We must have not only a sight and a knowledge that sin is sin, and in some measure shameful, but see it as a breach of God's holy law. A good man will be ashamed to speak of what many wicked men are not ashamed to do. If we do not reprove the sins of others, we have fellowship with them. And if we share with others in their sins, we must expect to share in their plagues.
There are many ways of abetting, or taking part in the sins of others by commendation, counsel, consent, or concealment. 14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. 13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. These works of darkness are unfruitful, whatever profit they may boast for they end in the destruction of the impenitent sinner. 12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. Walk as children of light, as having knowledge and holiness. But the grace of God wrought a mighty change in the souls of many. Dare we make light of that which brings down the wrath of God? Sinners, like men in the dark, are going they know not whither, and doing they know not what. When the vilest transgressors repent and believe the gospel, they become children of obedience, from whom God's wrath is turned away. Those who allow themselves, either in the lusts of the flesh or the love of the world, belong not to the kingdom of grace, nor shall they come to the kingdom of glory.
A covetous man makes a god of his money places that hope, confidence, and delight, in worldly good, which should be in God only. Luke 12:3 KJV: Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be. Our cheerfulness should show itself as becomes Christians, in what may tend to God's glory. that they pollute and poison the hearers. But these things are so far from being profitable. Here are not only cautions against gross acts of sin, but against what some may make light of. Ronnie Crudup is senior pastor of New Horizon Church International in Jackson and the presiding bishop of the Mid-South diocese of the Fellowship of International Churches.Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ephesians 5:13 Commentary on Ephesians 5:3-14įilthy lusts must be rooted out. What's done in the dark will come to light, and thank God he has created it to operate so! God has determined as he said in Luke 12:2-3, that the secrets will be uncovered, the truth will come forth, and God's thought about every behavior and action will be vindicated. It is the proliferation of cameras everywhere, it is our space-based satellites and other surveillance systems which give us the ability to see, search out, and find things that once remained a secret.īut we need to remember and recognize that God uses us and our technology as his means to accomplish his principles and will. So when Bruce Jenner came out of the closet, I wasn't shocked, because the pattern or principle at work here will even cause one to uncover oneself.įinally, one could argue that the reason for so much being unveiled today is our technology. What is done in the dark in the countryside or in the closet will eventually come to light. In Genesis chapter 4, God says to Cain, "Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground!" Even Abel's blood is shouting out this principle for us to understand. As, for instance, when our Lord reproved the hypocrisy of the Pharisees - their practices had not seemed to the disciples very evil before, but when Christ threw on them the pure light of truth, they were made manifest in their true character - they appeared and they still appear, odious. The truth is that whatever one seeks to hide and cover up will eventually work its way up to the light and become known - even if it is murders or other crimes in Jackson. But all things when they are reproved are made manifest by the light.