The Secret Life

Psalm 19:7-14

INTRODUCTION: Have you ever considered how little of the details of Christ’s personal walk with the Father that we actually have? Of His thirty-three years, we have small portions in the first two years, an event when He was twelve, and the last three-plus years. Even there, we are missing much of His prayer life and private studies. He, like other men who loved the Lord, lived His walk in private equally or more so than in public.

I. THE DETAILS OF SECRETS

A. Its Definition

1. Something set apart or divided
2. Something withdrawn
3. Something hidden or concealed

B. Its Differences

1. Can be hidden from some or certain men
2. Can be hidden from all men
3. Can never be hidden from God

II. THE DANGERS IN SECRET

A. The Comfort of Others

1. “If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;” (Deuteronomy 13:6)
2. “He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor. He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.” (Psalm 10:8-9)
3. “That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.” (Psalm 64:4)

B. The Emboldening of Self

1. “Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen.” (Deuteronomy 27:15)
2. “And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.” (2 Kings 17:9)
3. “Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” (Proverbs 9:17)

C. The Limitless of Shame—“ For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.” (Ephesians 5:12)

III. THE DESIRES IN SECRET

A. Righteous Behaviour

1. Alms (Matthew 6:1-4)
2. Prayer (Matthew 6:5-8)
3. Fasting (Matthew 6:16-18)

B. The Father’s Pleasure

1. The Father which seeth (Matthew 6:4)
2. The Father which seeth (Matthew 6:6)
3. The Father which seeth (Matthew 6:18)

IV. THE DISCOVERIES IN SECRET

A. God Knows Man’s Secrets—“ Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.” (Psalm 44:21)

B. Man’s Secrets Will Be Manifest

1. “Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.” (Psalm 90:8)
2. “For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:14)
3. “For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad.” (Mark 4:22)
4. “For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.” (Luke 8:17)
5. “In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.” (Romans 2:16)
6. “And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.” (1 Corinthians 14:25)

CONCLUSION: How is your secret walk? How are your private relationships? How is your private purity? What are your private desires? Those things will define you in the presence of God.