As you know, I had been told one time that a large church in the Rhode Island area, not so long ago, got on the airwaves. I don't remember if it was radio or television. I forget that detail. It doesn't matter much. But the minister of this church got on the airwaves and spoke at length about the need ecumenical unity, not so much in the strict liberal sense, but amongst professing born-again believers. The need for ecumenical unity amongst these believers and cooperation amongst believers of different kinds that could have some different beliefs on certain non-essentials kind of thing. And they emphasize the need for Christians to set aside some of their doctrinal differences in certain venues that they have these doctrinal differences that might have with some other Christians and they ought to do so for the sake of charity and for the sake of unity and they ought to always because they're Christians they ought to be gracious with their brethren and learn how to get along with other brethren and that this would be a good thing and ought to be done so out of the spirit of love. Now who could not hear that and say well that's a wonderful thing and And that's good. See, yes, that's what we need to do. And okay, fine. I don't really have a problem with that within certain limitations to be sure. But then I'm told, because I didn't see this myself or hear it, but then I'm told that this minister shifted gears, as you know, and he told his listeners that there's one exception to this rule that he was laying out, which was a rule of grace and accommodation to other believers and the desire and the striving to get along for love's sake. There's one kind of people you don't have to do that for, and that's separatists. And I'm told that that man then declared that separatists are evil. Sort of like, look, we have the love of Jesus. You know, we have differences with our brethren. We may hold to our doctrine, but we ought to know how to get along with our brethren. Except when it comes to the separatist Christians, they're too obnoxious to make peace with. Separatists are evil. Well, I hope that minister doesn't choke on his turkey bone this Thanksgiving because I've got news for him. America and Western civilization itself was built on the principles of the Protestant Reformation and the pilgrims that left England, went to Holland, and then came to America. And all I'm saying is that Western civilization And America itself was founded and prospered on the backs of the work of separatist Calvinists. Western civilization, mind you. Protestant Reformation, oh, separatist Christians. I mean, it's the essence of the protest, the protest, the Protestant Reformation. Separate from the Catholic Church, see? And then the pilgrims weren't separating from the Catholic Church. They were separating from the Protestant Church of England and the very essence of their movement. Well, I mean, I've got my Brother Bradford book here, right? So I read to you the first sentence of the book. If I can get past the introduction, the map. And chapter one, his little intro of Plymouth Plantation, little intro, which is what I read this morning, but it says chapter one, the title of the chapter, The Separatist Interpretation of the Reformation in England, 1550 to 1607. That's what Bradford called his first chapter. They were separatists, the essence of who they were and what they were doing. This whole book is about that. Separatists are evil? Well, I would say, and I don't, I just have to say that idea is ignorant. It is uninformed. It is unscriptural. In a very real sense, it's anti-American. I mean, you do realize where this nation came from. But to come from the Lord's people, to come from ministers, it's profoundly sad, I guess. Separation is a biblical principle. It is a doctrine taught in scripture, and it is taught throughout the scripture. In the Old Testament, the exhortations toward separation were directed to Old Covenant Israel. In the New Testament, the exhortations towards separation was given to, well, in reality, New Covenant Israel. That's too much for some people to swallow. So, God's people under the New Covenant. Even that's too much for some people to swallow. God's people under the New Testament. That's too much for the New Testament church. All of that's evil? Wow, that would be kind of sad if we actually thought that. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 6 just for a moment. I cannot take this evening to expound on you the depths of the doctrine of separation. There's so many layers. and complicated questions to ask in that regard that require biblical answers and it can get quite involved. To really teach on separation definitely has to be a series of some length if you're really going to cover the subject. But if we say that separatist Christians are evil and they're not worth loving and making peace with, then okay, I guess this one portion of scripture shall do. So 2 Corinthians 6, and probably the most noted portion in the New Testament on the subject of separation, Paul writes in verse 14, be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. We're not supposed to be yoked with unbelievers. For instance, this is why Christians should not marry unbelievers. It's why a Christian should not go into a joint business venture with an unbeliever. You have very different worldviews, and the temptation will be to compromise. Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? None. And what communion hath light with darkness? None. And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Absolutely none, we would say. What part hath he that believeth with an infidel? Right? How can two walk together except they be agreed? It's just pretending. And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God. As God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. I mean, so Paul used the argument, hey, stop and think. You're the temple of the living God. God doesn't dwell in a building made of gold or silver or cedar wood. Stone or brick or plywood? He dwells in his people We know how separate God was in that old covenant age he dwelt in the Holy of Holies With a curtain That only allowed one man once a year to enter in at the appointed time Anything other than that you die He now dwells in his people, is what Paul says. Because this is true, Paul says, wherefore, verse 17, come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing. Now if they do that, if they become evil, and become separatist Christians, he says, I will receive you. He's not saying that we're saved by obeying the principles of separation, but we'll be on good standing with our Heavenly Father, and that relationship will be right between the Father and the children when they separate from the world, see? And I'll be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Now, the hand goes up and they say, now wait a minute, Pastor. That may be true, but Paul is talking about separation from sin. He's talking about separation from the world. Be not unequally together with unbelievers. What fellowship is light with darkness? Well, Christians aren't darkness. They're supposed to be light. This is a contrast between the believer and the unbeliever. And I would say, fundamentally speaking, yeah, that's true. That's exactly what this passage is about. Well, that's not our point. You separatists, you separate from even other Christians. This is wrong. We're the body of Christ. There's oneness. We need to get over the hump and show grace and love. Well, except for the people that are separatists, you know. But you're supposed to show grace and love. Well, except for, you know, playful assembly and others like them, I guess. But we're, no, we need to show love. This idea of separating from Christians. All right. If that's how you want to argue here, then we go to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, right? 2 Thessalonians. And again, I can't develop this doctrine and answer all your questions, and it's not my point, right? It's just a quick acknowledgement that this doctrine is taught. And yes, it's even taught that Christians sometimes have to separate from other believers. In 2 Corinthians 3, verse 6, Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourself Well, that is to leave the presence of and to separate yourself from every brother. That's not talking about your flesh brother, talking about your spiritual brother. To withdraw yourself from every brother that walketh disorderly and not after the tradition which he received of us. So wait a minute, there are times when a Christian has to separate from other believers because they walk disorderly and not according to the apostles doctrine, not according to the traditions delivered by the apostles, not according to what Paul has given to the Thessalonians. Yes, that's true. Now that's a broad statement. If you took that in its hyper-literal form, or every time you have any kind of doctrinal or biblical disagreement with any other Christian, you all have to separate from each other. We all walk in different directions, and there'd be no fellowship between any large people. You say, well, how do we resolve the gap between those two things? Well, that's why I say it needs a longer series, but I'm not here to talk about that. I'm here to acknowledge there are biblical obligations that require us sometimes to separate from Christians. When they're walking disorderly, I guess that has to be examined closely to answer all questions. Jump down to verse 11. For we hear that there are some which walk among you In the Thessalonian assembly they walk among you disorderly Well, those are the kind of people you're supposed to be separating from and you're not doing it. They're part of your church They walk disorderly working not in this instance. He gives a particular example working not at all, but our busybodies Lazy loafers who stick their nose in other people's business because they're busy being lazy loafers I And Paul did this verse before in verse 10, if a man will not work neither shall he eat. So you see I skipped that part but that's what he's exhorting them so he's bringing up a particular kind of disorder that was there in Thessalonica. Verse 12, now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness they work and eat their own bread. Well, that's what Bradford was telling us. That's the way of the Lord. But some men like Plato think they know more. And he was before Marx's time, but obviously what he was saying would apply to Karl Marx, too. But ye, brethren, be not weary in well-doing. And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man and have no company with him. separate from your brother who walks disorderly in contradiction to this principle he's laying out for them about, look, you ought to go to work and stay out of people's business. Don't look for your brother to take care of you. You got two arms and two legs and you can use them. Use them. and act responsibly, see? And if they won't do that, you separate from them. I don't care if they call themselves Christians and they say they love Christ and that's all fine, that's all wonderful, but they're bringing shame on Christ. So as a disciplinary matter, see he tells us why you need to separate from these people. At the end of verse 14, you separate and have no company with him that he may be ashamed. Oh brethren, that the people that are disciplined would have the capacity to exercise shame. Very, very few do. Which might only indicate that the separation had more foundational reasons to take place. If you've been disciplined and removed from your assembly, you ought to be embarrassed to tears. And if you need a pep talk, from the preacher as to why you should be embarrassed to tears. I think there's a more serious problem. Because we're talking, does the spirit of God live in us or not? But then Paul tells us how to approach this person who's acting so foolishly and had to be separated from the assembly due to their lazy shiftiness and they wouldn't listen to the apostles. So now they're removed. So you cut him off, have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. So he'd say, what have I done? What am I doing? Oh, I haven't been an embarrassment. Now I've embarrassed myself and embarrassed the Lord's people. So he would just on his own initiative come back to the elders and say, look, you're right. I should not have been doing that. I want to be forgiven. I brought it to the Lord. I said, hey, brother, stop right there. You don't have to talk us into forgiveness. I know of one instance when we exercised discipline and later on they came back and said they were wrong. It's the only one I know of in my lifetime unless I'm forgetting one. Of course you didn't see much discipline before I came to Clayville. Not a lot of that going on usually. But he tells us the context of how to do this. Verse 15, yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. It's no different than saying, Johnny, go to your room. You disobeyed your mom, go to your room. You're admonishing him as your son. You don't fail to love your son that's wayward and has done wrong. But you correct him, but you admonish him with the backdrop of your love for him. So this is how we are to approach discipline in the body of Christ. Sometimes there needs to be separation from believers. Now, just having established that fact without going into all the details, you can be sure that both John Calvin and the pilgrims practice biblical separation, and that the Apostle Paul, the very separation the Apostle Paul has so plainly and eloquently described here, and was also, he also so plainly and eloquently described in 2 Corinthians chapter six. But make no mistake about it. They were separatists. They believed in separation from unbelievers. And at times where the circumstances were proper, they believed in separation from believers. According to the word of God, they were separatists. Their life, their action that they're famous for is their separation. And then we praise them and then we come along and say separatists are evil. I mean, it's just completely, They were separatists. There's zero question in anybody's mind that that was the case. Both true of Calvin and the pilgrims. But here's the lesson that got me. Because this lesson is about the fruit of separatist Christians. But there's all sorts of fruit. I'm only concerned with one this evening. Narrow, singular focus. There's one outstanding fruit that seems to always fall from the tree of a separatist Christian. Not a separatist Pharisee but a separatist Christian this fruit is very common and here it is in a nutshell, while they believed in separation they did not take lightly separation from the body of Christ and the local assembly and the lesson is they're the last ones to separate. The separatists are the last ones to separate, they're the last ones to separate from God-fearing brethren, yes. It's a singular point but it's so amazing I never really thought of it in these terms until Yesterday, the day before, you know, I'm preparing some thoughts. I had this sermon going a certain direction, and it's like the brakes were put on. I said, wait a minute. There's like an overriding, overwhelming thought I've never really formulated quite in that way before, and I could see it as plain as the nose of my face. Yeah. Let me illustrate my point. So I don't have to prove to you that Calvin and the Pilgrims were separatists, okay? That's all to insult your intelligence at this point. But they were amongst the last people that would want to separate. from the true body of Christ, even with its faults. You say, you're just making that up. No. Now, this is one volume of the Institute of the Christian Religion by John Kelvin. This is what made him famous. These two volumes, there's just one here. This is what a whole bunch of reformed people memorized. Just about comes with that for many of them. There is a chapter here on page 1024 and it is a subtitle in this chapter. The subtitle reads this way, a church with these marks and the marks he's talking about, what are the marks of a true church? What's the marks of a true church? I'm back. What's the marks of a true church? And basically he boiled it down to preaching the word and the sacraments. That's how he boiled it down. I'm not so interested in that part of the evaluation. But the church with these marks, however, however defective, this is the subtitle of this section, the church, the true church, in other words, an actual real God-fearing assembly of Christ. The church with these marks, however, however defective, because no church is perfect, however defective, And the reason it's not perfect is because there's all sorts of people and everybody has their issue. A church with these marks, however defective, is not to be forsaken, colon, the sin of schism. Now that's what he's writing about. Let me read what he says, it's quite somewhat startling particularly to modern ears. This from the Separatists, John Calvin. We have laid down of distinguishing marks of the church, the preaching of the word and the observance of the sacraments. These can never exist without bringing forth fruit and prospering by God's blessing. I do not say that wherever the word is preached, there will be immediate fruit, but wherever it is received, and has a fixed abode, it shows its effectiveness. However it may be, where the preaching of the gospel is reverently heard and the sacraments are not neglected, there, and the sacraments, he's referring to baptism and the Lord's Supper, there, for the time being, no deceitful or ambiguous form of the church is seen, They seem to be sincere and faithful and doing their job. They may have their imperfections, but they are the real thing. He says, in that situation, no one is permitted to spurn its authority, flout its warnings, resist its counsels, or make light of its chastisements, much less to desert it and break its unity. I don't think people think of leaving Church A to go to Church B when it's not over some, you know, heresy or sin that's promoted or counted. It's something obvious. I don't think, either they don't think of or they don't care about that church's unity. They just want something else, something different, whatever the issue is. They're not to desert it or break its unity, that's the worst thing he says. For the Lord esteems the communion of his church and when he says communion he's talking about the union, the glue that binds them, that love, that oneness that they share in Christ as brothers and sisters even though they have differences amongst them and even personality styles and sometimes personality styles can rub you the wrong way but the guy's a good brother but you know you don't operate like he does but you're supposed to be able to get along with that guy. We're Christians. Boy, I can't do that because I'm just so irritated. You're a backslider is your problem and you're walking in sin. What do you think that guy's there for? I've said that forever. Remember that sermon a long time ago, The Messiness of the Assembly, I called it. Because people are messy. We got warts. We're all a little bit disfigured one way or another. Well, God gave you that disfigurement so that I would learn patience and the Lord gave me my disfigurement so that you would learn grace. Well, I don't like it, there's too much disfigurement. So they break the unity is what Calvin's saying. For the Lord esteems the communion of his church so highly that he counts as a traitor and apostate from Christianity, anyone who arrogantly leaves any Christian society, provided it cherishes the true ministry of word and sacraments. And so esteems the authority of the church that when it is violated, he believes his own diminish. So when people leave, they're hurting the body, destroying the unity. the body for which Christ died and that he loved, which is particularly and specifically spoken of in scripture as the corporate body of the assembly. He continues, it is no small importance that it, the church, is called, quote, the pillar and ground of the truth, end quote, and it is called, quote, the house of God, first Timothy 3.15. But by these words, Paul means that the church is the faithful keeper of God's truth in order that it may not perish in the world. For by its ministry and labor, God willed to have the preaching of his word kept pure and to show himself the father of a family while he leads us with spiritual food and provides everything that makes for our salvation. It is also no common praise to say that Christ has chosen and set apart the church as his bride, quote, without spot or wrinkle, Ephesians 2, 5, 27, quote, his body, the church is called his body in fullness, Ephesians 1, 23. From this it follows that separation from the church is the denial of God and Christ. Now the reason they say all that seems extreme, but wait a minute, the whole function of Christ's coming was to redeem his people, to make them his body, to marry the Ekklesia and make them his own. He loves them, he died for them. He forgives them of their sins. And what Calvin's saying is, you don't break that communion, that unity. The Lord doesn't, you do. He says, hence we must even more avoid so wicked a separation. For when with all our might, we are attempting to overthrow the overthrow of God's truth, We deserve to have him hurl the whole thunderbolt of his wrath to crush us. Nor can any more atrocious crime be conceived than for us by sacrilegious disloyalty to violate the marriage that the only begotten Son of God designed to contract with us. Wow. That's an extremely loaded in full statement that I'm just going to avoid for time's sake. But it's pretty obvious without expounding on this anymore. You see how serious John Calvin took leaving the body of Christ. But wait a minute. He's a separatist. He's responsible. He expected all those Frenchmen that received the gospel to either stand up and die or all immediately flee France into the wilderness with no place to go. That was John Calvin. I'm telling you he'd be one of the last ones to leave the local assembly. There is a fruit that is the byproduct of separatist Christians. I want you to see that connection. I'm not here to talk about John Calvin. The same is true of the pilgrims. They were separatists as much as Calvin, maybe in one sense even, maybe even more so. If I can make that evaluation, I don't know. But there's no question that they were separatists, right? That's what they were called. And they had an extremely high view of their connection to the local manifestation of the body of Christ called the assembly. And you know that that's true because I've read this to you plenty of times. I read you the second portion of it this morning and I wasn't talking about separation, he was talking about the young people left and the new people that have come don't have the fidelity and he was happy in his younger years when that union and communion was powerful and strong but now in the misery of his old age. He sees the weakness of the assembly because of lack of commitment of the new generation. So it's a very sad thing, but the thing I didn't read, you've heard me read it before plenty of times, it's just before that we hear them describe what is that yin-ti light. that he was referring to, the quote I read this morning referring to it. Well, here it's explicit. And of course, this isn't Bradford speaking, but Bradford records what Pastor John Robinson and their elder William Brewster, a statement they made and put their names to, describing the covenant relationship of an individual believer to the local body. And in this case, their local body, the Scrooby Assembly that originated in Scrooby, England. And this is what they write. They write that they are, quote, knit together as a body in a most strict and sacred bond and covenant of the Lord, of the violation whereof, to break that covenant relationship, of the violation whereof we make great conscience And by virtue whereof we do hold ourselves straightly tied to all care of each other's good and of the whole, and by every one and so mutually. You can't read the history and not know that that wasn't true and that he didn't mean it. You know he meant that. He says that they're knit together. Well, Robinson and Brewster, right? Bradford's just quoting them. They wrote that they were knit together as a local assembly. They were knit together as a body in a most strict, and sacred bond. Why is it a strict bond? And why is it a sacred bond? Because he says, a most strict and sacred bond and covenant of the Lord. Oh, so it's a strict and sacred bond because it isn't just, okay, I'm a member of Claival Assembly and you're a member of Claival Assembly. We have come in agreement. We have an agreement with each other. But ultimately, our commitment is to each other But there's another party involved, the Lord. It's not my church. It's not Anthony Bazzillo's church. It belongs to Christ. You're in covenant with the Lord. You're in covenant with each other. And more importantly, you're in covenant with the Lord because this is the body of Christ, not like in some esoteric, mystical way. No, it is. Now, you gotta believe it, or you don't, see? They did. But it's a covenant. What kind of covenant? Brethren, it's a marriage covenant. We're in a marriage covenant with the Lord, with the bride of Christ. The covenant he speaks of is a marriage covenant. The old covenant was a marriage covenant. In the old covenant, God is married to Israel. That's brought out in a whole bunch of passages. He ends up divorcing her. Well, we're in a new covenant. God's in a covenant with Israel in the new covenant. It's a marriage covenant. We're the bride of Christ. Same thing. The old covenant is a marriage covenant. The new covenant is a marriage covenant. The assembly is the manifestation of that marriage. That's why it was a strict and sacred bond, not because because back to Robinson is the greatest pastor in all the world, and we don't want you going any other place because we're the best church. No, I wasn't thinking at all. They didn't compete then like they do now. Well, there may have been some of that around. It wasn't prevalent like it is now. Used to be, if you left church A to go to church B, you had to get a letter of recommendation. You know why? Because ministers took their job seriously. And when new people have come here, I've always, discerned whether to make sure they're not under some sort of disciplinary action. I don't care if it's a compromised church. Let's say they got kicked out of a compromised church, but they got kicked out because they're living in adultery. I want to know that. I'm sorry, they're not welcome here walking in sin. You got to fix that problem. Or if they said, we just came from a Calvinist separatist KJV first century parisian psalm singing head covering assembly. but that pastor's better looking than you. Oh, no, no, you're better looking than him, so we want to come to Clayville. I said, get out of here. Get out of here if I chase you out of here. Go back and learn to live with your brethren. But you know, that doesn't happen anymore. Take what you can get. Don't ask any questions. When I know that people are married, I find out we've had people, and that you know them, Well, I've been the pastor. They were married, they were divorced, and they were remarried. I spoke to them about it. I told them our position. You don't know this. I don't spell out everything I do. And I tell them divorce and remarriage is sin unless it's for fornication. Well, it's like never for that. And I explained why. I said, no. We don't promote like the Amish would, divorce again in the name of Jesus. But because I've received Jesus as my Savior, honey, I got to divorce you because, no, wait a minute, two wrongs don't make a right. But if you want the right hand of fellowship, you've got to acknowledge opposition and you have to repent before the Lord. But we're not going to tell you to break another covenant relationship you've established by the consummation of a marriage and the physical act and made a commitment to because you're a Christian. But you've got to understand, this is what we teach. And, well, how do I do that? Well, you bring it before the Lord. You don't repent to me. Anybody you know that has been here and has been divorced and remarried, I talked about it with them, brethren. Now, I can ask you a question. How many ministries do you think do that? Not too many. I guarantee you these people won't. But here's the point. Oh, they're so separatist. The separatists are so separatist. All they do is divide and bring division. My point is, no, that's wrong. They're the ones who stay. The backsliders leave, the separatists stay. The separatists are the ones that stay, but they're separatists. They separate for every little That comes on the pipe. They're so picky you and to see this is how they're portrayed. Wait a minute. I See what they did I Look around our own assembly. I think of the most loyal people They don't have a problem with separation the people that are here today and going tomorrow I Maybe they kind of believed it, I don't know. In most instances I think it just wasn't thought of. But see I'm seeing something consistent here historically and it makes sense biblically because separation is obedience to God. I would expect obedient faithful Christians to be more loyal, steadfast, merciful, forgiven, patient, kind, rigorous, and true. And that's how it works out. It's a very, very simple lesson. First Corinthians 13. 1 Corinthians 13. Oh, I'm sorry, we want to go to Hebrews 13 first. I'm going on here, not paying attention to what I'm doing. Hebrews 13. In verse 7. You see, well, let's read Hebrews 13 and verse 8. Hebrews 13, verse 8. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He doesn't change. He is steadfast. He is loyal. He is faithful. There's no variableness of turning within Him. Now look at the context of that verse, verse seven. Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow. considering the end of their conversation. Now remember, do not forget, remember them which have the rule over you who have spoken to you the word of God and have been faithful. And then he says, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Well, he changed the subject. No, he didn't change the subject. What the apostle is saying is Jesus is not fickle. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. you be like them. Don't love your brethren today and hate them tomorrow. Don't praise them today and bad mouth them tomorrow. And this happens to preachers all the time. That's why he brings up, remember them which have the rule over you. Be consistent and honor them. Look at Jesus Christ he's saying. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever." That's Paul's point. Continue to love and follow the servants that God has given you who are faithful to the Word. Because Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And if you look at verse 9, be not carried about with diverse and strange doctrines. Again, these aren't separate thoughts. Do not forget. Don't grow weary in well-doing. Remember those who have faithfully ruled over you. Don't forget them. Don't turn your back on them. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Be faithful, and don't be carried around by every diverse wind of doctrine. You be faithful and loyal in your belief to the Bible. It's not saying don't grow in grace, but don't backslide. Be faithful. Christ is faithful. Your ministers are faithful. Why can't you be faithful? See? There's a whole context there. Christ is not fickle, he's not vacillating. He's not unstable in character or in principle. Christ will not leave you today. He won't love you today and leave you tomorrow, love you today and hate you tomorrow. He died on the cross for your sins. My point here, and you can go a long way to teach it from the Bible and from this history, Separatists are loyal. Separatists tend to be, there's always exceptions to every rule. It's a generic. Separatists are loyal. Separatists are devoted. And you know why they're faithful, loyal, and devoted? And they're going to be there tomorrow? Because they're driven by principle. They make decisions based on principle, not emotions, Not the tug of friends. Not out of just boredom for a new landscape or whatever the issue could be. It's principle. Now, the principle, that's why I wanted you to go to 1 Corinthians 13. Go to 1 Corinthians 13. The principle is love. Love for Christ, love for his word, love for his people. In 1 Corinthians 13, see I'm saying the separatist makes decisions on principle, not how he's feeling in the moment, but the principle is what drives him. That's why there's stability to him. That's why you take him for granted. We should never take him for granted, but it's easy to do because they're like the rising of the sun. I've always boasted of Harry, The eldest father, when he was around, Harry was like the rising of the sun. If the sun did not rise and Harry's face shine in the assembly, it's because he was in the hospital. It's the only way. He made his decisions based on a principle in his mind. And I'm saying that separatist Christians live their lives according to a principle, and God's principles don't change. Now it's true, people can change, but God doesn't change. In 1 Corinthians 13, in verse 7, Talking of love, it beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. How can I tell if a Christian endures? One way to tell is just keep your eyes open. There's all sorts of other ways too, but that's like the elementary basic one. Wait a minute, he says charity or love never faileth. I read that and I think of these people. A biblical separatist remains loyal and faithful to the body of Christ because he is operating on a very powerful principle. That principle is love for Christ, as I said, love for his word, and because you love Christ, You have to love the ones that Christ died for. And you have to love what he says. So love for Christ entails love for his word and what it says. And that's why the preaching of the word has to be sound and pure. And love for the body of Christ for which he died. And because they love Christ and therefore they love the word and they love the body of Christ and the people of God you will find them to be loyal, faithful, and steadfast. You can't have one without the other and say that it's real. This love, I'm not saying, by the way, I don't mean to, you know, I speak in maybe superlatives but obviously good Christians can get mixed up in their minds and make bad decisions about doing something that's wrong or sinful. All of sinning comes short of the glory of God. Obviously, we can be walking contradictions. It's just that if we're really driven by the principles of the scriptures, we wake up to our blind spots. I mean, the Lord slaps us around or whatever it takes, you know. Our conscience smites us. And so, you know, we make dumb moves and then we correct them. This love that we're talking about, I say, is built on principle, not on transitory feelings or emotions, because this love never fails. Now, I'm going to read to you just one text here. Don't worry. I'm not going to go for two hours. One text. Let me get there. And this is so well known to all of us. Well, so is John 3.16. Should we never read that again? But the reason it's so well known to us is because it's so powerful. Now here are true separatists in action. But that which was most sad and lamentable was that in two or three months' time, half of their company died, especially in January and February, being the depth of winter and wanting houses and other comforts, being infected with the scurvy and other diseases which this long voyage and their inaccommodate condition had brought upon them. So as there died sometimes two or three of a day in the aforesaid time, that of 100 and odd persons, scarce 50 remained. And you can look at the chart downstairs to see how that broke up families. Death that first winter. And of these that remained, in the time of most distress, there was but six or seven sound persons, out of all of them, six that weren't six, six or seven, six or seven sound persons who to their great commendations, be it spoken, spared no pains, night or day, but with abundance of toil and hazard of their own health, ministered to the sick, fetched them wood, made them fires, dressed them meat, made their beds, washed their loathsome clothes, clothed and unclothed them. In a word, did all the homely and necessary offices for them which dainty and queasy stomachs cannot endure to even hear name. and all this willingly and cheerfully, without any grudging in the least, showing herein their true love unto their friends and brethren, a rare example and worthy to be remembered. We're in the midst of COVID-19. In the spring, Well, just to give you an example, I had these pains in my stomach and I felt like, you know, there's like something weird going on. It's like over on the side and it's, you got to have a colonoscopy. Dr. Rue called me. I went into the doctor. He called the doctor to go in the same day. Colonoscopy, you know, make sure there's no cancer in there. I said, it feels like there's something in my stomach. It's true. And so I went to schedule a colonoscopy. Then COVID-19 comes. Oh, sorry. Can't do it. Wait a minute. This is to make sure I don't have cancer in there. Well, it's not an emergency. It's classified as urgent. But it's not an emergency. It's just urgent. Yeah, you'd probably like to get this done. So if you did have it, maybe we could help you treat it and you not die. But you're not dying now. So it's COVID and it's too scary. We can't have doctors getting sick. So we won't help you. So I didn't get it done. I was supposed to get that done in March or something. Didn't get it done until July, until they opened up the hospitals. No, I didn't have any cancer. That feeling that I had inside, which actually I can still get some. It's just, well, he says like gas. I go, but it's over the side. It feels like an air bubble. I've had gas before. You get that across the middle. He goes, well, we did CAT scans and did a colonoscopy, did an endoscopy. There's nothing down there. It's just some sort of inflammation or something. So okay, they found out, but they didn't know. That's what I'm saying is, I couldn't be worked on. That's not what they did. Some of them had diseases and everybody was catching it and people were dying. And these six that were still healthy went in and fed them and clothed them, removed their clothes, washed their clothes, and did other homely things that queasy stomachs can't endure to hear named. And some of them that did help died. and the others that helped continued to help, though they watched people that helped die, but some of them didn't die. You think there's a little steadfastness there? These are all brethren in the assembly. And even some of the men that cursed them, some of the sailors that cursed them and said they wished the pilgrims were dead and they wanted to throw them overboard. Well, that one guy, he went overboard before they made it to the new land that cursed them. It was quite the thing. But they showed their true Christian love. And of course, William Bradford tells about some of the ungodly aboard the boat, the sailors, and some of the merchant people that came that weren't part of the assembly. They said, oh, someone help me in my sickness. No one would help them. I'm not going to go near you. I'll die. I'll give you everything I have. If you come and help me, I'll give you my whole inheritance. Okay, I'll give it a shot for that. And then when he's doing it, after he does it for two days, Bradford says, he starts complaining, saying, this guy got a sick of waiting on him hand and foot after two days. And he says, you know, I just assumed that he'd die and just go now so I can get his stuff. He goes, this is how they were treating each other. And then when he would be forsaken of his friend, the pilgrims came over, who that guy cursed. And they said, we'll help you. The pilgrims risked their life, maybe some of them died, helping those people that cursed them because they were ungodly and thought you righteous holy rollers and that kind of thing. And the pilgrims helped them and the one fellow said, Bradford records it, I never would have thought that you'd do this. You prove to me that you people are genuine about serving this God. So you see, at the end of his life, you know who wasn't fateful? Not these brethren that started in Scrooby, England, that were separatists, that were being thrown in prison in England, some of them being tortured, their houses being spied upon, and they fled and left everything they knew and they went as a body. It was certainly like Clavel leaving Forster and going to some faraway place that we know nothing about. And then we're going for 10 years, and then we transport over to a brand new world that we didn't know anything about, where we're told the stories of these savage men and wild animals in this wild forest, in this unforeseen, God-forsaken place. And they say, we'll go there. We can worship Christ there. We'll start a new work there. And they went in the first winter. They're dying. And as they're dying, they're helping their brethren. They're helping their enemies. These original brethren, Separatists of the separatists and it was the original brethren that remained faithful to the end I see what I didn't have time to talk about this morning that little list that Bradford talked about So what happened to the original founders the the brethren the assembly that came over the Mayflower? How did I end up for him? That's where he made the one sentence. Well, you talked to the third person about himself William Bradford Lost his wife upon arriving and married again. That's all he says. I use that to illustrate he didn't make that about him, this history. But he did suffer a great loss. And these men were separatists. And he says in this little list where he's talking about what happened to these people, what caused him to marvel, and he says it in words in the book. is when he got, as an old man now, thinking, writing this, putting it all together, he realized how many of the pilgrims that survived that first winter, they lived to old ages. And he marveled how God had blessed them. and how they lived to old ages, and they all remained faithful to the assembly. When he was an old man and became sad, it wasn't because of those original separatist brethren. It's the second generation that never separated from anything, that had no staying power. I thought, what a powerful witness to what is a very plain biblical truth. The last people to cause schism and division and to forsake their brethren are separatists, biblical separatists. There's always pharisaical separatists. But biblical separatists, they are faithful and loyal. The people who never separated for the Lord are here today and they're going tomorrow. It's a powerful thought and it just goes to show you that we're on a spiritual journey. It's not an intellectual journey, it's a spiritual journey. Yes, they were separatists, but they were not schismatic, they were not divisive, they never forsook their brethren, and they weren't evil. And in the spring, when the mortality ceased because it pleased the Lord, and half of them were dead, when the captain of the Mayflower going to sail the boat finally back to England and ask if anyone wanted to hitch a ride back to civilization where there were homes and hearths and fires and family and friends and employment that they were used to. And half of them, a wife lost her husband, a husband lost his wife, parents lost children, Not one of them of that assembly got on that boat. Not one. Not one. The separatists, there wasn't one amongst them. And who could blame them? If a wife's left destitute and her husband died, and then her son died, and it's just her and her daughter and a little boy. And she saw her neighbors, her best friend that lived two houses down there, she's dead too. William Bradford, his wife is dead. Miles Standish, his wife is dead. You know, it isn't sinful for me to live somewhere else. That was my home. I don't think they would have chastised her. Not one of them left their brethren. Did they have warts and defects amongst them? No, they were pilgrims. Yeah, they were from the cloth of Adam and Eve like you and I. They operated on principle, which gave them that steadfastness. And the principle is what caused them to separate. But biblical separatists don't like separation. It's the last thing they want to do, but when they're supposed to, they're going to and don't get in their way. But you know what? They're loyal. You begin to take them for granted. Every Sunday, there's William Bradford. He's not going to not be there one day. These are the separatists. I told you there's lessons we can learn from the separatists. We're learning one today, how steadfast and faithful they are. We're learning one lesson, that the separatists are oftentimes the last to ever separate. The reason is they're operating on the principle of love. Love for Christ, love for his word, love for his people. And love makes us patient, forbearing, and kind. And love never fails, you see. Let's bow our heads in a word of prayer.