Come Out from Among Them and Be Separate - Part 2

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. They were flirting with the world. They were indulging in the flesh and thereby they were giving a foothold to Satan.

You know what happens when Christians flirt with the world? God gets upset. God gets jealous. Now in our church, speaking of this whole idea of separation and religious separation, we actually have a statement on this in our church constitution, in our doctrinal statement.

I'd like to read it. We touched on this a few weeks ago in the Doctrine of the Week. Here's what the Morse Corner Church Constitution says. We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as to not bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord.

And that separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices, and associations is commanded by God. Now I had mentioned before that the primary context, because we want to know what Paul is saying and why.

So the primary context of 2 Corinthians 6 is that of religious fellowship. So the Christians in Corinth were getting a little too close, a little too cozy with the pagan temple. If I can use this illustration.

Let's say there is a member of Morse Corner Church who is here on Sunday morning worshiping the Lord. And then on Monday morning, they're up at the Peace Pagoda in town meditating and taking part in their activities.

Would you see a problem with that? Some churches would say, that's great. Let's join together with them and do this. That's exactly the type of thing that Paul is talking about. So in Corinth, there were some connections and associations that needed to be severed.

Religious Fellowship and Separation from Apostasy

Okay, so now that that primary context has been established, let's get into some of the questions about being unequally yoked. How this may be done? Well, generally there are about four ways, usually when this is discussed, about four ways that this happens.

Again, religious fellowship, that's number one. And then marriage, and then business partnerships, and then even friendships. So once we look at those, then we'll move to our final point, which is why these things should not be done.

Okay, so number one, religious fellowship, because that's mainly what he's talking about. We should expand upon this. We just saw how the apostle warned the Corinthians against fellowship with idolaters.

Many of them were former idolaters, but they came out of that and placed their faith in Christ. But some of them, maybe it was family members, there were still some connections. There were still some associations that Paul doesn't explain, but they were inappropriate.

So let's look at this and how this might even happen today. For those of you who are older, you may remember this. It wasn't that long ago, really, if you think about it. It was unheard of. It was unheard of for Protestants and Catholics to have any sort of religious fellowship.

Who remembers those days? Okay, so many of you. My, how things have changed. Things have really changed. This started to say, well, why did these things change? And don't get upset with me. This is a fact.

I'm not giving you my opinion. I'm just giving you what happened. These things started to change in the middle of the 20th century in large part because of the Second Vatican Council. That's on the Catholic side.

And on the Protestant side, the ministry of Billy Graham. Those two movements helped to bridge the gap. Before that, Protestants viewed Catholics as idolaters with their churches being filled with graven images that they would bow down to.

And Catholics viewed Protestants and Baptists in such a way they viewed them, they viewed us as schismatics, heretics. We were of the devil. That's what they would have said. Now, listen, I think it's something to be said about how things have changed and that some of the bitterness and the divisive rhetoric has improved.

I think that's good. I think it's good that we can talk to each other and get along and that neighbors can get along. That that's a good thing, I believe. But on the other hand, we've seen what has come as the result of this, which is the setting aside of truth.

We live in what's called a postmodern culture that no one believes that truth is even a thing anymore. And that's painfully obvious. So we're talking about religious fellowship. Here's another word. How many of you have heard of ecumenism or ecumenicalism?

Let me see your hand. Okay, so just about the same number. Well, ecumenicalism started. It started in a good way, I think. Maybe good intentions. Lord knows. But it started with Protestants working together with other Protestants.

I mean, we get together. I get together with a group of people from other denominations and we get together and pray. And I do that. I feel comfortable with that because they're saved. They have the same gospel.

But ecumenicalism began with Protestants working together with other Protestants. And then it quickly moved to Protestants working together with Catholics. And then it jumped now to what is called the interfaith movement.

Basically, all religions getting together as one. We've seen this with the joint prayer services or the prayer breakfast. You've all heard of this, right? The prayer breakfast. Where you have the Jewish rabbi, the Catholic priest, and the Muslim imam.

It sort of sounds like the beginning of a bad joke. A Catholic priest and a rabbi and an imam all walk into a bar. But they get together and they have this joint service and they're all praying. Who are they praying to?

You ask each and every one of them. They're going to give you a different answer. Don't tell me they're all praying to the same deity. We saw a prime example of this from the Congress a few weeks ago.

When a United Methodist Protestant minister prayed in the name of the monotheistic God. And he says he is called by many names. And that's true. God is monotheistic. And God is called by many names. That is true.

But then he referenced a Hindu deity who had multiple heads. And the strange thing about that is Hinduism is not monotheistic. Hindus are polytheists. They believe in many gods. So it doesn't even make sense.

So considering all of that, what would the Apostle Paul say? If he saw some of these things going on, what would Paul say? What would he say to any blood-bought redeemed saint? What would he say? He would say, do not be unequally yoked.

Listen, let all the religions of the world join hands and come together. Let them do it. Just don't you do it. Here's something that we should all be able to agree on. A Christian is to be yoked with Christ.

A Christian is to be yoked together with Jesus Christ. Matthew 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.

If Jacob, 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? 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 is 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.

Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Coronet Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscoronetchurch .com.

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