There Is A Difference
Marion H. Reynolds, Jr.
April 19, 1919 - Sept. 3, 1997
©FOUNDATION Magazine Editorial, September-October 1996
THE PREVAILING PHILOSOPHY of the world today is that it is
time for everyone to forget their differences and work together. However, this is Satan's
philosophy and the exact opposite of what God commands in His Word, the Bible. In these
crisis days, men are seeking solutions to their mounting problems based upon man's wisdom,
not God's. What a mistake and tragedy this is!
In Isaiah 55:8, 9 God says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are
your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my
ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." In Ezekiel 22:26,
God strongly rebukes religious leaders because "they have put no difference between
the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the
clean." In these days when most religious and political leaders reject God' s
counsel, it is time to remind the world that tragic consequences are sure to follow these
evil ways, for God says, "The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo,
they have rejected the word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them?" (Jeremiah 8:9).
In these days when the satanic philosophy of "forgetting all differences" is
so popular, we must never forget that God clearly delineates those differences that must
be understood and maintained in order to avoid certain disaster. Only a return to the
principles and practices set forth in the Scriptures could delay the righteous judgment of
God upon America and the other nations of the world! Without a return to the Bible, this
world is headed for judgment, not revival.
Deceived religious leaders are saying, "Let' s seek truth wherever it may be
found." They advocate that leaders of all religions come together to pool the
"truths" each supposedly has discovered in his own religious
"traditions." In this unscriptural effort, such deceivers are not only bringing
together professed "Christians" of all kinds-Evangelicals, Pentecostals,
Charismatics, Ecumenists, Roman Catholics and Greek Orthodox-but also non-Christian Jews
and heathen religions such as the Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, traditional
Indian nature worshippers and the like.
The Bible says, "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to
this word, it is because there is no light in them" Is 8:20. Those who believe God's
Word and desire to obey It will not only refuse to participate with those who are walking
in darkness (though they claim to seek the light) but will warn them and others about the
sad consequences of their disobedience. God says, "There is a way which seemeth right
unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Proverbs 14: l 2).
It is essential to recognize that there is a vast difference between an all-Holy God
and sinful man. Isaiah 6:3 says, "And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy,
holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory." Contrast this with
Psalm 39:5b: "verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity."
There is a vast difference between Christ and the devil. Jesus Christ, rebuking the
false teachers of His day said, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of
your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth,
because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he
is a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44). By contrast, Jesus said in John 14:6,
"I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by
me."
There is a vast difference between the Holy Spirit and false spirits. In John 16: l 3,
Jesus said, "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into
all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he
speak: and he will shew you things to come." By contrast, the beloved of the Lord are
instructed in l John 4:1, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits
whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world."
What a difference!
Today, when the devil's "mix-master" philosophy is so popular, true believers
must be especially careful to maintain the differences God has established. With mounting
pressure upon faithful believers to compromise (supposedly in order not to hinder God's
work in these last days), and with charismatics seeking to promote new heresies (that are
attractively presented to undiscerning believers as "new winds of the Holy
Spirit" but are actually generated by false spirits), it is obvious that Satan and
his "angels of light" are working overtime to deceive and need to be exposed and
opposed in the strength of the Lord and by the power of His might. God gives His faithful
ones the following assurance: "When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit
of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him" Isaiah 59b: What a blessing! What a
comfort! What an assurance! What an encouragement!
In His Word, God establishes many other unalterable and eternal differences. There is a
difference between truth and error; right wrong; righteousness and sin; faith and doubt;
life and death; saved and lost; believers and unbelievers; grace and works; heavenly and
earthly; spiritual and carnal; eternal and temporal; victory and defeat; creation and
evolution; angels and demons; peace and war; joy and sorrow; rest and restlessness;
simplicity and complexity, love and hate; hope and despair; blessed and cursed; awake and
asleep; full and empty; straight and crooked; moral and immoral; justice and injustice;
knowledge and ignorance; strength and weakness; needs and wants; near and far; bravery and
belligerence; smooth and rough; generosity and miserliness; humbleness and pride; freedom
and slavery, sincerity and hypocrisy; and fundamentalism and liberalism.
Failure to recognize and observe these and other Scriptural differences is contributing
in large measure to the confusion and uncertainties that are troubling individual
believers today. All who fail to heed God's warnings concerning these differences and who
refuse to separate from that which God declares to be unholy and unrighteous will miss a
special relationship with their Lord. Today, biblical separation is widely despised and
ridiculed, but note carefully 2 Corinthians 6:14-18:
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath
righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what
concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And
what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God;
as God hat said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they
shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the
Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto
you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."
Biblical separation is not popular; it is ridiculed and despised by most. However, God'
s command is to "come out," "be separate" and "touch not the
unclean thing." Only then will the Lord Almighty be able to minister fully to His
children as our perfect heavenly Father desires to do. Separated believers must not feel
sorry for themselves but feel instead a burden and concern for those who are obeying men
rather than God. Acts 5:29.
M.H. Reynolds, Jr.
