2 CORINTHIANS 6-72005 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 2 Corinthians 6-7

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2005.

2 Corinthians chapter 6, the subject of being unequally yoked. Now, as I've been meditating on this and praying through this portion this last week, I've been thinking about other portions of Scripture as well, where it talks about being yoked together. What does it mean to be yoked? Well, to get an understanding, it's good to know what does the rest of Scripture have to say. And there's two examples that I'd like to bring up specifically.

Galatians chapter 5 verse 1. Paul tells the church of Galatia, he tells the Galatians, stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. He tells the Galatian church to stand fast in the liberty by which Christ has set us free and to not become in bondage again or to go under again the yoke of bondage. Yoke.

Don't be involved in that yoke, Paul says. Here in 2 Corinthians 6, he says, don't be unequally yoked. But there's another portion of Scripture that commands us to be yoked. You might have it in your head. You might know where I'm going. Matthew chapter 11, verses 29 and 30. Jesus talking to his disciples.

It says this in Matthew 11, 29 and 30, 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. My yoke is easy and my burden is light.

The scripture here in 2 Corinthians says not to be unequally yoked. Galatians 5.1 says do not be in the yoke of bondage. But Jesus says, take my yoke upon you. And I believe that in our understanding as we seek to understand 2 Corinthians 6 and what Paul says here, it's important to know

the correct person to be yoked to and the correct way to be yoked. And that is to Jesus Christ and learning His ways because His yoke is easy, He says, and His burden is light. Notice as He shares this that it's Jesus talking to us. It's not us talking to Jesus. We're not saying to Him, Hey Lord, look, here's my life. I've got it planned out. Come on, take my yoke upon you and walk with me.

Jesus says it just the opposite. It's not us talking to Him, but it's Him talking to us. And Jesus looks at us and He says, I have plans. I have a way. I have a path that I want you to go. Come, take the yoke that I have prepared for you. Take my yoke upon you. Learn from me and walk with me and do the things that I've called you to do.

to be unequally yoked is quite the opposite of that. It's very different from what Jesus called us to do. The word unequally yoked, it's one word in the Greek. It's a compound word, though. It's made out of two other Greek words. The first word is hetero, which means different or another, of another type. That's why we have the word heterosexual, right? That's two, a male and a female. They're different. They're not the same type of person. They're not the same gender. They're different. They're different.

So hetero, something that's different, another type. And then zugeo, which is the yoke. So to be yoked unequally is to be yoked together with something, someone of a different kind, of a different sort, of another type. It's a picture that's drawn from farm illustrations. It's a picture that's drawn from agriculture. Now, if you know what a yoke is, and you might not,

But if you know what a yoke is, you know what it does. That it takes two oxen and binds them together. And so, since we're seeking to understand this and trying to understand what this portion of scripture is talking about, I thought it would be good for us to have an illustration of what a yoke is. And so, I searched the archives, I called up the Smithsonian, talked to the person at Ancient Relics, and I came up with an example for you of a yoke.

Now, it's not an exact replica, but it's pretty close. And what this is, is it's a bar. And on this bar, it has part of an EA. But...

You get the picture. Okay, so here's a yoke. Now, a yoke would be usually made all out of wood and it would be a bar that goes across the shoulders of two oxen. And then there would be a U-shaped part of the bar that they would be able to put their necks through and it would have something in the middle that they could connect their plow to or a wagon to or whatever it is that they were trying to pull and use these oxen for. And so you could see they would be connected together. Their combined energy would be

put to use and effective and productive in what the farmer was trying to do with them. And so he would yoke oxen together oftentimes to get a lot of work done. That's how they would plow their fields primarily. And so they would attach the plow to it. The oxen would pull. The farmer would be in the back with the plow and turning up the soil and accomplishing the work that he has desired. And so...

this is what a yoke is, but what does it mean to be yoked? And so, I want to expound upon this illustration in a moment. And there's some guys that are ready. So guys, if you could come up. We want to demonstrate, illustrate what it means to be yoked together. And Gabe, also, if you could come up with Michael Ochoa there. Yes, please. Come on up, Gabe. Thank you, sir. Now, this is a yoke. And Paul says, do not be unequally yoked. Now,

I want to yoke two of these guys together so that we can get an idea, an understanding of what Paul is talking about here. So, here's Richard. I'm going to try not to hit him in the head. And here's Michael Ochoa. So, these guys now are yoked together. Now, obviously, if they were oxen, they would be on all fours, but we're not going to make them do that. Okay?

You get the picture, right? Okay, so I've got this bar now. It's attached to them. And if I wanted to, I could attach something to this bar. And when they pulled it, then their combined strength together would be good. They would be able to go together and do whatever it is that I've

Set them aside to do it. Yoke them together to do. Now, when you're yoking oxen as a farmer, you want to be very careful. You want to match up two animals that are very similar. You don't want to match up two different types of animals. In Deuteronomy 22.10, God talks about it and says, hey, don't yoke up together an oxen and a donkey. Why? Well, it's not going to work. Why?

Or don't yoke up together a baby and a mom or a dad, a big or a little ox. So these guys, good size, good fit, right? Wouldn't you agree? They're good oxen that's yoked together. The reason why is because as they're pulling the plow or doing the things that whatever the farmer wants them to do, if they're yoked unequally, well, one...

will be either going faster or going slower or working harder or working less. There's going to be an inequality there if they're not about the same size, type, strength and all of that. They need to be yoked together carefully so that when this one's pulling, because what happened was the yoke would pivot at the middle. And Harvey was just sharing with me between services too and reminding me that...

if one was going ahead of the other, it would push the other down because of the yoke that was between them. It was designed in that way. And so, they would have to work together in unison, go together and keep going in the same direction and the yoke would be able to help them do this. And so, that's a yoke, right? Good. You guys got the picture? Alright. So, we have this yoke. Now we can attach anything, we can do whatever we want and they're yoked together. Now, there's a problem though because

Oxen don't yoke themselves, do they? Who yokes an oxen? An oxen. Who yokes oxen? The farmer does, or another term that we would often hear is the master. The master of the oxen is the one that yokes them together. And so I have Gabe the master over here, and he has these oxen right here, and he's yoked them together. Gabe, why don't you stand by your oxen? It's a fine specimen you have here. Good job.

On this side though. Okay, so here's Gabe the master. Now, he has yoked them together. He's prepared them for his work and what he wants to do. There is

is a scripture in Matthew chapter 6 verse 24 where Jesus said, no one can serve two masters. Do you remember it? For either he will love the one and hate the other or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon or money. So you cannot have two masters.

Why not? Well, I know it's an elementary example. It's a basic illustration. But just so that we can get a mental picture and remember, why can we not have two masters? We have master number one here with his two oxen. Now, Richard, you know, the

decides to go a little bit haywire. And he decides, well, I want to have another master too. I don't want to just have this master. I want to have Jerry as my master. Now, it's a good choice to make, but not when you have another master already. Just kidding. So, he decides he's going to allow me to be his master. So, I say, okay, great. I have another oxen to pair you up with. And so, Cisco, if you could come over here, please. Oops. Okay.

Okay, and before I demonstrate this, I want to demonstrate first what it means to beat the sheep. No, I'm just kidding. Okay, so now I yoke together my oxen. Now, Cisco has no problem. He's good. He's a good, strong ox. No problem. He's a little unequally yoked because Richard's, you know, pretty minute compared to him. But as we see them together, we see the evident problem. Here's Master Gabe and here's Master Jerry. Okay.

Master Gabe is going to want his oxen to do one thing, and I'm going to want my oxen to do something different. We're not the same masters. We're two different masters. We have two different goals, two different fields to plow, two different things to accomplish. And so, what do you think is going to happen to poor Richard as Gabe sends his oxen off this way, and I say, hey oxen, you come over this way. Well, you can clearly see, things would begin to get very tight for Richard as... Hey, careful, careful, careful.

You could see the problem. You can't have two masters. It's not that you really shouldn't or try not to, but you cannot because you're yoked together. And as you're yoked together, if you're yoked by another master, you're going to have a point in time where you have to make a choice which master you're going to serve because you can't serve both. You can't serve both. Thank you very much, gentlemen. Why don't you guys give him a round of applause.

Yoking oxen together. You know, last night as I was preparing for the message and I was cleaning the poles and wrapping the things around it and my wife goes, you know, sometimes I think you're crazy.

But it's good for us to have that picture, that understanding. Because now I understand there's a two-fold problem with being unequally yoked. The first part of the problem is that if there's not an equality within the yoke, then there's going to be difficulties. It's going to be hard. If they're different animals, if one's strong and one's not, then it's always going to be hard and difficult. It's not going to be easy. And what's going to end up happening is...

It's not going to be able to go in a straight line if one's stronger than the other or if they're two different types. It's not going to work. It's going to fall apart. It's going to be a mess. And literally what would happen is the yoke would drive one of the animals, the weaker animal, to the ground and push him back and hold him down.

And so you cannot yoke unequal animals in that sense. But the other part of the problem is that if I have different masters, then I'm going to be pulled in different directions. And I can be unequally yoked in that sense as well, that I have masters pulling me in two different directions and I'm there stuck in the middle.

Paul, as he's sharing his heart with the Corinthians, we see demonstrated. He says in verse 11, he says, He had such a heart of love for the Corinthians. He says, He'd lived with them for a year and a half. He established the church there. He'd given much time and energy into them. And he'd spent much time developing relationships with them. He had a great love for the Corinthian church.

And he says, look, we've spoken openly to you. Now, he's leading into, he's getting ready to talk about being unequally yoked. And so we'll very quickly get the picture of what he's saying and what he's talking about. But he says, we've spoken openly to you. We haven't hidden anything. We didn't have anything up our sleeve. We weren't being deceitful. We were honest and upfront about everything. We shared our hearts with you.

Literally, it means to have an open mouth. And it's basically like, hey, we allowed you to look inside of us and we showed you our heart. We've been very true.

He says our heart is wide open. It's wide open, meaning it's been enlarged. We have a great love for you, he says. Our arms are open. We're ready to embrace you. We love you guys, is what Paul is telling the Corinthian church. In verse 12, he tells them that you are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections.

You're not restricted. Now, that word restricted, it means distress or to straighten. It's the sense of hemming in too closely. You know, if you ever had a pair of pants that was a couple sizes too small, you know, you try to fit into them, but they're just hemmed in too closely. They don't fit. They're not comfortable. You're very restricted. That's what Paul's saying. If you feel restricted, it's not by us, Paul says. We're open to you. Our hearts are open to you. We're not laying anything upon you.

If you're restricted, it's not by us. You're feeling claustrophobic, you're feeling bound, that's not by us.

What is it by then? If you feel restricted, Paul says, it's by your own affections. By your own affections. Now, you'll notice he used the word heart in verse 11. And the word heart is a picture to us, as well as it was to them, of the inward part of man, where your thoughts and your feelings and your emotions and all the things that happen internally happen within the heart and are made reference to by the heart. And so Paul says we had these

great emotions. You know, our heart's wide open and enlarged for you. Now, we had this love and this feelings and these emotions for you. We had this affection towards you. But here, when he says the word affection in verse 12, it's not the same word as heart. It's the word, actually, the King James translates it, bowels. Bowels.

It's the word for the even more inward parts, the gut, the bowels. And the reason why he used that word is because the bowels were considered the source of strong emotions, the strong feelings of love and hatred and fear and those things that you feel it in your gut. You feel it very down deep in the core of you. You know that feeling. You understood and you felt that before. Those strong feelings and emotions, Paul says, those are what have restricted you. How? How?

Well, because it's caused you. Because you've had those strong feelings and emotions, it's caused you to be unequally yoked and to be yoked together where you should not be, as we'll see in the next moment. In verse 13, he says, Now in return for the same, I speak as to children, you also be open. Paul says, look, we've opened ourselves up to you. Now you open up yourselves to us. Let's talk. Let us share our heart about this that you might be able to understand.

And so verse 14, he begins the topic now. Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. I made mention of the verse before, Deuteronomy chapter 22 verse 10, where God says, you shall not plow an ox and a donkey together. You can't plow two different types of animals together.

It's written in the law God commanded against it. Now, I would ask the same question that Paul asked in 1 Corinthians 9, verse 9, though. As Paul there in 1 Corinthians 9 is talking about, quoting a scripture in Deuteronomy 25 about not muzzling an ox while it is treading out the grain.

And Paul asked the question there in 1 Corinthians 9.9. He says, is it oxen that God is concerned about? Is that why he made that command? And he went on to say, no, of course not. It's about us that he is concerned. And that's why he made that command. He's teaching us a principle. It's not so much the oxen and the donkey that he's worried about, but he's concerned about us, wanting to make sure that we understand that there's a principle, that God has laid out an order that we should not be and cannot be unequally yoked together.

Let's put it back in context. What have we been talking about for the past couple weeks? Well, we've been talking about ministry. There in chapters 3 through 6, as Paul has been sharing about ministry and the heart of ministry, the motives of ministry, the marks of a minister.

And what is this ministry that we're talking about? Well, it's the ministry of reconciliation. It's the ministry that God has called us to, every one of us, to bring people into right relationship with God, to introduce them to God, to tell them about God, to demonstrate to them who God is and what He's like. That's the ministry that we've been called to. It's this great, incredibly awesome ministry that God has desired to use us to reach the world for Him. And so this ministry is what we're called to. This is what Paul's been talking about.

And understanding it in that context, what does it mean to be unequally yoked? Number one, if I want to be reconciled, if I want to have a right relationship with God, then I cannot have those ties, those yokes,

to those who do not believe. That's what Paul says. Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. It means those without faith are those who do not believe. I cannot be reconciled with God while still trying to hold on to all of my ties to those who are not believers. God has called us to make a separation. God has called us to hold on to Him, to not be unequally yoked.

The second thing, though, is not only are we called to be reconciled to God and have a right relationship with God, but we're called to participate in this ministry. He's given us this ministry as well. And so, not only are we to be reconciled, but we're to be reconcilers in that we help others get to know God and we share God with others. That's why we're here. That's why He left us here. He desires to use us

to introduce Himself to those around us. So I cannot get bound up with those who do not believe in a yoke of bondage if I'm trying to accomplish this ministry that God has given to me. If I want to be reconciled, if I want to be a reconciler, I cannot be an equally yoked. Our purpose here is to affect them

not to allow them to affect us. It's not a question of salvation necessarily, but it's a question of how satisfied do you want to be? What type of eternity do you want to experience? What type of rewards will you receive when you stand before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? You and I. We're to take Jesus' yoke upon us. So unless the people that we yoke with are also yoked with Jesus...

we're going to have trouble. If we link up and yoke up with other people who are not yoked up with Jesus Christ, then they're going to be going in different directions because Jesus is not of this world and this world is not like Him.

And so for those who are not yoked with Jesus, they're not like him and they're not part of him. They're going to be going a different direction, having different desires. Maybe they seem parallel or maybe they seem to coincide occasionally or for a time, but there will come a point where you'll be like Richard. They're in the middle with the restraints on both sides, feeling restricted because you've been unequally yoked. Now, it's very often the scripture is applied to marriage. And it's true. That...

If you're single and you're dating, or if you're single and you're looking to be married, you should not be unequally yoked. Because you're going to have two different directions and two different purposes, two different desires, two different wills, two different views and perspectives on life and eternity. And so there's going to be a conflict. There's going to be a problem. There's going to be a tearing away as the different directions are followed. Or...

Or what usually happens is the one who is doing what's right is swayed and forgets God and walks away from God. That's usually what happens. So don't be unequally yoked. Don't cause yourself that problem. Now, whether it's in marriage or business or whatever the case may be, our call is to take Jesus' yoke upon us

And to walk with Him. To not have two masters, but to allow Him to be our master. Now, of course, it does not mean that we don't talk to, associate with, have friends who are non-believers. That's not what He's saying. But what He's saying is, don't yoke up with them. Don't be tied to them. Don't enter into agreements and business agreements and all those kind of things. Anything that would tie you to them or to practices that are not of God. Anything that would take you away from walking with Jesus Christ.

You don't want to be attached to that. You don't want to cling or hold on to that. You don't want to have that in your life.

Now, he goes on and he asks five questions to prove his point. Why shouldn't a believer be yoked with an unbeliever? What's the big deal? What difference does it make? Well, he asks five questions to prove his point, to demonstrate how absurd it is to even think that believer and a non-believer could be yoked together. Question number one, there in verse 14, he says, What fellowship has righteousness with

with lawlessness. Think about that for a second. What fellowship does righteousness have with lawlessness? The obvious answer is there's none. There are opposites. Righteousness, doing what's right and what's good according to the law. Lawlessness is without the law, doing whatever you want, breaking the law.

What friendship or fellowship can lawmakers and lawbreakers have? None. They can't. You don't see in the movies, you know, Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid sitting around playing cards together. You don't see the Duke brothers and Boss Hogg over there having a good time and hanging out in fellowship. Lawlessness and righteousness, they don't go together. They're contradictory. Contradictory.

And so if righteousness and lawlessness do meet or do come together, the result is conflict. The result is conflict. And if there is no conflict, then it's because righteousness has been corrupted. And that's when you see righteousness and lawlessness together, the lawmakers and the lawbreakers together, when righteousness has been corrupted. But righteousness and lawlessness truly do not have any part of each other.

They don't have any fellowship. Question number two, still there in verse 14. What communion has light with darkness? Very simple answer. Again, none. You turn on the light and darkness flees.

There is no communion between light and darkness. There's no relationship. They contradict each other. They cancel each other out. Question number three, found in verse 15. What accord has Christ with Belial? Now, Belial is one of the names of Satan. It literally means worthless or wicked. So, worthless or wicked. What accord or what agreement does Jesus have with Belial?

with Satan again. None! There's no accord. There's no agreement between them. There's no relationship that they can have together. They're completely opposite. They're completely different. They don't work together. They don't have an agreement. They cannot. There's no righteousness with lawlessness. There's no light with darkness. There's no Christ with Belial. And then question four.

Now up to this point, it pretty much makes sense. We have a good understanding, but this one's a little bit different. We need to make sure that we stop and think about this one. He says, what part has a believer with an unbeliever? Now that word part means assigned portion or share. And so there's a whole pie here and half of it is assigned to a believer and half of it is shared.

assigned to an unbeliever. That's the idea there. What part or what portion do they have together? Well, they don't have it together. But, you know, the New International Version translates it, what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?

And we kind of have to stop and think because don't we have a lot of things in common as Christians? Because we live in this world and we desire safety and security for our family and we desire to provide for them. We desire great things for our kids and our families and we desire, you know, whoever to win the World Series and all that stuff. Like we have common things, right? We live in this world. There's common things. Isn't there? Isn't there? But...

What share, Paul is asking, does a believer have with an unbeliever? The answer should be none. Jesus said in Matthew 6, 19, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Wherever your treasure is, whatever you value, there's where your heart's going to be.

as a believer, our treasure should not be in anything in this world. Because Jesus tells us there in that same portion, not to lay up for ourselves treasures down here, but to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven. And so the portion that we have should not be the portion that the unbeliever has.

Because the unbeliever does not believe, does not have faith, does not have eternity to look forward to. So all we have as unbelievers, as those who do not believe in God, is what's here. Our portion is here. Our life is here. Our dreams, our goals, our ambitions, everything is here. But believers, those who believe in God and believe in eternity...

and believe that Jesus was who he said he was, and is who he said he is, and is going to do what he said he was going to do, those who believe we're going to stand before him one day and give an account, those who love him and desire to serve him, those who are yoked with him, our portion is not here. This is passing away. This is nothing. Our portion, our treasure needs to be in heaven. And so we're up there. They're down here. What part do they have together? None. There's complete opposites. They're completely different in whole different realms, different...

they don't even come close to each other. What part has a believer with an unbeliever? None. And then question five, found in verse 16. He says, what agreement has the temple of God with idols? Again, the answer is none. There's no agreement. There's no communion. There's no fellowship. There's no relationship between the temple of God and idols. He goes on to say that we are the temple of the living God. Idols are not gods. They're

Things that we worship and things that we're passionate about and the things that become our masters. But they're not living. They're not alive. They're not real. We are the temple of the living God, Paul says. And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? Do we get the picture yet? Do we understand yet why Paul says we cannot be equally yoked with unbelievers?

Our lives, our hearts, our goals, our dreams, our desires should be totally different because our treasure is in heaven. That's where our heart is. That's what we're living for, for eternity and not for here in this life. There should be no yoke between a believer and an unbeliever or a believer and things that are without faith or not of faith.

For you are the temple of the living God, Paul goes on to say. We're the temple. God dwells within us. His spirit lives inside of us to guide us, to instruct us, to lead us, but mostly because he desires to have a relationship with us. We're the temples of God. So what communion, what agreement should we have with idols? None. We should not have idols because we cannot serve two masters.

He goes on and he quotes a portion of scripture from Ezekiel chapter 37 verse 27. I would encourage you to spend some time the next couple of days and read over Ezekiel chapter 37 and understand what Paul is saying in the portion of scripture that he quoted this out from. But he says, I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God and they shall be my people.

He's talking about the Messiah's kingdom there in Ezekiel 37. The kingdom that is going to come. But under the new covenant, the exciting thing is we can be a foreshadowing of this kingdom. An example of this kingdom because under the new covenant, Christ dwells within us. And he rules and reigns within us. Just as he will rule and reign on this earth for a thousand years during the millennium, during his kingdom,

He desires. His place in our lives is to rule and to reign, to be our King of Kings and Lord of Lords, to be the master of our life.

that were yoked together with Jesus to accomplish the work that he wants to accomplish. So he says, I will dwell in them and I'll walk among them. I'll be their God and they shall be my people. And then in verses 17 and 18, he quotes from a couple portions of scripture. He says, therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean and I will receive you. I will be a father to you and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.

One of the quotations is from Isaiah chapter 52, verse 11. And I would encourage you as well to spend some time in Isaiah 52, specifically verses 1 through 12. Because there, God is speaking through the prophet Isaiah to his people that have been in bondage, that have been in captivity, and they're now being released to go back to Jerusalem. And he says in verse 2, for them to loose the bonds around their necks.

Picture. Could he be talking about a yoke? Could he be making reference? I wonder. And then later on in Isaiah 52, he goes on to say, how beautiful are the feet upon the mountains of those who bring good news. And I remember Paul's been talking about the ministry of reconciliation and how we're called to go and share the good news that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, has forgiven us completely, and we can be reconciled and brought into right relationship with God.

We see the picture. Paul is saying, come out from them and be separate. Quoting from Isaiah 52, saying, loose the bonds because you've been set free and go. Have beautiful feet on the mountains and tell people the good news about what Jesus did. Come out from them and be separate. It's a call that he's giving to us. The essence of all of this, of what he's quoting and saying is this. We're called to be different.

To be separate. To come out from among them. That word, to be separate, means to mark off from others by boundaries.

To mark off from others by boundaries. I was talking with a brother a couple days ago about Californians and how we love our fences. And, you know, some other states, they don't like it because Californians move in and the first thing they do, I'm going to build a fence. So you know where my boundaries are. You know where my yard is. You know where you can't come unless I want you to be there. Fences all over the place. That's what we have. Setting up, marking off by boundaries, saying, look, this is the boundaries. This is... You guys aren't allowed to come here. I'm going to keep you out from here. This is my...

He says to come out from among them and be separate, to mark off by boundaries. We're not called to fit in with the world and be like the world and look like the world and act like the world and sound like the world. We're called to be different, to have boundaries around us, that we do not participate in that which is not good, that which is not of God, to be separate. He says come out from among them, be separated by boundaries, not touching what is unclean. He says perfecting holiness or being holy.

Holiness. Being set apart for God. Set apart for what God has called us to do. It's the call there in Isaiah 52. It's the call there that Paul is giving to me and you. And then in verse 1 of chapter 7, he says, Therefore, therefore, here's the result of

of this all. The application for us and the key to understanding all of this. He says, therefore, having these promises, beloved, having what promises? Well, there's three that I quickly gathered from this text, but I'm sure that there's more that we could find. But having these promises, verse 16 is one of them,

Promise number one, I will dwell in them and walk among them. Listen, the King of kings and Lord of lords, God Almighty, is desiring, has promised that he will dwell in you and walk among you. That's a good promise. We need to take God up on this promise. Lord, I'm nothing, but you want to dwell in me? You want to walk among me? You want to be with me? You want to be alongside me? That's amazing, God.

So we need to take him up on this promise. What should we do? Well, he'll go on to tell us. But number two, promise number two, also found in verse 16, I will be their God and they shall be my people. Not only does he want to dwell in us and be alongside us, but he says, I'll be their God. I will be the one that they're able to worship. I will be the one that works miracles on their behalf. I will be the one

that has prepared promised lands for them, and on and on and on. You can think of all the examples of what God has done to his people and for his people. He says, I'll be their God. I'll be one that's worthy of worship. I'll be one that's worthy of praise and adoration. I'll be one that is a good master, a good God. And you can be my people.

You can be my people. You don't have to be on the outside. I'll let you in. I'll provide for you. I'll take care of you. Promise number three, found in verse 18, I will be a father to you and you shall be my children. He says, look, not only do I want to be a God, you know, just kind of a big provider off in the distance. I don't want to just be in you and among you, but I want to be your father.

I want to do the things that a father does. I want to protect you. I want to be a covering for you. I want to provide for you. I want to walk beside you and help you learn some of the difficulties of life and learn and walk through some of the harder times in life. I want to teach you and I want to train you. I want to be there alongside you. I want you to be my child. I want to hold you in my arms. I want to love you and pour out love and gifts and promises upon you.

Paul says, since we have these promises, these things available to us, if you want these promises to be true in your life, is what Paul is saying. He goes on to say, then let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness and the fear of God. What are we to do? We're to cleanse ourselves. From what? Well, he says, the filthiness of the flesh and the spirit. The things on the outside as well as on the inside.

What am I to do? I'm to get rid of the junk that's in my life. Now, not practicing legalism and being a stickler for the law and all about the law and the letter of the law. But notice he says perfecting holiness in the fear of God. It's about having a real fear of God and not taking the grace of God for granted.

but perfecting holiness out of reverence and awe of Him. Not having the attitude that, hey, I can always ask forgiveness later, or God will forgive me, that's why He died, grace, you know, happened before, no problem, and whatever. None of that.

By having a real fear of God. Understanding that God is who He said He is and He's really going to do what He said He's going to do and you're going to have to stand before Him one day and give an account. Have a fear of God and walk uprightly. Perfect holiness. Do your best. Wake up each day and say, Lord, I want to perfect holiness today. I want to do what's right today. I want to be separated from the world today.

so that I could walk with you. Because I have these promises, Lord, that if I come out from among them and be separate, man, you're going to be in me, you're going to be with me, you're going to be my God, and I'm going to be your person or your people. Lord, you're going to be my Father, and I get to be your child. God, those are exciting promises. And so, Lord, I don't want to be like the world. Lord, help me to perfect holiness and to make choices on a daily basis, to perfect it. Now, how do you become perfect?

Practice, practice, practice. Practicing. Practicing holiness. Practicing holiness. Lord, I'm going to be holy today. Lord, I want to do my best, God. I want to make good choices, godly choices. Lord, I want to do what's right and what's best.

Wow, that's questionable. I don't know if I should be involved in that. You know what? I want to perfect holiness just in case. I'm not going to be involved in that. I don't want to be involved. I can't do that. I want to perfect holiness out of fear of God because I have these promises. He's going to be in me and with me. He's going to be my God. I get to be His person. He's going to be my Father. I get to be His child. Okay, I'm not going to participate in that or I'm going to participate in these things because I want to perfect holiness. I want to do what's right. I want to do what's good.

Since we have these promises, he says, let us cleanse ourselves from all the filthiness in the spirit and in the flesh, inside and out. Everything about us acting in the fear of God. Now, turn with me to Matthew chapter 6, please. Matthew chapter 6. This is the portion that I've been making reference to a few times throughout the service. Matthew chapter 6, verses 19 through 24 says this.

Verse 1.

Verse 22. Verse 24. Verse 25.

For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. You can't serve God and money. You can't have two masters. Listen, don't lay up for yourselves treasures here, Jesus says, where the things are corruptible and they're not going to last. They won't last for eternity. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Why? Because where your heart is, or where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

And so, focus on, value the things of eternity. Put great importance and value upon the things that are spiritual and the things that will last for eternity. Because then, your heart will be there also. And God will be your master. But if you treasure the things down here, the things on this earth that are corruptible and are destroyed, you're going to be in danger of trying to serve two masters. Trying to accomplish everything that you want to do in this life, in this world,

which isn't going to last, as well as trying to have the appearance of or try to meet the requirements of spirituality so that you've guaranteed eternity in heaven. And so you're trying to serve two masters. It's not going to work. It won't work. You saw it yourself. As the oxen go in their different directions, me, there in the middle,

I come to a point where I have to make a choice. Who am I going to serve? Who's going to be my master? What am I going to live for? Where is my heart going to be? In Ephesians chapter 2, verse 10, Paul says, we are his workmanship, his masterpiece, his work of art.

He says we're created in Christ Jesus for good works. So we're his masterpiece. He created us for good works, that we might be able to do good works, to do the things that he would love us to do. But not only that, he says, these good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. So we're God's workmanship. We're his work of art. He's created us in Christ Jesus for good works, which he planned ahead of time, beforehand.

So the idea is, God has this plan for your life and my life. And he has in store all of the good works, all of the things that he wants us to do. He's called us into the ministry of reconciliation to bring others and to help others get to know God and to be reconciled to God. And so he has laid out before us all of the things that he knows that we would be able to do in helping others and bringing others to a relationship with him.

and taking part of this ministry and taking part of this calling in our life. He knows it all ahead of time. He's got it all mapped out. He's got it all planned out. It's there. Just like a farmer. He yokes his oxen together and he has this plan. This is how I'm going to go this way and I'm going to come back this way. I'm going to get this work done and this field is going to be plowed. The seeds are going to be planted. The work is going to be done. God has it all laid out for your life. And so Jesus is there. God's the farmer. He's the farmer.

He's got Jesus there on one side of the yoke and Jesus is calling to us and he's saying, come on, come take my yoke upon you. Man, God has all these great works in store for you and he wants to show you how good he is and he has all these great things but not only that, he has eternity with him in store for you. Come, take my yoke upon you. Live the life that I've called you to live and do the things that I've called you to because it's all laid out in front of you. It's already there. It's all mapped out. It's got it all under control. Come, take my yoke upon you.

And here we are in the world going, oh man, but no, no, you come here. Come here and take, because look at, I got some great plans. I got some good things, good ideas, God. Oh man, man, I have the plan. I have it all worked out. It's going to be like this. It's going to be like that. Or man, I really believe she's the one. I think she's the one. Come on, come on, come over here. Come on, be yoked with us, God. It doesn't work that way. Jesus is saying, Lord, you come here. And we're saying, Lord, you come here.

Jesus says, come take my yoke upon you. My yoke is easy and my burden is light. To be unequally yoked is to be bound to anything that is not of the Lord or a part of the Lord's plan for my life because it keeps me from plowing the field that God has called me to, the ministry of reconciliation, doing the good works that he's laid out in store for me. And so when I feel restricted, going back to what Paul told the Corinthians, when I feel restricted, it's not by Paul.

It's not by God, but it's because my affections, my love for other things, my passions for other things, it's because I have two masters. And they're pulling me in two different directions, and I need to choose one of them. Often it's said, you know, I really want to serve the Lord one day.

When I accomplish this and when I get that, oh man, you know, it's so difficult right now, but man, once this thing is taken care of, then, oh man, I'm going to serve the Lord. It's going to be good. It's going to be awesome. You can't do that. Jesus told the person who wanted to follow him in Luke 9, 60, hey, let the dead bury their own dead. You can't wait. It's now or never. You need to decide today.

Am I going to go all out for God? Am I going to give myself wholeheartedly, surrender myself to Jesus Christ? Or am I still going to try to balance the thing and serve two masters? Living in the world but having the appearance of... Listen, God's not fooled by our double lives.

He's not tricked. He's not deceived. He knows everything about us. And so we can have all these things upon our hearts and we can try to look good and try to act right and do the things that we know we're supposed to do because we do want to go to heaven. We want to spend eternity with Him. But at the same time, we're holding on to the things of the world, to relationships or people or jobs or families or whatever the case. We're holding on to the things of the world and we have two masters now. And we will come to a point that we'll have to decide which one are we going to choose.

unequally yoked, are ties to anything that keeps us from serving Jesus. So does that mean we should all quit our jobs, move away, you know, and be separate? No. No, no, no. Your job is probably part of your calling. God has called you to be separate, to come out from among them and be separate, but to be in there as a witness, as a tool for Him to use, but not caught up with the same heart, same desires, same views and perspectives of the world. Caught up in the same acts of iniquity and sin.

and the things that are not right. Within our families, within our friends, within our jobs, God's called us there to be ministers of reconciliation. And we cannot be unequally yoked. We cannot fool ourselves and kid ourselves thinking that we can live the Christian life

and still be involved in those other passions and not allowing God to truly be our master. We're called to the ministry of reconciliation. We're called to the plan that Jesus has for us. The good works that he's already prepared and laid out for us. We're not called to be like the world, to be friends with the world. That's the yoke of bondage. And we try so hard to fit in and we try so hard to be like, but we're not called to be like the world. We're not called to fit in. We're called to stand out and to be different.

We're called to not be caught up or bound up in relationships or anything that would keep us from this ministry, the ministry of reconciliation. If you feel restricted, Paul says, it's not me. It's not me. It's because you're trying to make fellowship happen between righteousness and lawlessness, light and darkness, Christ and Belial.

believer and an unbeliever, the temple of God and idols. And it does not work. And that's why you feel restricted because no man can serve two masters. You and I must learn to let go of the idols, to come out and to be separate, to give ourselves wholeheartedly to Jesus Christ. His yoke is easy and his burden is light. In thinking about and praying about this idea of being unequally yoked, of course I'm reminded of my own life.

There was a time several years ago where God was rocking in my life. And man, He was doing so many exciting things and it was just awesome to be a part of it. But there came a time in my life as He was my Master and oh man, so many awesome things were happening. It was so exciting to be serving the Lord and then entered in Master number two into my life.

And there began to be tension. There began to be a tightness, a restriction. Oh man, this is hard. This is difficult. It doesn't feel good. I don't know what to do. I don't know where to turn. And there came a point in my life where I had to choose what master am I going to serve because I can't serve both. It's either I serve Jesus Christ wholeheartedly or I serve myself or whatever other master or idol that I have. And so I came to this position, this point in my life,

And I had to choose which master I was going to serve. And I didn't choose Jesus Christ. I chose to serve my other master. I chose to walk in that way and be yoked together with my own flesh walking away from God and doing whatever I want to do and trying to make my way in this life and

I tried to do it spiritually, of course, and tried to put on the facade of Christianity and spirituality and all that stuff. But it was walking away from the things that God had called me to and the plan that He had for my life. And I walked away from Him for several years. You will come to that point. Don't be fooled. You will have to make a choice. Which master are you going to serve? Now, praise the Lord, because there came another time in my life, several years after that point.

where God began to work in my life again. And I began to spend time with Him again. And He began to be my Master and my Lord. But there was a problem because I was still having another Master. And so I came to the point as God was being raised up in my life and I was like, Yes, Lord, whatever you want in my life, that's what I want. I want to serve you. I want to walk with you. And God says, Okay, but I understand you have two Masters. You need to make a choice. Who are you going to serve? Which one are you going to follow?

And praise God, by His grace, I chose Him. And I'm walking with Him. Now, it doesn't mean I'm perfect. It doesn't mean it's always been perfect ever since. But I chose and I choose to make Jesus Christ my Master. That I would not be unequally yoked with anything in this world or in this life that would keep me from what God has planned for my life. Whether it be a job or a relationship or whatever the case may be, our own ambitions and goals and desires.

We're not to be unequally yoked. And we need to make a choice. Who are you going to serve? Because if you delay the choice now, remember, to be undecided is to be decided. To not choose is to choose to not choose, which is to choose to be against Jesus Christ because it's not natural for us to walk with God. It's natural for us to walk away from God. And so if I say, well, I'm not going to choose just yet.

What I'm actually doing is saying, I'm choosing, Lord, to do my own thing. Hopefully, before I die, I'll have time to come back to you so that I can still experience eternal life and have salvation. But why risk it? Why take that chance? Like me, I chose the wrong way. And praise God, He delayed, He got a hold of my heart, and He brought me back. But there's no guarantee for us. If we choose today to walk away from God, that's our choice. And we can't blame God for it. We can't blame anybody else for it. If we're restricted...

It's by our own affections, our own lusts, our own desires and ambitions, our own passions, our own masters. I like this portion of scripture though because Paul says, come out from among them and be separate.

He doesn't say, you should have come out from among them and be separate and then these promises would be true. But he says, right now, it's not too late for you, it's not too late for me, right now I can come out from among them and be separate. I can choose right now to make him my master and to loose the bonds of the other masters, of the other gods, of the other passions.

And I can make Jesus Christ my passion. I can lay up my treasures in heaven. I can walk with him and walk in the things that he's laid out for me and the plans and the good things, the good works that he has in store for me. I can choose now, but I must choose. And that's where you and I are at this morning. What do you choose? To be unequally yoked?

Or to take Jesus' yoke upon us, to walk with God, to come out and be separate, because He's made us these great promises, and we get to spend eternity with Him. Or to live miserably, and restricted, and in bondage, and being worn out, unsatisfied, unhappy, trying to live two lives, trying to live a double life. God over here, and our passions over here. It's not going to work. What do you choose?

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, I ask first that you would help us to choose you, Jesus. Lord, you died on the cross to forgive us of our sins, to wash us, to purge us. Lord, you didn't die so that we could satisfy our own desires in this life, but Lord, you died on the cross that we could be cleansed, we could spend eternity with you, and that while we're here,

We could be involved in the ministry of reconciliation, telling others that you died for them as well, sharing with them your love and doing the things that you've laid out for us. And so, God, right now, I pray that you would help us. Lord, for those other passions and other gods and other masters that are in our lives, Lord, the yoke of bondage that we have around us. And God, I ask that you would free us. And Lord, it's not a request really to free us, but Lord, to help us to remember that we've been set free.

Lord, because your blood washes us. And you said that who the Son sets free is free indeed. God, you've broken the yoke. But Lord, we want to cling to it. We want to hold on to the things of this world. Lord, forgive us. Lord, right now I pray that you would come into our hearts, Lord. Create in us a new heart. A heart that walks after you and seeks after you and is sensitive to what you're saying. Lord, that we would have the fear of God in our lives. That we would perfect holiness and walk with you. Lord, to plow the field that you've called us to.

Lord, whether that be at our job or with our family or maybe somewhere else, God, we just want what you want in our lives. We surrender to you completely, God. We ask that you would be our master. Help us to let go of the things of this life, to loosen our grip on the things of this world, that we would live for ourselves treasures in heaven. This morning, if you're here,

And you've never been born again. Maybe you don't know what that means. You've never come to a point in your life where you've asked God to come into your life and to be your master. If you've never received and accepted what Jesus did on the cross in dying for your sins, this is to you as well. He says, come out and be separate. He's calling us. Jesus is calling us. He's saying, come unto me. You're heavy. You're burdened. You're heavy laden.

You're worried, you're troubled, you're oppressed. It's okay. Come. Take my yoke upon you. And you can do that this morning. You can receive the forgiveness that Jesus has to offer simply by praying this prayer in your heart after me. Heavenly Father, I believe that you sent your Son to die on the cross for my sins, to pay the price that you might be able to forgive me and wash me clean. And Lord, I receive the gift of forgiveness that you give to me. And I ask that you would come into my life today

Lord, that you would help me to take on your yoke and to allow you to be my master. Lord, that you would help me to come out and be separate from this world, that I might experience the love, the joy, and the peace that you have to offer. Thank you, Jesus. It's in your precious name that we pray. Amen. Amen. This morning we're going to worship the Lord. And I want to encourage you, if you prayed that prayer in your heart,

to come forward afterwards. We'd love to share with you more about what it means to walk with Jesus and what He has in store for you. Maybe you didn't pray that prayer but you wanted to. We'd love to share that with you as well. What it means to be born again. Or maybe there's other things that are on your heart, things that God has been speaking to you about, other yokes of bondage and things and you want prayer. We're up here. We'd love to pray with you. After the song's over, come on up. Get prayed for.

God bless you.