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Hey man, so keep your place in 2 Corinthians chapter 6. We're going to be coming back to that chapter throughout the sermon this morning, and this morning I'm going to talk to you about the topic. We're in our Baptist Basics series, and we're going to have a Sunday morning sermon section of that series this morning, so we're going to talk about this concept of separation this morning, and you say, well, separation, we've heard sermons about that before. Well, you're going to constantly hear sermons about this because it's one of the biggest challenges of the Christian life. So this morning I want to look at a little different aspect of separations. The title of the sermon is The Three W's of Separation. If you look down in your Bible at verse number 17, this is the verse that we constantly quote when we talk about separation in the Christian life, where it says, Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean, and I will receive you. The Bible tells us that as Christians, we're to be separate from the world, but we're going to look at the verses before this verse number 17. We're going to look starting in verse number 14 this morning and just kind of do a really deep dive into what these verses mean. So separation, what are we talking about when we say the word separation as Christians? We talk about it. We preach it. You're supposed to practice it in your Christian life. So the three W's that we're going to look at this morning is what is it? What does separation mean? From who? Who are we supposed to separate from? And then of course, why? Why does the Bible teach separation? Why do we have to do this? Why is it important? Is there consequences if we don't separate? So let's look at these questions this morning. Let's look at the what, the who, and the why of separation. Look down at 2 Corinthians chapter 6. Now like I said before, we've looked at verse 17 again and again and again. It's the go-to verse in the Bible for separation for the Christian. But let's start reading now in verse number 14 and let's look at the what of separation. First of all, what is separation? Look at verse 14 of 2 Corinthians chapter 6. The Bible says, Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord. Wherefore means for this reason. Because of this, because of the things I just explained to you in verse 14 through 16, come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you and I will be a father unto you and you should be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. So what is separation? What is it? The first W. First about separation starts out in the context of believers in verse number 14, being yoked together with unbelievers. So it says being yoked together is the opposite of separation. So what does yoked mean? Yoked means joined together. And then it actually defines it for us in the second part of this sentence where it says, For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? So what does yoked mean? It means joined together. And then it defines it for us again, meaning having fellowship with. So what is separation? Separation is, the opposite of separation is having fellowship with someone. The opposite of, you know, let me give you a modern example, you know, hanging out with someone. What do we do when we have fellowship here? When we have fellowship after church, what do we do? We hang out, we talk, we fellowship, right? We have, we spend time together. We, you know, we're fellowshipping together. So the Bible says that the unbeliever, the believer should not have fellowship, should not be yoked, joined in fellowship, verse 14, with the unbeliever. So that is what it means, okay? That is what separation, when it says be ye separate, that's what it's talking about, is having fellowship with unbelievers. All right, are you having little, you know, warning signs going off in your head yet? We'll get to that in a minute, but look, that's what the Bible says here. We're going to look at a lot of Bible this morning, this isn't me, you know, just telling you something, this is what the Bible tells you to do, okay? So look, that is the what. The what is to not be fellowshipping with unbelievers as a believer, okay? So look, everybody in this church, the Bible is telling you here that if you're a believer, you should not be fellowshipping with unbelievers. I mean, that's, it's not complicated. I mean, it's not complicated, okay? Now what is the second W? So the first W was pretty easy, okay? The second W is who? And we already kind of touched on this, but it's with unbelievers. It's with unbelievers, fellowship, friendship, a social relationship with any unbeliever is the who, okay? Now do you have a fellowship with unbelievers? The Bible says that you shouldn't, do a, you know, do a life check right now for two seconds in your mind, you know, ouch, right? My wife and I will have people come to us constantly, you know, telling us about trouble or things that are going on, you know, in their lives and things like that, and I'm telling you a vast percentage of it is because people are having fellowship with unbelievers and there's just going to be trouble there. There's just going to be trouble there. So that's the who? Any unbeliever. What does that mean? Unsafe person. That's what the Bible is saying here. You're like, that's pretty extreme, but look at verse 15 and verse 16. You say, you're saying I can't hang out with or have fellowship or a social relationship with any unbeliever. Like that's pretty extreme. Well, let's look at the language the Bible uses. If you have fellowship, if you have a social relationship with an unbeliever, this is what the Bible says that it is like. Look at verse 15. Look, this is just the Bible. This isn't me, okay? Verse 15. And what concord hath Christ with Belial? You know what Belial is? Belial is Satan. It's saying having fellowship, having a social relationship, the Bible compares that if you're a believer and you have a social relationship with an unbeliever, it is comparing it with Christ hanging out with Satan. That sounds extreme. That's the Bible. Look at verse 16. And what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? So basically it says Christ hanging out with Satan is like you hanging out with an unbeliever. Infidel just means unbeliever. That's it. I mean, is that hard to understand? This is pretty simple stuff. This is a really easy concept, folks. Super easy concept, but people just have a really hard time implementing it in their life. And we'll get to that towards the end of the sermon. Look at verse 16. But wait, there's more. And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God, as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Look, he compares it with Christ hanging out with Satan. I mean, can you imagine Christ hanging out with Satan in a social relationship, fellowshipping with Satan? And then he says it's like putting idols in the temple of God. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. You say what? Putting idols? Like false gods in the temple of God? That sounds pretty serious too. But guess what? It fits, because it says in verse 16, for ye are the temple of the living God. What does that mean? Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 19. It fits perfectly. The Bible says this in verse 19 of 1 Corinthians chapter 6, just one book back. What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are gods. So look, we learn in Ephesians chapter 1 that when ye get saved, ye become sealed by the Holy Spirit. It's the tool that God uses to seal your salvation, is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is literally in you, and in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, it says that that makes your body a temple of the Holy Spirit. So your body is a temple of God, the Bible says. That sounds pretty serious. Look, as you hang out with unbelievers, the Bible says you are polluting that temple. It is making the comparison of you polluting your body, polluting the temple of God, as you hang out and have a social relationship with unbelievers. Look, I'm not talking about soul winning here. I'm talking about fellowship. I'm talking about friendship. I'm talking about a willing social relationship with unbelievers. The Bible says that you're polluting this temple when you do that. That is the comparison that it gives. Which brings us to the final W this morning, which is the why. Why separate? The why of separation. So we see who we're supposed to separate from. What is separation? A social relationship. Why, or who? Unbelievers. Two, those are pretty simple. Those are pretty simple criteria right there. But what is the why? Why is this doctrine in the Bible? Why is God so extreme and so, you know, just absolute is a good word for it on this doctrine. Here's what's interesting. As you ignore this commandment, because it's a clear commandment in the Bible. As you ignore this commandment of separation and you continue to hang out with unbelievers, whether that be friends, whether that be family. Does it distinguish, by the way? Does it distinguish? Does it say, do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers unless you've known them for 20 years? Does it say, do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers unless, yeah, unless they're your cousin or whatever? No, it just says, do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. Period. But here's what you'll find. Here's what you'll find. It makes no difference whether they're friends or family, how long you've known them, what your history is with them, nothing. As you start to grow, here's what's super interesting. As you start to grow, we're looking at the why of separation. As you start to grow in your Christian life, as you start to learn the Bible, as you start to implement the Bible in your life, in your family, as you start to live a Christian life that is pleasing to the Lord, as you start doing those first works and preaching the gospel to the lost, and as you start raising your family, you start raising the next generation, you start raising the next generation a certain way. Maybe you start homeschooling your children. Maybe your wife stays home to raise her children, as the Bible says. Maybe you're raising your daughters with the idea that they would stay home and raise their children and teach their children at home as well. Maybe you start doing those things that the Bible teaches, and look at verse number 16 of 2 Corinthians chapter 6. Here's what you're going to find as you start doing all those things. Look at verse number 16, and I want you to circle one word or underline one word or highlight one word here, and it says, And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? Here's what you're going to find as you ignore this commandment in the Bible, and as you start growing in your Christian life, you're going to find that you simply aren't going to agree with much with these people that you're fellowshipping with, with these people that you're socializing with. You say, okay, well, we just won't talk about things that we don't agree about. We just won't talk about things that we don't agree on. You will find, as you start growing in your Christian life, you don't have much to talk about. This is what you're going to find, because what agreement, what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? What agreement are you going to have with an unbeliever? And you say, well, no, we agree on everything. Well, then you're not growing in your Christian life. If you're hanging out with unbelievers, and you're fellowshipping with unbelievers, and you just agree on everything, and everything's exactly the same in your family as it is in theirs, then you're not growing in the Christian life. But as you begin to grow, as you begin to grow, you will find that you don't agree with much. And as you grow, you're going to realize that what you do agree on is going to become less and less and less. So look, it's a commandment in the Bible, but it's also a pragmatic one. It's a very pragmatic commandment. Look, you're going to find that all commandments are this way. We talked about it on Wednesday night with fornication. We talked about the commandment of against, yes, it's a commandment from God. It's a commandment from God. It'll preserve the nation. It'll preserve the next generation by preserving the family unit that God has ordained. But it's also just good for you personally. It's also very pragmatic, just individually, from a health standpoint. Look, 1 Corinthians 6 says you sin against your own body if you commit fornication. So these commandments, look, first of all, they're commandments from God. That should just be enough. But look, they're good for you. They're very pragmatic. Separation is no different. Separation is no different. If you don't separate, you know, from unbelievers, first it's a commandment, and that should always be enough. Because many times, look, many times we think we know what's good for us. Many times we think we know what's good for us. But let me tell you, the Bible is never wrong. And I've been wrong many times on what I thought was good for me in my life, and you will be wrong many times on what you think is good for you in your life. But God never makes mistakes. But if you ignore this one, and here's the why, we're going to look at, you know, in depth on the whys of separation. If you ignore this commandment, you know, one of two things is going to happen, okay? The first one is this. The first one is this. You will compromise your faith. You will compromise your faith. You will change, if you are fellowshipping with unbelievers, you will, you know, one of two things will happen. The first thing is this, you'll compromise. You will act, you will find for the sake of peace, for the sake of everyone getting along, you will act different around other people, you will act different around unbelievers than you would around believers. This is, you know, look, this is situational ethics. We've talked about this before, where you will act a certain way around a group of people, and then you get around another group of people and you'll act. Look, situational ethics are always bad. Situational ethics are bad. If it's wrong, it's wrong always, okay? Acting different, having different standards around different groups of people is wrong. You know, you say like the way you talk, maybe you talk different when you're fellowshipping with unbelievers than you would when you fellowship with your brothers and sisters in Christ. You know, maybe you dress different around unbelievers than you would with your brothers and sisters in Christ. Look, this is all wrong. There's a problem here. You're compromising is what's going on. You're compromising, so I mean, why would Jesus be for this? Why would God be for something that would drive you into compromise, okay? You'll find, and here's the funny thing. You do this to make peace. You do this to, you know, extend an olive branch to your friends or to your family that are unbelievers so you can have peace in those situations. But here's the thing. Here's the thing. As you do that and as you compromise your faith around those people, it's a no-win situation because you will find that they quickly begin to think that your faith is a joke. They quickly will realize that you don't, or they will think that, you know what, this faith, this thing that you're doing on Sundays or Wednesdays or whatever it is, they'll quickly think, you know, you don't even believe it. You don't even really believe it. You know, to you, yes, you're still hanging around them, but to them, you're a hypocrite. It's a no-win situation. And then when they see this, when they see this, they will encourage you even harder to quit that faith, to quit, to abandon that faith. Look, it's a terrible witness. It is a terrible witness. Look, they, they meaning the unbelievers in your life, the unbelievers in your life would be way better off, and please listen to me here, you're like, but I love these people. I've known them for 30 years. I've known them for 20 years. They would be way better off if you ended that relationship. You say why? Because at least they would know that your faith is not a joke to you. And then maybe, maybe someday they would want to know that truth. They would want to know. So think about that. The first thing is that, you know, it will cause you to compromise. The second thing is this. The second thing is this. You're like, I won't compromise. You're like, I'm still going to have fellowship with these people, and I will not compromise my faith. Well, here's what, here's the thing that you'll find. You will have a completely shallow relationship. That's the second thing. You can't separate for the sake of getting along. You just say, let's just not talk about certain things. We just won't talk about religion, or raising kids, or what's happening in the world. Think about the things that we talk about when we fellowship in this church. What do we talk about when we fellowship in this church? When we sit around at night, and we sit around in the evenings, and we talk, what do we talk about? We talk about everything. We talk about everything that's happening, everything that's going on with our kids, our families, our wives, everything in the world. We talk about everything. You will find that if you are fellowshipping with unbelievers, and you decide we're just going to avoid the things that cause strife, and all these things, you will find that those certain things is pretty much everything in your life. Having a relationship, a social relationship with somebody where you can talk about nothing, because that's where you'll end up. I'm not going to compromise, but you'll just end up in a ... It's basically, how's the weather? How's the weather? Good. How's the weather there? Good. Now what? That's where you'll end up. It's a pointless ... It quickly becomes a pointless relationship. This is the pragmatic part of separation right here. If you don't separate, and you don't compromise, it's going to be a completely pointless relationship. Turn to Luke chapter nine. It makes much more sense when you think about it this way, why Jesus gave such harsh language and harsh advice to folks on separation. Look at Luke chapter nine, and look at verse 59. There's a bunch of people here that wanted to follow Jesus. They wanted to go with Jesus, and they wanted to go and preach the gospel to people, and they wanted to go. They wanted to be part of this whole thing. I mean, it's Jesus. They're like, we want to go with you. Look at Luke nine and verse 59. The Bible says, and he said unto another, follow me, but he said ... So he says to a guy, follow me, and this guy says, Lord, suffer me. He's like, let me first go and bury my father. This guy wants to go back home and go to his dad's funeral, or maybe his dad was dying and on his way to die. We don't know exactly what happened, but basically he wanted to go back and say goodbye. Jesus said unto him, let the dead bury their dead, but thou go and preach the kingdom of God. So he says, no, instead of going backwards and doing that, he's like, let the dead bury the dead, and come with me, and let's preach the kingdom of God. Look at verse 61. And another said also, Lord, I will follow thee, but let me first go bid them farewell which are at my house. He just wanted to go say goodbye. And Jesus said unto him, no man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. Look, what he was doing here is he was explaining very clearly in both of these cases that by wanting to go back and bury his father, wanting to go back and say goodbye, look, you're focusing on the past is what he was saying to these two men. He's like not being able to let go of the past. What was Jesus trying to get them to do? What was Jesus, where were they going to go? They were going to go preach the kingdom of God. They were going to go preach the gospel. They were going to, look, but they couldn't let go. They couldn't do that because of the people that were around them. The dead are back there, Jesus said. He's like, let's go make some people not dead instead of focusing on the dead. He's like, let's go make some people not dead by, look, by not separating, you're focusing on the past. You are focusing, you are not looking back. You are not putting your hand to the plow. You are focusing backwards is what you're doing. Just like Jesus explained here. He's like having put his hand to the plow, you know, and looking back, you know, he's not fit for the kingdom of God. Look, he's not fit to preach the gospel. So the Bible says that looking, not separating is looking back. Turn to 2 Chronicles chapter 18. Let me just give you some closing thoughts here on separation. The best example, and I've brought this up before on separation in the Bible is Jehoshaphat, a good king, a godly man who failed to separate and it cost him dearly. But here's one thing I want to bring up about separation. Just a couple of closing thoughts here. Look at 2 Chronicles chapter 18 in verse number 1. The Bible says this. Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honor and abundance and joined affinity with Ahab. Ahab was a wicked king. So he had fellowship with Ahab. Verse number 2. In certain years he went down to Ahab, to Samaria, and Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance and for the people that he had with him and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth Gilead. And Ahab, king of Israel, said unto Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, wilt thou go with me to Ramoth Gilead? And he answered him, I am as thou art, and my people as thy people, and we will be with thee in the war. So look, here's the first thing I want to, just give me a couple closing thoughts, and the first one is this. And ask yourself why this is, by the way. It's always, in fellowship with unbelievers, when you refuse to separate or you don't separate, in fellowship with unbelievers, it's always the Christian that has to compromise. Why is that? It's always the Christian that has to bend, like, look, it was Jehoshaphat going to do what Ahab wanted to do. Why is that? Why didn't Ahab want to go do what Jehoshaphat wanted to do? But that's not what you see in the Bible. That's not what you see, and that's not how it's going to work with you. It's always going to be the Christian that has to compromise on his standards, or her standards, not the other way around. Every single time. It's never going to be everyone coming up to you and saying, hey, let's do things your way at the birthday party. Well, let's not, we won't have alcohol there. Everyone will dress appropriately there. You know, everyone will speak appropriately there. You know, look, no, it's always going to be you that has to bend to their standards. Why is that? Because that's what would happen if Christ had fellowship with Satan. That's why Christ doesn't have fellowship with Satan. Because it's always the Christian that has to bend to the other standards. Look at James chapter one. The second point I want to close with is this. Not separating, look, not separating is being double minded. Look at James chapter one and verse eight. James chapter one and verse eight. The Bible says a double minded man is unstable in all his ways. Look, not separating is being double minded. Look back at second Corinthians chapter six. You say why? You say why? Look at second Corinthians chapter six and verse 15, where the Bible says, and what concord hath Christ with Belial, or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? So this is again comparing Christ with hanging out with Satan. Now turn to first Kings chapter 18. And concord with Satan, Belial. First Kings chapter 18. But God is our God of the Bible that we serve, that we believe in, that we worship is a God of absolutes. He is not a God of gray zones. Look at first Kings chapter 18 and verse 21. First Kings chapter 18 and verse 21. So the point I'm trying to make is not separating is being double minded. You say prove it. Look at first Kings chapter 18. And Elijah, look at verse 21. And Elijah came unto all the people and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him. But if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. Look, Elijah here said, Hey, make up your mind. He's like, you can't have it. He's like, you can't have it both ways. You can't have it both ways with God. He's like, make up your mind. He's like, pick one. If Baal is God, serve him. If God of the Bible is God, follow him. He says, but yet, look, this is ultimately why. This is ultimately why right here, why the consequences of separating are so severe. This is why. Because this is what it means. Look, Jehoshaphat himself, he not only almost died personally, but he ruined the next two generations of his family. His children married the wrong people. And why do you say that is? Because it's a betrayal to God. That's why. Because it's a betrayal to God. Imagine, look, imagine, guys, imagine your wife. Sometimes, imagine having a wife where sometimes she just wants to have nothing to do with you. Where sometimes, you know, your wife just doesn't want to hang out with you. She doesn't want to fellowship with you. She doesn't want to be around you. But then, but then when she needs something. Let's say she needs money. Or let's say she needs help. Or let's say, you know, she just, let's just say she's just bored. She has nothing else to do at that time. Then she wants to hang around you and the kids. I mean, think about how offended you would be. Think about how offended that you would be if you had a wife that acted that way. Well, do you know that in the Bible that God compares his relationship with us as a marriage again and again and again in the Bible? Imagine having a spouse, wives. Imagine a husband who just didn't want to have much to do with you. He just didn't want to be around you. He didn't want to be around you and the kids. He's out hanging out with his friends constantly. He's just constantly doing things without you and the family. And then, you know, if he ever gets some downtime where there's just like nobody that's calling him at that time, then he's like, okay, you know, do you want to do something? Imagine how offended you would be if that was your spouse. Turn to James chapter 4. Look, I want my wife to be only interested in me always, no matter what. Turn to James chapter 4. Look, you want a spouse. Women want a husband who's just interested in them and wants to be around them all the time and is just only interested in them. Women want the same thing. You say, but I just want to keep peace. I just want to keep peace with the people. I want to live this Christian life, but I just want to keep peace with the people that I work with. I want to keep peace with the people in my family. I want to just keep peace. Look at James chapter 4. Look at verse number 4. The Bible says, ye adulterers and adulteresses. Funny how it uses that term there. Know ye not. It uses the term of a man or a woman who's committing adultery on their spouse. More extreme languages. Know ye not that friendship of the world is enmity with God. Whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Look, enmity means hostility. So if you're going to be like, you know what, we're going to just keep these relationships with unbelievers and we're going to still go to these things that have all these unbelievers there. We're still going to do these things. Then the Bible says that you have hostility towards God. The Bible says that you're being hostile towards the Lord. That's not what I mean. It doesn't matter. That's what you're doing. It doesn't matter what you think you mean. It doesn't matter how you feel. It's what you're doing. But you're not keeping peace. You're keeping peace with the world, but you're having hostility towards God. It's a little different when you think about it that way, isn't it? And that, look, that is why God judges it so severely. Is because you're literally being hostile towards God. That's why Jesus said, you must let all that stuff go. Look, folks, not, look, here's the thing, folks, not every Christian will follow Christ. We know that. We see people out soul winning all the time, they're saved, they're just not doing anything in their life. Not every Christian will follow Christ. Many, many, I guess you could say most Christians today are as wrapped up in the world as unbelievers. But the Bible says if you want to follow Christ, if you want to follow Christ, you'll find these people out in the world, they look just like the world, they're in the same sins, they're in the same standards, they're the same everything. They look the same. Exactly the same. But if you don't want that to be you, if you actually want to follow Jesus, then separation needs to happen. Because it's one way or the other, there's no gray zone with God. So look, what is fellowship, is friendship? The who is, you know, unbelievers. The why is it's enmity towards God, it's double minded, and that's why there will be severe consequences. And look, Jehoshaphat, he didn't even live to see all the consequences. So think about that too. He didn't even live to see the consequences that happened, you know, a hundred years down the road, or 50 years down the road. Turn to Luke chapter 12, and let me just close here. Look at Luke chapter 12. This is why the consequences are so severe, folks, because God looks at it as adultery. God looks at it as hostility. It's double minded, it's going to cause you to be unstable. If you have situational ethics going on in your life, you're like, oh, I'm going to dress this way around these. I mean, first of all, how confusing must that be? I mean, how stressful must that be? But if you're just going to have these different standards every single place you go, depending on who you hang out with, look, it's going to cause you to be unstable everywhere. And it will have severe consequences. Look at Luke chapter 12, in verse 53, you say, you know what, I agree, I'm going to follow the Bible here, I'm going to do what this says, I'm not going to have fellowship with unbelievers anymore in my life. Look at Luke 12, in verse 53. The Bible says this, the father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father, and the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother, and the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Now, it's interesting, because back in verse 51, Jesus is saying, suppose ye that I come to give peace on earth. I tell you nay, but rather division. So we're taught today, we're taught today in church, and Christianity today teaches that Jesus is all about peace and love and prosperity. It's all about peace and love and prosperity. It's all about just loving everybody no matter what, you know, but that's not what it says in verse 51. He says, I come to bring division. That's like the opposite of what Christianity today is teaching. He's like, I'm coming to divide. If you go to some, you know, church that teaches that just love everything all the time no matter what, look, there's going to be no division ever on anything. This is where you get the Christians that look exactly like the world. You get the Christians that are wrapped up in the same thing. That's why those churches don't, they don't talk about sin. They don't teach about sin, because they don't want to divide anybody. They don't want, because look, preaching against sin is going to divide people. You know, if you say that, you know, there can't be fornicators in this church, and you follow 1 Corinthians chapter 5, the Bible says, I mean, look, that's going to cause division. If you run a biblical church, it's going to cause division. Jesus, I didn't come to bring peace. I didn't come, look, the peace that Jesus brings is peace between us and God. Is taking away the wrath of God against us, as we're clothed in His righteousness. That's the peace that Jesus brings. But He's talking here about, I didn't come to bring peace on earth, earth meaning amongst men. He's like, I didn't come to give peace on earth amongst all you people down there. He's like, this message is going to divide people. It's going to divide, and then He gets to the most, the most, the most strongest bonds that you could possibly have, a father against a son. I think about just, I think about that myself, and I'm so thankful that this will never be me. I'm so thankful that my sons are saved. I'm so thankful that I've raised, you know, two sons and a daughter who have grown up to love and serve the Lord, because this, you know what? Verse 53 will never be me. It'll never be me. That should be, look, but you know what, folks? That's looking forward. That's looking forward, not back. That's something that you can change. But you know what you have to do in order to make sure verse 53 never happens? You have to separate. You have to separate. If you never want that to happen to you in verse 53, you must separate, or it's going to happen to you. The odds are that the next generations, it's going to be ugly. Look at, Jehoshaphat was one of the best kings in the Old Testament, and it happened to him. You think it's an accident that God puts this stuff in the Bible? You think about, you know, a father being divided against his own son for the sake of Jesus. Happens all the time, but that's the consequences. And so look, let me just say another thing about verse 53. This goes to show you that if you do separate, if you do separate, I mean a father being divided against his own son, think about that. Dads, think about your sons and being separated against them. You're just like, what could ever make that happen? What could ever make that happen? Well, nothing for you because, you know, you're saved. But here's the thing, here's the thing. As you separate, there are going to be people that don't like it. And there are going to be people that don't like it to an extreme. They, I mean, people that really don't like it. You say, well I don't have any people, well maybe you haven't separated. So you really, you know, you really have to decide in your life, do I want enmity with the earth or do I want enmity with God? Easy choice for me. Who do I want enmity with? You can't have it both ways. It's just like Elijah said, pick one. He said pick one. Look, this concept of separation, folks, is so simple. Do I want to make the world an enemy? And that world may be people that you've known for a very long time. It may be people that you are related to. Do you want enmity with that or do you want enmity with God? And do you want the consequences that come along with that? You really have to think about that. You really have to think about that. Dads, you are the ones that need to think about it the most. Because you are driving that ship of your family through the world. You are navigating your family through this, look, it's a mess. It's a mess. I can't believe how bad it's getting. I can't believe it. I can't even begin to tell you what's coming next. I mean I can't begin to even think about what six months will bring. I mean things that I never thought would have been possible. You can't go to church anymore. Things that I never would have been thought possible in America, I mean, have happened in the last year. I mean what in the world? It's ugly. It's bad. There's perverts everywhere. My wife was telling me, she's like, there's people walking around, you're like, they crawled out of hell and they're just walking all over the place. You know, I mean, it's bad. Men you have to navigate your family through this mess. And I mean you just have to like, it's a simple doctrine, you just got to do it because the Bible says it. And then, you know what, then you have a chance. It's possible. It's possible to raise godly children today in this mess. How's it possible? Follow what the Bible says. It's possible to raise, I mean, it's possible to have a church that preaches the Bible that runs properly that protects children. It's possible. And by God we're going to do it here. All these things are possible. But you can't pick and choose what's in this book and what you're going to do. You can't pick and choose because I don't want to offend anybody. I mean give me a break. I mean you say you're a strong Christian man and you're worried about offending people because you don't want to do something that the Bible says. I mean, mind exploded. What am I doing here? What am I doing here? Separation, super simple. This is doctrine 101 right here. Baptist basics. Practice it. Practice it. And look, you will not regret it. Anything that's in the Bible if you do it, God's right, you're wrong. Amen. Let's bow our heads and have a word of praise.