Assembly: Why Separation? — Joel Portman

The Purpose of Explaining Assembly Practices

I want to speak on a little subject of why and why not, and if that's simple enough for you, you'll understand what I have in mind. There are a number of things I'd like to look at, especially as it has to do with the local assembly and the practices of the local assembly, and explain why we do certain things and why we don't do certain things.

So, you have in mind, of course, that I'm thinking about especially younger believers, because I really believe that it's important for us to give the reasons from the Word of God why we do certain things, why we practice things, why we believe certain doctrines, and why we believe they're important.

I hope you'll agree with me anyway, because I'm not trying to tell you anything new. I'll be trying to reinforce that which we've always believed and have been taught. So, while I said that I have in mind primarily things having to do with the assembly, I'm going to take up a different subject today.

Giving an Answer for the Christian Faith

Would you turn with me anyway in connection with that to 1 Peter chapter 3? I want to speak to you about a very unpopular subject, and what I try to speak on generally as a result, I hope in a way, of what I believe is necessary in our particular day.

Things that we see and things that we are brought into contact with as we move around and observe the condition of things should at least indicate to us what kind of ministry needs to be given. Now, it may not be necessarily needed right here in Blue River, but nevertheless, I believe it's a truth that needs to be repeated again.

But in connection with giving the why and the why not, I want you to notice with me in 1 Peter chapter 3, a verse that has been upon my mind in relation to that particular point of view. Notice in verse 15, I know this has to do with testimony of the believer in view of an unsaved world primarily, but notice he says, but sanctify.

That is, in the circumstances in which the truth of God is being attacked and the faith is being undermined perhaps and they're going to be suffering for it, he says, but sanctify. That word means to set apart in a very distinct way, give him that position, the Lord God.

Now, Mr. Darby translates that, the Lord the Christ, or another translation says, sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer. Now, that word answer is the word defense.

We need to be able to defend what we believe, to be able to defend what we practice, to have an answer to give to those who would ask, why do you do this and why do you not do the other thing? And that's what Peter is telling them, that in the midst of those times when they're going to be questioned and even the possibility of being caused to suffer for what they believe, they should be ready always to give a defense.

An apology is the word really, only it's not making apologies, it's an apologetic defense for what you believe to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you. But he says, do it with meekness and with fear.

And he says, having a good conscience that whereas they speak evil of you as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse or revile your good conversation, your good behavior in Christ. So, what I'm looking at in verse 15 is primarily the thought that you as believers and I as a believer should be ready and able to give an answer.

Why do we believe this or why do we practice that? Because you're not too far removed from the knowledge, of course, that in the world around us there are very few people, pervassing Christians even, that would acknowledge that the doctrines that we believe and the practices that we seek to maintain are really important at all.

And while they may not be absolutely essential when it comes to one's salvation, I don't believe we can say that there's any of them that are not important when it comes to doing the will of God. Now, what I'd like to look at is in also 1 Peter, leaving that passage, I want to turn back to chapter 1 and I'll tell you right now that what I've been exercised to speak on this afternoon is the very unpopular but I hope it's appreciated subject of separation.

Separation as a Positive Biblical Truth

That's a very bad word in the eyes of many people. It carries a negative connotation in the minds of most people. But can I just tell you that I really believe that separation is a very positive truth, very positive.

It's positive, first of all, because it's a truth that is very beautiful and precious to God. To have a people that are uniquely His and separated unto Him and acknowledge His claims upon them, that is something God appreciates.

And because of that, I say it's a very positive thing. It's also positive, child of God, because of its beneficial effects, the result it has for you and me if we understand the truth and what God desires for us in it.

It's very positive because it's essential for your spiritual well-being and for your growth in the things of God. It's very positive as well because it's that which honors the Lord Jesus in the life of His people, recognizing His claims upon us.

It's a very practical thing and very essential for our testimony as we move before the world. So, when I look at separation, unto the Lord Jesus Christ, I believe in my own mind, is a very, very positive, very beautiful, very attractive thing.

Now, I hope I can present it that way. I don't want you to think about it like the Pharisees did. You know, they were separated people, but they were doing it as a form of a legalistic observance. God doesn't want that.

God was calling upon His people in the Old Testament repeatedly that they might acknowledge His claims upon them and live in that way out of a heart that was drawn to Him in genuine affection and a recognition of the place that He really ought to have in their life and how to express it in their behavior.

Holiness as Obedience to God

And notice what He says here in 1 Peter, and Peter is one that stresses this a number of times. He's making it very clear that there's a certain way that God is calling upon His people to live. Notice in verse 14, as obedient children.

Now, that word really could be translated children that are characterized by obedience. That should be the characteristic of every genuine believer. They are children of obedience. That's the characteristic.

They want to obey and they want to please the Lord. As children of obedience, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts or desires in your ignorance. That's what characterized them before they came into the knowledge of the truth.

But as He which hath called you is holy, or according to the Holy One that has called you, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. Now, the word holy doesn't mean holier than thou or sanctimonious.

It means set apart. It's connected with the idea of acknowledging His claims upon us. God Himself is unique in His person. He's distinct from all others. It says you yourselves are to be distinct as God Himself looks upon each one of us.

He says so be ye holy in all different manner of behavior and living in this world because He is holy. That's the first reason why, of course, we should live separate into Him. Because verse 16, it is written, be ye holy for I am holy.

Now, you know that's back in Leviticus chapter 11. God calls upon His people to do that and to be in that condition. Verse 17, and if you call on the Father, call Him Father, who without respect of persons judge it according to every man's work.

Past the time of your sojourning here in fear. For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation, your vain behavior, your living received by tradition from the fathers, your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

And He goes on to develop that and the results of it. Now, notice in this passage that He is calling upon them to be marked by holy behavior of separated life and conduct because of the one we're in relationship to.

He's our Father and He is one, of course, who is distinct and unique in His person and we're identified with Him. And we are to have characteristics of life that conform to Him and are suitable to His own presence.

But then He goes on to develop the fact that as a result of the redemptive price that was paid in verse 18, He says that's another reason for, that's the basis for our separation of the hill. You know, redemption is a great word in the book of God.

Redemption is a word that indicates a price that has been paid to set us free and deliver us from what hindered us and what was burdening us in our sinful condition. But setting us free is not indicating what work that makes us, makes it possible or such as a liberty to do whatever we want to.

Redemption always puts a claim upon the ones that are redeemed. That's a principle in the word of God. When God redeems something, He claims it because He paid the price for it. That's what happened, of course, in the firstborn of a lamb, the firstborn of the clean animals and so on, and the firstborn of the children.

God says, I claim that because I redeemed it. I paid the price to set it free. And so you and I have been redeemed. And because of redemption's price paid, God says, you belong to me. You don't belong to yourself.

You don't belong to this world. You have a responsibility and a desire to respond to Him. So notice it's based upon the father aspect of our relationship with Him, and it's based upon the redemptive price that was paid by the Lord Jesus.

And He says, because of that, He says, be holy, be set apart. Even, He says, as God is. Now we'll go over to chapter 4. And we'll read from verse 1. Forasmuch then, or therefore, as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind, that is, the same purpose, have the same heart.

For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased, or done with sin, in order that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of a life may suffice us.

That really simply means that the time past was more than enough, no need for any more of it, it was more than enough to have wrought the will of the Gentiles when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revelings, banquetines, and abominable idolatries, wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of lait, speaking evil of you.

So here is a contrast that is developing the fact that they have been brought into relationship with the Lord Jesus, no longer to continue to live the same pattern of life that marked them before their salvation, or even is what characterized the world around them.

But now they live in a way that is different in relation to the will of God. Now there are so many scriptures that one could read when you look at this subject having to do with the principle of separation in a believer's life.

Separation from the Beginning of Scripture

Let me just say first of all, you can't read your Bible without seeing this from cover to cover, can you? A lot of times we make excuses for perhaps what we do or what we don't do in our lives, but I just like to tell myself as well as each one of us that when we begin to make excuses for our behavior, we're in a bad situation right there.

We shouldn't have to make excuses when there's things not right about our lives or things that ought to be corrected, we need to deal with them and be honest before God about them. But when we make excuses and we say, well, you know, that's just the way I am, or that's because of this, or that's because of the other thing, then we're really setting aside the truth of what the Word of God said.

But when we look from the very beginning of our Bible to the very end, we find the fact that God has established, even in chapter 1 of Genesis, the principle of separation, light from darkness, and so on.

And so we find that carried through the entire Bible, and the Word of God is so clear in what God desires for each one of us. But what is separation? Well, it's interesting to me that in the Old Testament, the word is a word that is oftentimes linked with another word that is found in Numbers chapter 6.

You remember Numbers chapter 6? That's the chapter that has to do with the Nazarite. And if you look at the word set, not all the time, but many times in the Old Testament, the word that is used for God calling his people now to be separated unto him, it's related very closely to the word for the Nazarite.

So it indicates one who is set apart for a particular purpose, identified as uniquely belonging to God. You remember what the Nazarite was? Out of devotion of his heart, out of a simple desire to do that which was pleasing to God, and to respond to him, he was willing to say no to certain things in his life, and to adhere to a certain pattern of behavior.

So in the Old Testament, it is strongly linked with the thought of the character of a knife of a Nazarite that really, spiritually speaking, should be characteristic of your life and mine. In the New Testament, the word that is translated separate or separated is a word that indicates to put a boundary around, a limit, to indicate this is where I am and I'm not going farther.

I'm not moving across this boundary. I have a certain delineation of life, and that's where I belong and that's where I'm going to be. That's what's going to characterize my life. It indicates the thought of having a boundary.

And you know a boundary, in terms of our land today, determines what belongs to an individual. Whether you live in a country or whether you live in town, you have a certain boundary that has been determined.

You can say, this is my property, that's your property. And so what is within the boundary is that which belongs to somebody. And when you look at the word separate or separated in the Bible, in the New Testament, it indicates that that which is within that boundary belongs to the Lord himself.

And you and I are inside that boundary. And the world is outside the boundary. And all that is contrary to the will of God is outside the boundary. He says, you and I are inside this boundary that is set apart by what has been purchased and is presently the possession of the Lord Jesus.

So when you think of separation, you think of something that is, well, like God spoke to Israel, he speaks about his people today. He says, they are a peculiar treasure. They are a precious possession that is uniquely mine.

And God looks at it that way. He says, you belong to me. And God himself says that he is a jealous God. He doesn't want to share us with the world around the citizen enemy of his. So we look at the Old Testament and we find that the Nazarite really is one of the most vivid examples of a person who voluntarily acknowledged the claims of God upon them.

And they sought to live in a way that is according to that. Again, in the Old Testament, you know, there are examples that illustrate to us what God desires in our lives in terms of separation. I'm thinking about Abraham.

Abraham as a Separated Pilgrim

You remember that God tells us not only in Hebrews 11, Acts chapter 7 and verse 1, but also in Genesis chapter 12 about Abraham. But when he was called, God says, he went out. He obeyed rather, I'm sorry, I forgot one word there.

He obeyed. That was the first thing. And he went out. And you know about Abraham? He never went back. Once he went out, he stayed out. And he had no desire to ever return. We read in Genesis chapter 12 that God had called Abram.

He says, get me out from among thy country, thy kinsmen, thy family and all the rest of it onto a land that I shall show thee up. And we find that Abram obeyed God. And when you trace Abram's life and Abraham's life subsequently, you find that he was a man whose life was marked by being what Peter talks about.

He was a pilgrim and a stranger. He was in a land that God promised him, surrounded by all these pagan, idolatrous nations and people around him. But here was a man that distinctly knew the presence of God and acknowledged the claims of God upon him and all that he was, all that he had, and all that he did.

So, I think that when you look at Abraham in his life, you can find that there's an example of a man who was marked by separation. I mean, it's a positive thing in his life. It wasn't that he didn't do this or he didn't do the other.

It's that he was doing what God wanted him to do. And he was moving in a pathway that God wanted him to move in and enjoying the fellowship and the communion of God in that experience. That's what God wants for you and me.

Enoch's Walk with God

I go back a little farther in my Bible and you think of a man like Enoch. I was thinking about him especially coming over this morning. Most remarkable man in my understanding that when God spoke to him in a very unique way, it says that Enoch began to walk with God.

And Enoch walked with God for 300 years. And the word walked in that sense carries the idea that he walked with God without interruption. A continual walk in the midst of an increasingly ungodly and defiled world.

And there's a man that knew the uniqueness of being in such a relationship with God that he had no time or interest in intermingling and being involved in the world around him. He saw that it was a world under judgment and he had no part in it.

So you can go right to the word of God and you can find very vivid, very definite examples of what God desires for you and me in our world today. And we come back to 2 Corinthians chapter 6. We'll have to go to that anyway eventually so you might as well turn to it.

Corinth and the Corruption of Worldly Associations

But you know, God is, the Lord is speaking there through the apostle Paul to the believers in Corinth. I don't know if you ever take any time to think about the world in which those believers were living, the environment in which they were called upon to bear testimony for Christ.

But I'm not really convinced that it was a whole lot different than what we have today. In fact, I think we're living in Corinth more and more. And there are more and more lessons that we can gain from looking at the problems that they faced and what brought about their downfall and what caused the difficulty, the assembly among the believers in Corinth.

I think they have a very definite relationship to each one of us in our day. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, I think it's about verse 34, Paul is speaking of course about the resurrection and the effect of the resurrection and the power of the resurrection, the life.

And you notice there's a little unique verse there that comes in and he says, Be not deceived. Evil communications corrupt good manners. That's a hard verse to translate. It turns out that you could translate it evil associations corrupt good morals.

And if you think about the environment in which those believers were living in Corinth, where the entire society was saturated, not only with paganism and the idolatrous practices of the temple that was there, but also the evil moral practices that were a part of their world.

And the economic focus that was so prevalent and so important to those in Corinth, it was a very commercial city. And all the other activities that went on in that city. Listen, brethren and sisters, we're living in a very similar circumstance today.

And what Paul is saying there has a number of meanings in that verse in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. One could be the thought that the wrong teaching about the resurrection, that denied the resurrection, would have a sad effect upon their spiritual state.

And it certainly would. But it also indicates to my mind that their continual failure to separate themselves from the evil practices of the world in which they were living. Paul says it's going to inevitably corrupt and ruin your moral practices.

I think that if you look at the problems that the assembly in Corinth faced, primarily, it seems to me that they're associated with one great problem. That is the fact that they were still frequently frequenting the idol's temple.

They were still associating themselves with activities that God says are contrary to the table of the Lord. So, separation is a very vital principle when it comes to the individual's life. I've mentioned before that when God has redeemed us, he has claimed us for his own.

Redemption Means Belonging to God

And I think that we all realize that. Every one of us is God's people. We recognize the fact that if he has saved me, then I belong to him. If he has redeemed me, he has paid a price for me, I'm his. I'm not really my own.

You know, the attitude that is natural among men, including ourselves to some extent, is that our desire is to think ourselves free to do whatever we want to do. And the natural man, the unsaved man of the world, he thinks he's free for the most part.

He can do whatever he wants to. But it's interesting that the word of God tells us very clearly that that person is really a slave. And they're really not free at all because they're doing what the mind and the flesh wills them to do.

They're captives to sin and to Satan. And really, when it comes to the thought of God redeeming us and setting us free, what he has done is to make us free to do what we could not do before, and that is to live a life to please him.

That's a wonderful thing that what we could never have done in our sins, God says you can do by the power of God today. And we enjoy the freedom of the sons of God and the blessedness of enjoying a relationship with him.

But the word of God also tells us in 1 Corinthians, twice over in 1 Corinthians, you're not your own. You've been bought with a price. Therefore, he says, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are his.

He's reminded that in view of their behavior and their practices, indicating to them that they have a responsibility to respond to him. So in a sense, no one is really genuinely free to do whatever they want to do.

Fellowship with God Requires Separation

But we're all under an obligation or under some control of some measure or another. I'll just ask the question, perhaps, why should believers really be separate? We're trying to explain what it means to be separated.

Why should we be? Let me just summarize that by three basic, simple things that I believe are important to a believer's life. The first thing is having to do with my fellowship. I'm not talking about fellowship with God's people.

That's a part of it. I'm thinking primarily of fellowship with God. God called you and me. He has brought us into a sphere where we can call him father. That's what we read in 1 Peter chapter one. We call him father.

Now, John develops the fact that every father having children is going to delight in seeing those characteristics reproduced in the children. And he says in that family relationship, if we're going to enjoy fellowship with God as our father, we have to be aware of the fact that there are conditions that he requires.

That's going beyond salvation. But in other words, God is saying that his desire is that in the midst of this unholy and defiling world, he might have those with whom he can enjoy genuine fellowship, a spiritual fellowship.

And since God has no participation with darkness, and God has no desire to intermingle himself with the ungodly, frivolous, unprofitable activities of the world, that's what he expects for us as well.

God called Israel out of Egypt. He says, I bore you on eagles' wings. I brought you to myself, that you might be a holy people, a peculiar people, that in the midst he might dwell among them, and they might enjoy fellowship with God.

Now, in a spiritual sense, that's what God has done for you and me. He's brought us out of darkness, translated us out of darkness into the kingdom of the son of his love, Colossians chapter one. Made us heirs of God, joined heirs with Christ, and given us the capacity by the spirit of God indwelling us that we might enjoy fellowship with God.

But remember, God is holy. God is a God that doesn't tolerate compromise. And the more that you and I appreciate the uniqueness and the preciousness of that relationship with God, the more we'll be like Enoch and recognize the fact that I have to walk in close harmony and fellowship with him.

God said that the children of Israel that aim us, chapter three, he says, can two walk together except that they agree. And God was dealing with his people in that case because of the fact that they had departed so far from him that it was on the verge of, shall we say, a divorce, a separation.

God says, I can't be among you. Because of the fact of what they were doing and tolerating their life and their intermingling among the nations around them, God says that we can't have fellowship together because we're not in agreement.

And God has called you and me that we might be in agreement with him. We might see things as he sees them. We might judge things and evaluate them as God evaluates them. And to see them with eyes that have been enlightened by the holy spirit of God.

We'll try to develop that maybe a little bit as time allows and going on. The next thing I want to mention of why we should be separate is because that bears very heavily upon our own spiritual condition.

Separation and Spiritual Growth

I've never met a believer yet that is intermingling themselves and involving themselves in the defiling world around them that was ever enjoying a healthy spiritual state in relation to what God desired for them.

There's something about each one of us. In a very real sense, we are only one person. You can't divide your life up. You can't be a part here and a part there and this is a part for over here and another part there.

We have a unified essence in our own person. We can't divide ourselves up and say, well, this part could be over here occupied with this kind of thing and this other part could be over here occupied with spiritual things.

What we are in any particular area of our life is going to affect the entirety of what we really are. And you know, your mind and mine really only has enough room for certain things and what we have in our minds is always going to affect us in every other aspect of our thinking.

So the word of God makes it very clear that if we want to develop our lives spiritually and I hope you and I do with all of our hearts, it's just not enough to be saved and on the way to heaven, is it?

Wonderful thing to know that and be sure about it, but that's not what God ultimately desires as the only thing. He wants us to be exercising our heart to make genuine progress by the power of the spirit of God in putting into practice the word of God and enjoying a healthy spiritual state in harmony with himself.

You know, if we are feeding our hearts and minds on things that are contrary to that condition, it's like, well, you don't hear a lot today about childhood obesity. I hope I'm not offending anybody here, but you read about that nowadays and one of the problems, of course, stems from the fact that many children aren't eating good healthy food.

So that what they are is a result of what they've been eating, right? If you eat Twinkies, you'll have a Twinkie physique, won't you? It won't be worth very much and, well, unfortunately, I can't eat Twinkies, so I don't have to worry about that, but you know what I mean.

What we are is a result of what we've been eating, how we've been treating ourselves. Same thing applies in the spiritual realm, because if we are feeding our souls and our spirits on things that are detrimental to our spiritual welfare, then you know what the result is going to be.

We're going to be spiritual cripples, not developing the way we want. I don't know if you're satisfied with that or not. I've been saved about 54 years now, and I surely haven't grown the way I should have, but I want to grow more.

I want to make progress, and it should be the desire of every one of us. In a sense, we are satisfied perfectly with what God has made us in Christ. We should never be really satisfied with what we are in terms of our condition.

We ought to desire to grow and make progress. That's more than just external activities. It's an internal transformation that is taking place, isn't it? And so what we are involved in in this relation of separation is going to affect our condition spiritually.

Entertainment and Spiritual Degeneration

You know, I'm really stirred about this quite a bit, because moving around among God's people, we do notice a few things that are found in Christian poems. It's amazing to me to hear, and this is actual fact, Brother just told me recently, about an assembly where there are elders in that assembly, their wives, and when they can get together, what they talk about is the latest videos that they're looking at.

There's no question, there's no difficulty understanding why things are not really what they ought to be there in terms of the assembly, because these are men that have responsibility. I was just in a home recently, and I won't even say where, it wasn't around here, to say that, where this brother, who was one of the elders, he did all the announcing of the assembly, had a larger library of videos, DVDs, than I have of books, almost.

A lot of Christians have books. What is he feeding himself on? What is he looking at? I don't look at the things because I don't know what they are. I'm not trying to boast about that at all. You know, there's something in us that does appreciate, just enjoy looking at that stuff.

It may be in terms of violence, it may be in terms of immorality, maybe in terms of many other things that are occupying the minds of individuals, but I'm amazed at what some Christians are watching and are looking at today.

I don't know what you're looking at. You don't know what I'm looking at, but I know the Lord knows all about that. He tries the hearts, He tries the reins, and I can only say this, in our day today, it goes without saying that there is a spiritual degeneration taking place.

Now, you can ask yourself, what's the cause of it? Well, there's a degeneration causing Christians to desire other things, because they're not satisfied with the things that are spiritual, or is the desire for other things causing the degeneration?

Maybe they go hand in hand, I don't know. But I know this, that if you and I, and I speak for myself, if I'm not feeding my soul on the Word of God, there's always a degeneration that begins to take place.

It seems to me that when a believer becomes involved in the world's entertainment, and I mean entertainment in all those various forms, I've been amazed to be in the homes of brethren who are elders in the assembly, and the first thing they do after they get done with breakfast is go in and get on the internet and find out what the sports scores are, and the ball games and so on.

I thought, what in the world are you doing that for? I don't know, it's sort of harmless entertainment, I guess, but I wonder, what in the world do you care about those things? I could get involved in sports as much as anybody else, because I like them.

But you have to guard yourself, in a sense, don't you? Because this spiritual life that God has given us is precious. It's worth cultivating. It's worth feeding. And this relationship that God wants to have with us, as a father to his own children, depends on us enjoying and maintaining a condition of life that is correspondent to his.

And if we don't, there's a separation comes in. There's a point of difference that comes in between us. So, our spiritual condition is dependent upon separation. I think I've flogged that point enough at this point, anyway.

A Distinct Christian Testimony

But the third thing is that in relation to separation, it's going to affect our testimony. The more we become like the world around us, it's the result of our occupation with the world and the things that are in the world, which God says are not of the father, they're of the world, 1 John chapter 2 and verse 15, 16.

The more that we're occupied with those things, the more we become like them. And the more we become like them, the more it dilutes the effectiveness of our testimony. Some people think, well, if I'm going to reach people that are not saved, I've got to sort of relate to them.

I've got to be able to talk their talk and understand what they're thinking about and be able to relate to them. What do you think of the ones that have the greatest testimony for God of their day, were men that walked a pathway that was distinct?

You know, you look down through, I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately, but you look at the history of the men and women that have stood up for God in their life and have been effective for God in their testimony, God has used them.

And you'll mark this, they were marked by godliness. They were marked by a character that corresponded to God and that they were living in the world with a definite purpose and view. They were not just in the world to enjoy what the world had to give them and to prosper and to get ahead financially and positionally.