The Awful Consequences of Backsliding!

By David WilkersonSeptember 30, 1996

I once heard a preacher say, "The Bible never says anything about backsliding." That man doesn't know his Bible!
The Scriptures speak much about backsliding, because it is a very serious matter -- with very severe consequences!

In reading the history of Israel and Judah, we see one generation after another backsliding against the Lord. God told
Hosea, "My people are bent to backsliding from me..." (Hosea 11:7). In Hebrew, the meaning is, "My people are in
the habit of turning their backs and withdrawing from me. They've always had this tendency!"

And Jeremiah's frequent heart-cry was: "Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married to you..."
(Jeremiah 3:14). "O Lord...our iniquities testify against us...for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against
thee" (14:7). "(Jerusalem's) transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased" (5:6).

The term backsliding means, simply, "turning one's back on God." Ironically, God's people backslid mostly after
times of great blessing and prosperity. Often, when God poured out incredible mercies on Israel, the people soon
turned away from him.

"How shall I pardon thee for this? Thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods; when I had
fed them to the full, they then committed adultery...The house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very
treacherously against me, saith the Lord" (verses 7, 11). The Lord is saying here, "I blessed them, I favored them.
And now they've turned their backs on me!"

In this passage, Jeremiah describes exactly who a backslider is. First, a backslider is someone who once enjoyed the
blessings and favor of God. He walked before the Lord with a devoted, humble, kind heart. He loved praying and
digging into God's word. He vowed, "I will serve the Lord always, with all my heart." And for a while he did seek
the Lord faithfully. He forsook his wicked ways and delighted in the fellowship he found with other saints in God's
house.

But then something began to draw this believer's heart away from the Lord. He no longer had genuine love. Instead,
rebellion crept in. Soon he lost both the love and fear of God. He no longer trembled in the Lord's presence. His
heart slowly grew cold.

Today this backslider has totally revolted against the narrow way and gone back to worldly ways. He has become
completely blind, foolish, without understanding. He no longer seeks the Lord or turns to his word. All desire to
pray is gone. And he doesn't go to God's house anymore. He has removed himself completely from the Lord's
presence -- and he's headed toward apostasy!

The Bible makes it very clear: Backsliding is an evil, bitter thing -- and it has awful consequences! "Thine own
wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing
and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts"
(2:19).

"I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange
vine unto me?" (verse 21). The Lord is saying, "How could you have turned away from me, when I planted you and
tried to establish you? Yet, you turned and walked away!"
 Jonah Was a Backslider!

You probably know the story of Jonah. Be warned, beloved -- because what happened to Jonah happens to all
backsliders!

Here was a prophet of God, a man of genuine faith who loved and feared the Lord. Indeed, Jonah walked closely
enough to God to be entrusted with a prophetic word to an entire city-state. The Lord told him, "Arise, go to
Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me" (Jonah 1:2).

But instead of going to Nineveh, Jonah rebelled and ran. He fled to Joppa, a seaport town about thirty-five miles
north of Jerusalem. There he bought a ticket on a cargo ship headed for Tarshish, a city in Spain known for its
mighty ships and smelting of precious metals. It was a wicked city that represented prosperity, success and power.

Now, the Mediterranean trade ships of Jonah's day sailed a route between Joppa and Tarshish, stopping at other
seaport towns in Greece and Turkey. So, Jonah's trip was probably intended to be a three-to-four-week journey. And
soon after the prophet boarded ship, he went down into the hold, wrapped himself in a blanket and fell asleep.

But God arranged a storm that broke in on the backslider's tranquil sea cruise. Suddenly, without warning, the winds
became violent, the waves rose higher, the sails were ripped apart, the rudder was of no use. The crew was
completely at the mercy of the storm. God had stirred up a whole sea to get to one man who was in disobedience!

The captain and crew probably had never seen anything like it. Frightened, they began unloading all the cargo and
dumping it into the sea, to lighten the ship. Soon all the sailors began crying out to their gods. I picture them digging
into their duffel bags, clutching and kissing their little brass images and carved ivory gods. You've probably seen
many people do the same thing today -- kissing their good-luck charms superstitiously, in times of trouble!

But Jonah somehow slept through it all, hidden down in the hold. Yet his sleep was not the sleep of an indifferent or
lazy person. It was the sleep of sorrow -- the deep slumber of a man who knew he was running from God!

Jonah's mind and body had to be worn out from the constant anxiety and inner turmoil of his backsliding. His
conscience was troubled, and he couldn't get away from it: He had ruined his ministry. He'd made the wrong move,
and now his reputation was destroyed. He'd blown it, lost it all -- and now he had no future.

At this point, everything was wrong between Jonah and the Lord. He was in total disobedience, a fugitive. And he
feared the judgment and chastisement he knew would come. He probably spent his first week on the boat thinking,
"How could I have done this? I've made the wrong decision. I've turned my back on the Lord!"

Even if a backslider is able to sleep at night, his sleep is that of a condemned person. He remembers God's touch, his
loving arms around him. He remembers being in God's house with all the saints, being on fire for the Lord, feeling
God's hand on his life. But now the backslider can only toss and turn -- because he has turned his back on his loving
Lord!

Backslider, if you are running from the call of God, living in disobedience, you will have only the deep sleep of
sorrow. You'll feel like a condemned person, worn out by guilt and anxiety. And you can be sure your storm will
come -- because God loves you! You have embarked on the same trip Jonah took. And like that backslidden prophet,
you will be tossed about by a life-and-death battle for your soul!

Let me ask you: Do you think God will stand idly by and let the devil take you from him? Do you think he'll let you
simply walk away and damn your own soul? Never! You once told him you'd serve him for life -- and he took you at
your word. Jesus sprinkled his blood on you. And now he's saying, "That's my blood, shed for you. You're mine --
and I won't let you go. I'll take any drastic action I have to, to keep you. I may put you in the belly of a whale. But I
won't let you run head-first into hell!"
There are three awful consequences to backsliding. Let me share with you these three consequences:

1. Consequence Number One:

Your Backsliding Makes
You a Dangerous Person
to Be Around!

When you are backslidden, you are one of the most dangerous people on earth -- a walking time bomb!

Backslidden Jonah was a marked man. He knew God would not let him get away with his rebellion. And when he
stepped onto the boat at Joppa, he became the most dangerous man on the Mediterranean. Why? It was because God
was after him!

When God has a controversy with a backslider, it affects everyone around him. You see, when the backslider's storm
finally comes, it hits everybody -- family, children, coworkers, friends, even strangers. The storm aimed at Jonah put
everyone on that ship in danger, along with the dozens of other ships on that part of the sea. Hundreds, perhaps
thousands, of lives were exposed to the great danger.

For years I've heard addicts and alcoholics say, "My addiction is my sin, my problem only. I'm not hurting anyone
but myself." No! Scripture proves that it's not just your problem. It's the problem of everyone who lives with you,
walks with you, knows you. God is pursuing you -- and that makes you dangerous!

One woman wrote to me: "My preacher father backslid from the Lord. He resigned from his church and left the
ministry altogether. Then he divorced my mother and married an ungodly woman. He dragged all my brothers and
sisters down with him, causing them to turn from God. Now he's trying to get me to backslide. He calls me a phony,
saying I should stick with the family. But, praise God, he hasn't been able to touch me. God has been keeping me!"

I think of a certain husband and father who was delivered from a terrible drug addiction. He got wonderfully saved
and was restored to his wife and children. God blessed this man with a decent job. And when he came home from
work at night, his three kids crawled up in his lap, happy and excited, thanking Jesus that Daddy was home. Their
household was full of God's favor.

But then the tempter showed up. Eventually, the man went back to snorting cocaine. Soon his wife saw something in
his face she hadn't seen for over a year. His eyes were red again. She whispered a prayer: "Oh, God -- don't let it
be!"

But she knew he was hooked once more. He came home from work at noon, trying to drink cold water and coffee to
bring himself out of a daze. She knew then he was no longer going to his job, because he'd lost it. Now he was back
on the streets.

This backslidden man became dangerous to his family. All of their money was cut off, and all of God's blessings
disappeared. He tried to convince everyone, "It's my sin, my problem. I'm only destroying myself." No -- he was
destroying his entire family! His three children became bitter and angry -- mad at God, Daddy, Mommy, the whole
world. And now the grandchildren, the godly legacy, this man could have had might never exist.

Just a few weeks ago, one of the top Wall Street brokers of all time -- a man who handled multi millions of dollars --
was exposed as being hooked on heroine. He snorted just before doing all his business deals. He even got his wife
hooked, along with another Wall Street broker. This man lost his job, his home, everything. He and his wife are now
living in one of New York City's homeless shelters.
Beloved, nobody lives and dies only to himself! When David sinned in numbering the Israelites, he too became a
dangerous man. The judgment that God sent on him fell on Israel as well. Talk about a deadly storm: 70,000 men
lost their lives! David had to cry out: "..."Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have
they done? Let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house" (2 Samuel 24:17).

Likewise, many backslidden Christians are sending their coworkers to hell. At one time these believers were a
testimony on the job. They kept a Bible on their desk and were always eager to talk about Jesus. Their colleagues
knew something was genuinely different about them.

But now these ungodly coworkers realize there has been a change. They know their Christian colleague is
backslidden! They can't explain what has happened in spiritual terms, but they do know something is different now.
Their once-zealous Christian coworker has become like them -- and he was their last hope! They may have mocked
him at one time, but secretly they thought, "At least he's somebody I can go to in trouble. He may even prove to me
there's a God."

This backslidden Christian has robbed them of their hope, taking away what little spark of faith they might have had.
Now these heathen are convinced it's impossible to serve God. The backslider has become a danger to their very
souls!

2. Consequence Number Two:

You Will Be Rebuked
by the World!

When the ship's captain found Jonah asleep in the hold, he shook him awake and soundly rebuked him: "...What
meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call upon thy God..." (Jonah 1:6). He shouted at Jonah, "What are you doing
sleeping, preacher? Fall on your face and pray!"

Imagine -- a prophet of God, rebuked by a heathen sailor! All the sailors were awake, calling on their gods -- but the
prophet of God was asleep. Jonah had lost his testimony!

I can imagine what the prophet thought when he woke. He felt the rocking of the ship, heard the men wailing in fear,
saw the hold filling with water. He had to be thinking, "Uh-oh -- this is it! God has caught up with me. I'm the cause
of this awful storm!"

So he hurried up on deck to confess. He said, "Men, this is all about me. I'm a backslider, running from God!" "...for
I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you" (verse 12). All the sailors then cried, "Why are you bringing
all of this trouble on us? Why were you so afraid of your God that you had to run from him? What kind of God do
you serve, Jonah?" (see verse 10).

The apostle Paul also suffered through a storm at sea. But it wasn't because he was running from God. On the
contrary, Paul was at peace with God. He could stand confidently as his ship began to break apart, and reassure the
ungodly crew: "Don't worry, gentlemen -- not one of you will be lost. I heard from my God last night. He has told
me we're all going to be saved!"

If you're a backslider, you probably remember a time when you could stand confidently in any storm or crisis. Like
Paul, you could tell the world, "My God is able!" But now the only things people see in you are fear and exhaustion.
Like Jonah, you are weak, no match for the enemy. You can't command a storm. You don't bring any real hope to a
situation. You've lost the dignity that comes with walking closely with Jesus. Worldly lust has drained all your
spiritual power!

Worst of all, your backsliding presents to the world an unattractive picture of salvation. You make it seem as if it's
more profitable to be sinner than a Christian. Now your coworkers say to you, "Why are you so irritable these days?
Where is the joy you once had? Why have you stopped trying to get me to go to church with you? Have you quit on
God?"

There should not be a single area of our lives in which we make it seem more attractive to serve the devil than to
serve the Lord. In every area we ought to have the gentleness, kindness, goodness and grace of God. Our lives
should be a testimony that says, "Serve Jesus. He makes a way where there is no way. He'll see you through any
storm!"

But the backslider has lost that testimony. He can tell you what it used to be like to serve Jesus. But that isn't a
testimony, because it has no power. And that is the rebuke of the ungodly! When the storm hits you full force, and
you show up at work with sorrowful tears, they'll say to you, "What kind of Christian are you? Why don't you get on
your knees and call on your God? I can't help you. He can!" They will testify to you!

3. Consequence Number Three:

God Is Going to Take You
Down Into the Lowest Pit
Known to Man!

If you're running from God, you'll be swallowed up like Jonah -- in the belly of a great trial! Your trial could be your
health, your finances, your family. Yet it will happen not because God wants to destroy you, but because you are his.
Accept it right now, backslider: No man or woman who runs from God escapes the storm. And no human power can
deliver from it!

"(Jonah) said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you...Nevertheless
the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against
them" (Jonah 1:11-13).

These ungodly sailors tried to spare Jonah. They were experienced seamen and knew the terrain of the deep. As they
imagined Jonah being eaten by sharks, they hesitated to throw him overboard. But, beloved, when God goes after a
backslider, no one can hinder his divine plan!

If you're running from the Lord, mark it down: Your crisis is coming, and it will be the storm of your life. Your
loved ones and friends may try to shield you from it, but none of their best efforts will work. God has already made
up his mind: He has a purpose in sending the storm. And he knows if you are rescued from it before he can
discipline you, you'll never be saved!

"...Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights" (14-17). After the storm follows the darkest, most
critical moment of your life. It's called the pit of despondency. Jonah's trial took him down to the deepest recesses of
the earth, where there was no light at all. He testified: "I went down to the bottoms of the mountains..." (2:6).

What an awful condition Jonah found himself in: total darkness, seaweed wrapped around his body, water sloshing
up against him constantly. And the physical pressure must have been incredible. Even submarines have to be
pressurized to go into the deep. Jonah's ear drums had to be in constant pain.

Backslider, can you imagine being in that kind of dark, stinking mess? Take a good look -- because it's a picture of
where you're headed! There is coming upon you a night of terrible darkness, a time of absolute despair and
despondency.

Jonah had two options in his dark pit of despair. And the same two options are available to every backslider who
goes down into the belly of a dark crisis:

 1. You can give in to the despondency and hopelessness, convinced God hates you for
your disobedience. You can say, "I'm so far down, I can never get back to God. There's
 no hope for me!" Despair will rule your life, sinking you ever deeper into the pits of
depression.

Jonah easily could have given in to this spirit of despondency. If he had, he would have died in the whale's belly, his
name never to be spoken again. You may object, "But God had ordained a mission for Jonah. He never would have
let him die down there." No! God could have found someone else for Jonah's mission. We all have free will to
choose -- and Jonah had to make a choice concerning his attitude.

Beloved backslider, you too can give up in your storm! When everything is against you -- when you descend to the
lowest pit of anguish, feeling swallowed up by despair -- you'll think God has abandoned you. You'll be tempted to
say, "It's no use. God doesn't care. He can't possibly love me, because he's allowed all this trouble to fall on me."

When you get to that point of despair, you have a choice to make. That brings up your second option:

 2. You can call on God for mercy. You can come back to the Lord, no matter how far
from him you've run!

Thank God, Jonah made the right decision: "Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly, and
said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou
heardest my voice" (verses 1-2).

The whole purpose of your storm is to press you to do as Jonah did -- to turn back to God! The Lord is pressing you
to return to your first love -- to come back to his house, call on him, and trust and pray your way out of trouble. You
only have to choose to do that!

This true story is meant both to warn and encourage you. Like you, Jonah thought God was finished with him. He
cried: "I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. The waters compassed me about,
even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the
bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever..." (verses 4-6).

But in the end, Jonah made the right choice, praying: "When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and
my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple....I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will
pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord" (verses 7-9).

I have a minister friend whom I first met a number of years ago. I loved this man dearly. He was one of the sweetest,
gentlest people I'd ever met -- a simple, trusting man who had a burden for lost souls. Everyone knew he was called
to do a great work for God.

Then he began to have trouble in his marriage. Each time I saw him, he seemed a little cooler than before, a little
more despondent. Then one day I received a call from a mutual friend who said this pastor had resigned from the
ministry. He'd left his family and run off with a female drug addict who had backslidden from the Lord.

Soon the storm hit this man's life full force. First there was financial ruin. Then he discovered his lover couldn't
satisfy him after all. Moreover, she had gotten him hooked on pot. Now he was in a deep depression, miserable and
despairing.

I'll never forget the look on this couple's faces when I met with them. Neither of them would lift their eyes to meet
mine. He was now selling drugs. And she knew she had broken up a gospel preacher's family. Both were in the belly
of the whale, utterly despondent.

I said to this man, "I still love you, friend. I want you to know I'll walk beside you. More importantly, the Lord loves
you. Please -- let me take you by the hand and bring you back to the Savior. The Lord will restore everything the
cankerworm has eaten."
But my friend was so low, so discouraged, he answered, "No, Brother David, I'm too far gone. I've sinned too
deeply, too intentionally, against Jesus. There's no way he could forgive me for what I've done. I've sunk too low!"

I sat with them for two hours with my Bible open, trying to persuade them to come back. But nothing I said could
console this former minister. I couldn't pull him out of his despair.

Like Jonah, this man had two options. Even though he felt God had given up on him, he only needed to cry out from
the belly of his hell, "Oh, God, I've sinned against you. Deliver me!" And the Lord immediately would have reached
down to deliver him.

But each time I reached out to this man after that, I realized he'd gone deeper into the pit. Eventually I lost all
contact with him. The last I heard, he was far gone, still mired in the depths of despair.

What about you who are reading this message? Have you backslidden and refused to return to Jesus? You may say,
"Brother Dave, you don't know what I've done and how far down I've gone." Let me tell you, friend: If you allow
yourself to wallow in your fear, guilt and condemnation, you'll be crushed in it -- and end up hard-hearted!

Or, you have another choice. You can say, "No! I've read a message of hope -- a message of strength and power in
Jesus. I can go home to my Lord. I can turn back to him!"

I believe that as soon as Jonah started praying in the whale's belly, God began drying up a nice spot somewhere
inside the cavernous fish and said, "Now, Jonah, come sit over here and worship me." Jonah must have had some
revival meeting with God inside that dark place. Meanwhile, God was guiding that whale across the Mediterranean,
beaching him on the shore and making him vomit up Jonah. Out came a man of God -- set free, anointed and back
on schedule with the Holy Ghost's plan!

God restored everything for Jonah. And he wants to restore everything the devil has taken from you. He wants to
give back everything to you in good measure. That's why he has left this glorious promise to all his backslidden
children:

"Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of
Israel, saith the Lord....they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the Lord their God. Return, ye
backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God"
(Jeremiah 3:20-22).

All you have to do is simply return. It is God's work to heal your tendency to backslide: "...I will heal your
backslidings..." (verse 22). Turn back to your gracious, loving Savior. He promises to bring you all the way back to
himself!
 The Sin of Mixing!

By David Wilkerson
Undated

How many churches do you know that are flooded with the awesome presence of Jesus Christ? Where believers are
so awed and reverent, they gather in holy silence. Where no one dares be flippant or silly. Where the singing is so
filled with Christ's presence, sinners weep. Where the backslider and the wicked sinner become so miserable they
either run to the altar, or out the door. Where the preacher is so anointed his face seems to shine with supernatural
glory, and his words have convicting power.

How many Christians do you know who live in the glorious victory that comes from spending much time in the
presence of Jesus? Who do you know that is exciting to be around, because you can sense victory and peace in
them? Where are those who rejoice in pulling down strongholds - casting down evil imaginations - victorious over
lust and passion - who have found and appropriated the strong arm of the Lord to all their hurts, problems, and
anxieties?

How few churches, how few pastors, and how few Christians there are who are alive and vibrant with the power of
Christ's presence!

Why? Because this generation of Christians is guilty of the sin of mixture! We have been shutting out the actual
presence of Christ because we no longer want to be a separated people. We want to mix. We do not want to be
different.

Mixture means "to combine or blend into one mass so that individual characteristics are gone." It is the
intermingling of two elements causing them to lose their separate uniqueness, and take on a new, singular character.

Doesn't this describe exactly what is happening in Christianity today? God's people want to blend and intermingle -
and soon they lose their unique, different, special character. They lose their godly character, and take on the
character of the world.

From the Beginning, God Chose to Reveal His Presence

Only Through a Special, Separated People.

He chose to reveal Himself through Israel - if they would avoid the sin of mixture:

"For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God; the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special (called out)
people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth..." (Deuteronomy 7:6)

Moses knew there was only one thing that made them special, or different, from all other people on earth. It was not
because they were in themselves worthy, or holy. It was the presence of God revealed in their midst! They alone had
the actual presence of Almighty God.

"And God said to Moses...my presence shall go with thee...and Moses answered...if thy presence go not with me, let
us go no further...

"For how shall it be known here that I and my people have found grace in thy sight...Is it not that thou goest with us?
So in this way we shall be different from all people upon the face of the earth...(Exodus 33:14-16).

Here is conclusive proof that God's people are special and different because of the actual presence of the Lord in
their midst! Take away His presence, and there is no difference from the rest of the church world. Any church or
people can boast they are Spirit-filled and full gospel - but if there is no overwhelming presence of Christ at work in
their midst, they are just as ordinary as any other dead, dry church. We are special, different, only when Christ's
presence is in full revelation among us.

God warned Israel that any mixture with the world would cause Him to withdraw His presence, and He would reject
them as the special channel of revelation. They were commanded to deal unmercifully with the ungodly, heathen
spirit of their time:

"Thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no agreement with them, nor show mercy upon
them...neither shalt thou intermingle in marriage with them...for they will turn thee away from following me..."
(Deuteronomy 7:2-4).

Joshua had also warned the children of God -

"...they shall be snares and traps unto you, and the cause of widespread affliction (scourge), and in your eyes, until
you perish from off this good land the Lord your God hath given you..." (Joshua 23:13).

The warnings of Joshua are needed today just as much. To me, this explains much of the hurt and pain in the lives of
some Christians. Think of it - widespread afflictions and thorns, all caused by affinity with the world. The direct
result of the sin of mixture.

Israel loved to mix! God's people were determined to do away with everything that made them different from the
rest of the world. They despised the reproach of being separated. They wanted kings, like the rest of the world. They
wanted sexual freedom, like the rest of the world. They wanted to flirt and indulge in adultery and still cover the
altar with tears; they wanted the lust, the passion, the immorality, the pornography, the fornication, and the idols - of
the rest of the world. So they rejected His commandment to be separate and special to Himself. They sinned and
became proud and vain, and made themselves molten images and worshiped all the hosts of heaven - to do evil in
the sight of God "as did the wicked."

"And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until
he had cast them out of his sight..." (II Kings 17:20).

There was no need for Israel to seek after counselors, or spiritual advisors, or prophets - to find out why they were
so harassed and filled with despair. They knew why they were being afflicted. They knew why troubles were piling
up on them - the presence of the Lord was gone! God had rejected them as the channel of His presence and had
turned them over to spoilers!

Of course, not all who suffer have been rejected as channels of Christ's presence. Many are sick and suffering
because, like David, God is seeking to reveal more of His presence to the sufferer, or those who are near them. But
the context here speaks of a people living in mental and spiritual torment because of rejecting their place in God.

The Predominant Message of the prophets Was

"Your Iniquities Have Turned Away the Presence of God."

Jeremiah asked Israel, "Why do you think the Lord God has done all these things to you?" Then he gave them the
answer: "Because you forsook the Lord and mixed with the worldly and wicked among you..." (Jeremiah 8:19). God
spoke to His people through His prophet, saying,

"Do you fear me? You will no longer tremble in my presence...but you have a rebellious and revolting heart...your
sinful heart has turned away God's presence, and your sins have withholden good things from you..." (Jeremiah
5:22-25).

Listen to God's indictment against these mixers!

"You have grown prosperous and bright - you overlook the deeds of the wicked..." (Jeremiah 5:28).

Isaiah wept because "Zion was a wilderness, the people desolated, the holy house of God lying in ruins, and sore
afflictions in the hearts of God's people..." (Isaiah 64:9-12).

He cried out,

"And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face
from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities..." (Isaiah 64:7).

Was that unmerciful of God? Was there no grace shown to them? Oh, listen to the loving appeal God had made to
them:

"I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walked in a way that was not good, after
their own thoughts..." (Isaiah 65:2).

Isaiah goes on to describe the results of their mixing. They began to - "sacrifice to idols...eat swine's flesh...burn
incense upon altars of brick..." Israel had mixed, lost its unique character, and had taken on the character and
identity of the world! So God hid His face from them, rejected their new character, and withdrew His presence.

Are we so blind as to miss the point God is making in the Old Testament! How much clearer could it be that God
will not put up with our mixing with the unholy, the unclean! Why such a separated priesthood in the Old
Testament? To give us an example of God's firm commitment to revealing Himself through a holy, clean, separated
people.

 "Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when you go into the
tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die; it shall be a statute for ever throughout your
generation...
 "And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between clean and
unclean..." (Leviticus 10:9,10).
 "And you shall be holy unto me; for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other
people, that you should be mine..." (Leviticus 20:26).

That is the special message of the Old Testament - a special, severed, separated, different people who would
maintain God's cause on the earth, through a manifestation of His presence!

Ezra asked his people:

"Shall we break God's commandments, and join in affinity with the wicked?...that is why we can't stand before our
enemies..

"The people of Israel, and the priests, and Levites have not separated themselves from the people of the land, and are
doing according to their abominations...

"For they have mingled the holy seed with the people of those lands..." (Ezra 9:1-14).
 The New Testament is Even Stronger
in Condemning the Sin of Mixture!

There is nothing in the Old Testament quite as strong as the warnings of Paul against affinity with the world:

"Do not try to work together as equals with unbelievers, for it cannot be done. How can right and wrong be partners?
How can light and darkness live together? How can Christ and the Devil agree? What does a believer have in
common with an unbeliever? How can God's temple come to terms with pagan idols? For we are the temple of the
living God! As God himself has said: 'I will make my home with them, and live among them, I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.'

"And so the Lord says: 'You must leave them, and separate yourselves from them. Have nothing to do with what is
unclean, and I will accept you. I will be your father, and you shall be my sons and daughters,' says the Lord
Almighty..." (II Corinthians 6:14-18 Greek N.T.).

In the Old Testament, when God wanted to reveal the power of His presence before the wicked Egyptians, He first
drew a line of separation, dividing God's people in Goshen from the rest of Egypt.

"And the Lord shall sever between...Israel...and Egypt... and I will send plagues upon thine heart...that thou mayest
know that there is none like me in all the earth..." (Exodus 9:4, 14).

God wants the world to see the difference between His people who love Him and the rest of the unbelieving world.
He wants us to be an example of a delivered and victorious people, trusting in His mighty arm to deliver us from all
harm and evil.

The demonstration of God's terrifying presence at work among His children smote the heart of Pharaoh with mighty
conviction - "And Pharaoh said to Moses and Aaron...I have sinned, and I and my people are wicked..." (Exodus
9:27).

The reasons for separation from the world (Egypt) today are the same. God is once again drawing a line between His
people and this wicked age, so that this generation can know there is none like Him to deliver in all the earth. The
wicked of this age must have an even greater manifestation of the Lord's presence; nothing else will get their
attention. Nothing else will smite them with conviction for sin. The Holy Spirit has been outpoured, so that all flesh
could come under the power of Christ's presence - and be convicted of sin, righteousness, and judgment!

Whatever is mixed with the world can never be of God. It can never be a channel of Christ's actual presence. Our
Lord is going to write "Ichabod" over the house of every minister who is leavened with the spirit and methods of this
age. He will burn out and cast down every minister of the gospel who looks toward Sodom. He is going to withdraw
His presence from every confessed believer who yearns for the pleasures and seductions of this world. They will be
left dry, empty, and confused. He cannot - He will not - trust His Holy Presence to anyone who is not wholly
separated from the world and yielded only to Him.

Disobedient servants will not be able to stand against the devil and the moral landslide of this final age. They will
once and for all lose the touch of God, and though some will be saved, they will be counted unworthy of the
anointing. If you are of "this world" you are not of His! Jesus said,

"I am not of this world..." (John 8:23).

Speaking of His true disciples, He said,"...they are not of this world, even as I am not of this world..." (John 17:16).
Again, "I have chosen you out of this world, therefore the world hateth you..." (John 18:19).

Do we really understand what Jesus is saying to us? "I have put a difference between you and the world. They will
hate you because of My presence in you." If that is true, why are we trying to cozy up to the world? Why do we mix
their music with ours? Why do we seek their good will? Why do we bend our morals to accommodate them? Why
do we seek their applause or blessing? We are not of this world! We ought to accept our difference, and quit trying
to be like them.

The world loves its own - but we are not of it. God, help us to joyfully accept our special character of separation and
difference, and give up on the world. Only those who are truly unmixed with the world, separated unto Christ, have
any power to save it!

"If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him..." (I John 2:15).

The Father loves the lost. The Christian who is mixed, or the ministry that is mixed, cannot know or share in that
love for the unsaved. The love of the Father for the lost is not in them. The mixed Christian shows dishonor to the
very Cross of Christ, for if He gave Himself that He might deliver us from this present evil world - how can we have
any part with it?

The Holy Spirit is even now calling out the true followers of Jesus Christ, separating them - purging, winnowing,
getting them prepared as a special people to bring back His glorious presence to shake the earth. A people crucified
to the world! Ready to wrestle with the principalities and powers of darkness, and against all spiritual wickedness in
high places.

There is only one sad alternative for those who mix with the world:

"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever
therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God..." (James 4:4).

In these final days, His friends and enemies are going to be determined by whether or not they are mixing, or
separated.

What It Will Take To Go Through The Fire

By T. Austin Sparks
Undated

It is a testing way, but blessed be God, if we do endure the testing and go on patiently with Him, in His time, when
that flesh has been finally laid low; when the voice of natural ambition is no longer sounding and having influence,
and we are now utterly at the place where if things are not going to be of the Lord then there is not going to be
anything at all, the Lord has a free way, and He is able to indicate that all the time something has been going on. He
shows how He has been at work, and how that in time there will be manifested a work of God, a work that shall
have such a large percentage of spiritual value and meaning in it that you are very glad, after all, that you walked
with God and not with men in the work of God.

...One thing that surely concerns all the people of God very strongly, very definitely, very mightily, is the question
of that which is invulnerable, indestructible; that which will stand when everything else in the universe crashes,
when all else is consumed, destroyed: when in the shaking of the heavens and the earth that which can be shaken is
shaken, then there shall be that which abides the shaking, abides the fire, and goes through indestructible for
eternity. That concerns us in a practical way as to the results of our being here on this earth.

If the great feature of spirituality is spiritual intelligence, which is knowing the Lord in the inner way of His thought,
of His purpose, that is what God is after, because it is that which is going to outlast everything else. That is what is
meant by being in the pre-eminent, the supreme activity of God in this dispensation. this world and everything
related to it is not going to last, therefore we will not get our roots into it; we will not lay deep foundations into it;
we will not build in union with it, with the Name of God on it, not even in a religious way. You and I must come
into God's supreme activity in this dispensation, which is to get out from this world, in association with Himself, that
which will abide eternally when all else has gone. This may be in a people, but the thing itself is the inner
knowledge of God. That is spirituality.

...We have to settle down to the fact that if the Lord wants to do anything with us, if we are rightly adjusted, if we
are at His disposal, if He has a clear way in us, He will Himself take responsibility for our usefulness to Him,
whether it be little or great. It would be better for us to be tucked away in some quiet corner of the world where we
were serving the Lord a hundred per cent, though within a seemingly limited sphere, than for us to be out in some
great thing, where we were full of activities but only about ten per cent of it was really the Lord's work. To enter
into God's rest is basic to growth.