Better Living: Holiness is Separation

So we had a two week break, but now we're going to continue our series today that we're calling Better Living, Better Living. And so this is a series that is talking about and dealing with the topic of holiness.

Holiness. That's not something you hear a lot in the church anymore today, but we're doing a whole series on it. Praise God. So we're going to talk about the topic of holiness. And so as I've said in the Previous two weeks of this series.

I want us to start to look at holiness and see it in a light and through revelation that actually causes us to know why we do what we do or why we live the way we live in accordance to God's word. Right? We live in accordance to God's word because it's His Word. It's not my word. I'm not up here giving you my opinion.

I'm just to the best of my ability, trying to preach you his word. So if you get offended at something in the Word, don't get mad at me. Talk to God about it. Amen. All right.

So why? We live the way we live, in accordance to God's Word. So holiness is not just a list of do's and don'ts. You can't do this. You can't do this.

You can't do this. You can't do this. Okay? That's not what holiness is. But holiness is an understanding of the truth of God's word that actually makes us free.

We said this a couple weeks ago, so I want you to say it again. Say holiness is freedom. Holiness is freedom. Jesus said In John, chapter 8, verses 31 and 32, he said, if you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.

Somebody praise God. Right? The truth will make us free. Paul said this in Colossians, chapter 2, verses 20 through 23. Therefore, if you die with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations?

Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle, which all concern things which perish with the using according to the commandments and doctrines of men. These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self imposed religion, false humility and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh. So what does Paul mean when he's writing this to the Church of Colossians? He is saying, rules don't make us holy. What he's saying is rules can't even keep you from doing what your flesh really wants to do, because your flesh and the spirit, they're at war with one another.

But what he's saying is if we walk in the reality that we are God's and He is ours, and if we walk in a loving relationship with Jesus and we have an awareness of God in our lives, then we will walk in a way naturally that is pleasing to Him. And so we said if we want to see the standard for holiness or how holiness is birthed in and takes place in our lives. We need to go look at what Jesus said, right? Jesus said this in Matthew 22, verses 35 through 40. Then one of them, a lawyer, asked him, asked Jesus a question, testing him and saying, teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?

Jesus said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is, like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. So Jesus is saying right there, every standard, every law, every commandment can now be lumped and gathered into these two right here.

Love the Lord your God with everything that you are, and to love your neighbor as yourself. So, holiness, I want you to understand, holiness is not just some set of rules that is passed down from one generation to the next that tells us how to dress and how long your hair is supposed to be and if you can wear makeup and things like that. That's not what that is. But holiness is actually an issue of the heart that says, I love him so much. I love God so much and what he's done for me, from dying on the cross and forgiving me of my sins, I love him so much that I will do whatever it takes to keep my relationship with him strong and fresh.

Right? And if it means keeping my eyes from evil, then I'll do it. Right? If it means not doing certain things to keep his peace and to keep his joy and to keep his presence, it's near me, then I'll do it. Whatever it takes for that.

That's what I want. I want him near. Because I love him and he loves me, and he set me free. Amen. Holiness is freedom.

And what is holiness? Freedom from sin. Holiness is freedom from sin. Okay, so three weeks ago, we said, before we can ever really talk about holiness in our own lives, we must first understand that God Himself is holy. So I'm doing just a little bit of a review from the first two weeks before I get in today, so y' all stay with me.

Okay? So. So. So three weeks ago, we used this scripture. It's Isaiah, chapter six one through five.

I'll just read it to you again. It says, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. That's an angel, right? Angels each had six wings with Two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

And one called to another and said, the angels were calling out to one another, saying, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of him who called. And the house was filled with smoke. And I said, woe is me, for I am lost.

I am a man of unclean lips. And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Anybody remember that moment where you come undone and you said, oh, my gosh, I need a savior. I can't save myself.

I need a savior. I'm a man of unclean lips and unclean ways. But God, I'm laying my life before you here now, right? I remember that moment well. I remember that moment.

Okay, so what we took from those five short verses in Isaiah 6 was this about God. We said this. We said that God is alive. It said, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high and lifted up, right? God is alive.

He is the living God. He's the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end. We also said, number two, that he has all authority because he sits on a throne. But he doesn't just sit on any throne. But his throne, it says, is high and lifted up above every other throne.

No other throne could ever compare. So that means that God is omnipotent, which means he is all powerful. We said that God is magnificent because the train of his robe fills the heavenly temple. And then we said that God is holy and that he's glorious because the angels cried out to one another, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The earth is full of his glory.

All right? So before we ourselves can understand holiness, we got to understand that God is holy. There's no one like Him. He's in a category all by Himself. Amen.

All right, so now how can we start to apply this to our own personal lives and our own Christian walks? Remember, the word holy means different. It means consecrated, sanctified, set apart to God and for God. Okay? And the root meaning of the word holy actually means to cut or to separate.

To cut off and separate. Okay? So I want to focus on this statement today. Holiness is separation. Holiness is separation.

I'm just going to give you several scriptures right off the bat, and I want you to write these scriptures down. I'm going to go through them kind of quick. So I don't know that you'll be able to turn there every time, but write them down. Or if you got the Church app, you can open the Church app. I love this.

I don't know if you know about this, but when you open the Church app, there's a little tab that says sermon notes you can click on that has all the notes in there. So it'll have all these scriptures in there. Okay. From today's sermon, those are already uploaded in there. But I'm going to read you these scriptures.

Write them down. If you. If you don't have the app. First Peter, 2, verses 9 and 10. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation who his own special people that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into marvelous light.

Who once were not a people, but now are the people of God who had not attained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Okay. I think the original King James says you are a peculiar people. Right? Peculiar people.

Second Corinthians, chapter 6, verses 17 and 18. It says, Therefore. This is the Lord talking, right? It's being quoted, therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.

I will be a father to you, and you shall be my son and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. You know, what some of us really need to realize is that God is not some angry God waiting to beat us over the head. But God is a good God and he's trying to be a good father to all of us. And he sees and he loves us as sons and as daughters. So when he's telling us not to touch things that are unclean or to separate ourselves from the things of this world, he is doing that because he loves us and he's trying to protect us.

It's kind of like the analogy I gave you a couple weeks ago. If we got a toddler and you're trying to cook and they're wanting to touch the hot pan, and we say, hey, don't touch the hot pan. That's going to hurt you. That's the same mentality that God has towards us. Hey, don't go do that.

You're going to end up with some consequences that aren't pleasant. Right? He's trying to protect us. Us. God, as our heavenly Father, is trying to do the same thing for us that we would do for our kids.

Love and protect. Okay, Leviticus, chapter 20, verse 7. I got two more scriptures. Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord, your God, the word consecrate right there in the Hebrew is kaldesh, kaldash. And this is the same word that's used for sanctifying many times throughout the Old Testament.

And it literally means to set apart, to be separated from that which is considered common or the norm. Okay, first Peter 1, verses 15, 16. But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. What does that mean? In the way that you live, the way that you talk, the way that you treat other people?

Be holy, be different in the way that you live. Because it is written, be holy. For I am holy. Okay, now write those scriptures down like I asked. Highlight them, whatever.

Because if I don't preach another word on God wanting us to be different as believers, if I don't preach another word on God wanting us to be set apart and holy, then those scriptures in the Word say, enough already. They say, enough already. But now I am going to preach a little bit more and I'm going to preach on the topic of being set apart, separation, being set apart. I'll simplify it and say this being different, as God's people being different. So if you got your Bibles, go to Genesis, chapter 47, Genesis 47, Genesis 47.

I'm going to read verses five through 11. And I got three points that's going to back up a main point. Genesis 47, 5, 11. It says, then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, you, father and your brothers have come to you. The land of Egypt is before you.

Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know any competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock. In other words, promote them, give them promotion. Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh.

And Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Jacob, how old are you? And Jacob said to Pharaoh, the days of the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of my life, of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage. So Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from before Pharaoh.

And Joseph situated his father and his brothers and gave them possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Ramses. Ramses, as Pharaoh had commanded. I'm going to skip down to verse 27 because I just think it reiterates what I'm trying to get across. It says, verse 27, says, so Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen, and they had possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly. They were blessed in the middle of all this, right?

If you grow and multiply exceedingly, you got good things going on. Amen. Amen. All right, y' all with me? Alright, so this is going to be my first point today.

And as I said, every point is just going to reinforce the main thing I'm trying to drive home, which is this. We as God's people should be different. We should be different. Okay, here's my first point to support that. Joseph's character was different.

Different. I'm going to talk about Joseph. I'm going to talk about his father, Jacob, and I'm going to talk about Goshen. Okay? But we're going to talk about Joseph first.

Joseph's character was different. Joseph has one of the most incredible stories in the entire Bible. To me, I love to read and study the life of Joseph. A couple years ago, two years ago, we did a whole series on the life of Joseph called Path to the Promise. Right?

Joseph, you read about his life, you'll see he goes through betrayal by those closest to him. He has false accusations and lies told about him. He goes to prison, he's sold into slavery. He has hardship after hardship after hardship. And then at the end of all that, he ends up being the second most powerful man in the known world at that time.

So Joseph just has this really, really incredible story. But in all of that, right through all of the things and all the hardships and tribulations that Joseph faced, he maintained an incredible character. It was different. He did not respond the way many of us would typically respond when things happen to us that are not good. He responded differently.

Let's read this. Genesis 37, verses 3 and 4. Now, Israel, who is Jacob, Joseph's father, we'll talk about that in a second, loved Joseph more than all his children because he was the son of his old age. Also, he made him a tunic of many colors, a coat of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.

Now, it is obvious here that Jacob shows some favoritism towards Joseph. Amen. Right? Even though Joseph was the son of his old age, as it says, Joseph was not Jacob's youngest son. There was another son born to Jacob, Israel, after Joseph, and that son's name was Benjamin.

Okay? And both Joseph and Benjamin were born to Jacob from a lady named Rachel. And Rachel was Jacob's one true love. That was a good point, guys. For you to nudge your wife, your lady, and say, that's you.

That's you for me. That's you for me. One true love. Jacob was so smitten by Rachel, he worked for 14 years to get her hand in marriage, right? And so Joseph was actually the firstborn of Jacob's one true love.

And so Jacob, he did. He showed some favoritism towards Joseph and he gave him this coat of many colors. And because the brother saw this, what seemed like favoritism them, right? It caused his older brothers to hate him for it. They were filled with.

With jealousy, hatred, and envy. Are there any siblings in the house that ever get a little bit jealous of the baby in the family? Just be honest. You ever gotten jealous? Let me see your hands.

I'm raising my eyes because I'm guilty, okay? Are there any liars in the house? Everybody raise your hand. No, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.

What about this? Do you get upset seeing your parents treat your kids differently than the way they treated you? If that's the case, raise your hand. Oh, there's a lot more hands. There's a lot more.

Look, I know I'm going to understand when I become a grandparent. I know, I know. But let me tell you something. Don't let jealousy take a place in your heart. Don't let envy have a place in your heart.

The Bible says where there's envy and strife, there's every. But let me tell you what. If you give jealousy and envy a place in your heart, let me tell you what it turns to hate. Turns to hate, right? Jealousy in your heart will only lead to hate in your heart.

And you can see that as an example in the lives of Joseph's brothers. So Joseph gets this coat. He's got this coat of many colors, and it made him stand out. It made him different. He was different, and his brother hated him.

For even goes as far to say is that they could not say anything peaceably to him. That means anything they ever had to say to him was not nice. Anything they ever had to say about him was not nice, they did not talk to or treat him well. But despite being treated that way by his brothers, when Joseph's father, Jacob, asked him to go check on his older brothers and see if they were okay as they were tending to the sheep, what did Joseph say? I'll tell you what he didn't say.

He didn't say, no way, Pops. Those guys Hate me. They can't stand me. They don't ever say nothing nice to me. They pick on me all the time.

I'm not going to check on them people. They hate me. That's what most of us would have said if we would have been treated by them the way Joseph had been treated by them. But Joseph did not say that. What did Joseph say?

Genesis 37, 12, 14. Then his brothers went to feed their flocks, and Shechem and Israel said to Joseph, are not your brothers feeding the flocks of Shechem? Come, I will send you to them. So he said to him, here I am. Here I am.

Then he said to him, please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks and bring back word to me. So he sent him out to the valley of Hebron and he went to Shechem. Joseph went to check on those that hated him when he was asked to by his father. His character was different. When Joseph was betrayed by his brothers, thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, and he was brought to Egypt, to Potiphar's house, did Joseph get mad?

Did he start to sulk? Did he pull out the victim card and say, I just give up on life? Nope. Says in Genesis 39 that in the middle of all that, the Lord was with Joseph and he was a prosperous man. Joseph didn't get mad and quit and give up on life.

He still worked hard. He stayed persistent, and he grew in the favor of God and of the favor of men, even unrighteous men. Joseph's character was different. It separated him from the norm of most people. When he's in Potiphar's house and Potiphar's wife gets the old googly eyes for Joseph, Joseph, right?

She says, hey, won't you come lay with me? My husband's away. What did Joseph do? He ran. He ran so far away he had to get away.

I know somebody would get it. All right, all right. If you didn't get it, don't look it up.

This is what Joseph did. He said, how could I do such a thing and sin against God? Not just you, but how could I sin against God? His character was different when he was lied about. He was falsely accused of being the one pursuing Potiphar's wife.

And then because of that, he was thrown into prison just for doing the right thing. Did Joseph this time, did he get mad? And Saul can give up on life and say, I only get punished for doing things that are right now I'm just going to go and do everything I know is wrong? No. Even in prison, he kept a good mindset.

He worked hard. He stayed consistent in trusting the Lord, and the Lord was with him in it and through all of it. Okay? And eventually, because of that, Joseph ended up in Pharaoh's palace and he became second command in all of Egypt. His character was different, and it was different from the norm of most people.

And so should ours be. Let's move to the second point.

And the second point is this. Jacob's hunger was different. There was something different about Jacob that even Pharaoh recognized. When. When Jacob was brought in before Pharaoh, Pharaoh asked in verse eight, he's like, how old are you?

You? There was something curious to Pharaoh, like, there's something different about you. How old are you? Pharaoh sensed and he knew that there was something different about Jacob. Even if he didn't know what it was, he just sensed it.

Right? So Jacob's hunger was different. What do I. What do I mean by that? I mean that there was something in Jacob.

There was a drive, there was a fight in Jacob that would not just settle. Settle? It wouldn't just settle. He was a man who always wanted more, and he would not settle for being left out. Even at birth, Jacob was making sure he was not left out.

Let me read it to you. Genesis 25, verses 24 through 26. So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed, there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over.

So they called his name Esau. Afterward, his brother came out and his hand took hold of Esau's heel. So his name was called Jacob. Jacob. The name Jacob actually means heel, grabber and deceiver.

That's what it means. So they called his name Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when she. When she bore them. So Jacob took a hold of Esau's heel from the womb.

As he was coming out of the womb, he grabbed ahold of his twin brother's heel and said, you ain't going out there without me, brother. I'm coming too, right? There was a drive. Even from that very young age in the womb, there was a drive. There was a hunger for more that Jacob had.

It was different. Jacob actually convinced his older brother Esau to sell him or trade him his. His birthright for a pot of soup. A pot of soup. What happened?

Esau was out hunting all day. Jacob at home, he was making some soup. Esau comes in, tired, hungry, thirsty, and says, I'm so hungry, if I don't get Something to eat. I'm going to die. How many said something like that before?

I'm guilty. His flesh was crying out, I need food. He's like, if I don't get something to eat, I'm gonna die. Jacob's like, oh, really? Well, I can save your life.

I got a pot of soup. All it'll cost you is your birthright. Esau said, here, whatever. Give it to me. Right?

What was the birthright? The birthright was Esau's right as the firstborn to be the headship of the family and to receive a double share of the inheritance. And Jacob actually. And it didn't take much, but he convinced Esau, his brother, to trade him that for a pot of soup. A pot of soup.

Esau was more concerned about his lust and his desire to fulfill the lust of his flesh at that present time. Just let me get something. Quick fix. Yeah, right here. Ah, that's good.

While Jacob was looking towards the future, because he hung up, hungered for more than a quick fix. There's so much more I could say about Jacob and his hunger right there throughout his life. But I want to skip forward to where he actually wrestles with God. This is Genesis 32. Genesis 32, 24, 30 says, then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.

Now, when he saw that he did not prevail against him, he touched the socket of his hip, and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as he wrestled with him. I'm talking about a man. His hip comes out of joint, out of socket, and he just keeps wrestling, keeps holding on through that pain. That's a man right there. Okay.

That's something different.

I turned my ankle the other day, just walking. I was like, oh, think I don't want to wrestle somebody with my hip out of joint? No. Verse 26. And he said, let me go for the day breaks.

But he said, I will not let you go unless you bless me. So he said to him, what is your name? He said, jacob. And he said, your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed. Struggled with God and man and have prevailed.

Then Jacob asked, saying, tell me your name. I pray. And he said, why is it that you ask about my name? And he blessed him there. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, which means, for I have seen God face to face, my life is preserved.

And just as he crossed over Peniel, the sun rose on him, and he Limped on his hip. When Jacob had an encounter with God, when he was just hungry for. He wouldn't let go through the pain, through the struggle, whatever it was. When he got up from that encounter, he walked the rest of his life different. There was a difference in his walk from that moment, moving forward.

Okay, so Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, right here is where we get the 12 tribes of Israel, right? The name Israel means prince. Prince. So Jacob's here, he's wrestling with this man, quote, unquote. It says, from night until the sun started rising.

And Jacob actually doesn't know he's wrestling with God, but it says, as he wrestles with this man, quote, unquote, they touched the socket of Jacob's hip and his hip came out of joint and he still held on. And so finally the man says, hey, let me go. The sun's rising. We've been going at this all night. The sun's rising.

And Jacob makes this striking statement, just true to how different he was in his drive. He says, I'll tell you what, I'm not going to let you go until you bless me. That's when I let go, when I get the blessing. Now, Jacob may not have known right away that it was the Lord himself he was wrestling with, but he did know that there was something different about him, right? So Jacob said, I'm not going to stop.

There's something different. And I got a hold of it, and I'm not going to let go until you bless me. Listen, Jacob had his brother's birthright. He had gotten his father's blessing. He had gotten the girl of his dreams.

He had accumulated mass, wealth and possessions. But Jacob still knew in him there was something more than that. And he was still contending, and he was still wrestling for it. And the Lord says to Jacob, you're no longer going to be called Jacob. You'll be called Israel.

You'll be called a prince. You're going to be from you will come the twelve tribes of Israel, which is the nation of Israel to this day, okay? And so he said, because you struggled with God and with men, and you've prevailed. Jacob's drive, Jacob's hunger for more was different. He contended all night for a blessing.

And it's hard to get most people, people today to pray for 10 minutes, to contend for the faith.

Y' all tie, y' all steel toe boots on. When I get to my third point, you're gonna need them. I've been taking it easy on you.

I'm saying what Am I saying. I'm saying there was something different about Jacob's hunger for more, more from the Lord. The things of this world could not satisfy him. And he said, there's gotta be more and more. And it was different.

And because of that, he walked different too. I'm gonna go to my last point. Goshen. Goshen was different. It was a different place.

Okay? Now we know and we understand from the story in the life of Joseph that there was a great famine that came upon the land. It was widespread. And when the famine came, it was a seven year famine. There were seven years of abundance.

And God gives Joseph wisdom through interpretation of dreams and wisdom of how to store up grain to make sure everybody survived, Right? He did that in Egypt. And when the famine came for the seven years, people from all over began to come to Egypt to buy grain so they wouldn't starve to death. That included Joseph's family, his brothers, who sold him into slavery. And so I won't go into all of that for time's sake.

But eventually Joseph has a reunion, right? And he has all of his brothers and his father and all of their families pack up from Canaan and come to Egypt to be saved and taken care of during the famine. Now, I want to call to remembrance a scripture I gave you earlier, okay? It's Second Corinthians 6:17. It says, Come out from among them and be separate.

Right? But what I find intriguing right here is that here we see the Israelites actually coming into Egypt. This is what we know about Egypt. According to Scripture, Egypt always reflects or is portrayed as being a type of the world or a type of bondage, okay? And Israel in the Old Testament shows us a type of the church.

It's a type of the believer. And here God is actually leading the children of Israel into Egypt. Why? First of all, because if it had not been for the favor of God on Joseph's life in Egypt, Israel would never be a nation because they would all starve to death in the famine, right? So what we see right here is that God used the world system to sustain his people, and yet we still see the commandment to continue to be separate at work.

How do I know that? Because as they stood before Pharaoh, Pharaoh says, joseph, take your people. This is incredible. Take your people to the best land, the best land. Take them to Goshen.

Now, this is what we need to know. Goshen was in Egypt. It was covered by the territorial bounds of Egypt, yet it was separate. Y' all got that picture?

All right. It might be a little blurry, but I just wanted to show you. Land of Goshen is up here. It was on the Nile river delta. The reason it's green is because that was a very fertile land.

It was rich. You could grow crops. It would produce everything. Pharaoh says, I want you to take your people to the land, the land of Goshen. Yet Egypt, the main hub, is down here.

So they're in Egypt, they're in the territorial bounds of Egypt, and yet they're still separate. And not only are they separate, they're eating the best of the land. They're getting the best of the best in the middle of it now. So here they are. They're exceedingly growing and multiplying exceedingly.

And yet here they are. What does that mean? It means that when the people in Egypt look that way, everybody, anytime somebody looked that way, they say, who lives there in the land of Goshen? Oh, that's the Israelites. That's Joseph's people.

That's Israel's people. The Egyptians aren't really living there. Where? In the best land in Goshen. But it is inhabited by those from Canaan who came from that land, the people who had a promise from God.

Can you see God's hand at work in the separation of his people? We got to understand first and foremost that God is a God of order. And God is a God with purpose. And he's architectural and he does things and he sets things up, and he can take anything that the enemy means for evil and he can turn it for good. Okay, somebody say this.

Be separate. So throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament, God is pointing the Israelites and us to something. I call them types or shadows of things. Things to come, right? And in the Old Testament, there are many types or shadows of Jesus Christ that tell of his coming, the tell of his life, his birth, his crucifixion, his death, his suffering, his blood, his resurrection.

Right? Joseph himself in his story is a type or a foreshadowing of Jesus. And in this portion of scripture, we can take Israel as those who belong to God, those who have received Jesus Christ since his coming. Okay? And we can take.

And we can look at Egypt as representing the world. And you know what this tells me as I look at it? Right? It tells me that you can be right smack dab in the middle of the world and still be separate. Still be separate.

I'll go even a step further and say you can be right smack dab in the middle of the world and right in the middle of famine and chaos and still be called blessed, still get the best of the best. That confirms what Jesus said. Hey, the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy. But I've come that you may have life and life more abundantly. Now, look, I'm not, and y' all know me, I'm not what people call a prosperity preacher, as the world may define it.

But I do believe, as we were singing, that God is Jehovah Jireh, our provider, and that he wants his people to prosper. Prosper. He wants that. Psalm 37:25. I've been young and now I'm old.

Yet I've never seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging for bread. I'm sorry, but I just believe that he's going to take care of me and my house. He is going to be who he says he is. Why? Because he's good.

John the Apostle said in his third epistle, third John, chapter one, verse two, beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health just as your soul prospers. So if you want to, you can call John the first prosperity preacher. Okay, but all I know is that God wants his people to prosper, and that goes into finances, but it goes way beyond that as well. It includes it. So what's my point to all of this?

Goshen was different. It was separate. And God's people lived there. Amanda, you can come as I get ready to close. If there's anything I want you to walk away with today, it's this.

God's people, those who claim to belong to Christ, should be living separate from the world. What do I mean by. That's not to say removed from the world. No, he didn't call us to be removed from the world. He said be in it, but not of it.

Right. So we should. So we're not removed from the world, but we're separate. What does that mean? So when people look our direction, they should know that there's something different about them.

I don't even know what it is, but there's something different about them. Listen, we may live in the same territorial boundaries and we may live through the same economic processes that they do, but there is something different about them over there that belong to the Lord. I just notice it. Be separate. Can I just say this?

This is where I'm going to start challenging you. This is where I'm talking about the boots you need to wear. Steel toe boots, right? If you got open toe, I'm sorry, but outside of the World. No, there's a difference.

You got to know there's a difference. We're about to make it personal. You got to know that it's different. You got to know that you are different. You're called to be different.

If you do not see a difference in yourself compared to the world and the culture, then you got something wrong.

Listen, the problem has never been the church going into the world. Getting into the world. Actually that's what we're commanded to do, right? The Great Commission. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every living creature.

Right? But the problem is always allowing the world to get into the church. We're the church. What does that mean? We claim to be part of Christ, a disciple of his, but we're not any different than the world.

We are called to be separate. Listen, I'm blown away by some of the things I see the so called church do today.

Let's just talk about it, right? We got churches and we got denominations that openly are ordaining homosexual men and women. Look, I love them and I believe there's freedom. I know there's freedom. Freedom.

There's people in this church that's been set free from it. There's people that Amanda and I have ministered that were bound in that, that now have families and children.

Somebody praise the Lord.

We got people of the so called church fighting, not fighting against, but fighting for and giving a voice to for the murder of babies and abortion. We got pastors, we got leaders in the church that are drinking and getting drunk on Friday and Saturday nights and then trying to get up and preach and teach on Sunday mornings about a fruit of the spirit called self control.

We got worship leaders trying to get out and get into the bar and be on the scene and then come try to lead worship. On Sunday morning you are called to be separate. We got preachers trying to be motivational speakers, never reading or using the word of God. We're supposed to be preaching. Let me tell you something.

The word of God will always be enough. You don't have to come up with your own clever sayings, but the word of God will always be enough. In it is power and in it is life.

I'll tell you another thing. We got psychics trying to be prophets and prophets trying to be psychics.

We got a lot of the spirit of Simon the Sorcerer. What can I get out of this?

We were called to be separate. And I've got to say at some point there's got to be a line drawn somewhere that says when you see me as a child of God, as a man of God, as a son of God, as a daughter of God. You're going to see a difference when you fellowship with me. You're going to notice something different than what you've had in the world. Let the church return to being separate and stop worrying about being accepted.

Accepted. It's our job to be accepting.

We got to stop worrying about being accepted by the world. You're not called to be accepted by the world. You've been accepted by the King of kings and the Lord of Lords, into the kingdom of everlasting life. And you're worried about what Susie and Tim and all these other people think. Don't worry about what other people think.

Know what he's already said. Be ye separate. In Exodus 8:23, God said, and I will put a division or a division between your people and my people. What does that mean? The world shall see a difference between God's people and the people of the world.

There should be a difference. We should be separate. And so I guess the challenge that I'm putting forth to you this morning is outside of what you call yourself to be outside of what you do on Sundays and maybe Wednesdays, outside of how you act around your church friends, right outside of how you act around you screw. Is there a difference that the world can see? Is there a point of separation between how you live and how those in the world live?

Is there a line drawn in the sand of your life that says, everyone else may cross that line of compromise, but I'm staying right here. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

I want to be separate. Not because I think I'm better than anybody else, but it's because I love him with my whole heart, my whole soul, my whole mind, my whole strength. Strength. And I'll do whatever it takes to keep that union close. I want you to stand to your feet.

Be ye separate. Be ye separate. If you would just bow your heads, close your eyes.

You're called to be different. Your character needs to be different. Your walk needs to be different. Your hunger for more of God should be different. When people look your way and the way you live, they should say, there's something different.

There's something different. Father God, I thank you for your word. I thank you that it doesn't return void, but it goes forth. It is sent forth, and it accomplishes everything it says sent forth to do. I thank you, God, that through the power of the Holy Spirit, you're calling to your people your word Says God that the Spirit draws us to the Father.

And I pray that your Holy Spirit would draw your sons and daughters to himself. Right now, just every head bowed, every eye closed. If you're here this morning, you say, pastor Andrew, I've heard the word this morning. I'm at a place. I'm at a point in my life.

I've never confessed Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of my life. And I want to do that today. I know I can't save myself, but he's already saved me through the cross, and I want to confess that. Romans 10, verse 9 says, if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. And you say this morning, pastor Andrew, I want to confess that, and I believe that with my heart.

If that's you, just throw your hand up, put it right back down. Anybody in the house, I see them. I see them. Maybe you here this morning you say, pastor Andrew, listen, I've been saved. But man, this.

This word got me this morning. This be ye separate. I know I'm a son, I know I'm a daughter of God, but I haven't been living separately from the world. You can be in the world, not of it. Just like they were in Egypt, but they were in Goshen.

There was something. There was a difference. And you say, there's some things in my life I know I need to get surrender to the Lord. There's some areas of my life that I need to lay down and actually make him Lord over. There's things that I need to be free from.

There's things that I need to surrender. And this morning I want to do that. I want to be separate. If that's you, just throw your hand up, put it right back down. I want to draw a line in the sand of my life and say, hey, I'm going to serve the Lord.

I'm going to be separate. If that's you, just throw your hand up, put it right back down. Yeah, that's what I want you to do. I want you to look at me.

We're going to sing. If you raised your hand for any reason, maybe you didn't. You should have. You know it. You feel it in your heart.

Come forward, come forward and talk with him. You say, well, I don't know what to say. I don't know how to pray. You talk to him like you talk to your best friend, because he is your best friend. He's the one that sits closer than a Brother, he'll never leave you he'll never forsake you.

As they sing, as they play Would you come? Would you come? It's open right now. Do not, do not resist do not resist the pulling of the Lord in your heart In Jesus name come forward.