Be Not ..... But Be

052922

 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. "Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE," says the Lord. "AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And 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.  (2Co 6:14-18 NASB)

Not just wise words but an imperative that Paul gives here.  We cannot be “bound together” with unbelievers.  The literal meaning here is to not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.  That is to keep a respectful distance from them – to not see them as “brothers” or even ”cousins.”  We have to be very careful of our associations.

One reason is that we want to maintain the Christian distinctive.  They are not us – not even close and we must make that gently clear.  We can be friendly with them but we cannot be friends with them.

This is tough, especially when they are kind and friendly people.  But we have to keep a respectful distance in our relationship for they are of the devil no matter how “nice” they are.

They are, to put this boldly, both the harvest field and the enemy at the same time.  They do not want what is best for you nor even what is good for you.  They want what is good for them.  They are idolaters worshipping another God who stands in opposition to our God, the God.

Other verses that go with this one are:

I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world.  (1Co 5:9-10 NASB)

But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.  (1Co 5:11-13 NASB)

Tough verses!!!!!!!!

How do we do this?  Carefully!

This does not mean that we do not admonish and counsel the erring brother but that we do not relate to them in a manner that even seems to condone their error.  Of course, we must seek to correct the erring brother, but all the while making it plain that we are out of fellowship with them.

Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals."  (1Co 15:33 NASB) 

We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.  (1Th 5:14 NASB) 

It is clear that we have to make and live out tough choices and it can be very frustrating and painful – but

Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more.  (1Th 4:1 NASB)

These scriptures should guide both our feelings and our actions toward others.  We must maintain the Christian distinctive while, at the same time, being kind and gentle, looking for and taking the opportunity to evangelize the unbeliever or admonish the so called brother.

NOTE that these brothers are called a “so-called” brothers – He or she is not a legitimate believer and that must be kept in mind – they are not of the faith – not related to us in Christ and they bring shame and disrepute to the Gospel.  Have little to do with them as possible and seek to win them to Christ – pray for them and the opportunity to witness/testify to them, remembering we just deliver the mail we can’t make them read it.

Remember;

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish.  (Psa 1:1-6 NASB)

We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.   (1Th 5:14 NASB)

preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.  (2Ti 4:2 NASB)--

"Tetelesthai!" - but I am not -

Michael Sanders

336-549-2081

Even more....2 Corinthians 1:3-5

Even more.......

2 Corinthians 1:3-5 ESV
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, [4] who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. [5] For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

There is a "Why" to the comfort we receive from God and if there is a "Why" for that comfort there is a "Why" for the affliction as well.  First, we have to understand and accept that as Jesus said, we will have tribulation in this world.  It is a fallen, broken world, a far cry from what God intended.  It is a sin ravaged world, warped and twisted, full of sorrow and woe.  Until He returns ( Please God let it be soon!).  We will suffer travesty and affliction.  But affliction is not without purpose.

First, affliction proclaims the creation's brokenness, man's fallenness and the desperate need for a redeemer.  It isn't how it should be!  It must be righted but only God in Christ can right it.  Second, afflictions are intended to demonstrate man's individual and collective need to be dependent upon God.  Third, afflictions demonstrate God's mercy as He brings comfort in or resolution to our afflictions.  Fourth, afflictions are intended to draw us to the only source of purpose and comfort.

Like afflictions, comfort has a purpose that is beyond simply easing our discomfort.  The comfort we receive from God is intended to be passed to others in need, others suffering from affliction.  It is a mercy that is to be extended beyond the recipient to the next person.  It is to be shared abroad to His glory and honor.

Now for an aside.  For over 20 years I have had the privilege of serving, "the least of these."  From the homeless to the addicted to the mentally ill, God has allowed me to serve these oh so special men and women.  Why?  Simply put, because there is typically no ministry to them within the local church.  Right doctrine and a correct worship style are important and good but if there is no ministry to the broken and hurting then the church is failing to fulfill her whole warrant.  There is little, if any true pastoral ministry in most churches today.  By "pastoral" in this context I mean Christ centered, Bible based, "out of the pulpit and on the front lines," ministry.  I refer to the warrant to the church:

1 Thessalonians 5:14 ESV
And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.

That is not pulpit work, that is people work.  That is the work of passing on that comfort with which God comforts us.

Enough of that "bunny trail."

You should understand that in this verse it does not refer to how God "got us through" the affliction but rather how God is comforting us "IN" our dynamic, on going, current affliction.  We are comforted in the affliction we suffer NOW so we may comfort others in the affliction they suffer NOW!  In this verse it is not about the affliction God resolved but it is about the affliction in my life that is unresolved in which God is comforting me.  It is not, "I once went through that and God ......." but rather, "I am suffering X and God is comforting my by Y."

 Certainly we can offer the comfort we received during an affliction that God has since resolved, but we are to be offering comfort even while we undergo an unresolved affliction.  This is a dynamic, in the midst of the affliction offer of the comfort we are receiving!

It is getting out there in the midst of the pain and connecting with a brother or sister in Christ who is dealing with some affliction and connecting with them to share the comfort we are experiencing.  It is not giving some testimony of a deliverance, but a testimony to active comfort in an active affliction.

But alas, we are taught in most local churches to not do this, to keep our afflictions (and comfort) to ourselves.  We are not to disturb the nice neat order with our messy afflictions.  Instead, we are typically sent out into the wilderness to find our own comfort, admonishment, encouragement,  and help.

Pray brothers and sisters and pray hard that God will correct this short-fall in His churches.  Are you in some affliction and are you receiving comfort from our loving God?  Then pray that He will connect you with someone who needs you to share that comfort.  Are you suffering some affliction?  Then pray God will send someone in affliction who has God's comfort to share.

Synopsis - wisely said 101013

Mark Deckard write (base upon a work by J. Burroughs (the Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment)

"Contentment is not found in obtaining our desires, although God may sometimes grant them to us if they are not harmful.  Rather it is found in finding God in the midst of our unmet desires and in the end discovering that he is all we trule need (Matt. 6:25-33)."

Matthew 6:25-33 ESV
"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? [26] Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? [27] And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? [28] And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, [29] yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. [30] But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? [31] Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' [32] For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. [33] But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

How hard it is to lay aside our own answers and solutions and to wait upon His!  The flesh is strong when we are in distress and contentment seems so far from us.

The occassional Christian who runs to God when they have run out of themselves will find times of trial and discontent harder to bear than that believer whose habit it is to go before the Lord regularly seeking His will and the mortification of the fleshly, abiding sinful desires.  

I have come to think that we are to see our lives as a moment by moment battle not just an occassional skirmish with the world the flesh and the devil.  To see our lives as having but an occassional struggle is to see our lives as needing God only occassionally.  This leads to spiritual weakness and desperation in tiimes of great confrontation.

There are "musts" in the Christian walk.  Prayer, worship, stewardship to name a few.  They are not intended to gain us favor with God but to keep us close to Him to facilitate our growth and usefulness.  They also prepare us for those times of trouble and discontent that we must know we will face in this life.  When we fail in these Christian duties we are simply setting ourselves up for pain and agony.

Is he all you truly need?  Can you accept that and settle your soul?  Are you seeking to discover that through faithfully engaging with Him?  Are you seeking His kingdom, His kingship and all the mercies that come with them?  

Or, are you simply getting through life as best you can under your own power and effort?

Contentment is wonderful but without godliness it is an empty shell, a fractured pillar, a damaged foundation.

Not what but who.

Continuing on the subject of preaching, another wonderful bit of wisdom I was blessed to receive from my mentor was that it is not important for the hearers to hear what you know but rather who you know.  

Every sermon must end at the cross.  To accomplish this, regardless of text and illustrations, your hearers must "see" Jesus and "hear" the gospel in every sermon you preach.  If they do not, you have failed to provide them with the first thing they need to focus their minds on.

Exegetical journeys, grammatical gymnastics and contextual  portraits are no more than helpful filler, commercials if you will that allow the hearers minds to relax while they digest the crux of the message.  We do not preach to impress but rather to express the whole council of God in a simple clear and certainly memorable manner.

Too many times I have asked concerning a sermon, "How did you enjoy the sermon?"         ( Note - never about my own!)  I am more often than not the recipient of a big smile and something on the order of, "It was wonderful, very inspiring!' or "It was great, you should have heard it!"  Then I ask, "What was it about?"  Which typically produces a look of confusion and resentment and I receive some vague answer applicable to any talk or lecture that titillates.  If I ask, "As of the result of the sermon what are you going to repent of and seek God's provision to do?"   I usually just get a blank stare.

When we preach (formally or informally) we are speaking for God to others.  The issue is not what we want to tell them but what God wants for and of them.  It matters little how high and lofty, how intellectually challenging or formal the sermon is.  If it does not change lives (even if that's is just making people think) then it has missed its target.

The point of preaching is the communication of the gospel in all its applications which is why aiming for the cross in all our preparation is so important.  Now I do not mean by that, aiming at an invitation or call to "walk the aisle."  That is dubious in reference to the teaching of scripture.  What I do mean is that if any sermon does not bring the hearers (believer or unbeliever) to the foot of the cross for assurance and comfort it's a miss not a hit.  (Bullseyes are rare due to the appalling ignorance and self-centeredness of the people in the pew.)  But that does not excuse us from aiming for that.

I do not want to know how smart you are.  Id o not want to here your "agenda."  I do not want you to assume that what God has laid on your heart as "the issue facing the faith," has anything pertinent to do with my walk.  My battle is with the world the flesh and the devil, the flesh being the most commonly present problem.  Tell me how to fight that fight, how to stand firm, how to behave and live and .........  

I have a terribly hard time listening to sermons.  After the text is read, if I do not hear any, "We see from this passage that the believer need, must, should, should not --- know, believe, do, not do, etc...  I pretty much quit listening.  After that, if I do not hear at least three and no more than five points listed then expounded I figure my time has been ill used.  Not wasted but ill-used - as have my ears and my backside.

Every sermon (formal or informal) is intended, "for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness." (2 Tim 3:16)  Each sermons is to provide for each of these not pick and choose.  A man or woman who has been a believer for years needs not less reproof, correction than the most determined unbeliever.  Why would we ever assume they do not?

Paul hits the nail on the head when he writes:

but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, 

(1Co 1:23)

For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake.  (2Co 4:5)

But, you may say, he was preaching to unbelievers.  Well, who among us does not still suffer those places where we struggle with unbelief or weak faith?  Who among us does not to hear the gospel in every passage of the Bible that is preached.  Who among us does not need preachers who will commit to:

And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.  (1Co 2:1-2)

In every sermon Christ must be the center.  He must be clearly seen and heard for the Word is all His word.  

Simply put sermons should be:

Proposition:  What God has said.

Presentation:  What that means in, for and of our lives

Persuasion:  What God has commanded through this.  Beginning with our depravity and ending at the cross.

Simple?  Yes.  Easy to do?  No!  It's easier to take a passage and just address our own agenda or issue - or what we think are the agendi and issues of our hearers.  That Christ gets lost in too many sermons is a shame and a curse to the church.  If Jesus is not clearly in a sermon, if you just assume He is because it is, after all, Bible; you have allowed assumption to do what assume always does.

I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. 

(2Ti 4:1-2)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. (Joh 1:1-5)

Preach Jesus - no matter where you begin, no matter where you go, preach Jesus.

What's the point?

(1Ti 1:5)  But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

"A sincere faith."  Ha!  

Sincere????  anupokritos = one without hypocrisy or pretense, unfeigned, genuine, real.

Sincere????  from Latin sincerus or "without wax."

Used when evaluating marble statues.  

When the marble had a crack of nick in it, less scrupulous dealers would fill the crack with a wax compound, put marble dust on it and then polish it so that the crack was hidden.  But, the right amount of heat would cause the wax to melt and expose the cracks and flaws that were being hidden.  that's why I teach and why I write - the way I do.  

I only hope the heat I bring to bear is just hot enough to melt the way we've used to cover our cracks - the flaws in our faith.  

These flaws are both what we believe and how we live out those beliefs.  If we hold to an error our living will demonstrate that.  We live what we believe, it shows.  We cover up these flaws as best we can but when the heat is on these beliefs are exposed.

They say doctrine divides - and so it does.  It divides the wolves from the sheep and the hypocrite from the non-hypocrite.  Heat, that is trials, are God's loving providence to show us these flaws - and to expose them to others.

By the way, sin is also treated with wax and dust to keep them hiddden.  but they will always be exposed.

This is the work of the Word and the Spirit - but it is also the work of the believer.  How can we say we love another and yet continue to allow them to hide their sin/flaws?  Though very common this too is a sin and perhaps a very cruel one.  It's not fun, it is not comfortable but it is, when done in humility and love, needful.

We are to admonish one another:

(Rom 15:14)  And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another.

We are to admonish - WARN - one another when we see a sin or a flaw and we are to do it because we love God, honor Christ and love our brothers.  I is not comfortable and should not be engaged in lightly but it must be done.

OK, we all wax up and polish our sins and flaws.  But why?  Certainly not so God won't see them.  No, we do it so others won't see them.  I am stealing Paul Tripp's idea here - but we want our horizontal relationships to protect our pride and our illusions.  We can't hide from God but we can hide from one another.

What a waste of time and effort.  What a waste of grace and blessings.  Paul was "sincere" when he identified himself as the foremost of sinners.  He was probably recalling his heroic efforts to destroy the church.  How that must have weighed on his heart and yet he makes no attempt to hide it because the change God wrought in him was a witness to God's grace and power - as well as a witness to the awfulness of unbelief and it's results.

Note please that it is the common believers who are admonished to admonish one another.  Not a priest, not a pastor, not an elder although this is a very big part of their role.  Rather we need to find our way to admonishing, melting the wax, at the grass-roots level.  Common believer to common believer.

When scripture speaks of going to an offending (or offended) brother it is not speaking about sending in the Marines (pastors/elders/etc).  It is talking about YOU going to THEM.  Is there a condition?  Certainly.

(Gal 6:1)  Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.

Note a few things:

"caught" = ensnared

"any trespass = really does mean "any"

"spiritual" = mature (already had lots of wax melted)

"restore" = not remodel but restore - put bad as it should be

"spirit of gentleness"= remember your experience and learn to tough lightly as  

                                possible

"looking to yourself'= we should all admonish another with a mirror in our 

                              hands so that we see ourselves as we admonish.  Like  

                               it is said, when you point a finger at someone you have      

                               three fingers pointing at you.

"so you too will not be tempted" = entering into the struggle of another has 
                                                 its dangers.  As a Discpler I am 
                                                 woefully ware of them.  We must pray 
                                                 diligently BEFORE - DURING AND AFTER- 
                                                 that we might not be trapped/caught in 
                                                 their sin and not be caught in a sin of our 
                                                 own such as pride.

Let's not kid ourselves.  We see sincerity as a feeling and not a fact when the very work itself proposes a fact about which we should have a feeling.  We all have cracks we seek to hide.  Some of us do it well, others don't but none of us can hide them from God - so why, if we are all under His grace, do we work soooo hard to hide them from others.

Is is a lack of a sense of insincerity (sin) that is killing the church and allowing hypocrites and even unbelievers to enter and feel a part of something they really despise.  If we were more concerned with sin, if we could but grasp how evil it is we would be repentant and repentance is always the necessary precursor to revival.

Although God certainly desires that my theology and doctrine be as correct as my little brain can take - He did not send His Son so I could "get it all right."  He sent His Son so that my sins might be forgiven and I might serve His purposes here as one of His children not just as one of His creatures.

Sincerity can be very deceptive to others and even ourselves.  But have courage, God will turn up the heat to melt the wax and He will restore those places where the flaws are.  Trust Him - ask Him - wait upon Him - He will do what only He can do.

(1Ti 1:5)  But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

Tetelesthai!