“Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭5‬:‭11‬ ‭NASB.

(1) Paul had just commanded them “Therefore do not be partakers with them (the sons of disobedience upon whom wrath of God is coming) for you Tom Harmon were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; you know the way we walk (live, behave, move around in society composed predominantly of darkness and dead souls) as children of light; “COME OUT”! This principle of separation of God’s people from evil pervades the Old and New Testaments the…

(2) …psalmist writing here says, “Vs:1 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!” ‭‭Psalm‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬ ‭KJV‬‬. (Note the axiomatic truth = if #’s 1-3 are disobeyed, the attitude and actions in verse 2 will come to fruition.) “Vs:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; And in his law doth he meditate day and night.” ‭‭Psalm‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬ ‭KJV‬‬. “Vs:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,…

(3) …That bringeth forth his fruit in his season; His leaf also shall not wither; And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” ‭‭Psalm‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬ KJV‬! QUESTION; Are you in the Word regularly? If not, perhaps you might want to do an inventory of #’s (1-3). But your delight (Not drudgery or duty, but devotion motivated by love for the Writer of the Law) is in the law of the LORD, and in HIS law he meditates day and night. In one of his most detailed calls to separate from evil and…

(4) …evil people. Paul then writes ‘DO NOT BE BOUND TOGETHER (present imperative with a negative = (stop doing this!) with unbelievers; for what partnership (Fellowship has righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with (DARKNESS)? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever Vs:15? Or Vs:16 what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God…

(5) …said, “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. Vs:17 “Therefore, COME OUT (aorist imperative) – NOW! (It’s urgent.) FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND (DO NOT TOUCH) – present imperative with a negative = Stop touching the “untouchables” – Beloved what are we “TOUCHING” that is dirty and or filthy? WHAT IS UNCLEAN; and I will welcome…

(6) …you, what an incredible motive for purity! Vs:18 “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty. “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭7‬:‭1‬ ‭NASB. For those who are waiting on our LORD, “The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness…

(7) …and put on the armor of light.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭13‬:‭12‬ ‭NASB. The Adamic Race lives in the dark and even their nuclear flashlight cannot pierce it. We not only live in the dark, we get used to it. There is a slow, subtle, sinister brainwashing process going on and by it we are gradually being desensitized to evil. Little by little, sin is made to appear less sinful until the light within us becomes darkness—and how great is that darkness! Our internet is loaded with accounts of…

(8) …sordid crime, our television has put us in the dark with Sodom and Gomorrah—right in the living room. We get used to it, acclimated to it. We accept, as a matter of course, its art, its literature, its music, its language. We learn to live with it without an inner protest. Remember Lot, he was a righteous man, but he moved into Sodom, lived in it, probably became its mayor. His soul was vexed from day to day with the Sodomites’ unlawful deeds, but he lost his…

(9) …influenced his family and had to flee for his life. He died in disgrace. I have met many Lots in the past few years! “…as it was in the days of Lot;… Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed” (Luke 17:28–30). A modern Lot tells us that we should hobnob with Sodom and get chummy with Gomorrah in order to convert them. But the end does not justify the means. Such people do not turn the light on in Sodom—they merely get used to the dark.

(10) The worst of all is that such people get so used to the dark that they think it is growing brighter. Sit long enough in a dark room and you will imagine that more light is breaking in. Those who dwell too long in darkness fancy the day is dawning. Most people would call them “broadminded tolerance” which is really peaceful coexistence with evil. It is an effort to establish communion between light and darkness, a concord (act together) between Christ and Belial.

(11) This condition extends into the religious world and even into evangelical Christianity. It is possible to fraternize with unbelievers until false doctrine becomes less and less objectionable. We come to terms with it and would incorporate it into the fellowship of truth. We begin by opening doors to borderline sects who “believe almost as we do.” Others find overtures (you know, it’s to establish a relationship) from Rome attractive. Still others would make…

(12) …a crazy quilt of world religions, a synergism of “the best in all faiths.” “Syncretism” is only a big word for “hash.” These theological chefs who are busy mixing Mulligan stews think the darkness is lifting; the truth is that they are merely getting used to it. The same danger exists with regard to worldliness. One may live in a twilight zone, in conditions of low visibility, until they find the practices of this world less repulsive. They mistake the stretching of…

(13) …our conscience for the broadening of our mind. They renounce what they call the “Pharisaism” and “puritanism” of earlier days with a good word for dancing, smoking, and even cocktails now and then. Instead of passing up Vanity Fair, they spend their vacations there. Who here remembers who John Bunyan was, he tells us that his pilgrims were quite a novelty to the worldlings: “And as they wondered at their apparel, so they did likewise at their speech;…

(14) …few could understand what they said. They naturally spoke the language of Canaan; but those who kept Vanity alive were truly of this world. So that from one end of the Fair to the other, they seemed barbarians to each other.” How out of date that sounds! Operators of Vanity Fair would see little difference in the clothes, conversation, and conduct of most professing Christians today. If the proprietors of that Fair beheld the modern church member,…

(15) …today especially in the summertime, wearing in public a garb in which they should never have left the house or even come downstairs, they would not seem barbarians to each other! Bunyan’s pilgrims were not getting used to the dark.

(End) Of course we do not get used to it all of a sudden. Alexander Pope described the gradual process, and we must be vigilant against it. The call is clear: come out from among them and be separate. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead expose them. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth. The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.