Deuteronomy 17:7 “The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst”

God was pretty clear and direct to His chosen people on how to deal with evil in their midst. He told them the consequences of not doing so as it would cause just more strife and evil among them.

We often tolerate evil among us for various reasons. It could be evil family members you are stuck with, a job with evil coworkers, a situation where you are forced to be among evil people for an extended period. However, what God is speaking about here is fellowship in worship to Him, this is where you cannot tolerate evil among you, it must be purged. So the examples I gave above, NONE of those people should be allowed in your fellowship in worship to God. This means no tolerating evil in worship to God, none whatsoever. Those evil people need to be shown the door and never invited.

Some make the constant mistake in tare planting in this respect. They believe they are the converters of a sinner, so they bring evil into a fellowship only to then discover the strife and problems that evil person brought with them. We are to witness the Gospel to all, but fellowship in worship to God is something ONLY for believers. Evil scoffers and mockers are not allowed.

A simple prayer to God is “please God, purge the evil among us”. And God will then show you who is to be purged. Sometimes it is someone we didn’t expect, and sometimes it is those who we did expect, but we must listen to God in this respect.

And there are times in your sanctification when purging evil demands we go outside of our fellowship. Friends or family who are constantly tempting you with evil, must be purged from your midst. It comes to the point where this must be done not only as a lesson in your witness to them, but for your sanctification. God will also show you these individuals who must be purged as they are causing sin in and among you to flourish. Listen to Him! By not doing so, you are asking for TROUBLE!! So don’t be surprised when this trouble hits your doorstep because you were too prideful or ignorant of the evil among you of which you stubbornly did not purge.

And don’t fall for the guilt manipulation, you are not holier than thou, you are serving God who is holy! So when the evil person tries that, let them know who you serve as light and who they serve as darkness.