Unequally Yoked - part 5
You today are the illustration of the message. The Lord Supper is the application of the message.
2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1.
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? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you (we) are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” 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.” Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
My topic is;
Are we content (satisfied) with each other, or? Now you complete the statement
Let me open with some points from last Sunday’s message; I spoke of how the Lord brought Geraldine and I together, my experiences, brothers and sisters that was all by the grace of our mighty God! I would not want or recommend that experience to anyone because there were some many others that the Lord did not move that way. It is so much better to follow God’s path and plan all the way. Remember to whom much have been given, much is required.
And allow me to take this opportunity to encourage those of you who are following the Word of God in your life – and you are determined to go with Him all the way, to you I say praise God and Amen!
Second I asked a series of questions followed by a statement, listen again to these questions;
I ask each of you New Hope, from where you are; who do you call friend, close friend, who do you hang with, who is your running buddy, who do you confide in, and who do you have a relationship with, who do you date or go out with, when you need someone to call to just talk, who is that person? My brothers and sisters if you really don’t know who the ‘them’ are, it is tough, to come out from among them.
Since we are at the first Sunday of March, I would like for us to focus on the first verse of chapter seven in second Corinthians. “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting (or bring about) holiness in the fear of God.” Are we content (satisfied) with each other, or?
Therefore, having these promises; “I will dwell in them and walk with them, I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” My brothers and sisters, the ‘they’ are us.
You are sitting among those who this passage say that God will dwell with, that God will walk with, that God will be a God to and as you look around you are sitting with the people of God (your God)! So, Are you content with each other?
Scripture is clear on this point of unequal yoking together, it is clear on its command to come out from among them, and the Scripture is clear on the fact that we need to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. Are we, New Hope, as clear on who we should be with and do we take advantage of the opportunities presented to us to nurture these situations? Thus the question Are we content (satisfied) with each other, or? is a very important question for this fellowship to ponder. We, you and I, the persons sharing the pew with you, are the people of God. We got each other. God said He would do this, He would build His church, establish His people and dwell within them. We, you and I, are the product of His promise. In other words God has yoked together, and He did not ask us if we wanted it this way or rather we like it or not. Well I know He did not ask me these things nor sort my permission. Thus the passage says we have God Almighty and His people, the Creator and the Creature, The One who sits high and looks low. But aren’t you glad that it doesn’t stop there.
The promises continues; “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” We, you and I, the persons sharing the pew with you, are intimate with God, we are the sons and daughters of God and that makes us brothers and sisters in the Lord. It is more than just talk, we are truly yoked together forever!
Second Corinthians chapter seven, verse one goes on to say; ‘let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting (bringing about) holiness in the fear of God.’ Your answer to the question; Are we content (satisfied) with each other, or? is what makes this command possible or not. Excuse the English but it is an ‘us’ thing if we are not content with each other, the cleaning process fails, we must clean up ourselves. And not just get rid of the filth but next we are to perfect, meaning bring about, holiness. Now holiness is about God and no one or nothing else. Listen; Exodus 15:11. “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders? Isaiah 6:3. And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” Or the command in Leviticus 19:2. “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. This verse is in the middle of what has become known as the Holiness Code that goes from Leviticus chapter 17 to chapter 26. Now with respect to us bringing about holiness, this always is depended and is derived by our relationship with the Holy God. And our lives, New Hope, are to reflect God’s Holiness.
It is in this light and this context, of cleansing ourselves New Hope and perfecting holiness, that I would like for us to now open our Bibles to 1 Corinthians 11: 23-26;
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
Before I go on I want to ask my question again; Are we content (satisfied) with each other, or? Most of us are very familiar with this passage of Scripture and we usually hear it on the day of the Lord Supper, just like today but do we know and understand the context leading up to this passage and the passage that follows? If the question ‘are you content (satisfied) with each other’, was asked to the saints at Corinth, if they were truthful, they would have to say ‘no’ they were not content with each other. Listen to 1 Corinthian 11:17-22; the context leading up to the passage we just read.
Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you. Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you.
Within this local fellowship there were divisions, factions and selfishness. Factions are smaller groups or cliques. And within these cliques or small groups, the ones they approved were recognized and the one who were not approved, well! This was so bad that it was happening at the Lord’s Supper and Paul says I do not praise you in this.
Do you see it? In a situation where there should have been a yoking together, we find separation, division, factions and even focus on self more than on others. Where? Inside the local fellowship at Corinth where we find a confused fellowship; the people they should be yoked to they are divided and separated from and the ones they should not be yoked to, they are hanging out with That is what (2 Cor. 6:14-7:1) is addressing.
Now that was Corinth, what about New Hope Baptist Church – Edmundson Road, when we come together, in fact, when we got here today, is there division among us?
Are there factions among us, some we approve and recognize and other, oh well? And we have come together for the Lord’s Supper!
This day, especially, is not about us, not about you and not about me. Listen closely and see if you can figure out who it’s about.
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
Who is it about New Hope? Who? Amen!
Let me make it clearer, we can come up with our excuses and our reasons, we can talk about our feelings and even share our emotions, and we can even deal with our rights and privileges, but God’s word still say this; Ephesians 4:1-6.
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. So New Hope, I ask the question again,
Are we content (satisfied) with each other, or?
My next point is simply this, it is in this context that the therefore in 1 Cor. 11:27 comes about, this is the context that follows the passage.
1 Corinthians 11:27-33. “Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.
Whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, stop, in the context of this passage, New Hope, this ‘unworthy’ means in a self-centered, individualism, or even arrogant manner. It is like saying to yourself, I hear you but I still don’t care for, want to be around, would rather be by myself, and what ever excuse or justification you want. That is where the arrogance and the self-centeredness come in. Guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, in other words, to live in such a way (knowing the truth and choosing not to live by it) it is similar to denying the unifying effects of Christ’s death and actually casts one into the company of those who crucified Jesus. Is this serious? By all means yes!
Are we content (satisfied) with each other, or?
You are blessed with self examining power, so use it! We will be applying this message, in the Lord’s Supper of remembrance, in a few minutes.
Now is the time for self examination for fellowship examination. Do you really know the brother or sister sitting around you? Do they know you? You need to understand that, Growth Group, Men Fellowship, and Women Fellowship actually starts on Sunday morning, not on Friday evening or Saturday morning.
Today we are reminded that Jesus paid it all and all to Him I owe. As you do your self examination and pray, listen to this from the book “The 1689 A Faith to Confess” For we do this in remembrance of Him (see pages 27-28).
Again I ask Are we content (satisfied) with each other, or? I pray that your answer is yes.
And if you find yourself coming up short on this day know that this day is for you as a member of the body of Christ. Allow these words to penetrate your heart; “for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.”
He died for you and for your sins; this day is reminding you of that. He died so that you may live; this day is reminding you of that. He died for His church in which you are a part; this day is reminding you of that! But He also died for each of your brothers and sisters that are with you in this place; this day is reminding you of that! If He gave His life for everyone of us and He surely did, can you give your love to each one of us? Can we say amen to this and answer the question with yes Lord from the bottom of my heart yes!
As we continue to prepare for the Lord’s Supper, listen to these words from the song Jesus Paid it All; “I hear the Savior say, thy strength indeed is small! Child of weakness watch and pray, find in Me thine all in all. Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe; sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.”
Let us prepare now for the Lord Supper.