Dangerous Companions

Introduction

The influence of fathers.

Children. Mothers. Fathers.

Influence works two ways: towards faith and away from faith.

For any with influence, which is truly all of you, we are called to be aware of temptation.

For the church to be effective in taking the Gospel out, we need to be Christlike.

Be Fully Obedient

The Israelites were called to drive out anyone who was already in the Promised Land. However, they didn’t. Specifically in the region of Gezer.

Partial obedience is still disobedience.

We are prone to justifying the sins we struggle with while we view those we do not as more egregious.

Just a few examples:

Gossip. Often disguised as a prayer request. Or we assume that it is only gossip if it is a lie. It’s anything that does not need to be said concerning someone else. Is it edifying or encouraging?

Prejudice. Any cause we might use to look down on someone else. Based upon race or gender or economic class. Scripture calls us to treat others as better than ourselves, never less.

Sexual sin. Our justification that we can just follow our flesh, whatever makes us happy or brings pleasure. We justify it by saying that morality belongs in another time and they no longer apply today. Or that we find our identity in our sexuality rather than as a creation of God.

We must find ways to be fully obedient to what God calls us to do and to be as His children.

Keep Disobedience At A Distance

Not only did these tribes not drive out the Canaanites, but they continued to live right in their midst.

Their influence would be evident as you read through the book of Judges and see the continued moral decay and idolatry that existed among the Israelites.

Disobedience is a dangerous neighbor.

Yet, our thinking is too often, “How much can I get away with?”

As kids, we were banished to the kids table at Thanksgiving. Really, I didn’t know how good I had it until I was summoned to the adult table. We would laugh and joke. Mom had these candles she would have on the tables, yes even the kids table. We would run our fingers through the flame.

Often how we live our lives. How close can I get to the dangerous fire of sin. How long can I linger.

Morality teaching in the 90’s was often filled with lists of things we shouldn’t do, which is fine. But, the questions we would ask would be every possible scenario of possible things that we might get away with. Is there a sin small enough to not be a sin?

We were asking the wrong questions. I wished someone would have told me, “Instead of seeing how close you can get to sinfulness, see how close you can get to righteousness.”

The Scripture do not tell you to stand an fight sin.

1 Corinthians 6:18 ESV

Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.

Flee! Not just this sin, but any sin. Get yourself away from it.

Stop Trying To Tame Disobedience

We might assume that the Canaanites were too mighty of a force for the Ephraimites to remove. However, Scripture tells us that they were a conquered people that were forced into chattel slavery.

The system of slavery has no place in the Kingdom of God. In Revelation there is a comparison as you get further and further in this letter from John: New Jerusalem and New Babylon. One is the city of God and His people, the other represents those who have rejected God. In the end, Babylon is defeated and all its worldliness is done away with and those who are disobedient mourn:

Revelation 18:11–13 ESV

And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.

As the Lord describes to John all the wordliness of the world, he concludes by reminding him that there is rejoicing by the people of God at the passing of such things! And the final one he points out is a total end to slavery, which is the ownership of “human souls.”

Yesterday was Juneteenth. Sept. 22, 1862 was the date of the Emancipation Proclamation. Jan. 31, 1865, the 13th amendment was then signed to further strengthen the already existing federal law. But, it wasn’t until June 19th, 1866 that slaves in south Texas were finally freed. They had no idea that they were free and those who owned these souls were not going to tell them. Not until federal troops arrived in Galveston was the law enforced and those who were enslaved heard of and experienced freedom.

Too often, rather than getting rid of sin, we try to tame it. As slave owners were enslaved to the riches of the world and they would use slavery to actually enslave themselves to Babylon.

Disobedience cannot be trusted.

Sin must be eliminated.

Conclusion

Matthew 5:13 ESV

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

The value of salt. Flavoring and preservation.

If we are to maintain lives which cause people to thirst of forgiveness and love, which draws them to Jesus, our lives must show them who are our Lord and Savior truly is.

We cannot be neither friends nor masters of sin. We must eliminate it.

“Do you mortify; do you make it your daily work; be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you.” ― John Owen, The Mortification of Sin