2 Corinthians 6:14

O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you; our heart is enlarged. You are not straightened in us, but you are straightened in your own bowels. Now, for a recompense in the same, I speak as unto my children: be also enlarged.

Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? What communion has light with darkness? What concord has Christ with Belial? What part has he that believes with an infidel? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has 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 separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you, and I will be a father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.

Having, therefore, these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Father, it is our desire that we would see you glorified in us. As we just sang of your majesty, we want your majesty to be evident as a reflection upon us. Lord, as the moon reflects the light of the sun, would you cause us to be a reflection of your majesty in a dark world? This world is in desperate need of seeing you, Lord.

We, because of our own carnality, want to be seen. We want to have a name for ourselves sometimes. Yet, Lord, the desire that you work in us is that we would decrease and that you would increase. So, God, do that in us, we pray. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all God's people agreed, saying, Amen.

You can be seated. As we considered last week, the ambassador of God endures hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. The one who is a disciple of Christ is someone to whom God imparts a new...

Desire is significant because Philippians chapter 2, verse 13 says that He works in us to will and to do His good pleasure. He first gives us a desire and then gives us the ability to do what is pleasing to Him. When you became a Christian, you had new desires that you had never had before in seeking to please and honor God. Therefore, we seek to live in a manner that honors what Christ has done for us.

Although we have done nothing to earn the gift of God's grace, having now been given this gift, He works in us to honor Him and to exalt Him. Jesus said, "If I be lifted up, I will draw all people to myself." As God is honored and lifted in our lives, as we exalt His majesty through the way that we live, we reflect our vision for 2012: to be a group of people who are enjoying God's grace and, therefore, extending His glory in this community and wherever the Lord would take us.

This is why Paul gives the exhortation in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 1, to walk worthy of the calling wherewith you are called. To the church at Rome, in Romans chapter 12, verse 1, he says to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Your only right response, after all that He has done for us, is to give everything that we have in honoring Him and lifting Him high.

The ambassador of Christ, as Paul said to Timothy, is one who desires to live godly in Christ Jesus and will suffer. They will endure afflictions, necessities, and distresses, as Paul speaks of in the first half of chapter 6. This may include physical beatings, imprisonments, confusing commotions, labors, and sleeplessness. Yet, that individual does so with purity, sound knowledge, patience, kindness, and love, by the power of God, by the Holy Spirit, and by the word of truth, clothed in His righteousness, not our own.

This is what Paul says the ambassador of Christ, the disciple of Christ, is about. Behind it all is God working in us to will and to do His good pleasure. It is an awesome thing that He does. The ambassador of Christ dwells between two worlds. Paul illustrates this in his words to the Philippians, where he expresses uncertainty about what he would choose if confronted with the choice to go and be with the Lord or to stay and remain with them.

He says, "I'm in a straight between two. I'm stuck between these two desires. I have a desire to be with the Lord. Can anybody say amen to that? It would be great to leave these physical bodies that are failing and falling apart, more so every single day as time goes by, and to be with the Lord. And yet, if we're here, then it's obviously God's will that we still be here, right?

So we're in this straight. We're in between two worlds, and there is that desire, that yearning to be with the Lord, but at the same time, a yearning to be a light for the Lord here in this place. We're clothed in temporal flesh, and yet we've been given this glorious new reality. As we saw in chapter 5 of 2 Corinthians, if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. All the old things have passed away, and I think most every single one of us here today would be thankful that the old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17).

The ambassador of Christ in this temporal flesh, Paul goes on in verses 8, 9, and 10 of 2 Corinthians chapter 6 to talk about how this ambassador of Christ bears honor as a child of God but is shamed as a fool in the eyes of man. You see it there in verse 8: by honor and dishonor. We bear honor as a child of God. Your name, if you're a Christian, is written in heaven. What a glorious reality! You have become a child of God. Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us that we should be called the children of God (1 John 3:1).

So we have this incredible honor in heaven, and we're looking forward to the day because of Christ's gift when we step into eternity, and He says, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." But here on earth, the Christian, especially in a world that is governed by wickedness as opposed to righteousness, becomes the fool, the oddball, the crazy one. We see that more and more developing in our culture and in our nation. It has not been that way for many, many years in our nation because this was a nation founded primarily by Christians on Judeo-Christian values. As a result of that, the culture had that as its foundation. To be a Christian was not seen as abnormal. But as a person says, "I'm going to live as Christ has called me to live according to His..."

You will be set apart. You will be put on display. Paul says that we have become a spectacle to the world. We are honored in heaven but dishonored here on earth. We have this great honor with God, but we are shamed in the eyes of the world as fools. We may have a good report among the people of God, but we are spoken evil of by our detractors. Again, in verse 8, we see this reflected in the phrase "by evil report and by good report." Paul is regarded as a deceiver by unbelievers, yet he speaks the truths of heaven. At the end of verse 8, he describes himself as "as deceivers and yet true."

In verse 9, he writes, "as unknown yet well known." He lives in relative obscurity before those in this world, but he is well known by God in heaven. How great it is to be well known by God in heaven! What would you rather have: to be well known for your lifetime or a portion of your lifetime here upon the earth? People strive so hard to make a name for themselves, and then what? A hundred years, probably even less, after they are dead, there is no memory of them. Your great-great-grandchildren may say, "Well, I once had this great-great-grandfather, and I think his name was... well, I don't remember."

There is little known, yet there are people who strive and give everything they can to try and make a name for themselves here that is temporal and fading away. The Christian, however, has a name in heaven for eternity on the lips of God. They may have an obscure existence here in this life, yet they are known in heaven.

Paul goes on to say, "as dying and behold, we live." He dies daily to worldly ambition and carnal desire while experiencing the abundant life and the abundant joys of God. This is the existence of the Christian. He continues in verse 10, actually at the end of verse 9, "as chastened and yet not killed." He faces the sorrows of life on earth and all that they can produce, yet he rejoices, reminded in those sufferings of the eternal salvation that he has.

In verse 10, he writes, "as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things." He may be poor in earthly wealth, as Paul indeed was, yet he has riches in heaven. Of course, Jesus said, "Store not up treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves come in and steal, but store up treasures in heaven where those things don't happen." These are eternal treasures for the Christian. I love that at the end of verse 10, it says, "as having nothing."

But possessing all things—what exactly does that mean? Well, again, you may have little earthly wealth. There may be little attached to your name, a 401(k), or a bank account. However, if you have Christ in you, you possess all things because all things are contained in Him.

The Christian, although they may look on the outside as if they have nothing, actually has all things. I'll never forget, in fact, it's great that you're sitting here, Tony, because I'm reminded of it right now. We had a youth camp probably 12 years ago, and you came and spoke there out of Ephesians chapter 1. You talked about every spiritual blessing in heavenly places and how the Christian has this bank account that is so full with every spiritual blessing. Yet, spiritually, oftentimes, Christians live as paupers because they never recognize it. Oh, that we would recognize the great wealth that we have in Christ as having nothing but possessing all things.

The Christian lives in this weird sort of paradoxical life. They are citizens of heaven, yet they are clothed in temporal flesh here upon the earth. They exist in between two worlds. If you've ever had a chance, and some of you have, to be a missionary on the field for a period of time, you begin to understand this in a very temporal sort of way. Having lived in Germany for a year and developed relationships and friendships there, and then having a lifetime of friendships and family relationships here, you may feel disconnected from someone. Those of you who grew up in another part of the world or another part of the country and have relocated to this place, even though it's beautiful and has an average temperature of 70 degrees year-round in San Diego, may still feel that a part of you has been left on the East Coast.

You understand this idea of living between two worlds. As a Christian continues on in their life, that becomes more and more of their reality. They become a sojourner, with a longing to be with God in eternity in heaven. Yet, there is the reality of being here for a purpose as an ambassador of Christ. God has placed us here.

In verse 14, we see Paul's application of this. How ought we to live if this is a reality? God has given us free choice, and even after you become a Christian, you still maintain that free choice. You can choose to honor God with your life, or you can choose to live for self.

And there have been people who have decided they'll live for themselves. Paul says that because we are in this position where we are citizens of heaven yet still upon the earth, we must consider what that means for us.

Look at verse 14 of 2 Corinthians chapter 6. The exhortation that Paul gives here is clear: "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part has he that believes with an infidel? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of God, the living God. As God has said, 'I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.'"

Paul explains that we live in this paradox: honored in heaven, yet dishonored as fools here upon the earth. We are dying daily to the worldly desires of carnality in this life, but we are living the abundant life in eternity even now. We are citizens of heaven, but we are also ambassadors of God here upon the earth. Therefore, because of this, Paul says, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers."

It is likely that Paul is reflecting on his Jewish heritage and his expert understanding of the Old Covenant, specifically thinking back to Deuteronomy chapter 22. In this chapter, God gives a very practical command to His people, the children of Israel: "You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together."

Now, we might wonder what this means, especially living in 21st century Southern California, where it is very unlikely that anyone plows their fields with livestock. Is anyone doing that here in this room today? No one? I'm surprised.

While we may not fully understand this command, the people to whom God spoke completely grasped what He was saying. The gist of God's message is that there are certain things that just don't go together. There are some things that are fundamentally incompatible. In giving that command, God emphasizes the importance of recognizing these incompatibilities. Remember, 1 Corinthians 10 verse 11 says, "All these things..."

Speaking of the Old Testament, the scriptures are written as examples for us. They are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the age have come. In the year 2012, here in Southern California, we will probably never be confronted with the possibility of having to plow a field with a donkey and an ox together. Oh, wait a minute. Back in Deuteronomy chapter 22, God said not to do that. We are never going to be confronted with it, so what is the spirit of the law there? Why did God say this?

Let me read a few more verses from that same section, Deuteronomy chapter 22. There is a theme in the spirit of the law. In verse 9, it says, "You shall not sow your vineyard with diverse seeds." How many of you have been confronted with that possibility recently? If I were to plant a vineyard and I had different kinds of grape seeds, I might think to just put them in a bag, shake them up, and plant them. Oh, wait. Deuteronomy 22 verse 9 says not to do that. So, does it have no application? Or maybe it does, because of the spirit of the law.

Right after that, in verse 10, it says, "You shall not plow your field with a donkey and an ox together." Don't yoke those two together. Then, in the next verse, verse 11, it states, "You shall not wear a garment with diverse sorts of threads, wool mixed with linen." Now, probably most of us are breaking that one right now. If you look at the tag on your shirt, it might say 90% polyester and 10% cotton. So, we have this mixture of threads, and we have all probably broken that law today. Maybe we should repent. Or perhaps there is something deeper in the spirit of the law here.

Some people say they will live by the law and, therefore, will only buy clothes that are completely wool or completely cotton, avoiding any mixture of threads. There may be something deeper at play. Let me give you another interesting command given by God in Exodus chapter 23, verse 19. The second half of the verse states, "You shall not boil a baby goat in its mother's milk." This is an interesting and strange command. It sounds terrible, doesn't it? What is He saying? To this day, there are Orthodox Jews who, because of this command, will not combine certain foods.

Dairy with meat products is a significant topic for some people. They won't eat dairy and meat mixed together. There are those who argue that we need to live according to the law, which means you cannot have a double-double animal style. But why? Well, maybe it's not dairy; that's true. It's American cheese product, which is made from oils and vegetable oils. So, maybe it's kosher. I don't know. However, some people will say, "No cheeseburger." If you go to Israel today, you can't buy a cheeseburger. Why? Because you're mixing these two things together.

Is that what God means by this? Is that the true spirit of the law? Perhaps God is saying to us that He created divisions purposefully, and they illustrate something to us. There are certain things that are fundamentally incompatible; they are not supposed to go together. Humanity is in rebellion to God, and so man is constantly trying to bring things together that are not meant to be combined, making things hetero, other, homogeneous together, and kicking against the goads of God's law.

God says there are certain things that He created divided from the beginning. He divided the light from the darkness. He called the light "day" and the darkness "night." There is a division from the beginning. He created man in His image; from man, He made male and female. He called man "Adam" and woman "Eve." He created a division. Throughout His creation, we see God's order in purposefully identifying divisions.

Why? His law even emphasizes this truth. Don't wear clothes that have mixed threads. Don't scatter seed that is mixed, like one kind of grape with another kind of grape. Apparently, I am breaking this at home because I have two different kinds of grapevines in my yard. Or maybe God has something deeper in this that He is trying to say to His people.

He created divisions purposefully. There are things that don't go well together. Some things complement one another, while other things are incompatible. Oil and water do not mix. Light and darkness cannot be joined. There is hot and there is cold. There is bitter and there is sweet.

Divisions are God-created, and they are purposefully given to instruct and to reveal something of God. He says to the Christian, to the believer, "Do not be unequally yoked together with an unbeliever." A yoke is an instrument created to join two or more animals together as one to accomplish a task more effectively. The load is balanced in such a way that neither one of them is carrying more of the load. In fact, a yoke was constructed specifically for a set of animals at that time. It was made to fit them so that the load would be balanced just right. They were joined together; two became one to accomplish a given task more effectively with a balanced load.

Make sense? So, he says here that the Christian cannot be joined together as one with the non-believer. They should not be unequally yoked so that one, in a sense, is carrying the load of the other without choice in the matter, so to speak. This verse is obviously most applied to what relationship in our culture? The marriage relationship. However, notice that the context is not marriage. It is a good application because that is the joining of two as one to accomplish a task more effectively, so there is a yoking there. But the context is not marriage here. We can apply it to that, but that's not the context.

As Paul says, there should not be a joining of a believer with an unbeliever. These verses say some interesting things about the unbeliever—some things that are offensive. The gospel of God is an offense to those who are perishing. There are certain statements that Paul makes here, inspired by God, that will be very offensive to someone who is not a Christian. Look at them with me, if you will. He talks about the unbeliever in verse 14. Then he says that the unbeliever is unrighteous in verse 14. The unbeliever is in darkness, verse 14. The unbeliever is Belial, corrupt.

It's a word attached to the devil. The unbeliever is an infidel or an unbeliever, steeped in idolatry and offensive things. If you're not a believer today and you're here, you might be thinking, "How dare you say such things about me?" Well, again, I didn't; God did. The unbeliever is in darkness. They are unrighteous, an infidel, and filled with idolatry.

Paul says, "Christian, you live between two worlds." Because you live between two worlds, as an ambassador of Christ, you are distant from your homeland. Your homeland is now completely different from your nation of origin because you are a citizen of heaven. Your citizenship is in heaven, for which we eagerly await, as Paul says in another one of his letters. However, we are here upon the earth as ambassadors of Christ.

There is the opportunity, while we are here doing the task that God has left us to do, to join ourselves with someone who is unrighteous, in darkness, and an unbeliever. Paul advises that you need to choose not to be unequally yoked together with an unbeliever. We often apply this primarily to marriage, but interestingly, in 1 Corinthians chapter 7, Paul speaks to married couples who are married to unbelievers. Clearly, there were times when someone would be married to an unbeliever, perhaps due to an arranged marriage, which was generally the case in ancient times. Back then, a marriage was not your choice, as it is today, where you choose the person you will spend your life with. Your parents typically chose for you.

If you find yourself yoked together with an unbeliever, Paul says not to sever the tie through divorce unless your unbelieving spouse says, "I don't want to be with you anymore. You're crazy, you Christian. I'm out of here." In that case, it is a lawful divorce that God speaks of in 1 Corinthians chapter 7.

If you are married to someone and this is the way it generally happens in our modern culture—where both of you were not believers, but one of you became a believer—there is now an unequal yoke. You may feel it every single day, bearing more of the load in righteousness than your spouse. This inequality can be difficult. I have had many counseling sessions addressing this issue.

For many times, I've prayed with people in our church where that is the case. Their spouse does not know the Lord, does not want to honor God, and does not care about honesty or integrity. This believing spouse is unequally yoked. They might say, "Well, Paul says not to be unequally yoked with an unbeliever. Maybe I should just sever this tie." However, we must balance that with the rest of Scripture. In 1 Corinthians chapter 7, Paul says no. If your unbelieving spouse is content to dwell in that relationship, then you should continue, as you are there as a light for Christ in darkness. You are an ambassador of Christ in that situation, bringing a sanctifying influence.

When your spouse suggests, "Let's just fudge the numbers here on the tax thing," you must respond, "I can't do that because I am a Christian." What may come from that? It could lead to some of the distresses that Paul spoke about, which the ambassador of Christ experiences in this world. This is a reality of being part of two worlds.

Now, this unequally yoking extends into social relationships, business relationships, and all sorts of relationships in our lives. There are certain situations where, because of how a business started, you may have partnered with someone and then became a believer later on. If that business partner now wants to do things unethically, you feel the distress of that because you are bearing the load of righteousness while they are not.

Before that relationship ever even begins, Paul is giving instruction here. He is saying, "Listen, God created divisions for a purpose, and you, Christian, are going to be different from the rest of this world." You need to enter into relationships with that in mind.

Does this mean that we never interact with unbelievers? No. This is about joining oneself in a marriage relationship, social relationship, business relationship, or any sort of relationship where we might yoke ourselves together with someone. You need to understand that if you yoke yourself together, you are attaching yourself to someone who has unequal hearts, ambitions, and desires compared to you as a Christian. You have desires for the kingdom of heaven, and it will be unequal and distressing.

I've talked with students at the Bible college many times about this very same thing. I remember a conversation I had with a student a few years ago. He had a desire; he was at Bible college and met a girl there. You know, bridal college—ring by spring or your money back.

He met this girl, and over the course of Bible college, they decided they wanted to get married. They were talking about marriage, which is a wonderful thing; God created marriage. He said to me, "I really have a desire. Even when I came to Bible college, my desire has been to go into the military. This girlfriend of mine and I want to get married, but she does not want to be married to someone in the military."

They're both Christians, and I told him, "Listen, you need to recognize that there's an unequal yoking here. If you give up this desire, then there’s going to be distress. If you go forward with this, it’s going to be distress." This brings us to the area of heart's desire.

I had another conversation with a guy once in a similar situation. He wanted to get married, but his fiancée, or the girl he was in love with, had a passion for missions. She wanted to be on the mission field, while he wanted nothing to do with missions. So, you're going to have a problem here, and you need to recognize that before you yoke yourself together in this relationship. Sometimes, severing those ties can be hard.

But again, the concept is that I am here for a task because I am an ambassador of Christ. I want to be yoked together with someone who bears the burden of that task in such a way that we are both more effective. Does that make sense?

These relationship ties that we develop need to be approached with the understanding that there are implications. Paul says we need to have a kingdom mindset. You are an ambassador of Christ. Everything changed from the time you put your faith in Christ. From before you were a Christian to the moment you put your faith in Christ, everything has changed. Although you may look the same, sound the same, and have the same food desires—still liking In-N-Out, whatever it may be—there are different desires that have now been planted within you.

As an ambassador of Christ, life looks different. We need to recognize that. Paul says, "Do not be unequally yoked together with an unbeliever." Why? He then gives several reasons. What fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? The Christian has been made righteous by the righteousness of Christ. We saw this in the last verse of chapter 5, 2 Corinthians 5:21: "For He, God, has made Him, Jesus, to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."

So, God, apart from any of our ingenuity...

God has made us righteous. There's a difference now between the Christian and the unbeliever. The unbeliever, by nature, is unrighteous. Therefore, nothing can be shared in communion between unrighteousness and righteousness. In fact, much may be lost in such a relationship. Nothing is gained by joining an unbeliever to a believer.

You've probably experienced this in your Christian faith many times. Because we still carry our old sinful nature and have this fleshly longing for carnality, it is much easier for the unbeliever we are joined to take us down the path of unrighteousness than it is for us to bear the load of the yoke and carry them onto righteousness. This is just a reality of that kind of situation.

So Paul goes on to ask, "For what communion has light with darkness?" Why should Christians be joined to unbelievers? Again, there is nothing gained by this union. The word "communion" here is the Greek word "koinonia," and one of the definitions of this word is a gift jointly contributed, a collection, or a contribution.

In any relationship, we talked about this several months ago when we were discussing the marriage relationship or any sort of relationship. Relationships should be mutually beneficial. When two people come together, they bring giftings, talents, and all kinds of things to that relationship, and those giftings should mutually benefit one another and the task that God has set before them.

Paul says, "What communion has light with darkness?" There is no way that darkness contributes anything or shares anything to objectively meet the task that light is called to. He goes on to ask, "For what harmony has Christ with Belial?" The word "Belial" means worthless or wicked; it is a name applied to the devil. Paul asks, "What harmony or agreement has Christ with the devil?" None. There is no harmony there.

The word that is translated as "concord," "agreement," or "harmony" here is the Greek word from which we get our English word "symphony." What is a symphony? It is a gathering together of a whole musical orchestra.

Playing together as a single piece, a symphony, where all of them are playing in the same tune and the same tempo, creates something beautiful. Yet, if you have an entire orchestra and you put one person in there who is playing a different tune, it doesn't work, does it? What part does the believer have with the unbeliever, the infidel? What share or part do believers and unbelievers share?

Paul says again, "You are an ambassador of Christ. You're otherworldly." I was just driving around with Jonathan yesterday when he pointed out a sticker on the back of a car that read "N-O-T-W," which stands for "Not of This World." This phrase comes right out of the Gospel of John, where Jesus says, "I am not of this world. If I were of this world, then my people would fight. But I'm not of this world. I'm otherworldly." Christians are otherworldly; our citizenship is in heaven. Therefore, we need to recognize that there is a difference.

What agreement has the temple of God with idols? Paul goes on to explain that you are the temple of God. Throughout various times in Israel's history, there were instances where a king or leader would bring idolatry into the temple in Jerusalem. Most notably, this occurred in 2 Kings, around chapter 21, when Manasseh, the most evil king that the southern nation of Israel, Judah, ever had, began to build altars to foreign gods in the temple at Jerusalem.

What was God's response to this? Turn in your Bibles to 2 Kings 21 just briefly. It's right after 1 Kings, mind you. 2 Kings chapter 21, just before 1 Chronicles. How did God respond to Manasseh's sin? Let's see if God takes this seriously. In 2 Kings 21:10, the Lord spoke by His servants, the prophets, saying, "Because Manasseh, king of Judah, has done these abominations and has done wickedly above all that the Amorites, these foreign pagans, have done, which were before him, and has made Judah to sin with idols by bringing idolatry into the temple of God, therefore, thus says the Lord God..."

Verse 12 states, "Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah that whosoever hears of it, both their ears shall tingle." Because of the sin of Manasseh, the city of Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed in 586 B.C. by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. As you read through 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, you will find that on several occasions, God says this is because of the sin of Manasseh. He has turned the temple of God into a temple of idols.

Well, we don't have a temple today, do we? Actually, we do. In 1 Corinthians 3:16, Paul says, "You," speaking of the corporate church, the body of Christ, "are the temple of God." In chapter 6, verse 19, speaking to the individual Christian, he asks, "What? Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have from God, and you are not your own?"

God takes very seriously how we utilize the temple. In 1 Corinthians 3:16, he emphasizes, "You, Christian, are the temple of the Holy Spirit." In the very next verse, he states, "If any man defiles the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are."

So, do you think God takes seriously how we, the temple of God, live in this world? He says that the Christian cannot bring together what agreement has the temple of God, you and me, with the idolatry of this world. You cannot be yoked together with unbelievers because, in doing so, you bring a curse upon yourself.

Now, is there forgiveness in Christ? Absolutely. But you bear the consequence of that union. There are several of you scattered out here today, some of whom I have even talked to before, who know exactly what I am talking about. This hits close to home because you had a business relationship where you were connected with an unbeliever, and you bore the consequences of that.

Hopefully, you can impart righteousness into that situation and be a sanctifying influence, but the reality is that a lot of times it doesn't work that way. So, what does Paul say in response to this? God said at the end of verse 16...

I'm in the wrong place. In 2 Corinthians 6, verse 16, at the end of the verse, it says, "You are the temple of God," as God has said. This is God's creation, not ours; we didn't make this up. God said, "I will dwell in them, I will walk in them, I will be their God, and they shall be my people." He also stated this in Exodus 29, verse 45: "I will dwell among the children of Israel, and I will be their God." In Leviticus chapter 26, verse 12, it says, "I will walk among you, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people."

This is why it's important that we heed Paul's exhortation here to not be unequally yoked or joined together with unbelievers. Joining ourselves with them is joining ourselves with unrighteousness. Let me read to you from 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 15: "Know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ? Each of us is a part of the body of Christ. Shall I then take the member of Christ and make them the members of a harlot? God forbid!"

What? Do you not know that that which is joined to a harlot is one body? You're yoking yourself together; you've made an unequal yoke. For two, he says, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit. So, you've been yoked to the Lord. Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me." We are yoked to Christ.

The application of that in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 is to flee fornication. Flee any joining of yourself to something that is not of God. Every sin that man does is outside the body, but he that commits fornication sins against his own body. What? Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have from God? You are not your own, for you are bought with a price. Therefore, because of this, the application is to glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

Now, fast forward to 2 Corinthians chapter 6 again. Look at verse 3; you're probably already there. Paul's application as an ambassador of Christ is that we are otherworldly, not of this world. We're here on His behalf, representing Him. In 2 Corinthians 6:3, it says, "Giving no offense in anything that the ministry be not blamed." We are lights of Christ.

Now, skip down to verse 17. Wherefore, because of this reality, here comes the exhortative application: "Come out from among them and be separate."

Says the Lord, "Touch no unclean thing and I will receive you." Paul is quoting Isaiah 52:11 here. Isaiah spoke to the very people who were living in the land of Judah when Manasseh was king. That wicked king was bringing idolatry and joining the temple of God with idols. Isaiah says, "Come out from among them." This is God's word; He is pleading with His people.

We just saw this in 2 Corinthians 5. We are ambassadors of Christ. We plead with you as if God is pleading through us: "Be reconciled to God. Be restored unto God." Isaiah says, "Come out from among them. Depart. Go out from them." Isaiah 52:11 continues, "Touch no unclean thing. Get ye out of her midst. Be clean that bear the vessels of the Lord."

God goes on in verse 18, "I will be a father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters," says the Lord Almighty. "Be separate. You're my children." Under the new covenant, this is a reality. We become the children of God, completely separate. Therefore, we need to live like we are separate.

It doesn't mean that we wear white bedsheets and walk around as if we are floating on air. No, in our conduct, the way that we live, we are separate. At the beginning of the year, we talked about a ministry of subversion. God has placed you in the business where you work to represent Christ. You live just like any other person, but you live differently because you have Christ in you. It is a ministry of subversion; you transform and influence on behalf of the kingdom.

However, we are to do it in an overt and not covert manner. When someone says, "Well, you know, we can kind of fudge the numbers on this," the answer is no, we really can't. About six years ago, I had a Chevy truck that I really liked. It was lifted and very nice. My grandparents gave me a Ford Escort. I owed money on the truck, and I needed some work done, which I knew would cost here and there. So I thought, "Free car, over 30 miles to the gallon, lifted truck, 17 miles to the gallon. Okay, I'll do the practical thing. I'll get rid of the truck." So, I put it on the auto trader.

Quickly, I received a few calls. A guy said, "I want to buy your truck." Okay, he came up here, and we established the price. I think it was two grand, right here in the parking lot. It was a good deal. I knew it needed a little work, so I said, "I'm just going to give a good deal on this." We stood in the parking lot, and he said, "Yeah, I'll take it."

He knew I was a pastor at the church, and then he said, "Well, we got these DMV forms. It really doesn't matter. Did you think maybe you could just write in here that you sold it to me for $500? That way, I don't have to pay the overage on the taxes on it?" I was thinking to myself, "We're in the church parking lot. If God were anywhere, He's here."

I replied, "No, we can't do that. I'm a Christian, man. I'm not going to do that. If this means you don't buy the truck, you don't buy the truck." He still bought the truck; I mean, he wanted it. But he's not a believer, and I'm not going to join Christ to that lack of integrity. I'm an ambassador of Christ. It may mean I lose the sale. It may mean that I don't advance quite as much as the other guy who's unethical in his dealings. But I'm an ambassador of Christ, so I will be separate.

I will be a father unto you. What would you rather have: the relationship of man, temporarily, or the fathership of God?

Jeremiah 31. This, we'll finish with this. This is the new covenant. Behold, the days come, says the Lord. Jeremiah 31:31 states that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. They broke my covenant, although I was a husband unto them, says the Lord.

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my law in their inward parts. He, by His Spirit, cries from within us, saying, "No, don't do that." I will put my law in their inward parts and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they shall be my people. They shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, "Know the Lord," for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.

We are the people of God Almighty. We're the ambassadors of Christ wherever we go. How are we, number one, representing Him?

Number two: honoring the gift that He gave in the sacrifice of His Son to purchase us. He has promised us that He will receive us, that He will be a Father unto us. The Lord Almighty will make us His sons and daughters.

Look at 2 Corinthians 7, verse 1. "Having therefore these promises," what promises? The fathership of God, that He has received us to Himself. Dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. He has promised to make us His sons and daughters. He has promised to receive us, these sinful, rebellious enemies of God.

Having therefore these promises, how should we respond? Should we say, "Hey, thanks! Yeah, that's okay. I'll do what I want. Appreciate that"? Or should we say, "God, I want to live in a way that honors You, that perfects holiness and the fear of You, that people would see my good works and glorify You, my Father, who is in heaven"? Amen?

Let's stand and pray.

Father, I thank You for Your great majesty that we sang of today. I thank You for Your awesome grace that You have extended to us. Lord, help us to bear the vessels of the Lord, if You will, in a way that honors You. We are those chosen vessels. Our bodies are Your dwelling place.

Lord, wherever we go this week, throughout this county, if You should take us on a business trip or if we're on a school campus, wherever we are, help us by Your grace to bear these vessels in a way that honors You, that represents You well. Help us to be separate, not just so that we can be the oddballs, but so that people would see You glorified. We ask this in Your mighty and precious name. Amen.