(iii) SECRETS
Alan Croot
Proverbs 15: 3; Matthew 6: 4, 6
We have spoken of things which are secret. What our brother has spoken to us about that we reach out for, what we possess, and what we have made our own, are not necessarily visible to others. It is something which is secret, it is something which is ours. I was struck over the weekend by the way in which everything that is truly mine is not visible to others. Everything that I have, which others can see which may be regarded as mine, actually belongs to God Himself, but what I have which is truly mine, no one can see.
I find this verse in Proverbs very exercising. There is a side to it which is very attractive as we consider that Jehovah, God Himself, looks down upon this world seeing all that is good; that which He delights in. There were things which He delighted in from almost the beginning of scripture, but right through the Old Testament times there were things which He delighted in. You may say there was not one thing which was after His own heart which He did not see. Jehovah saw everything, His eyes are in every place, there was not one good thing which Jehovah did not see, which He did not appreciate, there was nothing missed, there was no action done in kindness, no action in love, no desire after the heart of God which was missed, Jehovah saw every one. I love to think of Jehovah as God looking down upon the Lord Jesus as He was here. Man saw in the Lord Jesus what was good – “but this man has done nothing amiss”, Luke 23: 41. It was evident to one who hung there by the side of the Lord Jesus, but think of the gaze of God looking down upon Jesus – “the eyes of Jehovah are in every place, beholding the evil and the good”. Think what He found there in the Lord Jesus, every aspect of His life, every moment, every thought, every motive, all of it (in one sense, apart from His actions which were outward), was in secret, but God saw it. There was nothing there which was missed.
For myself this scripture is very exercising, because Jehovah’s eyes are in every place. How much am I conscious of this? How much does this govern me day by day in what I think about and what I occupy myself with, because Jehovah sees it all? Nothing misses His gaze: every hour lost, wasted, Jehovah knows about, it is apparent to Him. Also every moment spent in yearning and in reaching after what our brother has spoken about the Lord Jesus, He notices, He knows it. We have been taught that even a groan, even a sigh, He takes account of, He knows the cause of it, He knows what lies behind it, His compassion is there, and everything is visible to Him.
In Matthew we have, “thy Father who is in secret” and “who sees in secret”. The world does not know Him as Father. I was not here on Lord’s Day but have some impression from what our brother has said as to the wonderful privilege of relationship that we have. It is not something which is seen by the world around us. The relationship that I have with the Father in one sense is secret. I trust maybe there are opportunities where the evidence of it, and the joy of it would be in expression, but the experience of that relationship, is something which is in secret, and the Father treasures it. What is here is that which takes place in private with the Father, not something which is visible to others. The alms – those good deeds which maybe all of us would like to think we do – the Father sees them all and He would like them kept there, He encourages us to keep them there in secret. In prayer, how much can be achieved and how much can be lost through lack of prayer, but it is something which is done here in secret, “having shut the door, pray to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father … will render it to thee”. What a wonderful privileged relationship we have with Him. I love what our brother brought before us that, as we see in one another something which is not visible with the natural eye: it is as if the Father who sees in secret would share with us something of that vision which He has, that we may see what He sees; that we may share something of that vision of that which is attractive to Himself. The Father would even give us of that vision that we may be able to see in one another, something of that goal which lies before us, something of the attractiveness of that which the Father sees and the Father treasures, “Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I have found delight”, Mark 1: 11.
I do not have any more to say save that where my thoughts were running connected with what we have had already, and there is something very precious here, something very precious which is hidden which the Father sees, and He would give us something of that vision to encourage us on; to encourage in that next step as we run the race, with the goal in view. Whilst in one sense we would never say we have achieved it, yet this is not a race without light at the end of the tunnel, it is not a race where the finishing line is ever far away. The Father would keep the goal before us, as He would encourage us in our growth and our pathway here, to treasure that which is peculiarly precious to Himself – “he who sees in secret”. May He bless the word for His Name’s sake.
LONDON
6 December, 2005