Making A Difference Between the Holy and the Profane
(Prov 30:12) There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.
We are living in a generation like that. All the lines have been erased. There are no absolutes anymore. Right and wrong, good and evil, are subjective concepts that depend upon the circumstances and the feelings, opinions, and desires of the person or persons concerned. No one has a right to even suggest that any certain thing or activity is wrong because that is “judging” and we all know that we are not supposed to do that, don’t we? The visible result of this insanity is one of the most religious yet the most wicked and vile generations that has occupied the face of the earth since Noah’s day.
While “no absolutes” and “no holy and unholy” may be the philosophy of this lost and hopeless generation in which we live, it is certainly contrary to the law and the nature of God. If you start reading the Bible you will not get past the first four verses of Genesis before you discover that God divides. First He divided the light from the darkness, then the waters, then the dry land from the water. He put a difference between things and set one over against the other. This is order instead of chaos – and order is what happens when God is in control. In the absence of God is chaos and confusion. And when there is order there will be division. In God’s view of things there is clean and unclean; there is holy and unholy; there is good and there is evil.
Is your view of things like that? Is there anything that is holy in your view? And are there things that you consider unclean or evil? We live in a generation that seems to think there is nothing worthy of reverence or honor. Nothing is holy and so it naturally follows that nothing is unclean in their eyes either. They make no difference – like God does. Are you like this generation or are you like God? Do you judge according to what is written in God’s Word or do you cross each bridge as you come to it, inventing your own rules as you go? If you do then you are of the world and not of God – no matter what you may say or think of yourself to the contrary. In the kingdom of God there are holy things and in the kingdom of darkness there are unholy and unclean things. In the preparation of the Tabernacle in the wilderness and all the vessels of the sanctuary there were very precise and orderly instructions given by God for every detail and there was no tolerance for any input of human opinion. They were holy things because they came from the mind of God and they represented God before man. They were not to be meddled with and made unholy by men and their opinions.
There are still things like that – holy things. Things that men have no right to meddle with because they are from the mind of God, because they represent God before men. When man puts his tool to the holy things of God he pollutes them. (Exodus 20:25) This is always the beginning of idolatry – when man begins to input his opinions and preferences and starts discerning between holy and unholy, between clean and unclean according to his own ideas instead of the written law of God. The real effect is that there ceases to be holy and unholy, clean or unclean in man’s eyes. Without the law of God every man simply does what is right in his own eyes. Without the law of God every man and woman becomes a god unto themselves, deciding right and wrong, holy and unholy, clean and unclean, on a case by case basis, according to their own judgement, which is based on selfishness. It only takes one generation to get into this mess and that is where we find ourselves now.
The judgement of God fell on Israel many times and the circumstances preceding their judgment were very similar to our circumstances today. The priests and the prophets had failed to make a difference between the holy and the unholy, between the clean and the unclean. They had failed to teach the people the difference and in so doing had led the people into a state of chaos and evil that left God no alternative but to judge and punish them.
(Ezek 22:26) Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
When all the standards and guides for behavior between people and between people and God are removed there arises a generation that has no moral compass whatsoever. That is exactly what has happened in our generation. Modern Christianity is deeply defiled and polluted because the difference between holy and unholy, clean and unclean has been virtually erased. Nothing is sacred anymore and every vile thing of the world has been brought into the house of God and integrated into what they are calling “worship.” They are worshipping “they know not what.” The contemporary music is the same as what the children of Israel were playing when Moses and Joshua came down off the mountain and found them naked and dancing around a golden calf that they had made to represent their “God.” It sounded like violence because Joshua and Moses thought it sounded like war in the camp, but they could not tell if it was the voice of one winning the battle or losing. Obviously, it was screaming and violent noise. Now be honest for a moment …what kind of music sounds like that in our generation? That is what they are using the churches now and it is unholy, but since there is no difference anymore most people think it is simply a matter of opinion and preference – no moral issue at all, but there is! If we can use the same music to worship God that the whole world associates with drugs, illicit sex, murder, suicide, rebellion, and devil worship and there is no moral issue involved, then surely it should be obvious that the leaders of the churches are failing to make a difference between the clean and the unclean. It should be further obvious that we are facing the imminent judgment of God unless there is a true awakening among the people of God. There must be a turning back to holiness and to making a difference between what is holy and unholy. There must be a return to honoring and reverencing the things that are holy. There must be a rejection of those things that are profane and unclean. No one can worship God in spirit and in truth who does not regard holy things and avoid unholy and unclean things. This is not a matter of do's and don'ts, but of being in agreement with God in your heart and mind. God himself is holy, so everything pertaining to God and his worship should be holy and not defiled with things or methods of the world which are profane.
God gave us certain things that are holy. Marriage is one of them. Marriage has been made an unholy thing and it must be restored to the holy institution that God designed it to be. The people of God must stop regarding marriage as a trial basis, temporary sort of thing, the same as the world does. It represents the relationship between God and man and it is a holy thing. The church is a holy thing because it is the body of Christ and the vehicle God uses to accomplish his earthly work. Therefore, everything connected with the church and what goes on there should be clean and not polluted with the philosophies, methods, and pleasures of an unholy world. The sanctuary is a place that should be regarded highly and treated with reverence and honor. It is the place where we meet with God together and therefore it should be regarded as special – holy. Going into the sanctuary of God is not the same as going to the grocery store, or the ball game, or to work. It is not a place to come “casual.” To do that is to show disrespect and disregard for holy things and to make them nothing more than common things. These are just a few examples of the kinds of things that must go if we care about seeing God do something in our generation other than judge us for our iniquity.
Each person who calls themselves a Christian needs to examine their own life and ask themselves some questions. Am I different than this unclean, unholy world? Does my life portray holiness unto the Lord, or is it common, unclean, and profane? My speech …is it full of crude, lewd, base talk or is it with grace (divine influence) and seasoned with salt? Do I recognize holy things and profane things and mark the difference? Do I order my life and walk in the way of holiness and away from the unclean and unholy? Does my influence point others toward purity and godliness or am I making it easier for them to be unclean and profane? Where is my life and my opinions going to lead my children and grandchildren?
Think about it …and then if you are REAL Christian - DO something about it!
Mike Miller
April 10, 2010