The World by J.C. Ryle. Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 17. Our text this morning touches a subject of vast importance in Christianity. That subject is the great duty of separation from the world. This is the point which Paul had in view when he wrote to the Corinthians, come out from them and be separate. The subject is one which demands the absolute attention of all who profess and call themselves Christians. In every age of the church, separation from the world has always been one of the great evidences of a work of grace in the heart. He that has really been born of the spirit and made a new creature in Christ Jesus, has always endeavored to come out from the world and live a separate life. Those who only wore the name Christian, without the reality, have always refused to come out from the world and be separate. This subject, perhaps, was never more important than it is today. There is a widespread desire to make things pleasant in Christianity. to saw off the corners and edges of the cross, and to avoid, as much as possible, self-denial. We hear professing Christians everywhere declaring loudly that we must not be too narrow and exclusive, and that there is no harm in many things which the holiest saints of old thought would be bad for their souls, that we may go anywhere and do anything and spend our time in anything and read anything, and keep company, and plunge into anything, and all the while still be good Christians. In a day like this, I think it is good to raise a warning voice and bring attention to the teaching of God's word. It is written in that word, come out from them and be separate. There are four points which I will try to show you in examining this great subject. First, that the world is a source of great danger to the soul. Secondly, what is not meant by separation from the world? Thirdly, what real separation from the world consists of? And finally, the secret of victory over the world. And now, before I go a single step further, let me warn every one of you that you will never understand this subject unless you first understand what a true Christian is. If you are one of those unhappy people who think everybody is a Christian who goes to a church, no matter how they live or what they believe, then I fear you will care little about separation from the world. But if you read your Bible and are serious about your soul You will know that there are two classes of those who call themselves Christians. There are the converted and the unconverted. You will know that what the Jews were among the nations of the Old Testament, this is what the true Christian is meant to be under the New Testament. You will understand what I mean when I say that true Christians are meant in like manner to be a peculiar people under the gospel. and that there must be a difference between believers and unbelievers. To you, therefore, I make a special appeal this day. While many avoid the subject of separation from the world, and many absolutely hate it, and many are puzzled by it, give me your attention while I try to show you what it really is. First of all, let me show you that the world is a source of great danger to the soul. The world is a source of great danger to the soul. Remember that by the world, I do not mean the material world on the face of which we are living and moving. Whoever pretends to say that anything which God has created in the heavens above or the earth beneath, that it is harmful to man's soul, says that which is unreasonable and absurd. On the contrary, the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains and valleys and plains, the seas, the lakes and the rivers, the animal and vegetable creation are all in themselves very good. All are full of lessons of God's wisdom and power and proclaimed daily. The hand that made us is divine. The idea that matter in itself is sinful and corrupt is a foolish heresy. When I speak of the world, I mean those people who only think of the things of this world and neglect the world to come. The people who are always thinking more of earth than of heaven, more of time than of eternity, more of body than the soul, more of pleasing man than of pleasing God. It is of them and their ways, habits, customs, opinions, practices, taste, aims, and spirit that I am speaking of when I speak of the world. This is the world from which Paul tells us to come out and be separate. Now the world in this sense is an enemy to the soul. There are three things which a baptized Christian must renounce and give up, and three enemies which he must fight with and resist. These three are the flesh, the devil, and the world. All three are terrible foes, and all three must be overcome if we would be saved. Let us turn to the testimony of the Holy Scriptures If the text I am about to quote do not prove that the world is a source of danger to the soul, then there is no meaning in words. Let us hear what the Apostle Paul says. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. We have not received the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God. Christ gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, the world. You were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world. Demas, because he loved the world, has deserted me. Let us hear what James says. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless as this, to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. Don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred towards God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Let us hear what John says. Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world, the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does, comes not from the Father, but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world and the world listens to them. Everyone born of God overcomes the world. We know that we are children of God and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. Let us hear, lastly, what the Lord Jesus Christ says. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life, this world, and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. You are of this world. I am not of this world. The world cannot accept him, the Holy Spirit. because it neither sees him nor knows him. If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belong to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart. I have overcome the world. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it." I make no comment on those texts. They speak for themselves. If anyone can listen to them carefully and fail to see that the world is an enemy of the Christian soul and that there is an utter opposition between the friendship of the world and the friendship of Christ, he has passed the point of argument. and it is a waste of time to reason with him. In my mind, they contain a lesson as clear as the noonday sun. I now turn from the scriptures to matters of fact and experience. I appeal to any mature Christian who keeps his eyes open and knows what is going on in the churches. I ask him whether it is not true that nothing damages the cause of Christianity so much as the world. It is not open sin or open unbelief, which robs Christ of his professing servants, so much as the love of the world, the fear of the world, the cares of the world, the business of the world, the money of the world, the pleasures of the world, and the desire to keep up with the world. This is the great rock which many thousands of young people are continually being crushed against and destroyed. They don't object to any of the truths of the Christian faith. They don't deliberately choose evil and openly rebel against God. They hope somehow to get to heaven in the end. And they think it is proper to have some religion. But they cannot give up their idol. They must have the world. And so after running well and longing for heaven while they are boys and girls, they turn aside when they become men and women. and go down that broad way which leads to destruction. They begin with Abraham and Moses and they end up with Demas and Lot's wife. The last day alone will prove how many souls the world has slain. Hundreds will be found to have been trained in Christian homes and to have known the gospel from their very childhood and yet they will have missed heaven. They left the harbor of home with bright prospects and launched forth on the ocean of life with a father's blessing and a mother's prayers. And they turned from the right course through the seductions of the world and ended their voyage on the reef and in misery. It is a sorrowful story to tell, but it is all too common. I can clearly see why Paul says, Come out from them and be separate. Let me now try to show you what does not constitute separation from the world. What does not constitute separation from the world? The point is one which requires clearing up. There are many mistakes made about it. You will sometimes see sincere and well-meaning Christians doing things which God never intended them to do in the matter of separation from the world and honestly believing that they are in the very will of God. Their mistakes often do them great harm. They give opportunity to the wicked to ridicule all of Christianity and supply them with an excuse for having none. They cause the way of truth to be evil spoken of, and add to the offense of the cross. I think it is a plain duty to make a few remarks on the subject. We must never forget that it is possible to be very dedicated and to think that we are doing God's service when in reality we are making some very great mistakes. There is such a thing as having a zeal that is not based on knowledge. For example, Jesus said, A time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. When Paul said, come out from them and be separate, he did not mean that Christians ought to give up all worldly callings, trades, professions, and business. He did not forbid men to be soldiers, sailors, lawyers, doctors, merchants, bankers, shopkeepers, and tradesmen. There is not a word in the New Testament to justify such a line of conduct. Cornelius, the centurion soldier, Luke, the physician, Zenos, the lawyer, are examples to the contrary. Idleness in itself is a sin. A lawful calling is a remedy against temptation. The Bible says, if a man will not work, he shall not eat. To give up any business of life, which is not necessarily sinful to the wicked and the devil, from fear of getting harm from it, is lazy, cowardly conduct. The right plan is to carry our Christianity into our business, and not to give up business under the false pretense that it interferes with our Christianity. When Paul said, Come out from them and be separate, he did not mean that Christians ought to decline all association with unconverted people and to refuse to go into their society. There is no warrant for such conduct in the New Testament. Our Lord and His disciples did not refuse to go to a marriage feast or to sit at dinner in the home of a Pharisee. Paul does not say, if some unbeliever invites you to a meal, you must not go, but only tells us how to behave if we do go. Moreover, it is a dangerous thing to begin judging people too closely, and settling who are converted and who are not, and what society is godly and what is ungodly. We are sure to make mistakes. Above all, Such a course of life would cut us off from many opportunities of doing good. If we carry our master with us wherever we go, who can tell but we may save some and not be harmed. To the weak, I became weak to win the weak. I become all things to all men so that by all possible means, I might save some. When Paul says, come out from them and be separate. He did not mean that Christians ought to take no interest in anything on earth except religion, to neglect science, art, literature, and politics, to read nothing which is not directly spiritual, to know nothing about what is going on among mankind, and never to look at a newspaper, to care nothing about the government of one's country, and to be utterly indifferent as to the persons who guides it, counsels it, and makes its laws. All this may seem right and proper in the eyes of some people, but I think that it is an idle, selfish neglect of duty. Paul knew the value of good government as one of the main helps to our living peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. Paul was not ashamed to read heathen writers and to quote their words in his speeches and writings, Paul did not think it beneath him to show an acquaintance with the laws and customs and callings of the world in the illustrations he gave from them. Christians who pride themselves on their ignorance of secular things are precisely the Christians who bring Christianity into contempt. I knew the case of a blacksmith who would not come to hear his preacher preach the gospel until he found out that he knew the properties of iron. Then he came. When Paul said, come out from them and be separate, he did not mean that Christians should be strange and odd in their dress, manners, demeanor, and voice. Anything which attracts notice in these matters is most objectionable and ought to be carefully avoided. To wear clothes of such a color or made in such a fashion that when you walk into the company of unbelievers, every eye is fixed on you and you are the object of general observation, then this is an enormous mistake. It gives opportunity for the wicked to ridicule Christianity and looks self-righteous and unnatural. There is not the slightest proof that our Lord and his apostles and Priscilla and their companions did not dress and behave just like others in their own ranks of life. On the other hand, one of the many charges our Lord brings against the Pharisees was that of making their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long, so as to be seen by men. True sanctity and holiness are entirely different things. Those who try to show their unworldliness by wearing conspicuously ugly clothes or by speaking in a whining, snuffling voice or by affecting an unnatural submissiveness, humility, and seriousness, miss their mark altogether, and only give opportunity for the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. When Paul said, come out from them and be separate, he did not mean that Christians ought to retire from the company of mankind and shut themselves up in solitude. It is one of the major errors of the Roman Catholic Church to suppose that eminent holiness is to be attained by such practices. It is the unhappy delusion of the whole army of monks, nuns, and hermits. Separation of this kind is not according to the mind of Christ. He says distinctly in his last prayer, my prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one. There is not a word in the Acts or the Epistles to recommend such a separation. True believers are always represented as mixing in with the world, doing their duty in it, and glorifying God by patience, meekness, purity, and courage in their several positions, and not by cowardly desertion of them. Moreover, It is foolish to suppose that we can keep the world and the devil out of our hearts by going into caves and corners. True Christianity and unworldliness are best seen not in timidly forsaking the places in life which God has allotted to us, but in boldly standing our ground and showing the power of grace to overcome evil. Last but not least, when Paul said, come out from them and be separate. He did not mean that Christians ought to withdraw from every church in which there are unconverted members, or to refuse to worship in company with any who are not believers, or to stay away from the Lord's table if any ungodly person receives it. This is a very common but a grievous mistake. There is not a text in the New Testament to justify it, and it ought to be condemned as a pure invention of man. Our Lord Jesus Christ deliberately allowed Judas Iscariot to be an apostle for three years and gave him the Lord's Supper. He has taught us in the parable of the wheat and the tares that converted and unconverted will be together till the harvest and cannot be divided. In his epistles to the seven churches and in all of Paul's epistles, we often see faults and corruptions mentioned and reproved. but we are never told that they justify desertion of the assembly or the neglect of the Lord's table. In short, we must not look for a perfect church, a perfect congregation, and a perfect company of communicants until the marriage supper of the Lamb. If others are unworthy churchgoers or unworthy partakers of the Lord's supper, the sin is theirs and not ours, and we are not their judges. but to separate ourselves from church assemblies and deprive ourselves of the Lord's Supper because others use them unworthily is to take up a foolish, unreasonable, and unscriptural position. It is not the mind of Christ, and it certainly is not Paul's idea of separation from the world. I commend these six points to the calm consideration of all who wish to understand the subject of separation from the world. Far more might be said about each and every one of them than I have time to say it. I have seen so many mistakes made about each one of them and so much misery and unhappiness caused by those mistakes that I want to put Christians on their guard. I don't want them to take up their positions carelessly in the zeal of their first love, which they will afterwards be obliged to give up. I now leave this part of my subject with two pieces of advice which I offer especially to young Christians. I advise them for one thing, if they really desire to come out from the world, to remember that the shortest path is not always the path of duty. To argue with our unconverted relatives, to avoid all of our old friends, to withdraw entirely from mixed society, to live an exclusive life, to give up every act of courtesy and civility in order that we may devote ourselves to the direct work of Christ, all this may seem very right and may satisfy our consciences and save us trouble. But I venture a doubt whether it is not often a selfish, lazy, self-pleasing line of conduct, and whether the true cross and true line of duty may not be to deny ourselves and adopt a very different course of action. I advise them for another thing. If they want to come out from the world, to watch against a sour, morose, unfriendly, gloomy, unpleasant demeanor, and never to forget that there is such a thing as winning without the word. Peter tells us, wives, in the same way, be submissive to your husbands, so that if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives. Let them strive to show unconverted people that their principles, whatever may be thought of them, make them cheerful, pleasant, good-tempered, unselfish, considerate for others, and ready to take an interest in everything that is innocent and of good report. In short, let there be no needless separation between us and the world. In many things, as I will soon show, we must be separate. But let us be careful that it is separation of the right sort. If the world is offended by such separation, we cannot help it. But never let us give the world opportunity to say that our separation is foolish, senseless, ridiculous, unreasonable, uncharitable, and unscriptural. In the third place today, I will try to show you what true separation from the world really is. What true separation from the world really is. I take up this branch of my subject with a very deep sense of its difficulty. It is evident that there is a certain line of conduct which all true Christians ought to pursue with respect to the world and the things of the world. The text which I've already quoted make that plain. The key to the solution of that question lies in the word separation. But what separation consists of is not easy to show. On some points, it is not hard to lay down particular rules. On others, it is impossible to do more than state general principles and leave everyone to apply them according to his position in life. This is what I will attempt to do. First and foremost, He that desires to come out from the world and be separate must steadily and habitually refuse to be guided by the world's standard of right and wrong. Let me say that again. He that desires to come out from the world and be separate must steadily and habitually refuse to be guided by the world's standard of right and wrong. The rule of the mass of mankind is to go with the stream, to do as others do, to follow the fashion, and to hold to the common opinion. The true Christian will never be content with such a rule as that. He will simply ask, what does the scripture say? What is written in the word of God? He will maintain firmly that nothing can be right which God says is wrong. and that the customs and opinions of his neighbors can never make that to be an unimportant matter which God calls serious, and that to be no sin which God calls sin. He will never think lightly of such sins as drinking, swearing, gambling, lying, cheating, swindling, or dishonoring the Lord's day, because they are common, and many say, what is the harm? That miserable argument, everybody thinks this way, everybody says so, everybody does it, everybody will be there, means nothing to him. Is it condemned or approved by the Bible? That is his only question. If he stands alone in the town or congregation, he will not go against the Bible. If he has to come out from the crowd and take a position by himself, he will not flinch from it, rather than disobey the Bible. This is genuine scriptural separation. He that desires to come out from the world and be separate must be very careful how he spends his leisure time. He must be very careful how he spends his leisure time. This is a point which at first sight appears to be of little importance. But the longer I live, the more I am persuaded that it deserves our most serious attention. Honorable occupation and lawful business are a great safeguard to the soul, and the time that is spent on them is comparatively the time of our least danger. The devil finds it hard to get a hearing from a busy man. But when the day's work is over and the time of leisure arrives, then comes the hour of temptation. I do not hesitate to warn every man who wants to live a Christian life to be very careful how he spends his evenings. Evening is the time when we are naturally disposed to relax after the hard work of the day. An evening is a time when the Christian is too often tempted to lay aside his armor and consequently bring trouble on his soul. Then comes the devil and with the devil the world. Evening is a time when the poor man is tempted to go to the bar and to fall into sin. Evening is the time when the workman often sits for hours hearing and seeing things which do him no good. Evening is the time which the higher classes choose for dancing and gambling and the like, and consequently never get to bed till late at night. If we love our souls and would not become worldly, let us be careful how we spend our evenings. Tell me how a man spends his evenings, and I can generally tell you what his character is. The true Christian will do well to make it a settled rule never to waste his evenings. Whatever else others may do, let him resolve always to make time for quiet, calm thought, for Bible reading and prayer. This rule will prove to be a hard one to keep. It may bring on him the charge of being unsociable and overly strict. Let him not mind this. Anything of this kind is better than habitual late hours with bad company, hurried prayers, careless Bible reading, and a bad conscience. Even if he stands alone in his church or town, let him not depart from this rule. He will find himself in a minority and be thought of as an eccentric man, but this is genuine scriptural separation. He that desires to come out from the world and be separate must steadily and habitually determine not to be swallowed up and absorbed into the business of the world. A true Christian will strive to do his duty in whatever station or position he finds himself and to do it well. whether a statesman, a merchant, banker, or lawyer, a doctor, or tradesman, or farmer. He will try to do his work so that no one can find occasion for fault in him. But he will not allow it to get between him and Christ. If he finds his business beginning to eat up his Sundays, his Bible reading, his private prayer time, and to bring clouds between him and heaven, he will say, stand back, there is a limit, This is as far as you can go and no further. I cannot sell my soul for position, fame, or gold. Like Daniel, he will make time for communion with God, whatever the cost may be. He will deny himself anything rather than lose his Bible reading and his prayer time. In all of this, he will find that he stands almost alone. Many will laugh at him and tell him they get along just fine without being so strict and particular. He will not listen. He will resolutely hold the world at arm's length, whatever present loss or sacrifice it may seem to entail. He will choose rather to be less rich and less prosperous in this world than not to prosper about his soul. To stand alone in this way To run counter to the ways of others requires immense self-denial, but this is genuine scriptural separation. He that desires to come out from the world and be separate must steadily abstain from all amusements and recreations which are inseparably connected with sin. This is a hard subject to handle and I approach it with pain, but I do not think I would be faithful to Christ and faithful to my office as a minister if I did not speak very plainly about it in considering such a matter as separation from the world. Let me then honestly say that I cannot understand how anyone who makes any pretense to real vital Christianity can allow himself to attend horse races and theaters. Conscious no doubt is a strange thing, and every man must judge for himself and use his liberty. One man sees no harm in the things which another regards with abhorrence as evil. I can only give my opinion for what it is worth, and appeal to you to seriously consider what I say. That to look at horses running at full speed is in itself perfectly harmless. No sensible man will pretend to deny that fact. that many plays such as Shakespeare's are among the finest productions of the human intellect, this too is equally undeniable. But all this is beside the point. The question is whether horse racing and theaters, as they are conducted, are downright wicked. I assert without hesitation that they are. I assert that the breach of God's commandments so invariably accompanies the race in the play that you cannot go to the amusement without helping sin. I plead with all professing Christians to remember this and to be careful what they do.

I warn them plainly that they have no right to shut their eyes to the facts which every intelligent person knows for the mere pleasure of seeing a horse race or listening to good actors or actresses. I warn them that they must not talk of separation from the world if they can give their approval to amusements which are invariably connected with gambling, betting, drunkenness, and fornication. These are the things God will judge and which result in death. These are hard words, but are they not true?

It may seem to your relatives and friends very straight-laced, strict, and narrow. if you tell them that you cannot go to the races or to the theater with them. But we must fall back on first principles. Is the world a danger to the soul or is it not? Are we to come out from the world or are we not? These are questions which only can be answered in one way. If we love our souls, we must have nothing to do with amusements which are bound up with sin. Nothing short of this can be called genuine scriptural separation from the world.

I would like to note here that those of you who are thoughtful and intelligent will probably observe that under the heading of worldly amusements, I have said nothing about dancing and card playing. They are delicate and difficult subjects, but I am quite willing to give my opinion, and the more so because I do not speak of them without experience in the days of my youth.

Concerning dancing, going to balls, I can only ask Christians to judge the amusement by its tendencies and accomplishments. To say there is anything morally wrong in the mere bodily act of dancing would be absurd. David danced before the ark. Solomon said there is a time to dance. Just as it is natural to lambs and kittens to frisk about, so it seems natural to young people all over the world to jump about to a lively tune of music. If dancing were taken up for mere exercise, if dancing took place at early hours and men only danced with men and women with women, it would be needless and absurd to object to it.

But everybody knows that this is not what is meant by modern dancing, by going to balls and dances. This is an amusement which involves very late hours, extravagant dressing, and an immense amount of frivolity, vanity, jealousy, unhealthy excitement, and vain conversation. Who would like to be found in a modern dance hall when the Lord Jesus Christ comes the second time? Who of us that has taken part in balls and dancing, as I myself once did before I knew better, can deny that they have a most dissipating effect on the mind, like using drugs and the drinking of alcoholic beverages does on the body?

I cannot withhold my opinion that dancing and going to balls is one of those worldly amusements which war against the soul, and which is wisest and best to give up.

And as for those parents who urge their sons and daughters against their wills and inclinations to go to balls and dances, I can only say that they are taking on themselves a most dangerous responsibility and risking great injury to their children's souls.

Concerning card playing and gambling, my judgment is much the same. I ask Christian people to judge it by its tendencies and consequences.

Of course, it would be nonsense to say that there is positive wickedness in an innocent game of cards for diversion and not for money. I have known instances of old people of lethargic and infirm habit of body, unable to work or read, to whom cards in an evening were really useful to keep them from drowsiness and to preserve their health.

But it is vain to shut our eyes from facts. If parents once begin to play cards in the living room, children are likely to play cards in their rooms, and then comes in a whole train of evils.

Moreover, from simple card playing to desperate gambling, there is but a chain of steps. If parents teach young people that there is no harm in the first step, they must never be surprised if they go on to the last.

I give this opinion with much unwillingness. I lay no claim to infallibility. Let everyone be persuaded in his own mind. But considering all things, it is my deliberate judgment that the Christian who wishes to keep his soul right and to come out from the world will do wisely to have nothing to do with card playing. It is a habit which seems to grow on some people so much that it finally becomes a necessity and they cannot live without it. Madam, said Romaine to an old lady who declared that she could not make it without her cards. Madam, if this is the case, cards are your God, and your God is a very poor one. Surely, my friends, in doubtful matters like these, it is well to give our souls the benefit of the doubt and to refrain. Now, concerning sports, I admit that it is not easy to lay down a strict rule. I cannot go the length of some and say that galloping across the country or shooting pheasants or catching salmon or trout are in themselves positively sinful occupations and distinct marks of an unconverted heart. There are many persons I know to whom vigorous outdoor exercise and complete diversion of mind are absolute necessities for the preservation of their bodily and mental health. But in all these matters, the chief question is one of degree. Much depends on the company men are thrown into and the extent to which the thing is carried out. The great danger lies in excess. It is possible to be excessive about hunting as well as about drinking. We are commanded in scripture to be moderate in all things if we would be successful in the Christian life. And those who are addicted to sports should not forget this rule. The question, however, is one about which Christians must be careful in expressing an opinion and moderate in their judgments. The man who can neither ride nor shoot nor throw a fly is hardly qualified to speak impartially about such matters. It is cheap and easy work to condemn others for doing things which you cannot do yourself. and are utterly unable to enjoy. One thing only is perfectly certain. All overindulgence or excess is sin. The man who is wholly absorbed in sports and spends all of his time in such manner that he seems to think God only created him to be a hunting, shooting, and fishing animal is a man who at present knows very little about scriptural Christianity. It is written, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. He that desires to come out from them and be separate must be moderate in the use of lawful and innocent recreations. He must be moderate in the use of lawful and innocent recreations. No sensible Christian will ever think of condemning all recreations. In a world of work and stress like the one that we live in, occasional relaxation is good for everyone. Body and mind alike require seasons of lighter occupation and opportunities for letting off high spirits, and especially when they are young. Exercise itself is a positive necessity for the preservation of mind and bodily health. I see no harm in field sports, rowing, running, and other athletic recreations. I find no fault with those who play chess and other games of skill. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. No wonder the poet says, strange that a harp of a thousand strings should keep in tune so long. Anything which strengthens nerves and brain and digestion and lungs and muscles and makes us more fit for Christ's work So long as it is not in itself sinful is a blessing and ought to be thankfully used. Anything which will occasionally divert our thoughts from their usual grinding path in a healthy manner is a good and not an evil. But it is the excess of these innocent things which a true Christian must guard against if he wants to be separate from the world. He must not devote his whole heart and soul and mind and strength and time to them as many do if he wishes to serve Christ. There are hundreds of lawful things which are good in moderation, but bad when taken in excess. Helpful medicine taken in small quantities is good, but downright poison when swallowed down in huge doses. In nothing is this so true as in the matter of recreations. The use of them is one thing and the abuse of them is another. The Christian who uses them must know when to stop and how to say enough. Do they interfere with his private devotion of Christ? Do they take up too much of his thoughts and attention? Have they a secularizing effect on his soul? Have they a tendency to pull him down to earth? Then let him be very careful. All this will require courage, self-denial, and firmness. It is a line of conduct which will often bring on us the ridicule and contempt of those who do not know what moderation is, and who spend their lives in making little things serious things, and serious things little things. But if we intend to come out from the world, we must not mind this. We must be temperate even in lawful things. whatever others may think of us. This is genuine scriptural separation. Last but not least, he that desires to come out from them and be separate must be careful in friendships, intimacies, and close relationships with worldly people. He must be careful in friendships, intimacies, and close relationships with worldly people. We cannot help meeting many unconverted people as long as we live. We cannot avoid having association with them and doing business with them unless we leave this world. To treat them with the utmost courtesy, kindness, and love whenever we do meet them is a positive duty. But acquaintance is one thing, and intimate friendship is quite another. To seek their society without a good reason To choose their company, to cultivate intimacy with them, is very dangerous to the soul. Human nature is so constituted that we cannot associate with another person without it having an effect on our own character. The old proverb will never fail to prove true. Tell me with whom a man chooses to live and I will tell you what he is. The scripture says expressively, He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm. If then a Christian who desires to live consistently chooses for his friends those who either do not care for their souls, or the Bible, or God, or Christ, or holiness, or regard them as of a secondary importance, then it seems to me impossible for him to prosper in his Christianity. he will soon find that their ways are not his ways, nor their thoughts his thoughts, nor their taste his taste, and that unless they change, he must give up intimacy with them. In short, there must be separation. Of course, such separation will be painful. But if we have to choose between the loss of a friend and the injury of our souls, there ought to be no doubt in our minds If friends will not walk in the narrow way with us, we must not walk in the broad way to please them. But let us distinctly understand that to attempt to keep up close intimacy between converted and an unconverted person, if both are consistent with their natures, is an attempt at an impossibility. The principle here laid down ought to be carefully remembered by all unmarried Christians in the choice of a husband or a wife. I fear it is too often entirely forgotten. Too many seem to think of everything except spirituality in choosing a partner for life, or to suppose that it will somehow come as a matter of course. Yet when a praying, Bible-reading, God-fearing, Christ-loving, Church-honoring Christian marries a person who takes no interest whatever In serious Christianity, what can be the result but injury to the Christian or immense unhappiness? Health is not infectious, but disease is. As a general rule, in such cases, the good go down to the level of the bad, and the bad do not come up to the level of the good. The subject is a delicate one, and I do not care to dwell on it. But this I say confidently to every unmarried Christian man or woman. If you love your soul, if you do not want to fall away and backslide, if you do not want to destroy your own peace and comfort for life, resolve never to marry any person who is not a true and devoted Christian, whatever the resolution may cost you. It would be better for you to die than to marry an unbeliever. Let me say that again. It would be better for you to die than to marry an unbeliever. Hold on to this resolution and let no one ever persuade you out of it. Depart from this resolution and you will find it almost impossible to come out and be separate. You will find that you have tied a millstone around your neck and running the race towards heaven. And if you are truly saved in the end, it will be as one escaping through the flames. I offer these general hints to all who wish to follow Paul's advice and to come out from the world and be separate. In giving them, I lay no claim to infallibility, but I believe they deserve consideration and attention. I do not forget that the subject is full of difficulties. and that scores of doubtful cases are continually arising in the Christian's course in which it is very hard to say what is the path of duty and how to behave. Perhaps the following bits of advice may be found useful. Number one, in all doubtful cases we should first pray for wisdom and sound judgment. If prayer is worth anything, it must be especially valuable when we desire to do right but do not see our way. In all doubtful cases, let us often judge ourselves by remembering that God has his eye on us. Should I go to such and such a place or do such and such a thing if I really believe God was looking at me? Thirdly, in all doubtful cases, let us never forget the second coming of Christ and the day of judgment. Would I like to be found in such and such a company or employed in such and such a ways? Finally, in all doubtful cases, let us find out what the conduct of the holiest and best Christians has been under similar circumstances. If we do not clearly see our own way, we need not be ashamed to follow good examples. I throw out these suggestions for the use of all who are in difficulties about disputable points in the matter of separation from the world. I cannot help thinking that they may help to untie many knots and solve many problems. Now, lastly, our fourth point. I shall now conclude my whole subject by trying to show you the secrets of real victory over the world. The secrets of real victory over the world. To come out from the world, of course, is not an easy thing. It cannot be easy so long as human nature is what it is, and a busy devil is always near us. It requires a constant struggle and exertion. It entails incessant conflict and self-denial. It often places us in exact opposition to members of our own families, to relatives and neighbors. It sometimes obliges us to do things which give great offense and to bring on us ridicule and petty persecution. It is precisely this which makes many hang back and shrink from committed Christianity. They know they are not right. They know that they are not so thorough in Christ's service as they ought to be, and they feel uncomfortable and ill at ease. But the fear of man keeps them back. And so they linger on through life with aching, dissatisfied hearts, with too much religion to be happy in the world, and too much of the world to be happy in their religion. I fear this is a very common case if the truth were known. There are some people in every age who seem to get the victory over the world. They come out decidedly from its ways and are unmistakably separate. They are independent of its opinions and unshaken by its opposition. They move on like planets in an orbit of their own and seem to rise equally above the world's smiles and frowns. And what are the secrets of their victory? I will tell you. The first secret of victory over the world is a right heart. It is a right heart. By that, I mean a heart that is renewed, changed, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, a heart in which Christ dwells, a heart in which old things have passed away and all things become new. The great mark of such a heart is the bias of his taste and affections. The owner of such a heart no longer likes the world and the things of the world, and therefore finds it no trial or sacrifice to give them up. He no longer has any appetite for the company, the conversation, the amusements, the occupations, the books which he once loved. To come out from them seems natural to him. Great indeed is the explosive power of a new principle. Just as the new spring buds in a hedge push off the old leaves and makes them quietly fall to the ground, so does the new heart of a believer invariably affect his tastes and likes and makes him drop many things which he once loved and lived in because he likes them no more. Let him that wants to come out from the world and be separate make sure first and foremost that he's got a new heart. If the heart is really right, everything else will be right in time. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. If the affections are not right, there never will be right action. The second secret of victory over the world is a lively, practical faith in unseen things. A lively, practical faith in unseen things. What does the scripture say? This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. To attain and keep up the habit of looking steadily at invisible things as if they were visible. To set before our minds every day as grand realities our souls, God, Christ, heaven, hell, judgment, eternity. To cherish an abiding conviction that what we do not see is just as real as what we do see. and 10,000 times more important, this is one way to be conquerors over the world. This was the faith which made the noble army of saints described in the 11th chapter of Hebrews obtain such a glorious testimony from the Holy Spirit. They all acted under a firm persuasion that they had a real God, a real Savior, and a real home in heaven, though unseen by mortal eyes. Armed with this faith, a man regards this world as a shadow compared to the world to come, and cares little for its praise or criticism, its hatred or its rewards. Let him that wants to come out from the world and be separate, but shrinks and hangs back for fear of the things seen, pray and strive to have this faith. Everything is possible for him who believes. Like Moses, he will find it possible to forsake Egypt, seeing him that is invisible. Like Moses, he will not care what he loses and who is displeased. Like Moses, he will regard disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he will look ahead to its reward. The third and last secret of victory over the world is to attain and cultivate the habit of boldly confessing Christ on all proper occasions. To attain and cultivate the habit of boldly confessing Christ on all proper occasions. In saying this I don't want to be misunderstood. I want no one to blow a trumpet before him and thrust his Christianity on others all the time. But I do wish to encourage all who strive to come out from the world to show their colors and to act and speak out like men and women who are not ashamed to serve Christ. A steady, quiet assertion of our own principles as Christians, an habitual readiness to let the children of the world see that we are guided by other rules than they are and do not mean to swerve from them, a calm, firm, courteous maintenance of our own standard of things in every company, All this will insensibly form a habit within us and make it comparatively easy to be a separate man. No doubt it will be hard at first and cost many a struggle, but the longer we go on, the easier it will be. Repeated acts of confessing Christ will produce habits. Habits once formed will produce a settled character. Once our characters are known, we shall be saved from a lot of trouble. Men will know what to expect from us and will count it no strange thing if they see us living the lives of a separate, peculiar people. It is a great thing to be able to say no decidedly, but courteously when asked to do anything which conscience says is wrong. He that shows his colors boldly from the first, and is never ashamed to let men see whose he is and whom he serves, will soon find that he has overcome the world and will be left alone. Bold confession is a long step towards victory. It only remains for me now to conclude the whole subject with a few short words of application. The danger of the world ruining the soul the nature of true separation from the world, the secrets of victory over the world, all are before us. I now ask you to give me your attention for the last time while I try to say something directly for your personal benefit. First, my first words shall be a question. Are you overcoming the world or are you overcome by it? Do you know what it is to come out from the world and be separate, or are you still entangled by it and conform to it? If you have any desire to be saved, I beg you to answer this question. If you know nothing of separation, I warn you affectionately that your soul is in great danger. The world passes away, and they who cling to the world and think only of the world will pass away with it to everlasting ruin. Wake up and see your peril before it is too late. Awake and flee from the wrath to come. The time is short. The end of all things is near. The shadows are lengthening. The sun is going down. The night comes when no man can work. The great white throne will soon be set. The judgment will begin. The books will be opened. Awake and come out from the world while it is called today. Yet in a little while, there will be no more worldly occupations and worldly amusements. No more getting money and spending money. No more eating and drinking and feasting and dressing and dancing and theaters and races and cards and gambling. What will you do then when all these things have passed away forever? How can you possibly be happy in an eternal heaven where holiness is all in all and worldliness has no place? Oh, consider these things and be wise. Awake and break the chains which the world has thrown around you. Awake and flee from the wrath to come. My second word shall be a counsel. If you want to come out from the world but don't know what to do, Take the advice which I give to you this day. Begin by applying direct as a penitent sinner to our Lord Jesus Christ and put your case in his hands. Pour out your heart before him. Tell him your whole story and keep nothing back. Tell him you are a sinner wanting to be saved from the world, the flesh and the devil and beg him to save you. that blessed Savior, who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age. He knows what the world is, for He lived in it for thirty-three years. He knows what the difficulties of a man are, for He was made man for our sakes and dwelt among men. High in heaven, at the right hand of God, He is able to save to the uttermost all who come to God by Him. able to keep us from the evil of the world while we are still living in it, able to give us power to become the sons of God, able to keep us from falling, able to make us more than conquerors. Once more I say, go direct to Christ with the prayer of faith and put yourself wholly and unreservedly in his hands. Hard as it may seem to you now to come out from the world and be separate, you shall find that with Jesus, nothing is impossible. You, even you, shall overcome the world.

My third and last word shall be encouragement. If you have learned by experience what it is to come out from the world, I can only say to you, take comfort and persevere. You are on the right road. You have no cause to be afraid. The everlasting hills are in sight. Your salvation is nearer than when you first believed. Take comfort and press on.

No doubt you have had many a battle and made many a false step. You have sometimes felt ready to faint and have been half disposed to go back to Egypt. But your master has never entirely left you, and he will never suffer you to be tempted above what you're able to bear.

Then persevere steadily in your separation from the world and never be ashamed of standing alone. Settle it firmly in your mind that the most dedicated Christians are always the happiest. And remember that no one ever said at the end of his course that he had been too holy or lived too near to God.

Hear last of all what is written in the scriptures of truth. Whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. No one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age, that is, homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields, and with them, persecutions. and in the age to come, eternal life.

Do not throw away your confidence. It will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.

These words were written and spoken for our sakes. Let us lay hold of them and never forget them. Let us persevere to the end and never, never be ashamed of coming out from the world and being separate. We may be sure it brings its own reward. Amen.