standing with the truth. But we are of good cheer. We are more than conquerors through Him loved us and gave Himself for us.

At the heart today of America's problem is the failure of preachers. Preachers fail to teach God's people the principle of separation from falsehood and from evil. Here in Revelation 18:4, God reiterates the principle of separation from evil when he says, "I'm going to destroy Babylon. I'm going to bring it down to ashes. And believers who are still in that city: get out. Separate yourself so that you will not be part of its sin. If you're part of a group that's sinning, then you're part of being guilty of that sin. If you're part of a group that's doing evil, then you're part of that guilt. That guilt is upon you. That's the point here: get out of the city. That is also so that you do not suffer those ten bowl plagues that are about ready to be turned loose. They are to separate themselves to keep from the imminent suffering that is going to come upon this people when this city is destroyed.

So, the Word of God is very clear on the fact that there comes a time when you and I have to identify false doctrine. We have to say, "No, that's wrong. That's not what the Bible teaches." We have to identify false teachers: "Oh, but the man is too famous. He has too large a congregation. You can't say that he's a false teacher." Yes, you can. Usually, that's where you'll find the false teachers. They're the ones who prosper. You have to identify the false church: "You can't condemn a huge denomination." Yes, you can, if it is not true to the Word of God. You have to also mark out false believers. As Paul has repeatedly done in his letters, you have to say, "Here's a believer, and this guy is false. Watch him. Don't get contaminated by him. Remember this one: I want you to be careful if you're in this city. It's amazing to see the danger list that Paul would put in Scripture of false believers – believers who were false in what they were thinking.

One of the places that we have this principle of separation and of our responsibility, not as in the case of Babylon here (believers being associated with the evil of that city, and thus exposing themselves to potential danger and God's judgment), is in the book of 2 John 10-11. Please turn to it. Check your teacher. Check the instruction you're getting.

One of our college students said that he was looking for a church in the area where he was going to school, and he found a church nearby, and it was pastored by a Dallas seminary graduate. He was happy to discover that. But he had sat in our Berean congregation so long from his childhood that he knew enough to check out what he was dealing with. So, he called this pastor, and he introduced himself, and he told him where he was from. He said, "Do you believe in the inspiration of the Bible." The Dallas Seminary graduate said, "Yes." And then he pressed a little further: "Do you believe in the inerrancy of the Word of God." And suddenly, there was a silence, and there was a hedging in the answer that was given, and red flags flew up in the mind of our college student. Then he pressed it a little harder, and he said, "Are you dispensational?" And the Dallas Seminary graduate said, "No." At that point, our student knew that he had run into someone who had false credentials; who was a false teacher; and, who was parading himself as someone who was a knowledgeable teacher of the Word of God, but he was a false voice, even though he was coming from a citadel like Dallas Seminary of biblical knowledge and instruction. He was smart in checking out what people actually have to say.

So, don't give me this stuff: "I go to a nice church. I go to a nice Bible church. I go to a nice denominational church. That's why I know: because they believe in the Bible, and what I am being given is the truth of God." You can spend all eternity regretting that mistake.

The Doctrine of Christ

All of this deals with the doctrine of Christ. And some of these points were being denied and challenged even in New Testament times. In were coming teachers into the local congregations, and they were bringing falsehood on some of these doctrines relative to Christ. These were nice people. These were educated, knowledgeable teachers. They were itinerant instructors in the Word of God. They were believers. How do we deal with people like that? The call is for separation. 2 John 10: "If anyone comes to you." This particular "if" is a first-class condition, indicating that they do come to you. Make no mistake about it. Someone's going to come to you, sooner or later. He is going to come into your presence. "Anyone" is referring to some teacher of the Word: "If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching," referring to the summary that I have just given you about the doctrine of Christ which is in the context: "If anyone does not bring to you this teaching about Jesus Christ," what should you do now?

This is the problem of who the teacher is. It refers to teachers who hold unscriptural views of Jesus Christ. Some cult knocks on your door. What should you do? Invite them in to hear their story? You're not going to be able to witness to them. They've already geared themselves to avoid that. They know how to avoid that. The religious liberal holds false views about Jesus Christ on practically every one of these points that I've referred to. Are you going to be indifferent to his teachings?

"If anyone comes to you and does not bring this sound teaching about Christ, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting." The principal is to avoid social relationships. Don't let people who teach false things into your house. Do not extend greetings to false teachers: "I know that you're a false teacher, but when I meet you, Oral Roberts, I'm going to shake your hand and greet you as "a hail fellow well met.'" No, I'm not. I'm going to treat you as the enemy of God. And when you're God's enemy, then you're my enemy.

This implies that you are not to give any assistance in any way to aid and abet this evil. Oral Roberts said (in his book that used to be for sale at the grocery checkout counters), "Nobody would listen to me. I was a nobody in the religious world," even though he was quite popular within the Pentecostal circle. He had a big tent out here in our Plymouth Park area one time, running meetings. But the serious biblical Christians understood that he was wrong about the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. As I stood there at the counter waiting to check out, I read the book there. I didn't buy it. I read the section where he said, "I was finally accepted in the general Christian community when Billy Graham called upon me to stand up and lead in prayer in one of his meetings. When he did that, I became approved by those who before shied away from me.

Graham should have read 2 John 10, because that's exactly what he did. His acceptance and his fame as a biblical man gave dignity to Oral Roberts, a carnival conman, to this very day. We are to avoid social relationships, and we do help them. This implies that you don't give them a place to eat and sleep. You don't receive them into your house, and you don't extend a greeting of camaraderie to them. The Bible definitely and firmly demands separation from evil.

The nation of Israel was to live apart from the godless nations around her. They brought upon themselves great judgment and grief because they refused to be separated from the pagan nations about them. They wanted to be relevant to their day, and interrelated. Separation is not based upon what we are. It's not because I'm so holy and so good that I don't want anything to do with you. Separation is based upon the fact that God is holy, and that we are in His family. It is the principle of: "Be ye holy as I am holy. Be separated from evil as I am separated.

In Ezra 4:1-4, you have the example of Ezra refusing the help of the unbelievers and the enemies of God in rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem. Ezra said, "Shove off. I don't want your help." Let's read it: "Now when the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people of the exile were building a temple to the Lord God of Israel, they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the fathers' households and said to them, 'Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God. And we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here. But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the fathers' households of Israel said to them, 'You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God. But we ourselves will together build to the Lord God of Israel as King Cyrus, the King of Persia has commanded us.' Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building."

When the Jews said, "Nothing doing. You are not part of us. We don't care how much religious activity you have been involved in with Jehovah. You're fakes, and you're false teachers. And you cannot help us in the work of God. We're going to build this temple, but your help is not going to be part of it."

So, what did the enemies do? They showed their true colors. They then proceeded to try to undermine and discourage the people of God who were true to God, and who were really doing the work of God. They did all kinds of devilment and misrepresentation and undermining that they could in order to stop the work of God that was really being done by the will of God.

You have the sad example of Jehoshaphat, king of the southern kingdom, who joined unbelievers to do a work for God, to recover a city of refuge at Ramoth-Gilead. Jehoshaphat, in this way, appeared to be a loving, broad-vision person, in contrast to the unbeliever Ahab. Ahab was the king of the northern kingdom. Jehoshaphat was a man who knew God, and he was joining up with Ahab, of all peoples. In 2 Chronicles 18:3, you can read about that. In the battle that ensued, Ahab was killed. Jehoshaphat barely escaped with his life. 2 Chronicles 19:2 says that it ruined the testimony of Jehoshaphat, because he joined up with a false leader. Joining forces with unbelievers seems to open doors of opportunities, but God views it otherwise. He blesses us in spite of our stupidity of joining forces with unbelievers sometimes. 2 Chronicles 19:1-4 stress that.

We Christians too are to separate ourselves from views. There is no question about that in the Word of God. I point you to 2 Corinthians 6:14-18: "Do not be bound together with unbelievers. For what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness; or what fellowship is light with darkness; or what harmony has Christ with Belial; or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever; or, what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of living God, just as God said: 'I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,' says the Lord. 'Do not touch what is unclean, and I will welcome you, and I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters to Me,' says the Lord God Almighty."

Rather than joining with false teachers in a common cause, Ephesians 5:11 says that we should reprove them publicly. Call attention to what they're doing. God's work can be done without violating the principles of separation. It only creates division and confusion among Christians when you try to get help from the world system to do God's work. We don't need it. God cannot, in fact, fully bless our work when we're teamed up with that which is false – doing good (human good) that God must condemn (2 Timothy 2:20-21).

Separation from false teachers is essential to maximum fruitfulness. God uses us in spite of ourselves, to a lesser degree. Moses, who couldn't obey God, still got water out of that rock when he struck it, when he was supposed to only speak to it. But he paid a terrible price because he was not separated to the Word of God.

Separation is not Isolation

The great and wonderful example is Hebrews 7:26, which describes the separation of Jesus Christ in his humanity: "It was fitting that we should have such a high priest: holy; innocent; undefiled; separated from sinners; and, exalted above the heavens." Did Jesus do business with unbelievers? You bet He did. Was He associated with unbelievers? You bet He was. But He was never contaminated by those contents, and He never descended to operating on the world's system of values. Jesus always maintained His integrity in dealing with the world system.

It's one thing to be in contact with the world and with evil, but it's something else to be part of the team. The policy of the apostle Paul is spelled out. I'll let you read these on your own: 1 Corinthians 9:19-23; and, 1 Corinthians 10:23-33.

What's the reason for this? Back in 2 John 10, we have a very severe statement: "If you spot a false teacher or if you spot a false believer, do not receive him into your house. Do not socialize with Him. Do not give him a greeting as if all was well." That's hypocrisy. Why? "For the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds. It's just that simple. Greeting implies fellowship. To greet a heretic is to become part of his false work. You're wishing him well, in effect, and that dignifies him before others.

Many people no doubt thought that John was ungracious in calling for such separation from social amenities with those who are the rejecters of God's Word. Christians are often willing to be hypocritical in their conduct with truth rejecters. You should not do that. Do not play the role that all is well, as if we were all on the same team. Why be part of the mischief of those who promote that which is against the Word of God? Human viewpoint says, "Oh, avoid polarization of convictions." But in the Word of God, Jesus says, "I came to cause division." Division over what? Division over truth. Among whom? Among the innermost recesses of your personal family. Then Jesus made it clear that you make your choice. You cannot straddle the fence.

We have the deception today that times have changed, and that John's advice here is out of date. We're too refined and cultured and gracious now. And many prominent religious leaders today pride themselves on their ecumenical spirit. They can work with anyone. I would consider that a very personal insult if I were to hear somebody say, "Dr. Danish is the kind of person who can just work with anybody." No, I can't, and I won't work with those who are the enemies of Christ. Those whom God hates, I hate; and, those who are His enemies are my enemies. I can be cordial, and I can be civil, and I can keep the door open, hopefully, that they may come back to their senses, but I will not treat them as "Hail, fellows, well met" when they are the enemies of my Lord, and when they are those who are bringing Christians down with their false teaching.

The issue that confronts us is whether we're going to dignify false beliefs that are leading people astray, and costing them in their eternity. Are we going to cooperate with that that lease the innocent astray? Jehoshaphat made common cause with Ahab. And suddenly, Ahab and Jezebel seemed like alright people down in Judah, and they weren't alright people. They were the religious liberals of the day, and they were anything but right. There is no future in cooperating with spiritual darkness. You must beware of those whom you would lead astray by doing that. God's position is separation from false teachers; from false doctrine; and, from false brethren.

So, you and I have a lot here at stake in Revelation 18:4. It is a repeated principle in the Word of God, and that's what I hope you understand now. It is incumbent upon us as believers to separate ourselves from that which undermines the Word of God, and from that which is contradictory to the mind of Christ. That is the principle. Here in the tribulation, it is applied for these people to save themselves. Believers are to get out. For us today, we too must save ourselves by maintaining that distance from evil, whether it's among believers or unbelievers.

Christian separation is not a popular sermon topic today, and it's considered in certain circles to be very narrow-minded and bigoted. But the Word of God says, "Come ye out from among them, and I will be your God." If you don't come out from among them, He will not be the God who leads you.

In the next session, we will reiterate a principle that is so sobering, and is so awesome, and so frightening of what God does to the person who will not separate from evil, and who will not separate from falsehood. There's always a reaction. People don't like to hear it, because their minds fly out to all kinds of people they know, and they say, "My God, that's what's happened to this person. I didn't realize it." But the principle of divine judgment for those who persist in failing to separate from evil is one that brings down upon the individual a terrible judgment of God. We'll go into detail on that next time. A lot of Christians have not yet caught on to this principle. It will devastate you if you don't know. Please join us.

Dr. John E. Danish, 1993

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