Youth Discussion/Presentation in LLC Summer Services in Outlook, Saskatchewan 04.07.2015

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, let's begin this evening presentation, uniting our hearts together in Thanksgiving and prayer.

Holy and righteous God, our dear heavenly Father, as we have come here to gather around this topic that we have before us, we ask for your presence through Thy Spirit. We pray, dear Father, that you would continue to lead and guide and keep our precious youth in safe keeping. Give unto them that kind of heart to do Your will. Give unto them strength for their endeavor of faith to put sins away as they be stopped.

As we know, dear Father, you have given unto all of us to this moment, and we pray as Your Son has taught us. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

As you guys can all see, the topic for this evening is "Be Not Unequally Yoked Together with Unbelievers." This is a topic that was given to me to put together this presentation. And it is put together with much prayer.

And it is my prayer also, dear youth, that you would hear and see this presentation and take it to heart. We live in a time where the enemy certainly is going about like a roaring lion. And I often think of you, dear precious you. But God leads us and God guides us. And with those thoughts, we'll move into the presentation.

I have touched on in this presentation not only being unequally yoked together with those in unbelief, but also the things of this world that are detrimental to our lives of faith. So we could ask, first of all, what is a yoke? And here we see a picture of a yoke. This picture of a yoke is a wooden crosspiece that is fastened over the neck of two animals and attached then to a plow or a cart so that they can work together doing the commands of their master. So let's also keep this in our thoughts as we go forth in this presentation.

I broke it into two kinds of yoking we know. The one is equally yoked. In here, we see a picture of two farm animals that are equally yoked. These two animals are, as we can see, the same in size, the same kind of strength, and they are joined together as one to do the work of pulling together. When one is equally yoked, it makes the work and common goal much easier, doesn't it?

Jesus said, "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Then we move on to unequally yoked. And I thought this picture before us gives us a good picture of what it is to be unequally yoked. Here's a picture of two farm animals that are unequally yoked. This picture shows us a weaker one and a stronger one.

The stronger one will take the weaker one wherever the stronger one wishes to go. It doesn't want it. As we can see in this picture there, one is a lot smaller. One would be a lot stronger. I think this is a good picture of a child of God being pulled away when joining too close to those on the outside of God's kingdom.

We know that we are in the world, don't we? But we're not of this world. We are yoked together with those in unbelief. We live in this world. Jesus also said in John chapter 17 verse 16, "They are not of the world even as I am not of the world."

So we move on: unequally yoked with unbelievers. What does this mean? It means to have fellowship with someone that would draw us away from faith. Maybe even those friends that we have, we don't see that. We don't see that they're trying to draw us away, and maybe their intention is even not to.

But this is how it can become. And so we can move on and we can ask ourselves, well, why? Why wouldn't we? Well, we know that there's dangers just in that point before us that it can draw us away from faith. But also, scripture teaches us, and it says in Second Corinthians chapter six verse 14, the topic for this presentation, be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.

For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? So then we just heard that in that Bible portion, it spoke of light and darkness. And I thought this is a pretty good picture of this light, isn't it? It is a bright light.

Then we can go on to darkness. There's darkness. There's quite a difference, isn't there, between night and day? That's why God's word warns us of this. So I broke it into three parts.

The work of the enemy in our personal endeavor of faith, in our schools and colleges, and in the world around us that we live. The enemy of souls, he wants us to become sleepy in our battle of faith. Just as those disciples slept when Jesus went to pray, Jesus instructed those disciples. And he instructs us this evening. Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation.

The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Not as found in Matthew 26 verse 41. So we will move on into those three different headings that we see before us. So the work of the enemy in our personal endeavor of faith. Here we have radios, CD players, cell phones, iPods, tablets. The list goes on and on, doesn't it?

I would dare say if I asked a question this evening of who all has a cell phone with them, I think probably every hand would pretty much raise in this auditorium. So with all those, there's many things that can be detrimental to and wound the conscience, isn't there? Social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat.

I'm sure you guys could list more than I can. This is where the enemy also works in us, in our personal endeavor of faith. Oh, it's a place of watching as your precious youth. And right on our phones, we have Internet. What's there?

Pornography, movies, sporting events. All of these things can become an addiction. All of these things that we need to war against. We have heard so preciously this weekend already of the battle. We want to battle against these things.

There is such a difference, dear brother and sister, between battling against sin and living in sin. So we see in all of the above, we can become unequally yoked with unbelievers and those things of this world that draws from the teaching of God's word. So how do we become unequally yoked with unbelievers in social media? I think we all know the answer, don't we? Snapchatting our friends that are on the outside of God's kingdom.

All of these kinds of things, dear youth, the enemy works so slyly. And we can just become so hardened to it so easily. There is a danger in being unequally yoked with them, even in these areas of social media. So then I want you to think about these slides as we go through these next slides.

How, as it starts with these iPhones and Internet and social media, how it can lead us and slowly harden us to make that next step. The work of the enemy in school, in our colleges that you attend. The world entices to come this way. He entices to come to parties, sporting events, different concerts. When we think about this next point, the attractions of the opposite sex.

Oh, how easily we can become ensnared even when texting those worldly friends. So then if we're communicating this way, I ask you, dear youth, is it easy to maybe make this next step in school or in college? I think it is. I think it does. It makes communication.

That communication through social media makes this stuff easier for us to take when those temptations come to us when we're in school or in college. The Bible teaches us, says here in Genesis 28 verse six, "Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan," and that Jacob obeyed his father and mother. Jacob was obedient in this when his father and mother commanded him not to take a wife from those simply on the outside of God's kingdom.

So then we move on, continuing with the work of the enemy in school and colleges, taking part in sports. It's amazing to me in God's kingdom. God has given us great talent. And those coaches in the world today, they see that. And those pressures come because all they're worried about is winning.

I will relate a happening and how it can seem so innocent. When I was going to school, there were a few of us believers in the school that I grew up in, a very, very small school.

But our PE teacher, he was obviously at recess time and whatever, watching us playing basketball or whatever it was. And so then we had intramural sports in the school, and when they were playing during noon hour. Well, the coach then, at that time, thought it'd be a good idea to put together his senior team, their basketball team at that time, and then he wanted them to play these—there were some of us believers there in the school, and there were some unbelievers there as well that didn't take part in sports, didn't take part in basketball.

But so he wanted, he wanted just for their practice because they were going to—it would be like the provincial tournament or whatever it was, and he wanted them to have practice. So we played them at noon.

Well, they're all dressed up in their uniforms, and I'm pretty sure that we all had our jeans on and what have you. But as we played that game, if I remember correctly, we beat them. And obviously, the coach was thinking at that time, what could he do? How could he—he could see what kind of a team that he could have.

But, anyway, he ended up talking to my mom about this.

And mom said, no. We don't take part in organized sports through the school. And it really struck me when my mom was telling me this, because he told my mom that things will change when these kids in school get to be elders in the church.

God's word, dear precious youth, does not change with the winds of this world and with the minds of man. It says, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

And we can hold on to this, and it is a comfort to us that God's word does not change. These teachings of old are the same and just as new as they were in the old. They're always new for us.

And I thought at this time, I'm gonna call on a dear brother, Mike Kurnini, and I want him to relate his father's experience. I think it would be good for us to hear that.

Maybe some of you have heard it, but some of you probably have not. I'm sure most of us have not. So thanks, Mike.

Well, I didn't prepare anything. I just thought maybe I would be able to speak from the bench there, but he had asked me if I could come up to her, so that's fine.

And there I'm sure there are people in the audience that probably know this story better than I do because my dad never talked about it at home. The only part of the story we ever heard, and we had to kind of piece it together because you just tell parts of it that were pertinent in the meeting.

So, like I say, there's probably some in the audience that are older that maybe know the story better than I do. But, anyway, my dad, as a young boy, he enjoyed going down to the rink, and he would watch the people that could afford to buy skates. He would watch them skate around.

And he was so persistent in going down there that a lady in the neighborhood had noticed this and asked my dad why he doesn't skate. And he said, well, we can't afford to buy a skate. So she said, well, I have some skates you could use.

So he goes and turns out there's a strap-on skate. They weren't even laced or anything. You just kind of strapped them onto your boots. But there was enough to get him out on the ice and he started playing and he really had a love for the activity.

So he would go down there and lots of times he was down there skating around by himself. Nobody else, it's too cold or whatever. But he started to develop some proficiency at the game and it was a real small town in Upper Peninsula, Michigan. And they did have a little team.

And so I don't know if he was asked to join it by the coach or what, but anyway, he did start playing on his team. And the team did fairly well and things kept progressing. And he got to the point where he ended up—I'm just going to skip a bunch of details here—but he ended up playing at the University of Michigan level, not the University of Michigan, Michigan Tech.

And his mother was getting concerned that he was getting too involved in this. And, you know, of course, there were many former believers, many of them ended up in heresy because partially because of their love for sports. But they would go to the games and whatnot.

You know, he kind of wanted his mom to be there. So he'd ask, well, how come you don't come to the game? She said, that's not a place for a believer. And she just reminded him of this through his entire time.

Well, she was up against a lot of odds because a lot of people, even from the church, felt it was fine. And so dad continued playing. And so then at the university level, he started to feel a little prompting in his conscience that this was not good. He was finding he was spending a lot of time with the unbelievers, with the team and whatnot.

And he didn't really want to spend that much time with them. He'd rather be with the believers. But, you know, in order to keep up with the game, you had to practice and everything else.

Well, so then he told the coach that he's not gonna play anymore. And the coach said, why? And he told him, he said, well, you know, how about if you just, you know, you just show up for the games. You don't have to be in the practice.

And anyway, he ended up agreeing to that. And so he did that for a while. He just played the games. And some place along the line he got an offer from the Chicago Blackhawks.

So he was developing his proficiency for the game. But at the same time, he was getting more and more concerned that he could see that this was bringing him down the wrong path.

And finally, he just told the coach that he's going to quit in his senior year. And coach again tried to talk him out of it, but he ended up—it was like two weeks later, the bus that they take to the game, they had to take a bus from various colleges.

And he always sat in the exact seat, same seat. It was right above the wheel well and there was a heater there. And it was known that that was where my dad always sat.

And it was kind of a stormy night and the snowplows were out. And the blade of the snowplow crashed into the bus and killed two people that were sitting in the exact spot that my dad would have been sitting and always sat in.

So this was a really strong signal to my dad that it was the right thing to give up this pursuit of this sport.

And of course, my dad took it way too far. And I guess I would just encourage the young to, as tempting as it can be and as innocent as it can be early on, as even as young boys and whatnot to participate in these organized sports. Just as was indicated earlier, there's a lot of talent. God has blessed the believers in many different ways and some of it is strength and health and agility and ability. But to use that in a good, helpful, meaningful way is much better, and to get involved in the organized sports at any level can become a dangerous situation.

And I know my dad really advised us to not participate in anything at any level. And I think that was wise wisdom and has been a good thing for us, boy, to just not participate at all. So anyway, that's the story. Thanks, Mike. I think we can see through that how God has his ways of reminding us and letting his will be known.

But also, we want to have this kind of heart and mind to be obedient to that spirit of God that teaches, that guides us in the church. Scripture teaches us, enter not into the path of the wicked and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. And then I also included this portion from Romans chapter 15 verse 17. Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned and avoid them.

This latter portion here, I thought about this. Some areas have lots of those that have left God's kingdom and some of those that have left God's kingdom in the last heresies. And the parents of those kids have in their own minds tried to explain to them what has happened. And these kids and their families of those that have departed are, I suppose you could say, very confused. And they like to try to portray that there's really nothing different about us, that we're the same, we believe the same way.

And I thought that we can begin to question in our own mind what is the difference? But when we look at it in the big picture, we can see that by our fruits, we are known, aren't we? And when we look at their lives, how they're leading them, they are not according—they're not guided according to God's precious and holy word. They're not. That's where Jesus thinks about we are known by our fruits.

So we can move on to the work of the enemy in the world. Temptation of being too close to those on the outside of God's kingdom. And there we can think back to those slides, how the enemy has this way of kind of numbing us, that's telling us that it's not going to harm us. Temptations to go to the theaters of this world, to go and watch a movie.

This is how he works. So we can think about that. Okay. The first one where temptation of being too close to those on the outside of God's kingdom. How we've been chatting with them online.

We've been Snapchatting them. So then when we get to know them in our school, so then when we enter the real world, they're still there, we're chatting with them and how much easier is it for us to make that step. It's the same way when we think about going to the theaters of this world or the arenas to watch sporting events, high school or college or professional. So if we're there, wherever we are with our phones or whatever it is, and we're watching this sporting event online, we're watching it live. Does the enemy stop there?

I ask. He doesn't. He's relentless. That's when he starts to preach to us. Well, you're watching it on your phone.

You're watching it on your computer. Why not just go there? That's how he works. So then pretty soon, like, when we take those first steps, they bother us, don't they? We're wondering when we're doing this.

Should I be? That's our conscience. That's the spirit guiding us when there's that question. But pretty soon we know that that question no longer is there when we continue in it. It's not questioning us anymore.

Not only that, but the devil is telling us to go to those places. Go to the movie theaters. Go and watch this football game or hockey game or whatever. It isn't right. It is sin.

This portion of God's word comes to my mind. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. The enemy has his way of working slyly and cunningly, doesn't he? Security in the center of the flock in God's kingdom. There is much security there.

We have great blessing to be thankful to God for, you dear precious youth. The blessing of believing friends. What a great blessing. I have there. What are true friends? What's a true friend?

I would say a true friend is a friend that's gonna help us get to heaven. A true friend is gonna remind us when we're doing something wrong. A true friend can forgive us all our sins. I think it's important for us all to consider what a true friend is. We are instructed in the scriptures to take care of one another, to remind each other when one is doing wrong.

This is what a true friend does. We own true joy, true joy when sins aren't forgiven. When sins are forgiven, it keeps their hope of heaven bright. Dear precious youth, we fall into sin. Each one of us falls into sin.

But when we put sin away, when it beeps, when we have that fear of God, that way to heaven is crystal clear. It's not foggy. The spirit leads us. The spirit guides us and continues to comfort us. That's what keeps our hope of heaven bright, is by keeping that conscience soft and tender.

This place that is called God's kingdom is a beautiful place. We are so safe and secure here as we have already heard this weekend. That no matter what happens in this world, we are safe and secure in this precious kingdom. We can own true freedom with believers, fellowship with young and old alike. I dare say when sin is bothering us, that freedom is gone.

We don't feel free to go to whoever and just speak of the way in the journey. This is why we want to keep our conscience cleansed. We don't want to live in sin. We have a precious kingdom wherein we dwell, where that sin debt has been paid for. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.

That's found in Romans 14 verse 17. I thought we would sing this song, song four seventy-one. I thought it was so fitting at this point of the presentation. Such precious words, aren't they? Beautiful stone.

So then we, I have some scripture portions that I thought would be good to look at. First one is John chapter 12 verse 25. He that loveth his life shall lose it. He that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. We could ask, what does this mean to you when Jesus is asking he that loveth his life shall lose it?

I think that loving his life would be those things that are satisfying the desires of the flesh. We want to crucify the desires of the flesh, dear precious youth. The flesh does us no good in this life, does it? It wants us to fall into sin. Then we can move on to John chapter 15 verse 19.

If you were of the world, the world would love his own. But because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore, the world hateth you.

In First John chapter two verses 15 through 17, very familiar words that we've heard many times, but they are always new. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passes away and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.

Very simple and straightforward instruction to us, isn't it? This is what we battle against, dear precious you. We are children of the light.

We can also think about those slides of light and darkness as we read this portion of God's word that is found in Matthew 5:14 through 16. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick. And it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, which is in heaven. In 1 Peter, he wrote about us as believers. In chapter 2 verse 9, he says, but ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into this marvelous light.

This light shines forth in this world. It does through all of you. So we want to endeavor to be obedient.

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John chapter 8 verse 12.

This is what we want to endeavor, is to follow Jesus. Follow his teaching.

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. This is why we've come here to these services. This is why God has arranged them for us.

So we can hear what the Spirit teaches us. So we can be comforted on this narrow pathway that leads to heaven. We want to be departure ready at all times.

We have seen and witnessed those dear ones to us that have been called home to heaven. Some have been called as little babies. Some have been called right at your age.

When I was thinking about this, no matter what we do, dear you, wherever we are, we want to be this light. We want to be walking and endeavoring as a child of God.

Maybe we go on a trip with our friends. Even there, we want to walk as a child of God.

We don't just believe when we come to church, but rather we believe moment by moment, each day that God gifts us with. God helps us to the destination.

In Deuteronomy chapter 31 verse 8, And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee. He will be with thee. He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee.

Fear not. Neither be dismayed.

It pays to believe and continue in faith, endeavoring to battle against the threefold enemy.

Dear brother and sister, dear you, God loves you. God wants you to get to the destination.

This is why he continues to forgive us our sins, continues to lead and guide us according to his holy word.

So even now, just as you all find yourself, uplift your hearts and believe all of your sins, all of your doubts, all of your fears forgiven in Jesus' name and precious blood.

We don't want to be ashamed of this gospel. The Bible tells us not to be. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.

We have already heard, dear youth, that when one believes this gospel message, there's a change in heart. Those former things that we have been doing, no longer do we want to do them because we have peace with God.

May this peace continue to remain with you, dear precious youth. You are the future of God's kingdom, and it is a bright future.

Uplift your hearts and believe all of your sins forgiven in Jesus' name and precious blood.

This is that reward that we are striving to get to. It is a great reward. When we are there, we won't want to return.

Putting this presentation together, they have helped my many weaknesses and doubts and fears.

Yeah. If you can both bless me with that precious God. May God keep us safe and secure in His precious kingdom. Let us help one another on this way to heaven. Be bold, dear youth, to help each other.

We all need this help on this pathway that leads us to heaven's glory. It is my hope and prayer that this presentation here has helped you. May God keep us in His care. Let us, why don't we all unite together in the Lord's benediction?

The Lord bless us and keep us.

The Lord make His face shine upon us and be gracious unto us. The Lord lift His countenance upon us and give us peace. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.