“Separated for God’s Glory” | 2 Corinthians 6:14–7:1 | Pastor Israel | Sunday Evening

Amen. Yes, please open your Bible to

the New Testament book, Second Corinthians, chapter 6, verse

2 Corinthians 6:14

14. We're going to go all the way

through to the end of the chapter and into verse 1 of

Chapter 7. Title of tonight's message is

Separated for God's Glory. As you're turning there, I'm

sure that you've all seen two things that just do not fit

together. They cannot coexist.

You can't mix oil and water. They just won't be able to blend

together. The old square peg in a round

hole. Or if you've ever frustratingly

perhaps been in a boat, a rowboat with somebody and you're

rowing forward and they're pulling backwards, just think,

what are you doing? Simply doesn't work.

Paul uses a similar image and picture for us in 2nd

Corinthians 6. He urges believers, you and I

tonight, not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers.

Now in farming terms, the audience would be very familiar

and I'm sure many of us are. The yoke was a wooden harness

that would link 2 animals together to strengthen them, to

combine their forces to plough a field.

But if you put an ox and a donkey together for example,

that yoke they would pull in different directions and the

result would be frustration for the farmer, no doubt for the

animals involved, injury perhaps, and certainly futility

when it comes to the task at hand.

Now in the same way Paul will warn the church that partnership

with the world, with the world's values, with the world's

practises will only pull us away from Jesus Christ.

But his call is not just to separate from and out from the

world or out from sin and out from compromise.

That's part of it. But there's also a call for

separation unto towards God to enjoy his promises, to enjoy his

presence, to enjoy his power in our lives.

There's, you see, both a negative and a positive attached

to this idea of separation, one being an away from that which is

dangerous, that which is harmful, that which is contrary

to God, and the other being a positive which is towards God, a

no and a yes. You see, when you're and I

became Christians, we have a new life.

We have as a consequence of that new life, new relationships.

We experience a new relationship with God.

No longer are we what the Bible declares we once were, enemies

with God. Now, instead of running from

God, we're walking In Sync with God as his sons and as his

daughters, as the family of God. There's that relationship that

we now enjoy with God. We have a new relationship with

the devil. You go.

I never knew I had a relationship with the devil

before you did. The Bible tells us that you were

once a child of the devil, but that now, now you're an enemy of

the devil. You've been transferred out of

the Kingdom of darkness and into the glorious Kingdom of light.

You have a new relationship with the church.

You have a new relationship with unbelievers.

Not sure if you recall what it was like when you weren't saved

and how your attitude towards believers was.

You thought Christians were perhaps weird.

Crazy. Now you find yourself hanging

out with the very people that you thought were crazy some

5/10/15 years ago. The people that you were joking

about and making fun of are now those that you would call

friends. What a change, what a

transformation. You have a new relationship with

the unbelieving world. You're living a life that is

separated unto God. What we're talking about tonight

is the doctrine of separation. Before we read, I want to take a

bit of time here to address this somewhat to lay a bit of a

foundation for us. So we'll spend a bit of time in

our introduction. We're going to spend a fair

amount of time on .1, and then we'll move through points two

and three fairly quickly tonight so that you know where we're

headed. What we're talking about is this

doctrine of separation. I want to point out that there

are two extremes to this doctrine, often that we find

ourselves as Christians leaning towards, and we commonly hear

separation referred to as sanctification.

Maybe you've heard of that term. So for the Christian, our

salvation, it begins with justification and then there's

sanctification. Both are part of salvation

justification. That's the initial act where God

declares you and I as believers, where once we were sinners as

now righteous. That is what we call our

position, our standing in Jesus Christ.

And then sanctification is when having now become a Christian,

there is this commencement of a lifelong process, the Holy

Spirit at work and you changing you, transforming you, making

you into the image of Jesus Christ, that sanctification both

are again part of what we call salvation justification, your

standing and your position in Christ sanctification, your

practise, how you live out your daily life as a Christian.

And a lot of times people get those two confused and it causes

all sorts of issues in them doubting their salvation because

they're not really living a sanctified life.

Many people think, oh, am I saved?

Am I not saved? And you know, that fluctuates

day to day. Justification does not alter our

position. Sanctification is what we're

concerned with and what we're particularly looking at tonight.

So Paul's focus is that once we're saved, what needs to

happen is that we need to grow in holiness and likeness to

Jesus Christ that that we live a life that is separated different

to the world and the people around us.

Sanctification, obedience to the Holy Spirit in our living.

And there are two extremes that people often head to in there.

One is isolation and the second is assimilation.

Isolation is this where where Christians often feel like that

they should never ever talk to a non Christian ever again.

Never be around a non Christian ever again or do anything with a

non Christian. Now, if you go to a restaurant,

you've asked for the sanctified section.

And we want a spirit filled waitress, please, if we can.

And we want the Holy Ghost menu. And so we have churches that

have restaurants and we have, you know, churches that have all

sorts of activities based on kind of isolating believers

together, you know, ask for no more and creating these

Christian bubbles. Now, I don't believe biblically

that as we read the Scriptures that that God wants us to live

a, a monastic life, to go out into a monastery and to fully

isolate from the world that that may serve a purpose for a period

of time, don't get me wrong, but not as a permanent feature of

life and living. You see, the salt is no good

unless it gets out of the salt shaker, right?

You and I, we are called the salt of the earth.

A light that is hidden under a bushel has no effect.

We are called the lights of the world.

And I think one of the reasons why the world has gotten so bad

is because the salt and the light have not permeated into

the world as they should and having a a sanctifying effect on

the world around us. Now, I believe we need

Christians in every area of life.

We need Christian bankers. We need Christian lawyers, we

need Christian principles, Christian teachers, Christian

nurses, Christian sales assistants, Christian grocery

store workers, to to influence, to permeate like the salt of the

earth and the light of the world.

But the second extreme to that is assimilation, where we become

too much like the world. Rather than being a light to the

world, we become like the world. When we're like the world and

it's ideas and it's philosophies and lifestyles, then we're no

longer any good to the world. The salt that loses its

saltiness is good for nothing, Jesus said, but to be thrown out

in the way and trodden under the feet of men.

Jesus declared. You see, there's no difference

then between the non Christian and the Christian.

And there ought to be. So we can find ourselves

swinging from one of two extremes, either isolation or

assimilation. So where do we go when we're

unsure? What example do we look to?

We look to Jesus, right? Jesus demonstrated this, this

tension of what? Is it isolation or is it

assimilation? Which one is it?

Remember that Jesus went to the home of a Zacchaeus.

Remember the wee little man? We sing the song.

It was a tax collected, despised by many.

Even his own disciples freaked out when Jesus said Zacchaeus,

come down from that Sycamore tree, I'm coming to your house

for tea. And a few moments later, what

happened? Zacchaeus was a converted man.

When Jesus allowed the sinful woman to let down her hair and

to touch his feet, to wash his feet with her tears and then to

wipe those feet with his hair, some of the religious leaders

freaked out. Does does he know who she is and

what she's done? And then consider we looked at

it briefly this morning, John chapter 4, when Jesus waiting at

John 4 · chapter mention

Jacob's well outside of a Samaritan town and along would

come a Samaritan woman, wicked by all definitions of various

people. She'd had five husbands and she

was now living with a man who was not her husband.

The modern church would have a freak out session would not have

a bar with the likes of that right?

She even was shocked that Jesus would spend time dialoguing with

her. She said you a man and a Jew

would talk to me. And So what is Jesus example as

we look to him? Jesus actually had contact with

sinners, but he was never contaminated by them.

That's the secret. So we we want to, we need to

make and have contact with unbelievers, with non

Christians, but we don't want to be contaminated, influenced by

them. The influence ought to happen

the other way. And this is a delicate balance

that Paul covers for us tonight in our passage as we now move to

this. We're to be separated from the

world and separated unto God, to be Christ like and impactful for

the Kingdom of God. So I want to Orient our thoughts

under 3 headings tonight as we examine the verses before us.

Firstly, the incompatibility of the yoke in verses 14 through to

16 out of chapter 6. Secondly, the invitation to

separation in verses 17 and 18. And then lastly, verse 1 of

Chapter 7, the incentive of holiness.

Let's read verse 14. Do not be unequally yoked.

I'm reading from the New King James Version.

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.

For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness?

What communion has light with darkness?

Notice all of these terms that he employs here are terms of

intimacy of affiliation. Verse 15 and what accord that

word accord there is where we get the English word choir, like

a collective of voices singing and functioning together as one.

What accord has Christ with Belial?

That's another term for Satan, for the devil, or what part has

a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement verse 16 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 among them. I will be their God and they

shall be my people. Paul begins do not be unequally

yoked with unbelievers. Now let's go a little background

here that remember Corinth was a very large city some 700,000

they estimate in population at this point in time the city was

a wealthy city. It was called the Vanity Fair of

the Roman Empire because Corinth was this resort type of

destination. It was a city that attracted

pleasure seeking tourists from all over the region.

And when I say pleasure, it was wicked pleasure.

It was a port city which made Corinth a convenient and popular

stopping place for sailors usually looking to get drunk and

to indulge in one night stands. The slogan was at that time what

happens in Corinth? Stays in Corinth.

Sounds so familiar doesn't it? The city of Corinth was also

filled again with these shrines, with these Pagan temples, the

most popular being the temple of Aphrodites.

The goddess of so called love employed in this temple some

1000 plus prostitutes, both male and female, who went out every

night soliciting business in the name of worship, selling their

wares. In fact, in Rome at the time,

they had a saying to describe those whose lives were

characterised by living loose, by being immoral and typically

drunk all of the time. They were said to be behaving

like a Corinthian. And so it was to these believers

living in this city, Corinth, this type of environment that

Paul writes these words. Be not unequally yoked to an

unbeliever. Now, this is probably the most

familiar and most often quoted portion of Scripture out of

Second Corinthians. I'm sure that you've all heard

of it. The context, again, is important

for us to consider in verses 11 to 13 and in verse 1 of chapter

6. What Paul has been talking about

all through this is how that was that the Corinthian church were

being persuaded by false teachers to disregard Paul's

gospel, which was the gospel of Jesus Christ that he was

preaching. And so there was this error in

the Corinthian church that they were being LED astray by these

false teachers. And in fact, by by identifying

them in this way, what really Paul is saying of the false

teachers is that they're unbelievers.

They're not in fact saved that what they're teaching is

something that is altogether contrary to the gospel.

The problem again with the Christians in Corinth is that

many of them, one way or the other, were either buying into

the philosophies of these false teachers or, as we discovered in

First Corinthians, they had a reputation for being a very

carnal church. They embraced all sorts of

liberties and thought they had all of these freedoms that saw

them breaking many of God's moral laws.

As a consequence, they're either buying into the deceptions of

the false teachers or they were embracing lifestyles and ways of

living that were akin to their old ways of living prior to

their salvation and coming to Jesus Christ.

So this writing that Paul says do not be unequally yoked

together with unbelievers in verse 14 is a call and a

reminder for them to be separate.

So let's look at this picture that he has for us, the yoke,

the binding of two animals together.

Paul takes them essentially back into the Old Testament, into the

Pentateuch, the book of Deuteronomy, specifically in

chapter 22, verse 10, which specifically forbade the yoking

together of an ox with a donkey because they have different

strengths, different gates, different temperaments.

It was unkind again to the animals.

It was unproductive for the farmer.

And Paul uses this to demonstrate, to show how

disastrous spiritual mismatches are.

What was the yoke again? A yoke was that wooden frame or

bar with typically loops, often made out of leather at either

end that would fit around the necks of the two animals,

harnessing their power together, forcing them to function as 1

entity, one being. And so yokes then have 3

characteristics which will connect to why it is.

Paul uses this as a picture first.

It would tie 2 animals into a close relationship with each

other, having a a common goal and a master over them.

And this would not be a superficial relationship.

Then the second is that that yoke would not be easily broken

kind of a permanent relationship.

And This is why the Church has often always taken this passage

to refer to the marriage relationship.

You know, marriage is that kind of yoke, a permanent, binding,

lasting connection with somebody else.

It is more than a superficial relationship.

It is a relationship that cannot be easily broken.

That's the the picture that is in mind here.

Now it could also be argued in this that when Paul is talking

about here this yoke that it applies to any close

relationship then that we as believers have with unbelievers.

Consider the dating relationship.

People talk about missionary dating.

Ever heard that phrase? It can refer to friendships or

even a business partnership or the big push in today's day and

age, in the spiritual age in which we seem to be living of of

multi faith worship of it, we'll just let's have a gathering.

We'll have the the Muslims speak, the Hindus speak, we'll

have the the Buddhist speak, the Jew, the Christian alike, and we

can all come together. And that yoking now the third

mark of a yoke here is that it constrains someone.

It does not commit independent action.

The two animals had to work as one.

So putting all of this together, to be not yoked together with an

unbeliever would mean this. Not putting ourselves in a close

permanent relationship, not easily broken or a relationship

that would restrict us or constrain us in our actions, in

our thoughts, in our expressions with a non believer.

So this would definitely apply to a close friendship.

This would definitely apply to the dating relationship,

definitely apply to the marriage relationship.

Even a business partnership would fit under that umbrella of

the picture here that is given to us by Paul and the principle

that he pulls out through verse 14 and into 15 when he asked

these five rhetorical questions. What partnership has

righteousness with lawlessness? The obvious answer, None.

What fellowship is like with darkness?

The obvious answer, None. What accord has Christ with

Belial, a name for Satan? None.

What portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?

None. What agreement has the temple of

God with idols? There isn't any agreement.

Each answer is the same. There is no relationship.

There is no fellowship. There is no accord.

There is no portion, There is no agreement.

Oil and water don't mix. Christ and compromise don't

belong together. And so establishing the picture

and the principle behind it now he reminds them of the presence

of God. We you are the temple of the

living God. And the issue isn't just

incompatibility then with sin, it's about intimacy with God.

If God dwells in us as the temple of God, his argument is

how can we yoke ourselves, bind ourselves, connect ourselves

with that which defiles His presence?

The two cannot cohabitate just as his example is.

God would not allow an idol to be erected in the temple and him

be OK with it. You know, they would be familiar

with the Old Testament and God's harsh words against you shall

have no other gods before me. The picture is there.

It just, it cannot exist. I don't know if you've ever seen

the Looney Tunes cartoon where you've got the sheepdog Sam and

then the wolf Ralph. He kind of looks like a wily

coyote. And they're all cordial and

friendly, you know. Good morning, Ralph.

Good morning, Sam. Good night, Ralph.

Good night, Sam. And then they clock in.

They punch their ticket and commence the day's hostilities

against each other as sheepdog and wolf trying to catch the

sheep. You know, God and and the devil

aren't like that. They don't kind of coexist in

this cordial relationship. Where?

How are you, Satan? Oh, yeah, not bad.

God and you. Yeah.

Yeah. Good.

And then commence hostilities. They cannot coexist together

Christian as the temple of the living God in whom God dwells

cannot have cohabiting via yoking things that devile defile

his presence. And so the application then

consider it for young people who are your closest friends.

Are they pulling you toward Christ or away from him?

For singles here, be wise in your dating relationship.

Marriage is the deepest, the strongest yoke to.

Going in opposite directions will tear you apart.

And for all of us, what are you yoked to in daily life, in in

the partnerships that you have in in the business practises, in

in your entertainment choices? Do they honour Christ or do they

hinder faithfulness to Him? So that's our first

consideration, our second, the invitation to separation.

Verse 17 to 18. Therefore come out from among

them and be separate, says the Lord.

Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.

I will be a father to you. Verse 18 And you shall be my

sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.

Paul here quotes the Old Testament prophet Isaiah and

also Ezekiel. And there's a call to purity

here that he declares and separation doesn't mean

isolation. In this Paul is not telling

Christians to withdraw from unbelievers after all.

Again, he himself lived amongst engaged with unbelievers,

preaching the gospel again and again, but it does mean refusing

to share in their sin. A good example is to think of

Daniel in Babylon who was able to serve faithfully without

defiling himself. And there's a call to privilege

here. Notice the promise that God

gives, having separated out from the promise is I will be a

father to you. And then back in verse 16, and

you will be my people, he says. And there's a relational aspect

here. It's not a a legalistic thing

going on. God calls us to come out from

sin, not to punish us, but to welcome us into his presence.

You see separation out from the world is separation under him

and leads to intimacy and fellowship and a strong

connection of privilege with him.

And it builds into a priority then because we see that if God

is our father and, and we are his children, you know what that

declares for us? Our identity.

It prioritises who we are in this world.

We don't belong to the world, we belong to him.

We're we're above the things of the world.

We have a clear calling, a clear identity, a clear character

about who we are as children of God.

We're sons and daughters of God. And so the point is again, that

certain things are fundamentally incompatible.

Imagine for the athletes amongst us trying to run a 5 kilometre

run with a sandal on one foot and a cowboy boot on the other.

I don't think you're going to go very fast.

You might not even go very far. There are things that just do

not work well together, right, or belong together.

And there are things that will keep you from experiencing all

that God has for you. You know, when you read

Scripture, it's all through the Bible.

You see this pattern everywhere. This principle declared again

and again God calling His people to come away from the things of

this world, and then to be separate.

And we call that word holy, or set aside for the purpose of

Him, to be with him, and for the purpose of His use.

God called Abraham Genesis 12, out of air of the Chaldees.

He called Lot out of Sodom Genesis 19.

He called the people of Israel out of Egypt in Exodus and and

gave them a whole list of laws that would ensure that they

lived and and worship different to the nations around them.

Today God calls you and I, the church, to be separate, and one

day soon and very soon, Jesus is coming and He will call us home

to be forevermore in His presence.

And so you are tonight either one of the people responding to

the call to come out or you're part of the crowd that God is

calling people to come out of. There's only two options when it

comes to Scripture. There are the righteous and

there are the lawless, those in the light and those who love

darkness, believers and unbelievers, those who are the

temple of God, those who worship idols.

And if you're in the group tonight that has responded to

the call of God, then you need to be aware of the warning that

Paul gives of not being too cosy with the world, knowing that it

is going to try to pull you away from the holiness and purity

that God desires for you and in you.

And the world does this by urging you to appreciate, value,

pursue, to tolerate and approve of things that God condemns.

But let's not just talk about the things that God wants his

people to come out of and to pull away from.

But also let's notice the divine initiative in the heart of God

in this. He doesn't just sit idly by and

and let things happen. He invites us in this to come

into a deeper and deeper fellowship with Him.

I will be your Father, You will be my sons and daughters.

And He's offering to heal more and more of our wounds, offering

to teach us new ways to live, giving us a purpose and an

identity in Him, a reason to live each day, and the spiritual

strength to do it. I will be a father to you.

We're part of the family of God. We have access to him in a way

that others don't possess and have.

That means he's wrought resources at ours.

That means his power is ours. There's a wonderful dynamic in

all of this. And so for families as an

application in this, what boundaries maybe need to be

established and set in your home, in media, in in

friendships, in in priorities so that Christ remains central for

for workers. Where do you need courage to say

no, to compromise, even even if it costs advancement for all

believers? Don't think tonight of

separation is lost. Oh man, what am I giving up and

what am I sacrificing? Think of it as gain.

And what you're gaining is this. You're gaining God's smile,

God's welcome, God's fatherly embrace, and so press into a

greater relationship with him, separate, come out of the world

and separate unto him. And there's an incentive lastly

of holiness that now springs out of this.

In verse 1 of Chapter 7, Paul concludes therefore, or since

having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from

all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in

the fear of God. And so the motivation that he

declares for us in this, the incentive of holiness is

therefore or, or since or because we have these promises

that should, should, should motivate you unto holiness.

And what are the promises? The promise that he's just

written for us is that God would dwell with us, that God would

walk among us. God would be our God and and be

our Father. You see, holiness then isn't

motivated out of a fear of punishment or or a fear of being

caught with the hand in the cookie jar, but by the joy of

belonging with God the Father and the method of holiness.

Let us cleanse ourselves here. This this doesn't mean self

salvation that we have to earn our salvation, but rather here

it's Speaking of a lifestyle of active repentance, like washing

your hands before a meal. We confess our sin and and we

turn from it so that we enjoy fellowship with God.

And then there's a maturity that comes out of it.

Bringing holiness to completion or to perfection, says holiness

then is progressive. Day after day, verse by verse,

chapter by chapter, book by book through the Bible, year by year,

the Spirit conforming us into the image of Christ.

Maybe in all of this, this this marriage illustration might

help. April and I have been married

for 26 years, right? Take a drink of water, all

right? But you know, it's not enough

for me to just love her and be devoted to her and, and be

committed to her. You know what else I have to do?

I have to say no to other women, right?

We say, but we, we had that in our vows, you and no other,

right? We, we make that declaration.

It's it's totally unacceptable for me to tell my wife I love

you. You're my wife.

I'm I'm married to you. But there are some other women I

like as well I want to spend time with, and I'm going to take

them out to dinner and buy a few things She'd be like.

And So what I'm saying is, as a Christian, just like in

marriage, it's not enough for you to say I love Jesus, I love

Jesus, I love Jesus, I'm a Christian.

You also have to say I don't love the world.

I'm not attracted to the world. I'm not going to follow the

world. I'm not going to be like the

world. You see, again, there's a

positive a yes, and there's a negative no.

So just as in the marriage relationship, I have to love my

wife. I keep my distance, I have my

eyes only for her. Say no to others.

That's what it means to be married.

And as Christians, we are the bride of Christ.

The Bible says don't then flirt with the world.

The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh.

John puts it this way in first John, love not the world nor the

things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the

love of the Father is not in him.

So guard your heart, guard your mind.

What you watch, what you read, what you listen to, you know,

the podcast, the information, the advice that's given out, who

you associate with and, and what they promote and what they

advocate, the ideologies that the paradigms in, you know, the

parenting philosophies that people espouse.

Say no to the world, Verse 17 and 18.

Therefore, come out from among them.

Be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean and

I will receive you. I will be a father to you.

You shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord

Almighty. So God's call tonight, it's not

just don't be yoked, don't be yoked.

His call is be mine, be mine. And it's a jealousy, not against

other things, but it's a jealousy for us, for our

benefit. Separation isn't about distance

from the world so much as it's about devotion unto Christ.

So the incompatibility of the yoke is you cannot serve Christ

and compromise by by serving and and following and and loving

others and other things. The invitation to separation

come out, separate out from the things of the world and separate

unto God, and He will welcome you as His child.

The incentive of holiness is a a pursuit of purity because his

promises are yours and mine and ours.

So again, there's very practical applications in this text.

And I again for the young here in our midst, choose your

friends and future spouse wisely, prayerfully for parents,

protect your family from worldly compromise.

For workers, live with integrity in in your business and in your

career and in the decisions made for us as a church, Be holy.

Together we are God's dwelling place.

To be yoked with Christ as freedom to be separated unto Him

is joy. To pursue holiness in His

promises is life. Let us endure in this

separation, not as lost, but as glory, for God Himself is our

reward. So tonight, look at the things,

look at the people in your life and ask, is, is this leading me

closer to God or further away from him?

Don't just ask, is it OK? Ask does it please God?

Does your heart, do your desires accurately reflect God or do you

need some work done in there? Now the best way that you can

grow stronger in your walk with God is to get into God's Word

and get God's word into you. Psalm 119, verses 9 to 11.

Psalms 119:9–11

How can a young man person cleanse his way?

By taking heed according to Your Word?

Verse 10 With my whole heart I have sought you.

Oh, let me not wander from your commandments, Your word.

Have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you?

So Christian, believe it tonight.

If you want to grow, you want to mature, get into the Word, the

Bible, and get the Word into you.

If you don't establish it, have some daily reading of Scripture

and praying. Download an audio Bible on your

phone. Listen to it.

Get into a Bible study and you need to remove to eliminate

certain things out of your life. But but don't just leave that

space empty. Well, I've I'm done away with

those things. Instead, fill it with with other

things, with good things. You need to form new habits, new

patterns, new desires. You need fellowship as we are

tonight. You need connection.

You you need to fill that with the right things.

And so here's now the connection in this 1-2 Corinthians tonight

in chapter 6 is do not be unequally yoked.

You can never hear the word yoke, I think, without

remembering the words of Jesus in Matthew 1129 to 30, who said,

take my yoke upon you. Learn from me, for I'm gentle

and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

My yoke is easy and my burden is light.

I like the sound of that yoke. Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for this word tonight.

Perhaps the conviction the Holy Spirit brings in studying, in

looking through this, as we examine and consider ways that

we have been unequally yoked, help us to separate out from the

world the things of the world, the things that are contrary to

you and separate unto you, to press into you and enjoy the

intimacy of that fellowship. You as our Father, we as your

sons and daughters. For we are your temple, Lord

God, we are your dwelling place, we are your people.

And may we as a church be marked by a pursuit of holiness, of

sanctification, desiring all the more to be like you.

Lord Jesus Christ, You've loved us with an everlasting love.

So now, Lord God, I pray for your people.

May we enjoy your presence. May we know that you are with us

each and every day. Empower us.

Enable us to live for your glory, to be the salt of the

earth, to be the light of the world.

Pray and ask these things in Jesus name.

God's people said Amen.