OPEN: In the classic children’s book “Alice in Wonderland,” Alice comes to a junction in the road that leads off in different directions and seeing the Cheshire Cat she asks him for advice:
“Would you tell me please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the cat.
“I don’t much care where,” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
APPLY: If you don’t want to go anyplace in particular any road will do.
When our family goes on vacation, there are times that we don’t care which road we take. The destination isn’t nearly as important as the fun of exploration. On our last vacation we went to St. Petersburg Florida and while there we noticed a sign pointing to “downtown” St. Petersburg. We thought – why not? So we went down that road not knowing what we’d find… but simply enjoying the adventure of discovery.
And that’s fun sometimes.
Most of the time, however, when I travel I usually want to get someplace in particular. And therefore - the road I travel becomes very important.
When it comes to religion, many people will tell you that any old road will get you to God. In fact, there is a Hindu saying that goes this way:
“There are Hundreds of paths up the mountain, all leading in the same direction, so it doesn’t matter which path you take. The only one wasting time is the one who runs around and around the mountain, telling everyone else that his or her path is wrong”
In other words, the Hindus believe - it doesn’t matter which path you take as long as your path doesn’t involve tell others they’re wrong.
By contrast the Bible has always maintained that this mindset was wrongheaded and foolish. Repeatedly, Solomon tells his sons in Proverbs: “There is a way that seems right unto a man…”
And what’s end result of that?
DEATH
There’s a way that “looks like” it’s the right way up the mountain but it’s deadly.
ILLUS: My son loves to watch a TV show (I believe it’s called “Man vs. Wild” on the Discovery Channel) about a man who gets dropped in various wilderness settings and he spends a couple of days in that setting showing his viewers how to survive.
He’ll be dropped off in the desert, in the arctic, in the jungle, in an alligator infested swamp… and he’ll make his way to civilization using only a knife and his innate knowledge of the wild.
He’ll eat native plants and grubs and raw fish… and make fire from damp firewood.
In one episode he was dropped off on the top of a mountain and had to make his way down to its base and to civilization. One of the things that stuck with me about that episode was the fact that the host explained that – in getting down the mountain – it was critical that a person be careful in the path they choose.
It was highly possible (he said) to go blithely down what you THOUGHT was the right path… only to find yourself plunging off a cliff you hadn’t seen, or being trapped on a ledge you couldn’t get off of.
He was very clear that this was a very real danger in mountain climbing… and that many mountain climbers had gone to their deaths by making a wrong choice.
There is a way that seems right unto to a man but the end thereof is death.
Now, what I found intriguing was that this observation about the wrong path is repeated several times in Scripture. Not only does Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25 say this exactly the same way…
But Proverbs 12:15 says “The way of a fool seems right to him…”
And Proverbs 21:2 says “All a man’s ways seem right to him…”
And that makes sense: Why would I do something if I it didn’t seem right to me at the time?
ILLUS: I just read the story of a man whose bathtub was filthy. Apparently he was having little luck getting it clean with normal bathroom cleansers, but he had heard that gasoline was a solvent. So he took a rag with gasoline to the tub… and it worked!
Well… it worked, but it stank up the bathroom something fierce.
So, he decided he needed to do something to take care of the odor.
You’ll never guess what he did… he set out aromatic candles and he lit them.
He survived… but his apartment didn’t.
It seemed like a good idea at the time.
And most our decisions are like that: they seem like a good idea until we think a little about them
Commenting on that reality, Romans 6:21 tells us: “What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!”
It may have seemed like a good idea at the time… but certain paths in life will distract you from your faith, disable your witness, or destroy your Christianity.
Last week we talked about the path principle. Andy Stanley said that this principle states:
“the direction you’re going determines the destination you’ll arrive at”
If you take 35 north… you’ll eventually arrive at Winamac
If you take 24 west… you’ll end up in Monticello
But you can’t take 35 to get to Monticello, nor 24 to get to Winamac.
Those roads won’t take you to those destinations.
It’s the same way with the decisions you make for your life.
You need to choose your paths carefully because if you don’t, you’ll end up someplace you didn’t want to go… and you may end up someplace that you’ll regret.
That’s the “Path Principle”.
This week we’re talking about the “Separation Principle”.
The separation principle is based upon Proverbs 14:12
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”
The separation principle is this:
On the road of life… not every path is worth taking.
Not every path will take you where you want to go.
And many of those paths will hurt you.
In order to live a successful life there are some paths you need to stay away from… you need to SEPARATE yourself from those paths.
This “separation principle” is a repeated theme throughout Scripture.
ILLUS: What got me to thinking about this was a radio talk show host I heard on my vacation. He asked his call-in guest if she knew what God had created on the 2nd day.
Now I’m a preacher - I should know this stuff – and I’m racking my brain trying to figure out what God created on the 2nd day. But somehow I can’t remember what God did that day. And I wouldn’t have anyway, because God didn’t so much “create” anything… as He “separated” something.
It says in Genesis 1:6-8 “And God said, ‘Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.’ So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse ‘sky.’ And there was evening, and there was morning— the second day.”
God didn’t so much “make” the expanse as much as he created it by “Separating” the waters above it from the waters beneath it.
He made a separation.
Then this radio host went on to point out - that the Bible often talks about separation.
· God set His people apart from other cultures and peoples
· They were called to be separated from certain foods and certain lifestyles
· They were expected to dress different, worship different, and behave differently than anybody else.
THEY were called to be Holy
In Leviticus 19:2 God told Israel “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.”
You know what “holy” means?
To be holy means “to be separate”
ILLUS: A couple of yrs ago, Barna did a survey to find out if Americans knew what that meant. Even among people who called themselves Christians, most answered “I don’t know.”
Barna speculated that the reason so many people didn’t understand the concept was because many churches never taught about it. Instead they had fallen into what he called the doctrine of “cheap grace”. He felt that this “cheap grace” was driven by - desire by churches to make people comfortable. Some have said this is one of the problem with “seeker sensitive” churches but I’ve seen the same problem plague in churches that aren’t seeker sensitive.
When churches fall into the trap of trying to make people happy, they can become spiritual failures. Now granted, churches should be accommodating to others. They should seek to help others feel comfortable with the love of God. BUT that’s only one of the church’s objectives. A church’s primary objective should be to present God with a holy people.
If you have a congregation full of happy people who don’t live holy lives you’ve got a recipe for disaster. In the Bible, when God’s people disregarded holiness, God rebuked them and punished them.
ILLUS: W E. Sangster, Pure in Heart, XI.: "The purpose of God for man is to make him holy. Not happiness first, and holiness if possible, but holiness first and bliss as a consequence.”
Sangster was right: Christians should be a people who keep themselves separate from worldliness. And if they do it right… will be a happy people.
What do I mean by “IF THEY DO IT RIGHT?”
The Separation principle requires that successful separateness requires the involvement of God. That would seem like a no-brainer, but there are people out there who try to live holy lives without God being involved.
· One way of doing this is when people live their "holiness" like a badge that says “look at me", "aren’t I special?” In other words.. their holiness is “all about them”. Any happiness they have doesn’t come from God as much as it does from the attention they get from others. As Jesus once said “they have their reward” (Matthew 6:2)
· Another way people attempt to attain holiness without relying on God is actually kind of sad. There are people who do their holiness “for” God without doing it “with” God. All of their holiness is based on their own efforts and hard work Oftentimes it’s based upon a list of do’s and don’ts that they expect themselves and others to live by.
But Colossians 2 tells us that man-made rules and regulations can’t make us holy. And there are two reasons why that is true:
1. Man-made rules don’t have the power to make us holy. All you have to do to observe this is drive down the highway. You ever seen a sign that says “55 mph”. What does that mean? It means you’re commanded by law to drive no more 55 miles an hour on that road. So, how often do fellow drivers do that? Yeah.
2. And Man-made rules can deceive people into living their lives for the rules. Kind of like the problem high school officials have found with the ISTEP testing. They are finding that teachers too often teach for the test… rather than teaching other important information.
In the same way, man-made rules make people live their “holiness” for those rules… but not necessarily for God.
If you’re really a Christian you don’t need a man-made list of what is holy and what isn’t. All you need is God’s word. It has the power to make you holy. That’s what Jesus said: “Sanctify them (make them holy or separate) by the truth; your word is truth.” John 17:17
If you commit your heart to God’s Word – Scripture – you will learn what God wants of you.
They other thing you need to do is just walk close to God. If you do that you’ll attain His joy and pleasure for your life. That’s what David did, and he wrote:
“You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Psalms 16:11
Walking with God is the practice of staying on His path and separating yourself from anything else.
ILLUS: A man who lived on the Maine coast, was invited once to go lobstering. He said the harbor was ordinarily treacherous because of many barely submerged rocks that could rip open the bottom of most boats… but that day it was even worse because a heavy fog had settled in.
But his host seemed unconcerned. He steered a zigzag course to the lobster pots at his usual speed. Attempting to make conversation the newcomer finally said with a nervous smile, "Do you know where all the rocks are?"
"Nope," said the boatman.
A few minutes later the new man asked, "how do you know where to go?"
"Know where they ain’t," his friend replied.
That fishermen avoided the rocks that could damage his boat NOT because he knew where all the rocks were but because he knew where the right path was. And he had no intention of deviating from that path that he knew was right.
The key to holiness is making sure you live to please Him.
Any other pathway is the wrong way to for you to be walking.
And this isn’t rocket science
Philippians 1:27 says that the way to live a holy life is to “… conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.”
· If you’re at a party and you’d be uncomfortable if Jesus walked thru the door – wrong path.
· If you’re watching TV, or reading a book, or visiting an internet site… and you’d turn red if Jesus walked in on you… wrong path.
· If you’re engaged in a business deal, and you wouldn’t want Jesus looking at the books… wrong path.
· If you’re talking about your husband/ friend/ neighbor and you’re talking about them with words and attitudes you would never use of Jesus… wrong path.
LASTLY- Jesus said, the right path is not a path many people take
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:13 -14
Jesus says there’s only one path that will please God
And that path is narrow
And the gate at the end of that path is difficult to get thru.
In fact, Jesus says that only a few will find that path… because they prefer the wide road.
But we have an advantage… because Jesus tells us what the path is.
In John 14:6 Jesus said,
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
And In John 10:9 Jesus said “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved...”
Jesus is the path!
And Jesus is the gate!
When you became a Christian you set your feet on the path to holiness
· When you believed
· Repented
· Confessed Jesus as Lord
· Were Baptized in the waters of baptism
You set yourself on the path to His holiness
And Acts 2:38 says that when you do those things you don’t have to travel down that path alone. We’re told that when we repent of our sins and are baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins “you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
God’s Spirit comes right down and settles into your heart, comforting you when you live your life on the right path… and making you uncomfortable when you don’t
CLOSE: A couple years ago, a heavy metal musician made headlines.
Brian “Head” Welch was a founding member of one of the most successful metal bands ever.
It was a group called Korn and they sold 25 million records worldwide.
Brian wrote a book about what changed him… it was Jesus. He said that before he met Jesus his life had been filled with loneliness, depression, self-destruction, and a addiction to drugs.
He said “I was able to test-drive this world. I got the fame and money. I tried all the drugs, the women and all that stuff. And when Christ touched me, none of that stuff compared.”
There is a way that seems right unto a man – death. But when Jesus is your path nothing else ever quite compares, because life in him is a life that’s truly worth living.
