# Cliffs and Fences ![rw-book-cover](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51T9Ll9WWFL._SY160.jpg) ## Metadata - Author: [[Paul Crow]] - Full Title: Cliffs and Fences - Category: #books ## Highlights - If it is right to separate from the world, then there will be Bible evidence for such separation. If there is not Bible evidence for separation, then all who insist on personal separation are no better than the Pharisees and are, in every sense of the word, legalists. ([Location 94](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=94)) - imitation is the highest form of flattery, and some have even written articles of mockery on the Christian imitations of the day. ([Location 126](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=126)) - Is it that important for a Christian to be outwardly distinct from the world? ([Location 131](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=131)) - Is it a good thing that you have to talk to a person for a while before finding out that he really is a believer, or should he simply stand out because of what he wears, says, and does? The answer to these questions is found in a very important Bible concept: holiness. ([Location 131](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=131)) - When God designated something as belonging to Tabernacle worship, it was to be distinct from everything else in the nation. The term He used to describe any thing or person thus distinguished was holy. Once something was purified and made holy, it was dedicated to God forever. ([Location 135](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=135)) - God put restrictions upon holy things so that everyone would know that there was a difference between something that was common and something that was sacred. ([Location 149](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=149)) - While there is much in the Old Testament law that is somewhat unusual to modern readers of the Scripture, it is difficult to miss the fact that the distinction between God’s people and the surrounding peoples was very important to God. ([Location 156](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=156)) - The more the outward distinctions between the lifestyle of the Jews and the lifestyle of the surrounding people became blurred, the more obscured God’s holiness became. ([Location 176](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=176)) - When it comes to revealing His holiness on earth, however, God has chosen man to be an important vehicle of revelation. ([Location 180](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=180)) - That is, those who know God are to reveal by their difference of life the fact that they are separated from the world and separated to God. In the same way that a mirror reveals a face, God’s people are to reveal God’s holiness by reflecting it in a holy lifestyle. ([Location 180](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=180)) - While mankind can see God’s holiness through other means, such as His Word and His judgment on sin, the primary way that ungodly man sees a holy God is by observing the reflection of a holy life. ([Location 182](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=182)) - To fail to portray the holiness of God is to strike at the heart of God Himself and is evidence of idolatry. ([Location 191](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=191)) - While the Jews are God’s earthly people to whom He gave the Scriptures and through whom He gave the Savior, the Church is God’s heavenly people. Despite this fact, there are still similarities between Israel in the Old Testament and the Church in the New. One of the most profound similarities is the fact that the Church has temporarily replaced Israel as God’s chosen people to portray His holiness to those in this world who do not know Him. ([Location 206](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=206)) - Those called of God to display His holiness to the unsaved world have allowed the distinction of conduct to disappear to the place where the world no longer sees the difference. ([Location 211](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=211)) - New Testament holiness is more than an outward ([Location 212](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=212)) - set of rules and regulations, but like the Jews of old, the believer must demonstrate holiness through the outward difference in his life. Without the outward distinction between Christians and the world, God’s holiness is completely hidden to the unsaved. ([Location 212](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=212)) - The root concept of holiness in the Scripture includes two ideas that might be described as two sides of the same coin. On the one side, there is negative separation from all that is profane; while on the other side, there is positive separation unto God. ([Location 219](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=219)) - God’s plan before ever creating man was that all who trust Christ as Savior (thereby being placed “in him”) would be made holy and blameless before God, as far as their standing is concerned. This standing is positional holiness. ([Location 231](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=231)) - No man who lacks positional holiness is saved, and no man is saved without also possessing positional holiness. ([Location 234](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=234)) - The fact that a man is declared holy at salvation is not a license to live loosely, however. Later on in his Epistle to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul exhorted, “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.”19 In other words, since the believer has been… ([Location 234](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=234)) - By the time the reader gets to the fifth chapter of the Book of Ephesians, the idea of personal separation cannot be denied. Paul enjoins, “But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.”20 After using the difference between the saved man and the unsaved man as a reason for personal separation, Paul added, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”21 Clearly New Testament holiness, as presented in the Book of Ephesians, necessitates personal separation. That is, because a man is… ([Location 239](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=239)) - He implores the Romans, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”22 It is difficult to miss in this wording the similarity to the Old Testament sacrificial regulations. Just as the Jewish sacrifice was to conform to certain standards so… ([Location 248](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=248)) - “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”23 Clearly, holiness and being acceptable to God are associated with being separate from certain worldly aspects of human existence. As in… ([Location 253](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=253)) - As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;… ([Location 258](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=258)) - In all three passages, there are similarities regarding the child of God, holiness, and personal separation. When taken together, these elements instruct the believer in the… ([Location 263](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=263)) - The first common denominator in the three Bible passages is the contrast between the unsaved way of life… ([Location 265](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=265)) - In addition to the contrast between saved and unsaved lifestyles, both authors also apply the word holy to the saved person. The Old Testament revealed the consistent difference to be maintained between the holy and the profane, but it also revealed something else about anything that was holy: once God set something apart for Himself, it was to never be used for profane uses again. ([Location 279](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=279)) - The application to the believer is this: once God saves a man, that man no longer belongs to himself. God alone has the right to run his life and direct his daily habits of life, ([Location 283](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=283)) - Anything once made holy can never be made profane again. ([Location 285](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=285)) - The final similarity is the process given by which the believer’s conduct is changed from unholy to holy. In Ephesians, Paul said it this way: “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind.”31 To the Romans, Paul said, “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.”32 Peter worded the same concept slightly differently, “Gird up the loins of your mind.”33 No man will change his actions until he first changes his thinking. ([Location 286](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=286)) - It should be so with our relationship to God as well. When we first get saved, we know very little of His character, but the more we know, the more our thinking changes. He who was once merely Savior becomes Master and then Friend. Every part of life becomes consumed with pleasing Him. Our thinking has changed from merely seeing Him as a means of escape from hell fire to His being the greatest relationship we will ever have. The more our minds turn toward Him, the greater our desire grows to be like Him in that all-important attribute of holiness. ([Location 306](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=306)) - there are very applicable principles for Church Age saints in the seemingly mundane regulations of the Old Testament law. These laws reveal the character of God and His thinking on matters, so that by analyzing these simple regulations, we can gain spiritual truth. ([Location 318](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=318)) - “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.”38 ([Location 354](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=354)) - In interpreting the significance of Old Testament laws to New Testament believers, it is important to remember two considerations: first, that these laws were literal laws for the everyday life of Israel; and second, that these laws present principles by which New Testament Christians can live, inasmuch as the laws reveal the mind of God. ([Location 355](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=355)) - God reasoned that it was not enough to merely tell people that there was danger on the roof. It was imperative that the Jews go beyond merely expecting people to know where the edge was; they had to build a wall to keep everyone far enough away from the edge so that no one would fall and bring blood upon the house. ([Location 372](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=372)) - The battlement principle, then, shows us more of the mind of God. In God’s eyes, it is not enough that mankind know of a potential danger; man must also build a fence to keep him from that danger. ([Location 376](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=376)) - For the purposes of this discussion, the cliff is a Bible principle, either directly stated or modeled in the Scripture. ([Location 385](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=385)) - Principles that are directly stated are, perhaps, the most obvious. It is hard to miss the point of verses such as “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”42 If a man commits adultery, he has fallen off the cliff; he has sinned against God. Just as falling off a physical cliff brings dire consequences, so falling off the spiritual cliff brings consequences as well. There are some cliffs from which, if a man fell, he might not live to tell of his experience. In similar fashion there are some spiritual cliffs from which, if a man falls, he is disqualified from certain positions of ministry. Adultery is one such example. In the words of Solomon, “A wound and dishonor shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.”43 ([Location 387](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=387)) - What is to be my ultimate authority? The second must also be answered once the first has been decided: Am I willing to bring every aspect of my life under this authority? ([Location 433](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=433)) - If the Bible truly reveals the mind of God about my dress and I love the God who gave His Son for me, then all He need do is intimate to me that He does not approve of something, and I should be eager and willing to oblige Him. True Bible Christianity does not wait for some long theological proof as to why the Christian must be separate from the world. True Christianity seeks for Christ-likeness for Christ’s sake, because of all He did to emancipate the believer from sin. ([Location 445](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=445)) - Now the Christian must proceed to the second question: If the Bible is to be my sole authority, am I willing to give up anything and everything that the Bible speaks against? Am I willing to align myself with God’s mind as revealed through His Word? The discussion of standards is absolutely fruitless to any believer who has not answered these questions in the affirmative. ([Location 449](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=449)) - any Christian who wishes to benefit from such a discussion as this one on cliffs and fences must first agree that violating a Bible principle is indeed quite analogous to falling off a cliff. The Christian must decide that any violation of God’s will for his life is so grievous and brings such awful consequences that such a violation is to be avoided at all costs. Until the child of God comes to this conclusion about the importance of the Bible and how it should direct his daily life, any discussion of standards is wasted time. ([Location 453](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=453)) - In fact, the attempted enforcement of standards upon those who do not yet have such a high opinion of the Scripture and its place in Christian living often only serves to harden and embitter those asked to abide by the standards. ([Location 457](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=457)) - The fence, or battlement in the analogy of Deuteronomy, is a standard. A standard is a manmade rule for life that is laid down with the intent of preventing the person abiding by that standard from violating a Bible principle. ([Location 466](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=466)) - The cliff is a Bible principle for life, the violation of which would bring dire consequences just as falling off the rim into the Grand Canyon would bring dire physical consequences. The fence is a standard for life, a manmade rule that prevents the keepers of that rule from ever getting close enough to the cliff to fall over the edge into sin. While it is theoretically possible in places to cross the fence and still not fall off the cliff, there are places where the edge of the cliff is so deceiving that crossing the fence may indeed prove fatal. So it is with standards in the believer’s life. There are times when, in theory, one might violate his standard and still not fall into sin. ([Location 490](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=490)) - is probably safe to assume that the moral climate of Egypt fell far short of God’s standard for morality, as originally given to mankind. Although the written Scriptures had not as yet been given to man, there was God’s divine law written on the hearts of men. Even today, one does not need a Bible to ([Location 533](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=533)) - In the end, however, it was Joseph’s relationship with his God that seemed to be the greatest deterrent to adultery: “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”55 There can be no doubt that Joseph’s answer was a great answer, not only for his time and in his situation, but also for any child of God faced with a temptation to sin. ([Location 541](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=541)) - Joseph was doing exactly the same thing that Pharisees of Jesus’ day practiced: he was living by an extra-Biblical rule for life. ([Location 571](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=571)) - To think that Joseph is so often upheld as an example of how to behave, and that to young people, is almost disconcerting, considering that Joseph lived by rules that are never stated in Scripture. He, in reality, seems to have been the first Pharisee. ([Location 573](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=573)) - While there might not have been a sin in taking a walk with this wicked woman, it would be one step toward the slippery edge of the cliff of adultery. ([Location 581](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=581)) - In order to protect himself, Joseph built a fence a long way back from the slippery edge of the cliff: he refused to be with this woman at all. ([Location 582](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=582)) - Like Joseph, every child of God must build fences. It is not enough just to know that something God prohibits is sin. There are times when, in order to avoid falling into sin, the child of God must create some rules for his life so that he will never have the opportunity to violate those important Bible principles. It is not enough just to know where the edge of the cliff is and to stay away from it; you must also build a fence. ([Location 590](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=590)) - The primary error in the Pharisees’ practice was their great emphasis on the externals without regard to internal reality. While maintaining a strict exterior separation from those who so much as disagreed with their unique interpretations of the Law, they all the time either had no spiritual reality or else were full of vile wickedness before God. ([Location 661](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=661)) - Pharisees wanted to be seen by men as spiritual and so made the borders and the fringes as large as they possibly could, not for their own eyes, but for the eyes of others. The motive, rather than the action, was the problem. While those who surrounded the Pharisees saw them as being in perfect accordance with the Law, God saw them for what they were on the inside. On the inside, they wanted no mercy for those who did not meet with their standard. Accordingly, they accosted the disciples when Christ ate with publicans and sinners.76 While others saw the Pharisees as generous, God saw that actually they were “full of extortion.”77 While others saw the Pharisees as the most likely candidates for heaven, God saw their lost condition.78 While others saw the great prayers of the Pharisees, God saw their inner covetousness.79 ([Location 712](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=712)) - In short, to call a person a Pharisee is a grievous slander, to this day. ([Location 720](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=720)) - Any man that advocates the life of a Pharisee is in direct opposition to all that the Scripture, both Old and New Testaments, advocates for mankind. ([Location 723](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=723)) - Too many deny the existence of the cliff and so see no need for the fence. Paul’s instruction to the Roman believers deals with issues based in human reasoning, not in clear-cut Scripture. Music and dress are issues that are indeed dealt with in the Word of God, and there are cliffs to be avoided in both areas. The fences that different churches build are debatable, but too many endeavor to build a fence before they even know the location of the cliff. ([Location 916](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=916)) - The one with greater liberty because of the closer fence would have a tendency to despise his brother. He might want to ask, “Don’t you know that the meat, the market, and even the idol itself belong to God? Why don’t you just lighten up, get off your high horse, and eat some of this good meat?” (Bear in mind that, although this man was more lenient than his brother, he still was not falling off the cliff by committing idolatry, despite his fence being built close to the cliff.) ([Location 925](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=925)) - The man with the fence farther back from the cliff would have a tendency to judge his brother. His thinking would run something like this: “Doesn’t that man know that the meat he eats has been offered in a demonic ritual to a pagan deity? How can he allow that in his home knowing the wickedness that goes on in the pagan temples?” ([Location 931](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=931)) - Today’s Western culture talks a lot about acceptance and tolerance, but it does not really understand either word or concept. When a man stands up and proclaims a definite standard of right and wrong, he is often accused of being intolerant and in need of just accepting people for who they are. This philosophy has come into churches like a tidal wave, often leaving strong Bible preaching as its first casualty. If the Old Testament is a fair sampling of human nature, then strong preaching has always been less than popular. Strong preaching, when done according to the prophets of old, can be very condemnatory to be sure. The difference, however, is one of authority. It is not necessarily true that anyone who tells me I am wrong is judging me. It may be that the man who tells me I am wrong is simply speaking on behalf of the God of heaven, whose right it is to judge all mankind. If a man shows me from the Word of God that what I am doing is wrong, then the judgment that I feel when he speaks does not ultimately come from him but from God. Many are the times when the Holy Spirit judges a man while His human messenger delivers some message. The man can either respond to the Spirit’s work in repentance, or he can do away with the human messenger. Too often, mankind chooses to lash out at the visible messenger, instead of dealing with the real problem of conviction. The messenger is not judging anyone, but the God who sent the messenger is. This is an important distinction to remember when looking at the truths of acceptance of those who disagree with one another. ([Location 944](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=944)) - Before any believer sets out to build a fence, he must be certain for himself that the fence he is about to build is in the right place. There must be no doubt in his mind, when he sets his standard. In the final analysis, the believer does what he does not for himself, but for Christ who is his rightful Master and Lord. If he builds a fence a long way from the cliff—has a higher standard—he does so not for selfish reasons, but for spiritual reasons, so that he can best please Christ. Likewise, if he builds his fence close to the cliff, he should do so because he is absolutely convinced that it is right for him to do. Anyone who builds a fence should never do so to please parents, pastors, or peers. He should build the fence to please Christ alone, who, by virtue of His death and resurrection, is the rightful Lord of all. ([Location 962](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=962)) - The principle of acceptance is tied to the principle of accountability. It is indeed wrong for a man to judge God’s servant, because one day God’s servant will give account to God Himself. The reason for being fully persuaded makes perfect sense in the light of every man’s accountability to God. Given the information that the New Testament reveals about Christ, the world, and the coming judgment of believers, one might find it helpful to compile some of the information and augment it with “sanctified imagination.” ([Location 973](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=973)) - There will be many Christians, who today scorn the idea of separated living and the whole idea of standards, who will wish on that day that they could go back and implement the very standards that they once scorned. Cliffs and fences become far more important when the principle of accountability affects the discussion. ([Location 982](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=982)) - In the analogy of cliffs and fences, it is quite conceivable for a man to have his fence built a long way from the cliff because he is weak in that particular area. For another brother to flaunt his liberty before the weaker brother might cause the weaker brother to fall into sin. In order to prevent such an occurrence from happening, it will be necessary for the stronger brother to acquiesce temporarily to the fence of the weaker brother, particularly while in the weaker brother’s sphere of influence. If there is not acquiescence, then the good that the one brother might try to do (buy discounted meat, for example) might be misunderstood and slandered. ([Location 1006](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=1006)) - First of all, Christianity is righteousness, or being right with God. Secondly, it is peace, or being right with man. Finally, it is joy in the Holy Ghost, simply enjoying the life and freedom that Christ has made possible. ([Location 1017](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=1017)) - In fact, to many in the world, the lifestyle portrayed in motion pictures in the United States is synonymous with American culture. ([Location 1700](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=1700)) - Many aspects of life today are directly affected by the content of American motion pictures or movies. Avid students of written history are fewer these days, but the numbers of people who can remember the movie about a particular figure are large indeed. ([Location 1701](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=1701)) - Religion, politics, crime and punishment, racial issues, technology, science—all of these topics find their way into the production studio, onto the screen, and eventually into the homes of Americans. ([Location 1703](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=1703)) - The greatest problem is the content of the films themselves. God’s preachers have been preaching against Hollywood for years because Hollywood has created a mindset that is opposed to God and His Word. ([Location 1739](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=1739)) - Movies have proven to have the power to influence the thinking of their patrons, and because of their popularity, of society as a whole. The humble material surroundings of a past generation have given way to more lavish dwellings, simply because people believe they need more and nicer things. The ideas of interaction with the opposite gender have changed, too, as a result of a drastic change in thinking traceable to movies. Some have even denounced the Hollywood thinking about romance as the root of so many marital problems in modern society. ([Location 1758](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=1758)) - Lot did what he did because he thought the way he thought, or in the words of Solomon, “As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”213 At one time, Lot had been under one of the greatest influences for good that the world has ever known. The name Abraham became so associated with a walk with God that he came to be called such things as “faithful Abraham”214 and “the friend of God.”215 Lot had this influence early in life, but after the break with Abraham, he went further and further away from the influence of his godly uncle. The question of why Lot would do this is important because there is the possibility that people today could have their thinking changed just as Lot had his thinking changed. While no one today has the luxury of being with Abraham, we have something far better: the Word of God. There could be no greater influence than the pages of Scripture, yet it is conceivably possible to allow one’s thinking to be changed to the point where a man begins to justify wickedness just as Lot did. It is also logical to conclude that whatever caused Lot to change his thinking, and consequently, his morals, could very well cause a believer today to change his thinking and morals. ([Location 1823](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=1823)) - As a saved man, Lot was “vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked.” The word translated vexed means “to cause distress through oppressive means, subdue, torment, wear out, oppress.”218 As Lot went about his daily business in the city of Sodom, he found himself confronted with behavior that he knew to be sinful. Immorality was rife, and Lot knew it. The longer he stayed in the city, the more the wickedness of the city wore him down. It tormented him during his waking moments and haunted him at night before he went to sleep until he eventually got to the place where he found himself subdued and worn out. Eventually, fighting got to be too much and giving in to the sin around him was the easier route to take. Still, exactly how did Lot get to the place where he could offer his two daughters to Sodom? Peter again gives the answer. ([Location 1848](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=1848)) - In order to further explain his thoughts about Lot, Peter continues, “For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds.”219 Finally, Peter gives the modus operandi of Lot’s desensitizing process: seeing and hearing. It was in seeing and hearing that he tormented his soul, day in and day out. It was in seeing and hearing that his thinking was gradually changed. It was in seeing and hearing that his morals moved. It was in seeing and hearing that he decided to change his residence from the tent to the gate. It was in seeing and hearing that Lot changed his thinking to the place where he could offer his two virgin daughters to froward men. ([Location 1855](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=1855)) - Experience has shown that, like the saved man Lot, many Christians in good churches today have vexed their own souls by seeing and hearing the wickedness of the world through the movie industry. ([Location 1866](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=1866)) - Christians have brought into their homes what they would have never watched in the theater. The same wickedness that was there in the theater is in their homes, however, with the same deleterious effects. Like Lot, Christians have tormented themselves by insisting that they see and hear the ungodly deeds of the world. ([Location 1875](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=1875)) - Many of the movies of today take the very shameful things that Paul named and favorably display them before the minds of those seeing and hearing. So, like Lot, Christians find their morals moving to the place where they now see as innocuous what they once condemned. ([Location 1882](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=1882)) - “Why do so many young people use God’s name in vain today?” I think that the answer comes back to Peter’s explanation of Lot. Young people today see and hear others take the name of God in vain until they come to view swearing as normal behavior. They no longer think anything of it because they have seen and heard much worse things than what they say and do. Even Lot still had a standard of morality. He viewed what the men of Sodom were doing as wicked, yet he failed to see how perverted his offered alternative was. So it is with Christians today. They have seen and heard so much wickedness, mostly by way of movies and television, that they recognize the existence of right and wrong but fail to see their own actions as wrong. ([Location 1887](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=1887)) - The universal tendency of man is to view morality by comparison. The unsaved man views sin in relative terms, and we rightfully point out that right and wrong is an absolute standard set by God Himself. Unfortunately, many who profess to be believers also accept a relative standard of right and wrong, excusing themselves because they are not nearly as bad as much of what they have seen and heard. ([Location 1892](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=1892)) - while it is possible to edit specific words from a script, it is impossible to edit a philosophy. A character who swears on screen does so because he has a wrong philosophy about life in general and God in particular. There is no device that prevents a person from seeing and hearing this wicked philosophy. The only way to prevent seeing and hearing it is to avoid the movie completely. ([Location 1902](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=1902)) - In nearly every worthwhile activity of life, there is a risk involved. Some of life’s greatest rewards reside next to some of life’s greatest risks. The decision to forego or proceed should be based upon the answer to this question: Are the rewards to be gained greater than the risks to be taken? When it comes to entertainment, the child of God must ascertain the rewards of the entertainment and compare them with the spiritual risks of being desensitized through seeing and hearing. If it is possible to be entertained without the risk of seeing and hearing wickedness, then it would seem logical to choose a less dangerous form of entertainment. If there are twelve-pound bass in a pond with mown banks, why wade with the gators? ([Location 1921](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=1921)) - There may have been times to celebrate God’s goodness, but the modern idea of entertainment seems to be foreign to the Scripture. If it is in God’s Word, it certainly has a negative connotation every time it appears. It seems contrary to the will of God, then, to make such sacrifices for the sake of entertainment, especially when Satan’s tool of wearing the believer down is in seeing and hearing. ([Location 1936](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=1936)) - Is it wrong for a Christian to attend the movie theater? The answer depends upon some answers to other questions. Can the Christian attending the movie guarantee that his attendance will not constitute the appearance of evil? Every bit as dangerous as attending the theater, however, is for the Christian to watch the movie in the privacy of his home and to allow the world to influence his thinking and vex his soul through seeing and hearing. Can the child of God who loves his holy Lord consistently tolerate man’s affronts to His holiness? Can he honestly say that he loves God and voluntarily view men and women who are offending His character and breaking His heart? Any child of God concerned about holiness will find himself moving further and further away from any opportunity to see and hear wickedness on the screen. ([Location 1939](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=1939)) - The omnipotent God is able to raise up other men who will accurately portray His holiness to the world around, but the man who sins is always hurt by his sin, sometimes irrevocably. A look at the spiritual disasters that have taken place in the absence of fences can be sobering, to say the least. The scars, the tears, the shattered lives and testimonies—all combine their voices in chorus to convince Christians of the importance of building fences in life. ([Location 1951](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=1951)) - The damage is not physical—twisted steel and broken glass. Rather it is the carnage of broken lives and shattered testimonies, tragedies that could have been avoided had there been a fence to protect the person from the cliff. ([Location 1958](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007SNNH4S&location=1958))