THE WORLD WILL NOT ACKNOWLEDGE
“When I say to the wicked, You shall surely die; and you give him not warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at your hand. Yet if you warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.” Ezechiel 3:18, 19.
“The Scriptures furnish abundant evidence that it is safer to be joined to the Lord and lose the favor and friendship of the world, than to look to the world for favour and support and forget our dependence upon God…. The Lord Himself has established a separating wall between the things of the world and the things which He has chosen out of the world and sanctified to Himself. The world will not acknowledge this distinction…. But God has made this separation, and He will have it exist. In both the Old and the New Testaments the Lord has positively enjoined upon His people to be distinct from the world, in spirit, in pursuits, in practice; …
There is an element called love which would teach us to praise and flatter our associates and not to faithfully tell them of their dangers and warn and counsel them for their good. This love is not Heaven-born. Our words and actions should be serious and earnest, especially before those who are neglecting their soul’s salvation…. If we unite with them in lightness, trifling, pleasure seeking, or in any pursuit which will banish seriousness from the mind, we are constantly saying to them by our example, “Peace, peace; be not disturbed. You have no cause for alarm.” This is saying to the sinner, “It shall be well with thee.”
If we profess to be sons and daughters of God we should pursue such a course toward the unbelieving that our souls will be clear of their blood when we meet them in the great day of final reckoning.” –That I May Know Him, p. 308.
Questions to think about:
Do we work like Christ to save sinners from Satan’s wicked snares?
Are we distinct from the world, in spirit, in pursuits, in practices?
Will our soul be guilty before God in the great day of final reckoning if we do not warn the people around us and guide them by our own example in the way of salvation?