Living Hope Fellowship Church...Sermons From the Pastor WHO ARE YOU KEEPING COMPANY WITH? by Pastor Kevin Badgley Turn in your Bible to 2 Corinthians 6:14-17. Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. God declared here in His Word that we are not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. We are not to be partakers of the same ways and deeds as sinners are. If you are a child of God, bought by the blood of Jesus and been born again, your life has changed because of Jesus. Therefore you should not have fellowship with sinners and unbelievers. You are not supposed to be partaking with the devils children, or those who were once Gods children, but have backed up. They will pull you down, and you will loose your salvation. God gave this warning and commandment in 2 Corinthians in Gods Word, not to be unequally yoked. That means that if you belong to the same club or group, and are calling someone who is not saved a brother, then you are unequally yoked with them. Working on the same job with someone who is a sinner is not the same thing. That is not a bondage; that is just a common place of work. However, if you belong to something that is optional in life and not a requirement, you become unequally yoked with unbelievers. When you hang around sinners you become partakers of their sin, and the Bible declares not to be a partaker of other mans sins. (See 1 Timothy 5:22) 2 Corinthians 6:16 says, And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Further on Verse 19 says, What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? If you have the Holy Ghost inside of you, and you go around places, people, and things that are not godly, you are defiling the temple of God. In due season God will destroy you, because God says in I Corinthians 3:17, If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. We know that it is very common for Christians to still have friends who are not Christians. Dont call them your enemy, but according to Gods Word we cannot be in agreement with them either. If we do, we will eventually start taking on ungodly devices to make that agreement come to pass. God says in 2 Corinthians 6:17, Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. If someone who might be considering Jesus as their Lord and Savior sees you mingling with sinners [when you are not preaching or witnessing] then that person is going to say, Well, I can do whatever he or she is doing, and still be a Christian. You do not see anywhere in the Bible where Jesus mingled with sinners when he wasnt preaching or teaching, or trying to get them to receive him as Christ and God as their Father. He was there for one particular purpose, and that was to get them saved. If the Spirit of the Lord is not moving on you at that time for you to witness for Christ, then you do not need to be mingling with sinners. Many Christians backslide because they have mingled with sinners. People will say, Well, do you think that you are better than I am? We are no better than anyone else, except that when we are born again, washed in the blood of the Lamb, God turns us around and changes us. We are saved. IF we are not different in our souls, in our spirits, in our behavior, in our minds, and in our lives, then we are hypocrites, liars, without hope, and lost away from God. Someone who is living for God is different from the world, and should show it. You cannot show it when you are mingling with sinners or unbelievers, belonging to the same clubs, and being in the same gatherings with them, saying that they are your brother or sister. 1 Timothy 5:22 says, . . . neither be partaker of other mens sins: keep thyself pure. This may upset you, but these are the words of the Lord. You must take note of why many times your household has been cursed with trouble, and sickness, and affliction, and disease. Sometimes it is because you brought it home with you by mingling with those who are bound of the same thing out in the world. Now, we must go out in the world and preach, and we must go out in the world and work, but we are to be a witness, a light to the world. The world should not be a bushel to cover us up and destroy our lamps. God said not to touch the unclean thing, lest we become defiled ourselves. He gives us more understanding on this in I Corinthians 5:11-13. (11) But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother [in other words, a fellow Christian) be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. You are not even suppose to eat with somebody like that. (12) For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? In other words, if you dont know the difference between those who are in church, and out of church, you had better get back in the Bible, and get back on your knees, and start seeking God. (13) But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person. The Bible declares that if someone is a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer [has a bad temper], or a drunkard, or an extortioner [someone who steals by deceit], we should not eat with them. God declares that they are wicked; that means that they arent saved. If you hang around with that kind of people, in order to get along with them, you must behave like them. If youre not there to preach to them, they will soon preach to you their lifestyle, and if you get along with them, that means you have compromised. You are getting along with them, because you do not have enough conviction power of God in your life to keep them under conviction. Pretty soon you become common and they wont take you seriously. Some of you are dropping your head in shame, knowing that for a long time this has taken place in your life. You are a Christian, but you are hanging around sinners. You laugh at their jokes, you are listening to their tales about what they did on the weekend, and such things. You hang around hypocrites. Sinners who might want to hear about the Lord, dont want anything to do with you, because they assume that you are a hypocrite, too. According to Gods Word, you must come out from among them and be separate. Some may say, Well, Ill lose my friends. If I dont run with them, they wont have anything to do with me. It beats going to hell, and that is where they are going. However, if you will make a change, and do something for God, it could be that it will convict them. Philippians 2:12 says that if you want to save yourself, you must, . . . work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. You cant do it in the hands of a devil. You have got to do it the Lords way, and you cannot be unequally yoked. If any of you have taken an oath or pledge of any kind through groups, clubs, or memberships, etc., then you knowingly have done this thing, and you are yoked with unbelievers. Therefore the devils that run with them will be running with you. You may find your household suddenly coming to pieces. I know ministers who have gotten into this mess. Is your household is coming to pieces, and you cant seem to get anything right? Are your finances coming to pieces? Are you sick and afflicted in your body, or are your family members afflicted, and you cant understand where it came from? Do you not know why God isnt answering your prayers? Maybe you had better examine who you run with. God wants you to be holy, so that sinners will know what to look for. If you end up behaving like and hanging with the world, how will they know the difference between Jesus and the devil? God, have mercy. Father, I ask you to set every captive free. Let no one compromise with the world just to get along. Let every one that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity, in Jesus name. Amen.
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 10:29:02 +0000
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