Greetings to you, my dear friend. I sincerely hope that you and your family are very well
by the grace of God. In James chapter 4 verse 4, the Bible says,
whoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. In first John
chapter 2 verse 15, the Bible tells us, love not the world, neither the things that are
in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
In Matthew 5:14 we read, ye are the light of the world. At verse 13 we read, "ye are the
salt of the earth. What am I trying to say? In these verses, we see two classes, the believer
and the world. The world is the place of the unbeliever. The kingdom of God received by faith
in the life of the person who submits to Christ. That person or those persons represent the
kingdom of God on earth. The Bible tells us, the world has nothing to offer you with
regard to salvation. The world should not set standards for God's people. It should
be the other way around. When God sent the disciples out to preach, and by God I
mean Jesus Christ, He said, in Matthew 28 verse 19, "go ye therefore unto each all nations.
You are to teach the nations, not the nations teach you, because the nations have nothing
to teach you regarding salvation and a righteous life. Now having said that, let us go
to the fourth commandment and listen carefully to its wording. Remember the Sabbath day to
keep it holy. Six days shall thou labor and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the
Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work. Thou, thou, no thy son, not
I daughter, thy man servant, nor thy maid servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is
within thy gates, this stranger was an unbeliever, this stranger for all practical purposes
represented the world and God told the Israelites a stranger among you should follow
your standards, not the other way around. The stranger within your gates, whether you are
house or your villager, your city or your territory should live by your standards. That is
not forcing standards on people. It is simply God letting his people know, do not follow
the standards of the unbeliever. And I want to direct this particular way to any young person listening
to me, because the youth are easily influenced by their unbelieving friends, but the fourth commandment,
above all the other commandments makes it clear that we are to so influence the unbeliever
that he or she will follow the standards of God, not the other way around, because the world of
the unbeliever has nothing on the basis of salvation to offer the child of God. As you keep the
sub of holy my friend, whether you are young or not young, remember, you are not to follow the
standards of the unbeliever, the unbeliever should be moved and influenced by your lifestyle so that
he or she follows the law of God. Middle or bless you as you stand for what is righteous and right,
so that by your influence others may come to know the way of salvation. God bless you,
bless your children as you keep the sub of holy.