FELLOWSHIP WITH THE WORLD FORBIDDEN

Fellowship With the World Forbidden

"As ye have therefore received Yahushua the Master, so walk ye in him; rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Yahushua. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Yahuwahhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power." (Colossians 2:6-10). "Put on therefore, as the elect of Yahuwah, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any; even as Yahushua forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of Yahuwah rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Yahushua dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Master. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Master Yahushua, giving thanks to Yahuwah and the Father by him. . . . And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Master, and not unto men; knowing that of the Master ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye serve the Master Yahushua" (Colossians 3:12-17).

A follower of Yahushua, as described by the Scriptures, is a person who is separated from the world in his aims and practices, and is united with Yahushua,--a possessor of the peace which Yahushua alone can bestow, finding that the joy of the Master is his strength, and that his joy is full. Followers of Yahushua will not leave the world to perish unwarned, and make no effort for the reclaiming of the lost. The truth of Yahuwah sanctifies the believer, and he holds sweet communion with Yahushua. He puts to use every talent Yahuwah has given him in the service of Yahushua in grateful love to him who gave his precious life for him, in order that he might not perish, but have everlasting life. Those who truly love Yahushua become laborers together with Yahuwah, and they watch for every opportunity to employ the means at their command in doing good, and in patterning after the works of Yahushua. They will not yield to temptations to make alliances with the world. They will not unite with secret orders and bind themselves by intimacies with unbelievers. But those who are not wholly on the side of Yahushua are to a large degree controlled by the maxims and customs of the world. They unite in close companionship with the world, and make partners of those who do not love Yahuwah, but who rather dishonor him. Alliance with the world on the part of those who profess to be followers of Yahushua, is pleasing to the enemy of all righteousness; for it is favorable to his determined purpose of building up his kingdom. It is conducive to his success that many of his subjects put on a form of piety, and assume the appearance of the children of Yahuwah. By this means his power to deceive and decoy souls to ruin is greatly increased. He exercises his wisdom and power through these unconverted agencies who still claim to be the followers of Yahushua, and wherever this class of his subjects meet for the supposed purpose of worshiping Yahuwah, Satan is there to suggest words and to exert his influence against the truth. Satan is rich in this world's goods, and he is full of cunning to deceive, and his most effective agents are those whom he can lead to take a form of piety while they deny the power of Yahuwah by their un-Yahushua-like characters.

The children of Yahuwah are to stand firmly for the right under all circumstances. They are not to be deceived by those who have the mind and spirit of the world, or be united with them in their spirit or practices. The bands of union will grow stronger imperceptibly, and the professor of religion, united in some alliance with the world, will finally feel resentment against any one who presents to him the necessity of coming out from the world and being separate. He will come into a condition of such harmony with the world that he will listen to the suggestions of Satan; and as his self-importance is fed by the praise and flattery of the world, and this is more acceptable to him than the self-denial required by the cross of Yahushua, he turns from the peculiar people of Yahuwah to those who offer enticements to gratify worldly ambitions and enterprises in harmony with the natural tastes and desires. Backslidden from Yahuwah, he has tasted the applause of men, and it has become pleasant to him. As he does not receive this praise in the church of Yahushua, he turns to the world.

The word of Yahuwah forbids the praising and glorifying of men, therefore followers of Yahushua cannot glory in men; but the mere professor of religion feels grieved over this lack of human appreciation, and believing that he has wonderful qualifications that his professed followers of Yahushua brethren do not discern or rightly estimate, he presses a little closer to the world, loves their deceptive flattery, and thinking he is worthy of being extolled, he drinks more deeply of the turbid streams of the valley, until he no longer thirsts for the snow waters of Lebanon. He is restless and uneasy among true followers of Yahushua who talk of Yahushua and the precious truth. The language of Canaan is a language that he no longer delights in. The atmosphere surrounding the souls of followers of Yahushua is unlike the atmosphere that surrounds the soul of the worldling, and the half-hearted professor feels uneasy while in the presence of those who love Yahuwah with all their hearts. He seeks to weed out from his companions those who love and fear Yahuwah, and he fills up their vacant places with those who do not love and fear him, and who have no respect for his commandments. He makes it evident by his course of action that he does not honor or revere Yahuwah.

The Master says, "Them that honor me I will honor" (1 Samuel 2:30). Satan is well pleased with the sentiments of the average follower of Yahushua whom the people of the world praise and extol, while they cast reproach and contempt on those who truly honor Yahuwah. The worldly follower of Yahushua feasting upon the flattery of men will receive no more reward than this that he seeks after. The praise of men will be his whole recompense. But Yahuwah is grieved by the spirit and action of worldly-minded men and women who yet profess to be on the Master's side. The personal worldliness of followers of Yahushua testifies against the religion of Yahushua. How few honor Yahuwah by being his faithful witnesses! Yahushua says of his true followers, "Ye are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:14). "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).

Yahuwah has his faithful witnesses who are not attempting to do that which Yahushua has pronounced impossible,--that is, seeking to serve Yahuwah and Mammon at the same time. They are burning and shining lights amid the moral darkness of the world, and amid the gross darkness that covers the people like the pall of death. The members of the church of Yahushua are individually to be controlled by the Holy Spirit, in order that they may not have a changeable, fluctuating experience. They are to be rooted and grounded in the truth. When the joy of the saving power of Yahushua's righteousness is rightly understood by experimental knowledge, there will be vital interest in the church, there will be those who will teach transgressors Yahuwah's ways, and sinners will be converted to the truth as it is in Yahushua. It is the professors of religion that need converting; for Satan has brought his deceptions to bear upon their souls. The soul that is brought into personal contact with Yahushua, becomes a holy temple unto the Master; for Yahushua is made unto the believer wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. He who has fully surrendered to Yahuwah has a consciousness of Yahushua's saving presence. He is a possessor of spiritual patience, and has the rest of soul that comes from learning of Him who is meek and lowly of heart. Trusting in Yahushua to be his efficiency and righteousness, his soul is filled with a pleasant contentment.

What is the joy of the follower of Yahushua?--It is the result of the consciousness of the presence of Yahushua. What is the love of the follower of Yahushua?--It is the reflection of the love of Yahushua. It is the effect of the operation of the Holy Spirit. Looking to the cross of Calvary, we see Yahushua dying for the sins of the world, in order that by his death, life and immortality might be brought to light in behalf of the contrite soul. Yahushua is all in all, and without him we can do nothing. Without Yahushua, spiritual life would be impossible. But this union of Yahushua with the soul is the union which Satan is ever seeking to disturb, and through yielding to his temptations, the soul that once was united to Yahushua may become assimilated to the world, and have no relish for the bread of eternal life. The provision from the table of the Master, the heavenly manna, is not relished; and the world-loving soul loathes the corn of heaven, and hungers and thirsts for the praise and flattery of the world. The applause of men is the food that is relished by the perverted appetite of the Yahushualess soul. Infatuated by a Satanic ambition to have the supremacy, professed followers of Yahushua are led on from one delusion to another until eternity is lost out of their reckoning. But he who lives Yahuwah-fearing life in Yahushua will have no relish for the forbidden praise of men.

By: Ellen White
Review and Herald
December 4, 1894