“The Company
You Keep”
Texts: Psalm 1
/ 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1
23 July, 2006
Over the past couple months, Pastor Dave has been leading us thorough the letter of James. In last week’s message, he spoke about shifting worldviews: from worldly, secular and materialistic to godly, holy and Christ-centered. He mentioned hanging out with non-believers to win them to Christ, and warned against falling into sin because of them. “Resist the devil. . .submit to God,” wrote James. This week’s texts continue the theme of shifting our worldview by seeking wisdom and spiritual maturity.
We don’t know for sure who wrote Psalm 1, but its position at the beginning of the psalms was definitely inspired by the Spirit of God. It serves as a “preface psalm, having in it a notification of the contents of the entire Book. It is the psalmists' desire to teach us the way to blessedness, and to warn us of the sure destruction of sinners (Spurgeon).” This psalm directly addresses the way of wisdom that we find in Proverbs and other “wisdom” books of the Old Testament—the choice between two, and only two, alternatives: the blessedness of the God-centered life and the judgment of the self-centered, ungodly (wicked), life. In the Scriptures, wisdom and holiness are intimately connected; wisdom being the ability to make right decisions based on God’s standards, as well as our own experiences, learning from our own personal history so we don’t repeat it. It is the development of the habit of holiness versus habitual sin.
The key word in verse 1 is “BLESSED”. This is not mere happiness, but has to do with enjoying the special favour and grace of God. Blessedness is the evidence of refraining from, or restraining, habitual sin and cultivating fellowship with Christ in holiness. In fact the word in Hebrew is plural, “blessednesses”, that is, an abundance of blessings from the God of all goodness. The Westminster Catechism asks, “What is the chief end of man?” The answer: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”
The Psalmist begins by pointing out that the person who is so
blessed, the godly or righteous person, is characterized by a totally different
way of life than the “wicked”:
“Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.”
The psalmist here defines the godly or righteous person by
what they do not do. Why? The psalmist hasn’t just given a list of things not
to do, but describes the progressive nature of the sinful attitude we are to
avoid as believers in Christ. So who are the “wicked,” the “sinners” and the
“mockers” the psalmist writes about? They are not only those who are clearly
evil but those who give no place for God in their lives, or who have their own “god”
whom they acknowledge but to whom they owe ultimate moral responsibility. It is
their attitude we need to avoid but is so easy to slide into if we aren’t
careful.
In the 17th century, Richard
Baxter warned young people to ‘Be exceeding wary” of the teachers to whom they
committed care of their souls, those with whom they socialised, the company
they kept, and those with whom they chose to associate themselves as “friends”,
and to whom they may join themselves with family ties. Care should be taken,
Baxter wrote, “that they be neither such as would corrupt your minds with
error, or your hearts with viciousness, profaneness, lukewarmness, or with a
feverish, factious zeal; but choose, if possible, judicious, holy, heavenly,
humble, unblamable, self-denying persons, to be your ordinary companions and
familiars; especially for your near relations.’[1]
We all look for acceptance from those around us, to some degree. It’s only natural. And it’s especially true of young people and their peers, in school and socially. It is also true that if you acceptance can’t be found in who you are, the temptation will be strong to change in order to fit in with your peers or larger community to do so. And yet there should be no compromises when it comes to a life of faith; when we do compromise we lose the blessings, lose the way of life.
Baxter’s advice is good for all who
desire the life of the “blessed man,” not only for the young. It is a fact of
life that the environment we find ourselves in always has an effect on our
life. It is also a fact that most of us spend more time with “strangers” than
with our families. Therefore we must be on our guard against the influence of
those who are not of the same mind in spiritual, or even merely ethical,
matters. Those that you choose to invest your time and affections in, even
casually, can easily start you down the path of compromise.
If you hang out with people who curse or
blaspheme, it can become natural for you to use the same language. Keeping
company with friends who live for money or pleasure may increase your desire
for the same. By choosing to invest yourself in friends whose lives are
motivated by partying—drugs, alcohol abuse, and “hooking up”—you can find
yourself drawn into the same things.
"It does not matter how
small the sins are, provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man
away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if
cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the
gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones,
without signposts."[2]
In Ephesians 4:27 we are told, “Do not
give the devil a foothold. . .”
Let’s look at the passage from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians:
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what
do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light
have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does
a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between
the temple of God and idols? (2 Cor. 6:14-16)
What does Paul mean by “unequally yoked”? In chapter 22 of Deuteronomy, God tells His people not to sow different kinds of seeds in their vineyards or mix fabrics in their weaving. The principal is for God’s people to keep every aspect of their lives pure according to the order He has established, not following the practices of the nations around them. In verse 10 of that passage, God instructs the people of God not to plow with a team made up of an ox and a donkey. For a farmer this would be reasonable since the relative strengths and temperaments of the two beasts are very different. You wouldn’t get very far with such mismatched “yokefellows”. To be “yoked” is to be joined together for a common cause, e.g. “good works”, intimate relationship/dating, business partnership, marriage, and Paul uses this image to illustrate the danger in believers “yoking” themselves with unbelievers. As we read in James last week (4:4), friendship with world = enmity with God.
When he wrote to the Corinthians, Paul
was not dealing with farming or fashion, but the Spirit and Word of God
himself, planted and woven into the hearts of believers. To be in Christ means
being made a new creation, reborn by His Spirit, seeking to honour Christ with
moral integrity and fidelity. “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this
world,” wrote Paul to the Romans, “but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good,
pleasing and perfect will (Rom. 12:2).”
In Paul’s day to be called a “Corinthian”
was not a compliment but a byword for sexual promiscuity and deviant behaviour.
Our society is not so very different. Recently there was a case in New Jersey
where a 43-year-old female teacher pled guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old
boy. Unfortunately this is not a rare thing these days. When sentence was
passed, the judge gave the teacher 5 years probation—with no jail time—stating
that he didn’t see what harm had been done since the boy had his needs met as
much as the teacher had! As the Word of God says (Rom. 8:7), “. . . the sinful
mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.”
Let’s imagine the Corinthian believers
wanting to know “how far is too far, and who is off limits” Paul says, “Why do
you have to ask?”
“For
what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can
light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What
does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there
between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God.”
And, if those rhetorical questions
weren’t clear enough, Paul quotes from various Scriptures to nail it home:
‘As God has said: "I will live with them and
walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."
"Therefore come out from them
and be separate, says the Lord.
Touch no unclean thing,
and I will receive you."
"I will be a Father to you,
and you will be my sons and daughters,
says the Lord
Almighty."
‘Since we have these
promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that
contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.’
Neither casual intimacy (“hooking up”) between believers or intimate relations with unbelievers have a place in the life of a believer. Abstinence has a much, or more, to do with not putting yourself in harm’s way as with the ability to say no once you’re there. I say “harm’s way” because pre or extra-marital sex is harmful, to your emotions, spirit and possibly your physical health.
Believer - Unbeliever
Righteousness - Wickedness
Light - Darkness
They don't belong together. There is simply no way that they can properly co-exist. They are opposites, not complementary. If you are in Christ don't “yoke” yourself together with non-Christians. Don't unite with those who don't share the same basic life commitments that you have. This goes for any close relationship, not merely dating or marriage. You'll either end up pulling in different directions or changing yours to gain acceptance. It won’t work.
We may not be able to avoid being accused of a “holier than thou” attitude, in fact Jesus promised that we would have all sorts of trouble if we walked God’s Way. But we can avoid having such and attitude by knowing that we are called to holiness in and through Christ alone. If we become proud or judgmental then it is not holiness we are showing the world.
“During WWI Donald Grey
Barnhouse, pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church [in Philadelphia,] led the son
of a prominent American family to the Lord. The young man wass in the service,
but he showed the reality of his conversion by immediately professing Christ
before the soldiers of his military company. The war ended. The day came when
he was to return to his pre-war life in the wealthy suburb of a large American
city. He talked to Barnhouse about life with his family and expressed fear that
he might soon slip back into his old habits. He was afraid that love for
parents, brothers, sisters, and friends might turn him from following after
Jesus Christ. Barnhouse told him that if he was careful to make public
confession of his faith in Christ, he would not have to worry. He would not
have to give improper friends up. They would give him up.”[3]
Some of you may be thinking, “What about Jesus eating and drinking with “tax collectors and sinners?” How does that fit in with our separating from the world and not “sitting in the seat of scoffers”? Well, that leads us to the next 2 verses of the psalm:
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a
tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not
wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
Aside from being the Son of God, what distinguished Jesus as a man, in his ability to hang out with sinners? It was his intimate knowledge of the Scriptures and the God who is revealed in them. And that is really what today’s texts are telling us: That true fellowship—“koinonia”, common bond, fellowship, intimacy, partnership—should only be sought with other believers and with the Lord. It is making the choice between intimacy with the world or with the Lord who redeemed us by his blood.
C. S. Lewis wrote, "Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done."[4] The godly person learns to draw upon the grace and glory and strength of God revealed and promised in the Word of God. However, this is only possible if you have “hidden” God’s Word in you heart through “meditating” on it, “delighting” in it through reading, studying, and even reciting it.
“But
if your ears are daily filled with froth and folly, with ribaldry or idle
stories, with oaths and curses, with furious words or scorns and jeers against
the godly, or with the sophistry of deceivers, is it likely this should leave a
pleasant or wholesome relish on your minds?”—Richard Baxter
Time spent with the Lord in prayer or the Word is precious, yet we tend to squeeze it in between the multitude of daily responsibilities. Taking Jesus as our model, it should be our first priority, both for our health and the success of those things that so occupy our waking moments.
In The
Pilgrim’s Progress, “Christian” and “Faithful” come to a place called
Vanity Fair, a symbol for the world where all imaginable vices and distractions
are offered. There the companions are mocked and persecuted because of the
difference in their 1) appearance (clothing); 2) manner and content of speech;
3) lack of interest in worldly “wares”, i.e. pursuit of gain and pleasure for
pleasure’s sake. Faithful is martyred and Christian eventually released from
prison by the mercy of God. Christian was able to persevere because throughout
his pilgrimage, he learns to be careful both about the companions he chooses to
travel with and, of those, which are to be trusted with true fellowship. All
the while, Christian meditates on the Word of God, carrying with him the
promises of the Scriptures, leaning more and more on them and the protection of
the Lord until, at last, he and his final companion, “Hopeful”, arrive at the
Celestial City and their eternal reward.
The psalmist concludes with a final word about the “wicked”, the ungodly:
Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will
not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the LORD
watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
It takes two words to describe the life of the ungodly – “Not So.” Everything that is said about the godly is “not so” for the ungodly. Chaff is regarded as totally worthless and that is God’s evaluation of the life that has no room for Him. The ungodly are doomed because God has declared there are only two ways to go in this life: 1) the way of the cross and glory; 2) the way of the curse and destruction. There will be those who will say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God will say, “All right then, your will be done [Lewis].”
“The thief comes to steal, kill and
destroy, but I have come to give abundant life,” said Jesus. “I am the Vine and
you are the branches,” said Jesus. If
we keep company with Jesus, we have the true “blessednesses” that can only be
found in the will of God:
·
Walking
in the steps of the Lord, separated from the way of the world (vs. 1).
·
Standing
on the truth and promises He has revealed, saturated with the Word (vs. 2).
·
Resting,
rooted and thriving, by the Living water, assured of Christ’s forgiveness and
presence (vs. 3).
Let us pray: