“Come out from among them,” when we hear that particular phrase or sentence, you will see that it is an instruction, it is a command and it will be wise for us to see it as such and not see it as an advice or an opinion but take it as an instruction and a command from God.
All through the Scriptures, the dealings of God with His people, God is always particular about separation. Another word we can use for come out from among them is "be separate", separate yourself. And whenever God uses this word or this phrase “come out from among them” there is something prevalent in the world, something prevalent among the people, something prevalent on the earth that God does not want you to be a partaker of so, He tells you “come out”.
We remember very vividly the story of Lot, when Sodom and Gomorrah was to be destroyed, God sent angels to the house of a righteous man called Lot and what did God do? Did God say "Lot don’t worry, I will deliver you in the midst of this fire? I will deliver you in the midst of this corrupt nation? Continue to be among them and the deliverance of the Lord will come." No! God said come out. Come out, because until you are separate from them, I cannot judge them. That’s why you see the negotiation that took place between Abraham and God. If you will see fifty righteous people, will you spare the land? God said, if I see fifty righteous people, why not? I will spare the land because I would have seen fifty people that will be able to influence and change what is happening in Sodom and Gomorrah. And God said to Abraham, 50 people are not available there. And the negotiation went on and on and on until Abraham got to a point where he knew he could negotiate no further.
And the thing is, when God does not have a plan for a land anymore, He calls out His people from that land. The same thing God did in Egypt. Egypt had become a land that God could no longer speak to His people on. Egypt became a land that God was no longer interested in so God sent a deliverer for His people that had been there for years. And He said, "Moses go and bring out my people, let them come out from among them. And let them be separate because I will be visiting Egypt in a terrible way. And I won’t want any of my righteous ones to be part of it." So the same command and instruction is what the Lord is bringing to us this morning, Come out from among them.
I want us to look at the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 6, I want us to see why God is particular about the coming out of His people, why He is saying His people should come out from among them. Why He is always particular about His people coming out from among them.
14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial?
2 Corinthians 6:14-15
Some of us will wish this Scripture was not in the Bible so that we could give credence to some of our excesses as children of God.
“….Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And 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 among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” 17 Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.” 18 “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty.”
2 Corinthians 6:15-18
One of the things that started out this portion of this Scripture says “do not be unequally yoked”. What is it saying? Don’t bear the same yoke? Don’t suffer what they suffer? Because when you are yoked together, the Bible says, number 1, it is unequal, so there is no profit. The way the yoke is used, it’s in terms of farming, when animals are yoked together, they are yoked for an assignment so when they are yoked together, there must be an equal yoke for them to perform the task so when there is an unequal yoking, usually no job is done, it is done anyhow, there is no progress, there is no increase.
So the first thing God is tackling is our productivity in 2020, that’s why God is telling us to step up, you can’t be unequally yoked and you will make progress, you can’t be unequally yoked and you will be productive, you can’t be doing what they are doing, you can’t be where they are and enjoy God. So He said "do not." when they say don’t do something, there is imminent danger in you doing it. So you are warned ahead of time. Don’t experiment it, don’t try to see what will happen when you do it, don’t do it.
So the Bible makes it clear that the beginning and the genesis of this thing that God is talking about is unequal yoking, and He said do not be unequally yoked together, with which class of people? Unbelievers? Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers. Don’t be because when you are unequally yoked with unbelievers, you will be saying what they are saying, you will be seeing what they are seeing, their perception will be your perception, the Bible makes us to understand, why is the emphasis on unbelievers? Why didn’t he just say, don’t be unequally yoked with evil people, why didn’t it just say don’t be unequally yoked with unrighteous people, why was he was specific about the use of word, unbelievers?
The Bible says, without faith, it is impossible to please God, it is impossible to make progress in God, it is impossible to be productive in God without faith. Unbelievers are without faith so if you are unequally yoked with such a person, you cannot please God, that’s why the Bible is saying, do not. But you say, ‘but he is my friend, we grew up together in the same neighborhood, that’s why we just hang around together you know, it’s just a matter of time’. You will start seeing life through the goggles of that person, you will start experiencing what the person is experiencing because your confession will start looking alike. The Bible makes us to understand that evil communication corrupts good manners, so good manners was there before, it will now corrupted by evil communication.
So, when you are unequally yoked with an unbeliever, you will stop seeing things through the eyes of God, because what happens is that you are at this level. My husband used to teach me something about wiring of solar panels and all that and there is. Something he used to say is that, you can have a 200 watt solar panel and have another 100 watt, if you try to combine them together, the 100 will bring the 200 to its capacity not that the 200 will take the 100 up, it doesn’t work like that. It is the 100 that will bring down the production capacity of the 200. The same thing happens to you as a believer, when you are unequally yoked with an unbeliever, the unbeliever brings you down to the production capacity of him or her.
That’s why we should be careful, he said ‘do not’. Don’t say ‘no! I can change him, I can change her’. God did not say don’t witness. God did not say don’t love, don’t relate but the issue is in the yoking. Once there is a connection and there is a tie. There is a problem because that unbeliever will bring you down to his/her own production capacity and you will start seeing life from a different goggles so that’s why he said do not.
In the year 2020, do not. If there are evil associations in your life, cut it off because it is a matter of time, you have received so much word at the beginning of the year, if you continue in that yoking, what they have received from wherever or what they have not received, your own that you have received will come down to their level. Evil communication corrupts good manners. No matter how good you are, when you are yoked unequally with an unbeliever you will come down so he said do not.
This is the reason, For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? You are righteous in Christ Jesus, the unbeliever is lawless in sin. What is the fellowship? Why should a righteous son of God be found yoked with a lawless son of the devil. He said what is the fellowship? What will you be sharing together? What will be happening in that relationship? Daughter of God, you know God has called you as righteousness in Christ Jesus and you are in this relationship with a "yahoo yahoo" boy. You are saying “He will change, in fact you don’t know what I am seeing, in fact God will change him”. God says no! Don’t yoke.
The problem is not witnessing, showing love, but don’t be yoked. Don’t be yoked. Yoking means being joined. Don’t be joined. Don’t be joined in friendship, don’t be joined in courtship, don’t be joined in marriage. Don’t be yoked. It’s unequal because there is no fellowship between righteousness and lawlessness. You want to become all that God wants you to be and you are unequally yoked? The Bible says if the foundation be destroyed, what can the righteous do? That’s a faulty foundation and he said what communion has light with darkness. Note the word, fellowship and communion. The Bible says ‘the light shines in darkness’, the light does not commune with darkness, they do not sit down in a meeting together. The Bible says light shines in darkness and darkness comprehends it not. That’s your assignment, to shine not to commune.
The Bible says in verse 15, and what accord has Christ with Belial? There is no accord. There is no unity between Christ and Belial. So, as a child of God, there should be no unity. The unity we pray for is for the church not the unity between believers and unbelievers so we have to be careful. Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? It’s repeating it again. Is there anything you can benefit from an unbeliever? He said no! You can’t be unequally yoked. There is nothing you can benefit from an unbeliever. Your assignment is to shine as light. When you shine, the darkness in that person will not be able to comprehend it. It’s not for you to fellowship with darkness.
Verse 16, And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? Every unbeliever is worshipping something and God calls it idols. Every believer is something-the temple of God. So, if you are the temple of God, why are you letting them bring their idol into you? What is the agreement? Why are you agreeing? Why are you allowing them to bring their idol into you? And they tell you, ‘no! What’s there? Your own is even too much, ‘na you kill Jesus’? Take it easy. Even that sister, sister Bimpe, she also came to our Oshosogbo festival, what is there? Just come and see tourists when they come around’. What agreement? Because these are subtle things and we will see why God is emphatic about this. He said for you are the temple of the living God. You are a fearful being. You are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them… The reason why you can’t mix is who is dwelling in you. Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. I will dwell in you, in my awesomeness, in my supremacy and sovereignty, I God will dwell in you.
…And walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore.. because of these, because I dwell in you because you are the temple of the Lord, because of this "Come out from among them and be separate" If you have been there, come out. If you have been mingling, come out, if you have been agreeing or being unequally yoked, for you to step into all that God has for you in 2020, he is asking you to come out. That’s the way to step up, come out from among them. You’ve been mingling for too long so they don’t know the difference, it’s just like a lion being reared among sheep, before you know it, because all that that Lion has been seeing is ‘baa baa baa’, it will start ‘baa’. Even though it’s physical appearance is different, his mind has been cultured, structured to behave like a sheep, that’s why God is saying, come out. You don’t know who dwells inside of you, I, God dwells inside of you, come out.
Listen to Podcast: Come Out From Among Them
Come out and be the temple of the living God, be all that I want you to be. Come out and be separate. Be distinct. Come out and be separate unto me. Why is God so concerned about separation? Because he is holy, God is holy so for you to be his child, to be his son and his daughter, you must be holy that’s why he said come out. The standard in this kingdom is not small. Come out, be holy says the Lord.
‘Do not touch what is unclean’, be separate, let the words of your mouth and the meditations of your heart be acceptable before the Lord. Don’t think like the heathens think, don’t think like the pagans think, don’t think like the unbelievers think. Think like who you are, you are gods, you are sons of the Most High. Do not touch what is unclean and I will receive you, I will be a Father to you but there is a pre-condition, come out, come out and be separate. Mixed multitudes are not the people God is looking for, God is looking for people who have come out and are separate. God is ready to pour His glory, His power, His wisdom to His children but He wants them to come out.
I will receive you. “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty.” Scriptures cannot be broken. God has not changed his mind about this, He wants to be your father in 2020 that’s why he is telling you to step up. The way, the pre-condition for attaining all these sonship responsibilities, sonship inheritances is to come out from among them and be separate. He said do not touch an unclean thing. Be holy unto me. Be holy. Be separated unto me.
When you want to use something, for example, what you use to eat, you don’t use it to have your bath, why? Because that thing is holy and that thing is going into your mouth. The same way, we have been created as God’s children to give Him pleasure so we are the children that really go into God. So we must be holy because God cannot take what is unclean, what is unclean and unholy cannot even approach Him talk less of Him consuming it. Our service to Him as His children which includes our worship, our intercession, what we do for Him, the works we do for Him, God consumes it that’s why He said, He has created us for His pleasure. And how can a holy God consume what is unholy. It’s not possible, and we do so many things before God and think it’s acceptable. God cannot change His standard for you. That’s why He is commanding us before we step into the New Year, step up. Come out from among them.
God is always commanding a separation, from the children of Israel down to the apostles. I want us to see Acts chapter 14, when the Holy Spirit commanded a separation, there is always a reason for separation, God did not say come out from among them so that you will start partying, he didn’t say come out from among them so that you will start doing whatever pleases you, No! There is an assignment. The Bible says and as they ministered to the Lord.
2 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
Acts 14:2
“As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Now separate to Me….” So, we are always separated to God, you are not separated to a pastor, you are not separated to a Bishop, you are not separated to angels, you are separated to God. When God said to the children of Israel, come out from among them, He told Moses to go and tell Pharaoh, let my people go so that they can worship me.
"And the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work." For the one that will do the work of God has to be separated to do the work. So the first thing is, you are separated and He says come out from among them and He separates you to Himself.
‘As they ministered to the Lord and fasted’ so they were separated to minister to the Lord and they fasted, and the Holy Spirit said, now that you have come to me, now that you are ministering to me, now that you are Holy, now that you are clean, now that you have put me as your priority, separate to me Barnabas and Saul. So this separation is for an assignment. When the Lord separated the children of Israel from Egypt, He separated them to show His mighty power through them so that the ends of the earth will know that He has chosen Israel. The same way God is calling us to be separate, come out from among them, there is a work, there is a service. There is an assignment but God will not allow you to do His work if you are not separate.
Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” There is a holy work for you and I and you don’t have the right or the permission, you are not commissioned for that assignment until you come out from among them and you are separate. So the Holy Spirit demanded a separation of Saul and Barnabas for the work. The same way, the Holy Spirit is commanding a separation of you and I. He is saying be separate, come out from among them and be separate. Come to me your Father so that you will be with me and I can send you out for an assignment.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:35-39
“Who shall separate us” I want us to note this, when we are separated, we are separated to God, we are separated to Christ, the Father and the Holy Spirit so when we are with them, we should never be separate from them. You are only separated from unclean things not from holy things. The Apostles here were saying, ‘Who shall separate us’ this is where we are inseparable. Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Because these are the things that the devil will flash in your face and say you are separated unto God and see what is around you, better leave that place and come and live life but the apostles were saying here, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation? No! distress? No! So no matter what you go through in 2020, nothing should be able to separate you from the love of Christ. You have been separated to that love and you must remain in Him.
From verse 36 “As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. “Yet in all these things… this is our consolation, this is our confidence in him. we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded.. I am convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that neither death nor life. “ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Having being separated, nothing should separate you from the love of God. Having being separated to the love of God, Nothing! Believe without any reasonable doubt. Don’t be unequally yoked. You are a believer, a son of God. No matter what you go through, no matter what is flashed in your face, no matter the fire or the quantity of the water, it shouldn’t be able to separate you from the love of Christ. When you step into God, it’s another dimension and it comes not just with blessings but with responsibilities.
And some of the responsibilities of the sons of God is that having being separate, they fight the good fight of faith, they fight and they win, they are victorious on every side. So, come out from among them, that is the instruction of God to us.
I don’t know where there has been an accord or agreement, or fellowship or communion, now is the time for us to speak to God and say, Lord I am coming out, no longer will I agree, no longer will I be conformed to this world. The Bible says, “be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind”. Don’t be conformed. There should be no agreement, there should be no accord.
I pray the Lord will help us all in Jesus' Name!
