Unequally Yoked - part 9
2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1. Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
I would like to continue with the theme that was introduced two weeks ago, ‘the world’s view versus God’s view and last week’s sub-topic of ‘first things first’. And allow me to repeat the admonition of last week; if we get this wrong, out of place, in the wrong order or just ignore it, we are not only capable of yoking unequally, but we also risk losing the very faith that we proclaim that we have. These are serious messages because they affect every one of us in some degree or another. Our first two commandments found in Matthew 22: verses 37-40 state first that ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ Jesus says that this is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
This first and great commandment is the Shema from the book of Deuteronomy (deut-ter-Ron-o-me) chapter 6;
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:4-9.
And so I ask you today, not like the commercial that you hear about a popular credit card, but what’s in your house, what’s on your doorposts, what’s in your heart, what’s on your mind, who does you soul dwell on, and where does you strength lie?
First thing’s first! And this is a very serious commandment, listen again to Luke 14:26. “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. That is how serious this command is and how far the second is from the first. My love for the Lord my God must be so amazing, so complete, so outstanding and at such a high level that in comparison my love for my Mom, my Dad, Geraldine, Kimberly, Amira, Jamelle, Johnnie and even myself would look like hate in comparison to it. Let me illustrate this better, I think, by referring to a race in track and field; “that athlete was so fast that everyone else in the race looked like they were standing still, he threw the disc so far that there were no competition and the fight was for second place.
And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
It is like the first but it is not the first so still first things first. Your neighbor is your parents, your sons, your daughters, your husband, your wife, that person or persons who live close to or in the neighborhood with you, that co-worker, that student, and even a stranger, that friend as well as that enemy. This second commandment says to love them as yourself, as if the person was you.
I did not say this last week and I feel that it is important before moving on to the third commandment. Your neighbor is human, saved or unsaved, and you must stay in prayer for wisdom and discernment. Because your love, care, concern, openness, friendliness, and even your emotions can be misinterpreted. Someone may interpret you as flirtatious, naïve, or giving evidence that you are available or interested. You may be misinterpreted as homosexual, weird, or up to no-good, because you show a genuine interest or concern in the other person. Why is this? Because the natural man can not receive the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolish to him nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. Therefore, stay in prayer because this misinterpretation can happen within the local church fellowship as well as any place else, but with all of that, the command doesn’t change; ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Today I would like to look at the third commandment from the New Testament. These first two are positive commandments telling us you shall love the Lord your God and you shall love your neighbor. The third commandment is a negative commandment. It is found in 1 John chapter 2, verses 15, 16 and 17, please turn there and let’s stand together as this is read.
1 John 2:15-17. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
You may be seated. This reading is from the ‘New King James version.’ The English Standard Version says the same;
1 John 2:15-17. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world— the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
You hear the negative; ‘do not love’, as compared to you shall love. It does not matter where you are and when you read this it says the same, ‘do not love the world or the things in the world’! In grammar this is called a present tense imperative.
World here means like mammon (money, riches, or possessions) or this world’s system. I contend that it is here, New Hope Baptist Church, where we have our biggest and most serious problem. This is the root. Our main problem is not the secondary or the second commandment, it’s not with our neighbor, but it is where your first love is or who is your first love and if you are attempting to waver between them. ‘First things first’ must be faced by us. Even as I deal with the Lord’s Supper, I must deal with first things first. If I refuse to deal with it, then I can never come to grips with you my brother and sister. Notice what Jesus said, “As often as you do this, you do it in remembrance of Me”. It is about the first love not the second love even though the secondary gets to enjoy the benefits.
Many feel that they can play around with this but listen again to the first and great commandment; ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ All means 100% and nothing less, 100% of your heart, your entire soul and mind! “Do not love the world or the things of the world. Now listen at this point, if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Think you can play with this? Listen; Matthew 6:24. “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
What are you saying pastor? I am saying that loving God as the first commandment commands and loving the world (worldliness) are mutually exclusive, they have nothing in common. And I am also saying that authentic love for God and worldliness cannot coexist in the same person at the same time. Amen!
Now, my question for you is this, ‘how worldly are you?’ What or who is able to come between you and the Lord your God? I am not talking about things in this world that are definitely wrong and are identified in God’s word as sins. But how about those areas that we like to call grey areas, for example, you had a hard week and a rough Saturday, I think I’ll skip church this Sunday. Or it’s Sunday, why hurry, Pastor is long winded or I need to leave early to beat the crowd at so-in-so restaurant. That’s your opinion of what the Bible says and each person is allowed their own opinion. I’m not asking for prayer because then people will know that something is wrong or know my personal life.
Hear me well on this; worldliness is not so much a matter of activity as of attitude. That is what I would like for you to come away with by these simple examples. It is possible for a Christian to stay away from questionable amusements and doubtful places and still love the world, for worldliness is a matter of the heart. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him and this is what God says; “If you love Me, keep My commands.” First things first! Love Him, obey Him and submit to His will. Look at verse 17; and the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. So it is not only the first things first but also if it is the right one, it will last.
John points out that the world uses three devices to trap Christians: For all that is in the world—the lust (desires) of the flesh, the lust (desires) of the eyes, and the pride of life (possessions). And these three devices are as old as man, Genesis 3:6. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food (the desires of the flesh), and that it was a delight to the eyes (the desires of the eyes), and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise (the pride of life), she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. And these three devices were used to tempt Jesus in Matthew 4; and the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” (The desires of the flesh), But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’(The pride of life – there is nothing written that these devices has to follow a certain order) ” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘you shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory (the desire of the eye). And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘you shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” These devices trapped Eve back in the garden but they did not work on Jesus in the wilderness.
These devices can cause us to replace the love of God with the love of the world. So what are they?
The lust of the flesh includes anything that appeals to man’s fallen nature. Flesh does not mean the body, it is the nature of unregenerate man, and we receive this nature at our physical birth. We as Christians, have two natures, the flesh and the spirit that came about with our second birth. These two natures are at war in each of us who are the saints of the Lord. We are blessed by God with certain desires and these desires are good. Hunger, thirst, weariness, and sex are not evil in themselves. But look at what happens when the desires of the flesh gets control of them. Hunger is not evil, but gluttony is sinful. Thirst is not evil, but drunkenness is a sin. Sleep is a gift of God, but laziness is not. Sex is God’s precious gift when used rightly, but when used wrongly, it becomes immorality. The world appeals to the normal appetites and tempts us to satisfy them in forbidden ways. We are surrounded by all kinds of stuff that appeal to flesh nature, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
Allow me to share this with you before moving on, and I am not able to deal with this in this sermon, in fact I am still praying about it and studying it myself, but every desire that God has blessed man to have in the physical (hunger, thirst, weariness, sex), there is a spiritual counter part.
Everything God says about the flesh is negative; nothing good dwells in the flesh – Romans 7:18; the flesh profits nothing – John 6:63; have no confidence in the flesh – Philippians 3:3; make no provisions for the flesh – Romans 13:14.
So contrary to what the world says if you are living for the flesh, you are living a negative life from the spiritual side.
The lust of the eyes operates in a more refined way then the lust of the flesh does. In view with the lust of the eyes are pleasures that gratify the sight and the mind. Here we have sophisticated and intellectual pleasures. Television, video, and the internet are examples in our modern world. Achan can tell you about the lust of the eyes in Joshua 7:21. When I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.” King David can tell you about the lust of the eyes, at the time when kings go out to battle, David remained at Jerusalem and in 2 Samuel 11:2. It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. This woman was Bathsheba and we know the end of this story.
Not just this but because the eyes are a gateway into the mind, the lust of the eyes can include intellectual pursuits that are contrary to God’s Word, young people.
Now the third device is the boastful pride of life. Pride, bragging rights to what we have. People have always tried to outdo others in their spending and their getting and their letting you know about it. We are a people who over spend and under utilize and we do this mainly to impress people. And this has flowed into the church with our mega-structures and such.
My brothers and sisters as I try to draw this to a close note one other thing most Christians do not become worldly all of a sudden but it is a gradual process. A good illustration of this is from the book of Genesis and look at Lot. He did not move into Sodom suddenly but first he looked toward Sodom, then he pitched his tent toward Sodom, and then he moved into Sodom. And when God destroyed Sodom, everything Lot lived for went up in smoke! I leave you with this thought, the World is attempting to evangelize you, they have their gospel and their promises of fulfillment and great joy, all of this is your but you must fall down and worship the world. Which will it be?
Joshua 24:14-15. “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Let us pray!