GOD
DOES NOT LIKE A MIXTURE
Earlene Davis
“Thou shalt not
sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast
sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled.” Deuteronomy 22:9
What is divers seeds? It means different
kind of seeds. There is to be no mixture of seeds. God does not like a mixture.
The seed speaks of the Word of God (Luke 8:11). We are to sow only the pure
Seed. We are not to mix His Word with philosophy, logic or reasonings of men. Our
Apostle Paul tells us in Colossians 2:8, “Beware lest any man spoil you
through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the
rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” Again, “But though we, or
an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have
preached unto you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8).
Is there much mingled seed sown today? Yes, there is very
little of the pure unadulterated Word of God being preached. Those who confine
themselves to the Word of God might as well abandon all thought of popularity.
They are looked upon as narrow and not flexible. I want to be just as narrow as
the Word of God, don’t you? I used to buy packages of mixed grass seed because
they were a lot cheaper than the pure seed. But one day I sat down and read the
label. I have not purchased any since, because a certain percentage of it is
just weeds. I was sowing mixed seed and getting a defiled crop. A minister can
enlarge his congregation by not getting unto a deep study of the Word and
sowing mixed seed. But how much better to have a precious few who love the pure
Word, than a mixed multitude.
Is sound doctrine important? In Paul’s epistle
to Timothy, a young minister who would carry on after his departure, Paul put great
emphasis on sound doctrine. “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy
trust, avoiding profane and vain babbling, and oppositions of science falsely
so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with
thee” (I Timothy 6:20-21). Oh, the devil is so sly. He is a sly old fox. We
have seen in recent years how the charismatic groups have gone. It’s wonderful
to hear of so many from different denominations being filled with the Holy
Ghost. But where is the pure Word? It is neglected so they can meet together
and not have division. One group has as one of their mottoes, “We agree to
disagree agreeably.” It is a popular thing to forget the Word or else have as
little of it as possible, and mixed seed at that. Just having what they call
“worship and praise services,” music to entertain and stir the emotions, which
satisfies the sourish nature but not the Word which feeds the spirit.
Let us not neglect God’s Word. If you truly love
God, you will love His Word. If we leave out His Word, we can become one-sided,
having power without the steadying influence of God’s Word. The flesh gets
carried away without the instruction and correction of the pure Word. Some
start playing with the gifts of the Spirit, teaching how to sing in tongues,
even to laying hands on each other and giving them gifts of the Spirit and so
on. I Corinthians twelve – Who gives the gifts of the Spirit? The Holy Spirit,
of course. Even though we are to “covet earnestly the best gifts,” (V.
31) the Holy Spirit dividing to every man “severally as He will” (V.
11). So not having the pure Word, we see man has put his hand in where it does
not belong, giving gifts of the Spirit, and so forth, we see flesh, flesh,
flesh.
Let’s allow the Holy Spirit to work. We could get lopsided
the other way, as a result of mixed seed. Some who are Spirit-filled will go to
teachers who are not filled with the Holy Spirit to learn how to apply the
scripture to their lives. There are all kinds of ‘How to…’ seminars in the
religious world (spiritual self-help programs or self-improvement). Again, we
see men’s hands doing things, instead of the working of the Spirit. They have
the Word (mixed seed); but try to perform the Word in their lives. That is the
work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is replaced by Christian psychology,
men’s formulas and steps (how to be mighty in spirit, four steps to maturity,
eight steps for this and twelve steps for that, how to become an overcomer,
etc. So much good is mentioned with scripture applied to the formulas and
steps. It is mixed seed without power. Matthew 22:29, “Jesus answered and
said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.” Mark
7:7,13, “Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the
commandments of men…making the word of God of none effect through your
tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.”
Sugar coated error: the error is
disguised by so much that is good, a mixture of truth and error. It makes the
error so easy to swallow, just like sugar-coated medicine. See why God hates a
mixture? When we start following formulas and steps to improve as a Christian,
we are leaving out the working of the Holy Spirit. We cannot even take the
Scripture and hack away at ourselves to make us come to perfection. “O
foolish Galatians, who hath be witched you, that ye should not obey the truth,
before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among
you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the
law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit,
are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:1-3).
Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together. That is what God
instructed Israel in Deuteronomy 22:10. Why? Because they do not walk together,
their gait is different, they do not pull together, they do not go together.
The ass is an unclean animal and speaks of the Old Creation. The ox is a clean
animal and speaks of the obedient New Creation that cannot plow with the
rebellious ass of the Old Creation. “For the flesh lusteth against the
Spirit, and Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the
other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would…This I say then, Walk in
the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” (Galatians
5:17,16). The ox and the ass yoked together is the result of mixed seed sown –
the flesh trying to perfect itself. We cannot do this work in us even if we
have the Scripture, the right Scripture. As we look into God’s Word, we must by
faith believe it – agree with God and what He says. We lay hold of it by faith,
yielding ourselves to it, saying to God, “Make this practical in me.” Then it
is the Holy Spirit who works it in us, and it becomes part of us. We must give
the Holy Spirit His right place.
Quench not the Spirit – (I Thessalonians
5:19). Some think this is referring only to speaking in tongues and
interpretations, and so forth. Oh, this means much more than that. Quench not
the operation of the Holy Spirit in your life, of making the Word of God
practical in you. “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the
glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as
by the Spirit of the Lord” (II Corinthians 3:18). The Holy Spirit is the
Agent of all God’s operations in our lives. The Holy Spirit is the moisture
that makes the seed (the Word) grow.
Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of
woollen and linen together (Deuteronomy 22:11). When washed the wool
would shrink, but the linen would not thus making a real problem. Sowing mixed
seed results in yoking together the Old and New Creation; and a result of that
is the wearing of mingled stuff, which speaks of mixed conduct. This surely is
confusion. The woollen garment is from animal life, and speaks of our standing
in Christ over which we have no control. We are accepted in the Beloved
(Ephesians 1:6). The linen garments are from plant life and speak of our state,
our practical sanctification, the Word of God worked in us by the Holy Spirit
as we yield. “And to her (the bride of Christ) was granted that she
should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the
righteousness (or righteous acts) of saints” (Revelation 19:8). Do
not try to mix them. The devil would deceive us, fool us if he can, and
disguise the mixture so that we do not see it. Never measure the standing by
the state, always judge the state by the standing. To lower the standing
because of the state is a death-blow to practical Christianity. This would not
only be a failure to God, but of our neighbor, we owe to both maintenance of
our testimony and singleness of life. Beware, be on guard, for the result is
confusion. “For God is not the author of confusion” (I Corinthians
14:33). “And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of
the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith” (Philippians 3:9). “Some having swerved have turned
aside…Some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck” (I Timothy
1:6,19). We must take a stand for the truth.
by E. J. Davis