PRESIDENTS DAY and DONE IN SECRET
Monday – February 20, 2017
Praise the Lord, it is Monday, the start of another joyous week to build the Kingdom of God for His glory. God is so good. Today is a 
Federal Holiday known as President’s Day which now celebrates all United States President’s. This holiday was initiated as a celebration of George Washington’s Birthday (February 22, 1732) then there were two Presidential birthdays celebrated in February when Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809) was added. The picture on the left above is George Washington and the picture on the right is Abraham Lincoln. These two birthdays were consolidated in 1971 with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. You may find it of interest that two other U.S. Presidents were born in February and they are: William Henry Harrison and Ronald Reagan. I also want to remind us all to honor and to pray for our current president, Donald J. Trump, his whole staff, and cabinet that they have Godly wisdom to lead this country embracing righteousness and rejecting ungodliness.
Now let’s pickup our Bible Study in the book of Ephesians.
Ephesians 5:9-14 (KJV)
9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.
14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
Last week I spent time on the fruit of Spirit mentioned here which are all goodness, and righteousness, and Truth. All of this comes from God and more specifically to us the Church through Christ Jesus. Without God there is zero goodness, the devil has zilch. Without God, without the sacrifice of Jesus, there would be zero righteousness, no entry back into the family of God. And, without God there would be zero Truth. Remember, there are four aspects of the Truth which are; Jesus the Truth, the Word is the Truth, the Holy Spirit is Truth, and love (God is love) is Truth. The devil is the antithesis of Jesus, the Word, the Holy Spirit, and love. Just imagine the ugly place this would be without God as it would deteriorate very rapidly to a lifeless chunk of dirt. Both of the following verses describe the earth following the rebellion of Lucifer.
Genesis 1:2 (KJV)
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Jeremiah 4:23-26 (KJV)
23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.
25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.
26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.
Next, the Lord through Paul gives us the command or admonition to prove, to verify, the will of God. This takes time and diligence brother and sister but the road to victory although paid for by the Blood of Jesus we must build it and travel it overcoming the world with every step. The Apostle has talked at length about the darkness in the Church and then the Lord commands us to: “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” Go back and review, He is talking about sin in the Church which remains rampant to this day. This brings us to the twelfth verse.
Ephesians 5:11-13 (KJV)
11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.
Unfruitful works of darkness in the Church are to be reproved (rebuked, admonished) as part of the teaching in the Church, and one to one as necessary. The consequences of sin in our individual life will be devastating and it is an act of kindness for us to be given an opportunity to recognize it, repent, and move in the opposite direction. These acts are done in secret so far as the one sinning is concerned but God has a way of bringing it into the light which is a mercy and kindness of God. Why are these things done in darkness, in secret, at least at first? Because the person knows it is sin by knowledge and conviction of the Holy Spirit but a lust of the flesh, a lust of the eye, a pride of life issue, the desire to pass judgment on a person, or failing to forgive is allowed to occur. Over time the heart hardens and the person who has allowed the sin develops reasons why it is okay for them and the sin may become more apparent to all. It is a shame, a reproach to any congregation, to allow these unfruitful works of darkness to be tolerated. The Word of God will bring these unfruitful works of darkness into manifestation. A brother or sister who fails to repent must be treated as the heathen. Holiness personally and in the congregation is of paramount importance, but sin is a canker especially in the leadership. Our prayer everyday must be for the Lord to shine the light on our sin that we may repent and change for the glory of God and our good.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
