Come Out from Among Them and Be Separate - Part 3

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. Here's something that we should all be able to agree on. A Christian is to be yoked with Christ.

Yoked With Christ From Matthew 11

A Christian is to be yoked together with Jesus Christ. Matthew chapter 11 verses 29 and 30, Jesus himself says, Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. So the first point, do not be unequally yoked in regard to religious fellowship. The second point we are going to look at is that of marriage. From what I can tell, usually when people talk about do not be unequally yoked, usually they are referring to marriage.

That's been what I've noticed. And what are they saying? A Christian is not to marry an unbeliever. It's that simple. Alright, turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 7. 1 Corinthians 7. And certainly we could go back to the Old Testament and see what is said.

How the Israelites were told not to marry any foreign wives. And that really had nothing to do with ethnicity. It was that the foreign wives, the foreigners, worshipped foreign gods. That was more of the issue.

Just one quick example from the book of Genesis. Those who come on Wednesday will remember when we covered this. Isaac and Rebekah, when their son Esau married foreign wives who believed in other gods, they were so grieved over it.

And Rebekah, now her son Jacob, she was really concerned that he might make the same mistake. Genesis 27 verse 46. And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. Those were the foreign wives, or the foreign women.

Listen to this. If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me? If my son marries one of these women that are just like all the other women of the land, my life will be over.

That's pretty intense. That's how she felt. So you can see the serious nature of this. Obviously not everybody takes it that seriously. Rebekah did. And now look at what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7 verse 39.

A wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives. But if her husband dies, she is at liberty to marry to whomever she wishes. And then what does it say? Only in the Lord. So she can marry whoever she wants as long as they're a believer.

So in other words, Christians may only marry other Christians. And you notice I use the word may. It's like when your child says, you know, Mom or Dad, can I do this? You're like, well, I'm sure you can.

But the question is, may you do it? And that always drives them crazy when I do that. But I use the word may. Christians may only marry other Christians. I did not use the word can because obviously Christians can do it and Christians do do it.

And again, this isn't a matter of beating up on somebody or trying to make somebody feel guilty. It's for those going forward. Don't make that mistake. To marry an unbeliever is to be unequally yoked.

And again, this is, well, it's too late. I already did that. Well, nothing you can do then. Matter of fact, Paul says do not divorce them. If you're married to an unbeliever, do not divorce them. Love them and hopefully you'll lead them to Christ.

Amen. But Paul is trying to prevent others from making the same mistake. It is not God's will. Certainly not his perfect will for that to happen. Let's just say, well, why? Let's just consider a few things.

This is very practical. If a Christian marries a Jew, are you going to bring up the children going to church or to synagogue? How do you make that decision? Are you going to celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah?

How do you make that decision? Usually one is going to get their way over the other, and that can bring resentment and all of the rest. So do not be unequally yoked. Also, if a Christian marries an unbeliever, you're going to have two different worldviews, two different sets of morality.

One, if something comes up, the child wants to do this, go here. One parent's going to say, no, that's not okay. And the other, why not? And there's going to be this butting of heads. So do not be unequally yoked.

Yes, this is a commandment, but you know what? It's just really good advice too. And God gives his people these do's and don'ts, not just to do it, because he wants what's best for his children. He wants to spare his children the pain and the difficulty.

Just as any good parent might have these rules and tell their children, you shouldn't do this, and I don't want you doing that. And to the child, it feels like they just want to spoil all your fun. But a good parent does that because they love their child.

A parent who doesn't care and does not teach their children these things, that's a parent who acts like they don't care. And our heavenly father is a father who cares.

Amen.

Marriage, Friendship, and Business as Forms of Unequal Yoking

So we've looked at this principle in terms of religious fellowship. That's point number one. In terms of marriage, that's point number two. And now the third point in terms of friendships.

Okay.

Now, to be clear, nobody is saying that you shouldn't be friendly. Nor are we even saying that it's wrong to have an unbeliever that you consider a friend. I mean, friendships are not even necessarily a yoking together.

So I think this is different than the previous two. But I think we get that if somebody is truly our friend, we should be able to be open with them and to be honest with them. If you can appreciate someone, even though they don't have faith in Christ, they should be able to respect and appreciate you and your beliefs.

So there has to be a mutual understanding. And we need to be wise. Proverbs 12, verse 26. You can make a note of this. Proverbs 12, verse 26. The righteous. He's talking about believers. The righteous should choose his friends carefully.

So we've looked at religious fellowship. We've looked at marriage, friendships, and now business partnerships. Certainly being in business. If you are in business with someone, there's going to be some sort of legal partnership.

But even if you're just working with someone, working alongside of someone, you say, well, that's not a yoking together. Well, you know, the workplace can bring people very close together. Very close together.

Oftentimes you'll have the same outlook. If you're going to make it work, you need to have the same approach, the same goals. Being in business, your lives run basically in the same channels. Your actions usually largely agree.

And if you have this totally different approach, a believer and an unbeliever, and you just have all these differences, it's going to lead to issues and quarrels and perhaps even bankruptcy or worse. How often a child of God has lived to rue the day when he or she entered into a business partnership with an unbeliever.

Now, going back to that verse from Amos chapter 3 verse 3, how can two walk together unless they are in agreement? That's a rhetorical question. You know the answer, right?

Okay.

Why Christians Should Not Be Unequally Yoked

So we've looked at the context of 2 Corinthians 6. And we've looked at how people can be unequally yoked, how this can be done, how it plays out. So now before we close, let's briefly look at why these things should not be done.

First off, from a common sense point of view, you just look at it. It's not a fit. It's like oil and water. It's like joining together. If I can put it this way, it's like joining together heaven and hell.

That's not possible. I understand that. You understand that. Hypothetically, if you joined heaven with hell, heaven would no longer be heaven. It would just be corrupted. That's usually the way these things work.

Look again, 2 Corinthians 6, 14. Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial?

Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? See, believers follow Jesus. Unbelievers follow the ways of this world, which are constantly changing. You know, a Christian usually believes the same thing he or she did 10 years ago, 20 years ago.

With an unbeliever, I mean one year, five years, things can radically change. Jesus said that believers are the light of the world. Unbelievers tend to love the unfruitful works of darkness. How can you have both light and darkness?

You can't.

So first off, it's just not a fit. Second, we should consider the pitfalls. How many have found this out after it was just too late? The disunity, the pain, the loss of peace, the entanglements. And at this point, I think we need to be fair.

I think we need to acknowledge that just because a Christian goes into business with another Christian, or just because a Christian marries another Christian, that is no guarantee either, is it? So we have to acknowledge that.

But you know, if someone yokes together with an unbeliever, someone you know is an unbeliever, the problems are just that much more likely. And this leads us to the next reason as to why a believer should not be unequally yoked.

It's expressly forbidden by God. Listen, if those reasons weren't enough, God says no. Well, that should be enough, right? We see a very similar statement in Revelation 18 where it speaks of Babylon. Babylon is usually defined as the corrupt world system.

Revelation 18 verse 4,. And I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins. What does that result in? You receive of her plagues. So the doctrine of separation is a very clear command in Scripture.

Not a very popular command, but it's very clear. So you might say, well, how does all this apply to me? In conclusion, how does this apply to me? You know, the whole business thing, that doesn't really apply.

The marriage thing, that's not in play for me. The friendship part will always be a balancing act, certainly. And listen, I can almost guarantee, I can almost guarantee you, we will be pressured to compromise regarding religious fellowship.

If you're a believer and you have a testimony, a public testimony, there will be pressure for you to compromise on that. So just to reiterate, God doesn't just give commands for the sake of giving commands.

God is a God of order. God is a God of reason. And God is a God of love. If the Lord tells his people not to do something, he has a purpose. And we can rest assured that the Lord's purpose is a good purpose.

The Creator knows what is best for his creation. So let's close with these verses, 17 and 18. Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean. That's a negative command, a prohibition that is followed by a wonderful promise.

Do not touch what is unclean.

That's true.

What does he say next?

And I will receive you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters. Let's close in prayer. Father, how thankful we are for your mercy, for your guidance. We know that you tell us these things because you love us.

So help us to remember these truths and give us the wisdom to apply them in day-to-day life. And Lord, also, we don't want to be so separated, as some are, where we only talk and interact with those who are just like us.

We are in the world, but we are not to be of the world. And just as Christ reached out to and showed kindness to all, Lord, help us to do the same. And Lord, I pray if anyone listening has never given their life to you, trusting in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ for the remission of sins, I pray that they would put their trust in you now, as you would give them eternal life.

And if we pray all these things in Jesus' name, amen. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Moores Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, moorescornickchurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, with the grace of God be with you.