Sermon: All Sifted Like Wheat (Part Two)

Be Not Unequally Yoked
#1773B
Mark Schindler
Given 20-Jul-24; 39 minutes 2024-07-20

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The last time I had the privilege to speak to you, we spent most of the sermon building towards what had originally been the intended focus of that sermon, John 14.

However, we ended up spending most of the time on the runup to that chapter to see the critical difference between those yet in bondage to this world and those who have been set at liberty through Jesus Christ.

We also needed to see just how difficult it is—impossible for the carnal minded—to follow Jesus Christ because the contention that is intrinsically part of the carnal minded old man.

Hopefully, we are firmly set in our minds that where He was going it was impossible for anyone apart from Him to know the path to follow. But to those called to Him by the Father to accomplish His purpose, the path was clear and sure! Within this world there is a sifting process going on, which is ultimately working toward the perfection of those on this path.

Let us do a short review of this, because it must be firmly set that the only way to the Kingdom of God is through Jesus Christ, while the journey is impossible for anyone apart from Him.

We are going to do our short review by way of Dave Maas’ abstract of that sermon, which should prove to be a good launch pad for today’s message, regarding Jesus Christ’s comforting strength He gives in John 14.

Dr. Maas wrote:

Like the apostle Peter, God's chosen saints will be subject to Satan's attempt to destroy their faith through being sifted like wheat. Jesus allows this distressing discomfort to strengthen their faith, praying continually to the Father for their protection and victory over sin (John 17:9). Jesus' disciples live in alien territory—Satan's world. We are not sufficient in ourselves, but because of the gift of God's Holy Spirit, the veil still blinding physical Israel has been removed from us, as we move beyond the letter of the law to the spirit of the law, enabling us to maneuver through the proving ground of Satan's world.

John 13:13 challenged the disciples to love one another as He was about to love them through His sacrifice. Sadly, His disciples had their focus on who would be greatest. Jesus admonishes His disciples that unlike the distorted Gentile view of leadership, we should accept the role of a servant rather than take on the Satanically inspired joy of contention or love of strife.

As members of God's Family, we must reject the love of contention. The spiritual Temple, the body of Christ, is made up of many abodes (or mansions) of God's Holy Spirit. Even though we are currently sifted like wheat, being prepared for our role in God's Kingdom, if we tremble at His Word (Isaiah 66:1-2) God will build His Temple out of the saints who have humbled themselves to His will.

I thought Dr. Maas caught the essence of my sermon that day.

We are being sifted like wheat, but for perfecting, even though it is an extremely difficult process in this alien world. We are not only battling this world’s insanity, but we are battling our own carnally minded love of contention in response to it!

We saw in that last sermon where the world may seek to follow Christ but cannot find Him, while now is the time that those called by the Father to His Son will seek to follow after Him, and are enabled to do so because through Christ we now have the power to love one another as He loves us.

With this in mind, please turn with me to John and we will read again the verses we focused on last time without comment, just to keep John 14 in context. As noted last time, these are not randomly connected verses, but a clear message of from Jesus Christ to all who are now being prepared in the way!

John 17:14-17 “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”

John 17:20-21 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one.”

John 13:31-36 So, when he [Judas Iscariot] had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately. Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, 'Where I am going, you cannot come,' so now I say to you. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, where are You going?" Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.”

John 14:1-4 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions [abodes]; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know."

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

We see that those there with Him and those brought to Him through the generations, are put into this chaotic world for our good for the sanctification part of the process, learning and living the truth of His Word, together. However, as we saw last time, when we tied Luke 22:24-32 into all this, the love of contention was a painfully obvious weakness in those called by the Father to the closest relationship with His Son physically.

But we also saw there, in this runup to John 14, Christ Himself was going to fix this problem in His work of reconciliation. He alone is only way of reconciliation for all involved.

Let us turn back to Luke 22, where we will read the last 4 verses mentioned, because I want us to really appreciate the certainty of Jesus Christ’s work of reconciliation.

He said this specifically to the Twelve, and most specifically to Peter. But we can be assured that it holds true for all within the rigors of training necessary for the unique responsibilities that have already been assigned to each of us who have been called by the Father to His Son. Christ’s perfect work is intimately sure!

Please listen to this as expressed in the Amplified Bible. But do not get caught up in the specific responsibilities given to those twelve, but consider by extension the places within God’s Kingdom, Christ is preparing each of us in our roles within the Family—members who continue in our trials with Jesus Christ.

Luke 22:28-32 (AMP) And you are those who have remained [throughout] and persevered with Me in My trials; and as My Father has appointed a kingdom and conferred it on Me, so do I confer on you [the privilege and decree], that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Simon, Simon (Peter), listen! Satan has asked excessively that [all of] you be given up to him [out of the power and keeping of God], that he might sift [all of] you like grain, but I have prayed especially for you [Peter], that your [own] faith may not fail; and when you yourself have turned again, strengthen and establish your brethren.

Just as certain as Christ’s work, success, and position was assured, Christ guarantees, by extension, the perfectly finished work in all for the glory of the Father, to those who “remain throughout and persevere with Him in our trials He shares with us.” This is all part of His complete work of true reconciliation between God and men.

For a minute I want to consider the definition of reconciliation, as men have defined it. But, we are only going to look at a couple of the common definitions that contain a very important aspect of the word that is only truly possible through Jesus Christ and a true application of the mind of God.

Most generally, reconciliation is defined as “the restoration of friendly relations.” Webster’s adds a bit more that heads us in the right direction: “To restore to friendship or harmony; a pleasing arrangement of parts.”

Jesus Christ has not only, through His death and resurrection for the sins of all, given all the opportunity to be brought back into alignment with God in a perfectly determined order, but He also has promised to lead men in their order, to stay in alignment behind Him through the actual indwelling of the Father and the Son within the mansions of those called now into the Family of God.

We really need to appreciate the incredible work that the Father and Son are doing in and with each one of us right now! Right now! While the world is unable to know the way, They are dwelling within us to keep us on the way.

As I was finishing preparations for this sermon today, the Republican National Convention was in progress last Monday through Thursday. Through much of the convention there were almost revival-meeting-type speeches from key figures in the party and from everyday people. This significantly emphasized President Trump’s likely miraculous survival of an assassination attempt. They consistently directed attention to God’s sovereignty over the United States and the need to get back into alignment with Him to “Make America Great Again.” There was quite a bit of inspiring emotional rhetoric, and a call for unity behind Jesus Christ, but clearly they were without knowing the narrow way to stay behind Him.

Incidentally for any of you that have not read this week’s Forerunner WorldWatch article by Richard entitled, “A Course Correction,” please do so. It reminds us that even though the world can recognize God’s sovereign hand at times, we should not be walking with those who do not know the way. They are still promoting the philosophies of men. As John Ritenbaugh showed years ago in his commentary series on the “Philosophies of Men,” they are just that, philosophies of men, and not the way.

The vital part of Christ’s direction for staying in the way and doing His works is keeping His commandments, as He has given the mansions [meaning individual brethren] in which the Father and Son dwell the ability to do for Their glory.

I am going to take a minute here to cite a few of the comments Dr. Ben Carson (who I greatly admire) made in his 8 minute speech at the RNC on Tuesday night, because they indirectly fit into this sermon.

Dr. Carson quoted several times from Isaiah, tying President Trump’s fearlessness into righteousness and divine protection to put this country back on track. At the end of his speech Dr. Carson quoted the French aristocrat Alexis Tocqueville who famously wrote one of the most influential pieces of literature in the 1800s, Democracy in America. He wrote at the end of his treatise, as so many of us have quoted over the years, “America is great because America is good. And if she ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.” He tied this then into President Trump’s standard, “Make America Great Again.”

But as much as we would love to see this, do we see any evidence of a true realization of God’s sovereignty as stated in Isaiah 66:1-2 [Heaven is My throne, earth is My footstool . . . For all those things My hand has made, all those things exist," says the LORD. "But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, who trembles at My word],where He said that He is sovereign over everything, and that it is our responsibility to follow His direction to humbly submit to every word?

What is commonly ignored by those who will readily quote Tocqueville’s admiration for the benefits of democracy in America based on his observation of flourishing religion and the opportunities brought to all men, are his warnings of what democracy could and would ultimately produce.

It is important to note, of course, that Tocqueville was an aristocrat, and it is from that perspective that he wrote. His initial study into American democracy was motivated by his fear of democracy, as it was on the rise in the world. He, therefore, came to America to examine why it worked here, and what could be learned.

Brethren, we are taking time to look at this because his conclusions reflect what we see with Jesus Christ’s remark in John 14:27, “My peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.”

Tocqueville began his treatise with something that should set off alarm bells for us as he looks at the history of democracy in America. He notes that shortly after the Pilgrims arrived, sovereignty, formerly in the hands of the monarchy, became sovereignty of the people, as power was spread among the townships. However, Tocqueville admired and noted why that was—because it mitigated the powers of an unchecked central authority such as the monarchy. As he noted, this maintained individual freedoms and gave impetus for individuals to have an active role in determining the direction of the community and country. He noted that this remarkable experiment produced a strong press, and political associations, as well as churches in abundance that seemed to produce exactly what the Puritans desired in the liberty to speak, choose, and worship apart from what had before been mandated by the monarchy.

However, he also saw the dangers, just as John Adams did, of a constitutional democracy not working when God and morality got put on the back burner. But he was not nearly as optimistic as John Adams. While extolling individual participation in the process of democracy and the more broadly educated population it produced through schools, a free press, and affiliations with political groups, he warns of the tyranny of the majority and the consequences that we would see as carnal nature ends up with every man doing what was right in his own eyes.

The following section is cited from the website, thegreatthinkers.org: Alex Tocqueville:

Tocqueville fears that democratic individualism would produce what he called in his first volume, “tyranny of the majority,” and in the second, “soft despotism.” . . . the propensity of democratic peoples to develop highly abstract political ideas and erect bureaucratic structures that rob them of the need to act or think for themselves except on the most trivial matters. Democracy could thus pose a danger to both intellectual and political freedom.

Tocqueville notes that this new despotism is perhaps more insidious than the traditional despotism, because it threatens to enslave the souls of men rather than simply their bodies.

In this study of America, Tocqueville investigates possible remedies to these dangers posed by democracy. He writes admiringly of the American tendency to form associations in pursuit of political, social, and religious goals. Above all, Tocqueville points to American religion as a crucial check on the excesses of democratic individualism. According to Tocqueville, American religion teaches (as the Puritan founder John Winthrop put it) that “freedom” means the freedom to do only what is just. This serves as a vital check on the individualistic impulse of the democratic man and offers a fixed moral orientation. It fights against materialism, as well as the view that man is completely alone, and must decide what is permitted or not permitted according to his own lights.

Tocqueville continued by saying that deliberations, associations, religion, and other aspects of American life teach Americans that self-interests rightly understood—the notion that the attainment of self-interest—requires working on behalf of the common interest. Tocqueville notes that the “habits of the heart” that allow Americans to resist democratic dangers do not eradicate these dangers.

American religion is a prime example. Even as American religion can check license and restrain materialism, it can easily be corrupted and drift into vapid pantheism—what we might today call “spirituality.” Americans are religious, implies Tocqueville, but they sometimes use religion as a pretext to worship themselves.

For Tocqueville, soft despotism and apathy are inherent in the fabric of democracy. Tocqueville nonetheless aims to encourage citizens to think through these vulnerabilities while developing an appreciation for moral, political, and intellectual excellence.

Brethren, I have sidetracked again from the deeper dive into John 14 today (that we will need to complete next time). Because, after what I saw Tuesday evening, we need to be wary of not getting caught up in the peace as this world offers it. Regardless of what we may see unfold on the political stage of power politics in this country today, our citizenship is in the Kingdom of God, and our loyalty and our devotion must be totally and completely to the way we can walk through Jesus Christ.

Tocqueville spoke of the danger of the religion descending into pantheism! Pantheism is a worship that admits and tolerates all gods, which may create a peace (as the world makes peace), but that is not living the peace of Jesus Christ that has been promised to you.

Please do not be fooled. As I said earlier, please make sure you read Richard’s WorldWatch article, and follow his direction from the sermon three weeks ago, and wait as God is working out His purpose while we remain with the peace of Jesus Christ.

Please back again to John 14.

John 14:1-2 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”

Again, let us consider this word mansions. It is from the Greek word monē (mon-ay') and is only found twice in the New Testament as an abode, or a mansion. Both are here in John 14. It is here in verse 2 and again in verse 23, where we see it translated as house in the NKJV, but more correctly “abode” in the KJV.

Additionally let us consider this commentary from Barnes' Notes:

The word rendered “mansions” means either the act of dwelling in any place (John 14:23, “we will make our abode with him”), or it means the place where one dwells. It is taken from the verb to remain, and signifies the place where one dwells or remains. It is applied by the Greek writers to the tents or temporary habitations which soldiers pitch in their marches. It denotes a dwelling of less permanency than the word house.

Brethren, it is critical that we recognize two vital things here:

1. We are temporary dwellings in the flesh, which includes our physical hearts and minds.

2. We march through this life with the very precious gift of God’s Holy Spirit—the essence of the Father and Son dwelling in us to continue in the way to live, just as Jesus Christ lived when He dwelled on this earth in truth!

Turn to John 18 and note how the carnal minded Peter acted on his declaration to lay down His life for Christ, that was in line with the contentious spirit that this world sees as the way to peace—the contentious spirit of this world’s way of peace in bringing one’s enemy into submission by force. Contrast this with Jesus Christ’s way in the same chapter.

Turn to John 18: Remember, Peter told Christ that he would be willing to go with Him to death.

John 18:10-11 Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. So Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword into the sheath! Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?"

And now the contrasted view where we see the right way of doing things:

John 18:28 Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning. But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.

That always just really gets me. They were going to put their Savior to death, but they were going to be defiled by going into the Praetorium.

John 18:33-37 Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered him, "Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?" Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?" Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here." Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."

Right here God presents us with the way to peace as the world sees it [like Peter], even with one of His own before the indwelling of His Holy Spirit, and the way to peace through Jesus Christ with the fullness of God’s Holy Spirit that is for giving glory to the Father in truth.

Brethren, we have the same responsibility as Peter later exhibited for the glory of God, the sure peace that only comes by following the way, in learning and living all the commandments from the inside out, in humility and real self-sacrifice. This way to real peace the world cannot know, but we can and must, without getting caught up in this world’s way.

II Corinthians 6:14-18 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 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." 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, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty."

I heard that most pundits thought the RNC was the best organized and productive political convention that they had ever witnessed. They said this because it developed a unity and peace within the party that had not been witnessed since Ronald Reagan. But it came through a fever pitch of emotion.

Please ask yourself, is it the unity and peace that only Jesus Christ can give, even though His name was repeatedly invoked throughout the proceedings? Is their unity and peace for the glory of God, as they insisted it was, even though they really do not know the way through Jesus Christ who dwells in each of us? Brethren, do not be unequally yoked with those in the world who say they know the way to peace! It can only come to those who know the way by the grace of God.

I want us to turn to Hosea 4, verses 1-2. I would like to read John Ritenbaugh’s commentary on these verses, as it appeared in yesterday’s Berean, because it certainly fits into what we need to be doing while in this world but not as part of it.

Hosea 4:1-2 Hear the word of the LORD, you children of Israel, for the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: "There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land. By swearing and lying, killing and stealing and committing adultery, they break all restraint, with bloodshed upon bloodshed.

And now, John Ritenbaugh’s commentary. I want you to think about where it came from. It was excerpted from his August 31, 2009, Personal, “The Seventh Commandment,” which is the commandment on adultery. Please keep your focus on spiritual adultery:

Hosea mentions a few ramifications of faithlessness. The major truth lost concerns God's Word and its importance to family, community life, and Israel's relationship with Him. However, it extends beyond that: Soon, there is no reliable basis for business or its relationships; there are no solid, unwavering moral standards; in general, people are consistently untrustworthy in all aspects of life; and dependability in anything is hard to find.

"No mercy" is the next valuable quality lost. In this context, mercy has the connotation of "steadfast love," rather than a singular act of kindness. Thus, as a people we blow hot and cold. When we are hot, we are hot, but we cannot seem to sustain it because our eye begins to rove onto some new interest that excites us. Dissatisfaction is an ever-present reality, and impatience simmers right beneath the surface.

If I may add here, this was one of the problems Tocqueville saw in American democracy; this agitation in individualism and materialism that was always looking to the next thing to attain.

John continues:

Hosea adds that there is "no . . . knowledge of God." This knowledge contains two elements. The first is the general knowledge about God, that is, of His existence, Word, and way. As important as that is, the second—the acknowledgement of God—is even more vital in terms of affecting relationships. This indicates commitment, a robust loyalty to a way of life in which He is the focus.

Jesus says in John 17:3 that eternal life is to know God, and the context seems to demand this idea of acknowledging Him.

The apostle Paul confirms in Romans 10:2 that Israel had a zeal for God but not according to knowledge. The Israelites had a general knowledge about God, but they did not seek Him nor know Him. At best, this suggests a very distant relationship.

Brethren, this is exactly the danger for all the mansions of spiritual Israel, who have the Father and the Son dwelling in them to follow the way for the glory of God. We must not allow ourselves to become unequally yoked with a world that can only seek unity and peace that is designed by Satan, and not the unity and peace of Christ that He guarantees to those He is preparing for particular places within the Family of God!

Finally, as we seek to remain under the peace and unity that only Jesus Christ can give so that our hearts be not troubled in these very troubling times, please turn to Isaiah 30. As we read God’s warning here to physical Israel, let us see it as His warning to us not to get caught up in the supposed peace of this world. Be mindful of both Richard’s recent article on a course correction” and his sermon on waiting patiently for and with God for His glory.

Isaiah 30:1 (ISV) "Oh you stubborn children," declares the LORD, "who carry out plans—but are not mine—and who make alliances—but not by my Spirit, piling sin upon sin."

Isaiah 30:15-18 (ISV) For this is what the LORD GOD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest you will be saved; in staying calm and trusting will be your strength. But you refused. Instead, you said, 'No! We'll escape on horses!' Therefore, you'll flee away. And you said, 'We'll ride off on swift steeds!' Therefore your pursuers will be swift. A thousand will flee at the threat of one; and run away, pursued by five, until you are left like a flagpole on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill." "Nevertheless, the LORD will wait so he can be gracious to you; and thus he will rise up to show you mercy. For the LORD is a God of justice. How blessed are all those who wait for him."

Brethren, to whom much is given, much is required, and as those assured of untroubled hearts and the peace that only Christ can give, do we really want to find ourselves troubled and entangled in the peace as this world gives peace?

Or do we want to be blessed, learning to wait in the peace of Christ as the mansions of our Great God of mercy and justice for His glory?

May the peace of Jesus Christ continuously reign in us with full confidence in Jesus Christ’s assurance. Let not our hearts be troubled as we live “robustly loyal to the way that only a precious few can follow now!

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