1. Come Out From Among Them What is our relationship with the world? June 27 - AM

2. Not a Popular Passage 1 Corinthians 6:14-71 is not a favorite passage It makes too many demands of us We want to see how close we can come God wants to see how far away we can get

3. How close can I get? School bus driver application –Bus is 8 feet wide –Road is 16 feet wide –On one side is steep ravine – 30 feet drop-off –“How close to the edge can you safely drive the bus?” –Some said – 1 foot; 6 inches –One said – 8 feet

4. Who are we? Are we a people after God’s heart? Are we after the heart of the world? Which is the stronger influence? If we are the people of God: –We must come out from the world –We must be separate –We must cleanse ourselves from the filth and corruption of the world

5. World Influences Us NoahNoah Genesis 6:7-8Genesis 6:7-8 - 7 So the LORD said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

6. World Influences Us Noah AbrahamAbraham Genesis 12:1Genesis 12:1 - Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you.

7. World Influences Us Noah AbrahamAbraham Hebrews 11:8-10 -Hebrews 11:8-10 - 8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

8. World Influences Us Noah Abraham IsraelitesIsraelites Deuteronomy 7:2-4Deuteronomy 7:2-4 - 2 and when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. 3 Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. 4 For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods;

9. World Influences Us Noah Abraham Israelites SamsonSamson Judges 14:2-3Judges 14:2-3 - 2 So he went up and told his father and mother, saying, “I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.” 3 Then his father and mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren, or among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” And Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she pleases me well.”

10. World Influences Us Noah Abraham Israelites Samson SolomonSolomon 1 Kings 11:2-31 Kings 11:2-3 - 2 from the nations of whom the LORD had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.

11. World Influences Us Noah Abraham Israelites Samson Solomon From captivityFrom captivity Nehemiah 13:3Nehemiah 13:3 - So it was, when they had heard the Law, that they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel. Ezra 10:10-11See also Ezra 10:10-11

12. New Testament Teachings Matthew 16:24Matthew 16:24 - Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. Ephesians 5:11Ephesians 5:11 - And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.

13. New Testament Teachings 1 John 1:6 -1 John 1:6 - If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 1 Corinthians 15:331 Corinthians 15:33 - Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”

14. We MUST Choose Fellowship with the World OR Fellowship with God This choice might include – Family, Friends, Social activity, Organization memberships, etc. Luke 14:26Luke 14:26 - If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.

15. We MUST Choose Luke 18:29-30Luke 18:29-30 - 29 So He said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life.”

16. We MUST Choose 2 Peter 2:20-22 -2 Peter 2:20-22 - 20 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. 21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”

17. The COMMAND is Clear We are IN the world We are not OF the world We are to be lights TO the world We must make sure that our “IN” does not become “OF” Is your life making the dark world a brighter place?