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"We should
never partner with anyone who has not
partnered with Christ!
Okay, Partner?"
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Howdy, Partner! Just this morning
I was praising the Lord for God's grace in my father's life in his
latter years. At my ordination service, God saw fit to save him,
allowing my parents to become "equally yoked" together-again (my
mother was unsaved when they married, so they would have been equally
yoked-yet lost). I also praise God daily for the partnership
or "yoke" in Christ that I enjoy with my wife, Lori. There
is no measure of treasure like the fellowship of a relationship that
is an equally yoked partnership!
You might ask, "What is a yoke?"
It is a joining of two individuals together or a binding agreement.
To be joined in this manner would have to denote that these two individuals
are going in the same direction and have the same goals.
Let me share a couple of verses with
you relating to this matter. Second Corinthians 6:14-15 says,
"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?"
Much the same as having a yoke in marriage,
we can have a yoke in friendships or business relationships. I'm
here to tell ya, Partner, that God knew the danger of darkness that
would be introduced when mixing the righteous with the unrighteous.
When we step outside God's clearly defined boundaries, disappointment
and grief is sure to be brought to the front and center of these relationships.
I have observed over the past several
years of ministry that one of Satan's masterpiece devices for the crippling
of young believers has been the "Unequal
Yoke." I have seen many bright and happy saints caught in this
subtle snare and practically ruin their life and testimony for God in
the world. The unequal yoke has killed many a fruitful tree in the garden
of the Lord, and paralyzed many an arm once strong and active in His
service. As a watchman for souls, I am to sound the alarm in
warning for those prone to being bound unequally. I have seen the following
four ways in which an unequal yoke is presented in Scripture:
The Social
Yoke, or the "Unequal Yoke," with unconverted companions.
"Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?
Whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world is the enemy of
God" (James 4:4). "If any man love the world, the love of
the Father is not in him" (1 John 2:15). The Matrimonial
Yoke, or the "Unequal Yoke," in marriage. "Neither shalt
thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto
his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they
will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other
gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy
thee suddenly" (Deuteronomy 7:3-4). To the saints of the present
age the Word is equally explicit, "Be ye not unequally yoked together
with unbelievers" (2 Corinthians 6:14); and "Married...only
in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 7:39). The Commercial
Yoke, or the "Unequal Yoke," in business. "Thou shalt
not plow with an ox and an [donkey] together" (Deuteronomy 22:10). We
are also told in the Bible that "Whatsoever ye do, in word or deed,
do all in the name of the Lord Jesus" (Colossians 3:17); and "Whatsoever
ye do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). The Religious
Yoke, or the 'Unequal Yoke," in the worship and service of
God. The wheat and tares, or the children of God and the children of
the devil, will both grow together in the field (and the field is the
world) until the end (see Matt 13:24-30, 38, 39); but they are not to
be yoked together in the church, or associated in the worship and service
of God. We read of the early church that "all that believed were
together," and "of the rest durst no man join himself to them"
(Acts 2:44; 5:13).
There is a Reformers Unanimous principle
that states, "Those who do not love the Lord will not help you
serve the Lord." If you are saved, your direction and goals
should be entirely different than of those who are not...are they?
My friend, don't be a bloke
who thinks it a joke to have an unequal yoke!
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Have a wonderful day IN the
Lord!
Steven
Curington
 
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| Check out Bro. Curington's classic book, "Battleship", available on the RU E-Store for $9.
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| Copying permitted. To print a printer friendly version - Click here.
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