“God demands of His Church in all ages that it should be separated from the world, a separation so sharp that it amounts to an antagonism.” – E.M. Bounds

THE INNOVATIVE WAVE of accepting, embracing and promoting what was once deemed wrong is the epitome of lawlessness. Science emphatically states that the human race is always advancing and improving. To be ‘pessimistic’ to the illusional mind, the facts reveal that society is not evolving but actually devolving. Never has education been so rich as it is now and yet, we – society as a whole – are none the better for it, but worse off. Isn’t this what our psychologists insist on – in ‘reforming’ the criminal mind; not to punish but rather educate? The undeniable fact is, resulting from such an approach, crime has escalated significantly – not due to the increase of population but rather, the lack of executing justice on wrong and the deficiency of endorsing and rewarding right conduct.

Who would have thought it possible, decades ago, that not only would our government require society to be non-discriminating and non-judgmental towards homosexuality, but also implement mandatory laws to embrace and support it and that silence (not expressing approval) on such issues would be confined to a ‘criminal’ mindset of homophobia?

We are fast approaching the precipice edge where we will no longer be at liberty to state what is wrong or right, but yet, it is ‘justifiable’ for a depraved governmental administration to call wrong, right and vice versa; to punish the good and reward the bad! Such absurdity is a disgrace to hypocrisy!

Society is becoming more and more anaesthetised to the depravity of all that is being embraced as the norm today. Our children, in public education, have no hope of knowing right from wrong unless a righteous reform sweeps the corridors of our schools and that is not going to happen unless the Church first gets down to serious prayer and before that takes place, many have to be spiritually reformed. It’s no good having ‘a day of prayer’ – that is just a load of sanctimonious humbug and is as ridiculous as planning and organising a revival to break out at our command; it takes far more than that and so great is the task that unless God’s grace is with us, it will leave us crushed with overwhelming despondency. If many were serious in prayer, they wouldn’t get up until they knew that God had heard them and the answer was given. Duncan Campbell said, “Desire for revival is one thing; confident anticipation that our desire will be fulfilled is another.” That is to be applied to every area of prayer.

How we so easily forget that God answered men and women who agonised in prayer. What excuses us from such battlegrounds? The saints of old knew that God was sovereign, but it never deterred them from intercessory prayer that literally altered the course of world significant history. Get a hold of ‘Intercessor’ – the life story of Rees Howells by Norman Grubb and read how God moved through the prayers of an obedient servant completely sold out to Him. Howells was a man who knew the price of being an intercessor which many would shrink back from today. He was God’s man; alive to God, dead to the world and to self.

This is one of the hallmarks of those who know God through prayer; they are distinguishable from the world; they are set apart; they are consecrated to God; they are holy – a word that many Christians are afraid to even utter these days. Power is the vogue today, not purity. Holiness will make you unpopular in the eyes of the world; to be pure, many will think you’re a prude. If you have Christ’s purity, you will certainly know His power resting on you that will influence souls around you in staggering ways you cannot fathom. Paul, the Pharisee, never knew the power of Christ resting on him until he was a broken man; crucified to the world and the world unto Him – and in God’s name, we will NEVER know that until we have walked in his steps.

We can count on it, that the imparted righteousness of Christ (holiness) in our lives will inevitably spark conflict in the midst of a diverse and multi-cultural society. Christ said, “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). Before we can encounter the peace of God, there has to be a tremendous break-up of all that we banked our life on; before God exalts us, He brings us low by opening our eyes to our true state. Where Pride conceals, God reveals. When Peter addressed his hearers with the power of the gospel, they were cut to the heart (Acts 2:37) and is it any wonder why the author of Hebrews wrote, “For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart”?

Our lives, as authentic and Spirit-filled (an exhortation by Paul to believers, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, to go on being filled with Him – Ephesians 5:18) Christians, will incite one of two responses from the world: resentment or repentance. To get no response should lead us to despond and examine our profession as Christians. Compromising Christians will neither evoke concern nor provoke contempt in the heart of an unbeliever.

A Spirit-filled Christian will not find the world’s smut humorous, not so much because they are prohibited in doing so, but predominantly, such humour runs contrary to what they desire. Furthermore, a Christian shouldn’t feel obligated to laugh (even when they find it offensive) at sins witticism so as not to make the world feel uncomfortable. That includes numerous scenarios; the Christian’s perspective on money, ambition, possessions, position, prestige and use of time is radically different to that of the world’s mentality. Many Christians are afraid of standing out and living apart from the world’s mindset. They are concerned for their self-image and so we hear of many that endorse a lifestyle of ‘balance’ in order to ‘blend’ in with culture. The only time a Christian should be justifiably afraid to stand out different from the world is either when they don’t know God or when they are distant from Him; where the fires of first love have grown dim. That will bring more damage to the cause of Christ than anything else.

Whether we like it or not, the Scriptures are emphatically clear that those who desire to live a godly life, in and through the power of Christ, will be persecuted. We are going to look very odd in the eyes of the world; we are going to appear very backward and behind the times; we are going to be looked upon as being irksome and unamusing; we are going to be shunned from the company we used to relish; we are going to be treated as refuse; we are going to be treated with contempt; we are going to be condemned by the world; we are going to be singled out as the world’s greatest peace-disturbers. The whole world could stand against us, but oh! If God is for us – and He certainly is – then who really is against us?! If God’s smile is upon us, we have everything any man or woman could ever possibly dream of and oftentimes that smile is God counting us worthy to suffer for His name’s sake. May we be found as the apostles who encountered inexpressible joy as a result of suffering dishonour for the sake of the gospel (Acts 5:41).

As simple and as familiar as it may sound, nonetheless, it would be of great value to be reminded that God saved us out of darkness into His marvellous light (1 Peter 2:9). There is the contrast; darkness and light. There is no in-between; both are fully opposed, one to the other. “The line of demarcation” said Oswald Chambers, “between the world and the saint is at the line of death – to this world. The saint is spoiled for this world and no longer shares the aims and ambitions of the world. The saint, in short, bears the marks of unworldliness while in this world. He bears the evidence of a readjusted individuality.” There has to be that striking distinction and it’s not that we are any better than they who are still dead in sin; it is God alone Who has wrought this miracle in our hearts and it is only by God’s grace that we are what we are. The least we can do is reciprocate immense gratitude to God by walking worthy of His calling on our lives.

The incoming of God’s salvation in our lives will manifest itself in the way we live, that will either be a fragrance of life among those who are being saved or the fragrance of death to those who are perishing (2 Corinthians 2:15-16). The outcome of our lifestyle, witness and testimony will either evoke love or provoke hate; unanimity or animosity to the predetermined and preordained expansion of God’s kingdom here on earth.