No Secrets
When I was 15 I got a summer job working for this rich family that lived in this mansion in the country,
near Barrington Illinois.
I remember I was making $1.50 an hour.
I was doing yard work, raking, cleaning their garage,
things like that,
and I worked for them for the whole summer,
I got to know one of their sons, who was a couple years older than me,
I remember his hobby was making his own firecrackers,
He showed me the shed where he made them,
but he didn’t make them the size of any firecrackers I ever saw,
he’d make them the size of a stick of dynamite.
But on the whole this family seemed to be pretty normal,
and I enjoyed working for them that summer.
About six months later, I was back in school,
and I pick up the newspaper,
and there’s a story about this family.
And it turned out they had a little secret they were hiding.
The police had just arrested the whole family.
They were a bunch of robbers.
They’d been robbing the homes of wealthy people, for several years.
In fact, they’d done at least one robbery while I was working for them.
They did a great job of keeping it a secret,
but secrets have a way of eventually coming out in the open.
Did you know that God wants us to live our lives as if there were no such thing as a secret?
Luke 12 Jesus says:
There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.
Notice, he says:
What you have said in the dark
in other words what you whisper to someone
hoping nobody else will find out about,
or what you gossip,
or what you say behind someone’s back
hoping they won’t find out about,
what you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.
Here’s the bottom line.
GOD WANTS US TO LIVE OUR LIVES, AS IF THERE WERE NO SUCH THING AS A SECRET.
That is one of the primary keys to love and joy and happiness and fulfillment in life,
Never ever, do anything that you assume will remain a secret,
and never ever, say anything that you assume will be kept a secret.
And never even think things that you hope will remain a secret.
Because the truth is, even what we think can become known intuitively to others.
Have you ever had a time when someone close to you just knows what you’re thinking about, and you didn’t say anything, but they just knew?
People say and do things all the time
that they are counting on, and assuming, will remain a secret,
and they are found out every time.
Just pick up any magazine or newspaper,
and you’ll find example after example of this.
There are headlines in every newspaper,
broadcasting to the whole world
things that somebody was sure
would remain a secret.
Everything in life eventually becomes public.
and there is nothing that does not have the potential to become public.
And if you will live your life in that way,
assuming that everything will eventually be made public,
then it actually fills your life with incredible peace and harmony and innocence and joy and power,
because you know there’s no one anywhere who knows anything about you that could bring any harm or guilt or accusation against you, because your life is an open book.
There’s no skeletons in the closet,
no secrets on the internet,
no rendezvous in other cities,
no secrets going on at the office or on the job,
no secret scheming
no secret words, or gossip,
no patterns of your thought life that you’d be ashamed of,
no possessions or books or reading material that you’d be embarrassed by.
You see, all those things all those little secrets,
add up and accumulate in your life
and they mildew and fester
and eventually make it so people can’t trust you.
And you see
trust is the basis of a healthy family life,
And its the key to a healthy marriage,
and the foundation of healthy relationships at work,
or school,
or anywhere.
You must have trust.
If you want long term healthy relationships,
you must be trustworthy.
And if you say or do things in secret,
hoping nobody will find out,
you need to recognize that
its only a matter of time till it comes out,
and causes turmoil in your family,
and destroys trust.
You must live your life as if there is no such thing as a secret.
Have you ever done anything in your life,
that you were sure would remain a secret,
but it didn’t.
When I was in 5th grade, all the neighborhood kids used to play baseball down at this field near our house,
one day I left my catchers mitt there after a game,
and when I went back to look for it,
I found out that a neighbor kid had taken it,
and I couldn’t get him to give it back to me.
So I was really mad,
and so I found a way to steal some bottle rockets from him.
And I didn’t tell him I took them.
I hid it really well.
I made sure that it would stay a secret.
When I shot off those bottle rockets,
I made sure nobody was around, so I wouldn’t be found out.
There was only one problem.
When bottle rockets go up in the air, and make their big bang,
they don’t just disappear.
They come down again, or at least part of them does,
and so there’s evidence left over.
So a couple days later,
the neighbor kid comes over and says,
I know you stole our bottle rockets,
because I found the used bottle rockets lying all over your yard.
To make a long story short,
I got in trouble for stealing the bottle rockets,
and he got in trouble for taking my catchers mitt.
That’s a picture of secret sin.
There’s always evidence lying around afterward.
We don’t realize it,
we don’t see it,
but its there.
The secret will come out.
One supposedly secret area that many men struggle with today,
is what you look at on the internet,
because pornography is all over,
and just one mouse click and you’re there.
And if there’s nobody else around,
you’re tempted to think,
Well nobodies going to know.
It’ll be my little secret.
No one will find out.
And I can erase the evidence that I went to those web sites.
Oh yeah?
You wanna bet.
About the only way you can really erase that evidence,
is by taking your hard drive out and burning it.
There’s experts that specialize in recovering all the things that have supposedly been erased off of hard drives.
And even if you burned your hard drive, you’re still not safe,
because the web sites you visit,
can keep track of who’s visited there.
There’s no such thing as a secret,
that can’t be found out.
How about the area of gossip.
Women, have you ever said something about Jane, (or Louise, or Mary, or whoever,)
and you’d be extremely embarrassed if Jane found out what you said,
but you weren’t too worried,
because you were sure that Jane would never find out what you said,
but then somehow, Jane found out?
There’s no such thing as a secret,
that can’t be found out.
Have you ever gone to a place,
where you were hoping no one would see you?
There was an internet joke going around a while ago, called
Great Religious Truths
1. Muslims do not recognize Judaism as a religion.
2. Jews do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah.
3. Protestants do not recognize the Pope as the leader of the Christian faith.
4. Baptists do not recognize each other at Hooters.
(I was raised in a Baptist church, so I don’t mind poking fun at them)
Romans 2:16
Is talking about the judgment day ---
This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ...
Notice it says,
when God will judge men’s secrets.
Well, if our secrets are going to be judged,
then what does that mean about those secrets?
It means those secrets are not secrets at all.
And we are just fooling ourselves,
if we think that we can hide any secrets.
Turn to Gen 39, I want to read the story of Joseph,
who was sold as slave in Egypt.
Gen 39:1-10 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. 2 The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, 4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. 6 So he left in Joseph’s care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.
Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, 7 and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, "Come to bed with me!"
Now just a note here,
Joseph was about 17 or 18 years old at this time.
And Potiphars wife was probably not much older, and was probably beautiful, because Potiphar was a high ranking government official, and wealthy.
Verse 8 But he refused. "With me in charge," he told her, "my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. 9 No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife.
So you have this 18 year old boy
lecturing an older woman that had been chasing him around the house.
And he says:
How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?"
Now the difference between the two worldviews we see here is that Joseph knows that nothing will remain secret,
and Potiphars wife thinks that things can remain a secret.
Joseph knows that God will know everything that happens,
and he also knows that, eventually
everyone else will know as well.
In fact, if you think about it,
billions of people know about his decision,
because it happened to get written down in the Bible,
and here we are talking about that event thousands of years later.
Let me tell you,
though your private events may not get written down in a book,
they are not secrets,
they will be found out.
Notice Verse 10
And though she spoke to Joseph day after day,
This woman would not stop,
she was on Shaklee vitamins,
he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.
So in other words,
Joseph started to avoid her.
He didn’t even want to be in the same room with her.
The Bible tells us to flee from lust,
and that’s what he was doing.
Verse 11 One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. 12 She caught him by his cloak and said, "Come to bed with me!" But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house. When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, 14 she called her household servants. "Look," she said to them, "this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed.
This is where we say,
Liar liar pants on fire.
Now think about it.
You’ve got a 18 year old slave saying one thing,
and an older, well respected wealthy woman saying something else.
Who are people going to believe?
Potiphar’s wife has already won.
There’s a lesson here.
If you are wise,
then you never place yourself in a situation
where your presence there might even possibly look evil.
Don’t put yourself in a position where,
if somebody lied,
and people believed them,
it would look evil.
Just don’t let yourself get in that position.
That’s why the pastors on our staff are under strict orders,
that they never meet with or counsel any woman behind a closed door.
Just in case somebody might come along
that would want to destroy our church
or accuse one of our pastors, There is security in knowing that the door is open,
and there’s a secretary within earshot.
The bible tells us to avoid all appearance of evil.
Don’t put yourself in a position,
where it might even look bad,
even if its really not, but it might look that way.
That’s just using wisdom.
Verse 15 When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house." 16 She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. 17 Then she told him this story: "That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. 18 But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house." 19 When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, "This is how your slave treated me," he burned with anger. 20 Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined.
But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21 the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.
Now here’s where Josephs integrity paid off.
He was living his life as if there were no such thing as a secret,
so God was with him, and blessed him.
Even though he was being framed,
even though he was being lied about,
even though bad things came along in his life,
just like they do in all our lives,
God was tremendously blessing him,
in the middle of all the problems and trials.
Now, you’re going to find yourself in a situation like that
at some time or other in your career,
or with your family, or friends,
or at school.
And when it happens,
the way that you’ve honored God in even the supposedly secret areas of your life,
will be revealed by the way God watches over you during the difficulties.
Psalm 1
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. 4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
Notice it says,
God blesses a person who:
does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
In other words,
he doesn’t even get close to sin.
he stays away from anything
that might trap him,
or influence him the wrong direction,
He stays away from the people
that are a bad influence on him,
And when he does that, what is God’s response?
It says,
Blessed is that person.
Whatever they do, prospers.
Joseph was blessed,
and whatever he did prospered,
because he was living his life
as if there were no such thing as a secret,
he wasn’t trying to hide any secret sin in his life.
22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did. Now think about something here.
According to the Bible
it appears that Potiphar’s wife lived her entire life
thinking that her secret was safe.
thinking that no one would ever find out
about how she lied.
they’d never find out about how she tried to seduce Joseph.
And its very likely that Potiphar’s wife died,
and was laid in her grave,
still believing that her secret was safe.
But here we are, 4,000 years later,
laughing at this dirty old woman.
You know what else?
There were obviously many other things that went on in her life.
She may have done many good things,
she may have helped a lot of people,
and raised some wonderful kids,
and was a great soccer-mom
and served on the PTA and helped raise money for the Egyptian Red Cross,
and the Cancer Society,
she may have done many wonderful things in her life,
but what is her life remembered for?
Her life is defined by her secret.
She may have spent 99.9% of her time doing great things with her life,
but her life is defined by and remembered for her dirty secret.
Just think Richard Nixon.
Nixon was a brilliant international statesman.
He normalized relations with China
after decades of strife.
He understood international politics exceptionally well,
he did many things that were a blessing to our country,
and was re-elected by a landslide,
but his life today is defined by and remembered for
what he tried to cover up,
what he hoped would remain a secret.
Think Martha Stewart.
Incredibly successful,
she had an spotless reputation,
a great image,
wealthy, with everything she could want.
Every homemaker wanted to be like Martha Stewart.
Then one day she has a conversation with her stockbroker
that she was absolutely sure would remain a secret.
Yet that conversation has been dissected and broadcast over national TV and published in every major newspaper.
And now her entire life will be remembered for
and defined by her secret.
Just like Bill Clinton’s presidency will be forever defined by
his supposedly secret relationship with an intern.
that he was sure would never be found out.
And I could go on and on with names like Kobe Bryant,
and Michael Jackson,
and Robert Blake,
who all thought they were doing something in private,
that would remain a secret,
and they were all wrong.
Because there is no such thing as a lasting, secure secret.
It will all be revealed.
That’s why Jesus said,
There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 3 What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.
Now here’s how the devil tricks us in these areas.
First he says,
No one will ever know.
By the way,
if you ever hear a voice in your head telling you,
Go ahead and do it, nobody will ever know,
you know right off that’s the devil talking,
and you better run,
you better not do it.
Second he tells you,
Just do it once, just one time,
it won’t hurt anything to just do it once.
How many people have thought to themselves,
I’ll only drink one beer,
or I’ll only go meet this certain person once,
or I’ll only look at one picture on the internet,
or I’ll only smoke one joint,
or I’ll only steal one dollar from work
or I’ll just do this one little thing,
just one time,
and surely one time won’t really hurt anything,
and nobody will ever know.
That’s one of the devils best tricks.
and he uses it every day
to destroy people’s lives.
I know he’s used it on you in the past,
I know you’ve fallen for it,
so have I.
Don’t fall for it again.
Live your life as if there is no such thing as a secret.
Now there is a reverse side to this whole thing.
Look at Matt 6:2-7 NKJV
"Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.
"And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
Now I thought we weren’t supposed to keep secrets.
Then why does the Bible say to keep this a secret?
This is the same exact principle.
It says that you should give and pray secretly,
but then it says that its going to be exposed in public,
because it says God will reward you openly.
If God rewards you openly for it,
then its not really a secret is it.
So what its really saying is,
Let God be the one to reveal these secrets,
don’t you go out and advertise it,
let God do that.
But the principle is the same.
What you do in secret will be revealed eventually.
In this case its just saying that God doesn’t want us going around bragging to everybody about how much we give or how much we pray, or how much we fast.
He doesn’t want us to advertise all the good things we do.
So God says, you keep it a secret,
but its not going to stay a secret,
because I’m going to show everybody the good things you do,
and I’m going to reward you openly.
The truth is,
your secret life and public life are the same life.
And if you think you can totally separate them
you’re deceiving yourself.
Because what’s secret now will become known.
Its just a matter of time.
So we need to understand that,
and deal with it now, before our life becomes like Potiphar’s wife,
known and remembered for our secret.
The principle is that,
WHAT WE DO IN SECRET AFFECTS EVERYTHING ELSE IN OUR LIFE.
And we can actually use this principle to our advantage,
rather than to our ruin.
We can do good things in private,
so that positive things will happen in public,
when God sees and rewards us.
In our private lives we find ways to show kindness,
and serve people,
and we honor and obey God in ways that no one will see,
and we encourage people,
and show love to people,
and give to people,
and all those things we do that no one will see,
result in a blessing to us that everyone will see.
So the truth is,
you ought to have secrets in your life,
but the secret should be all the prayer that you’re doing in your quiet time,
or the fasting that you’re doing,
or the sacrificial giving you’re doing that’s blessing the youth ministry or the ministry to the poor,
or the missionaries we support.
Your secret ought to be the way that you’re serving others around you,
and helping people
and blessing people
without ever expecting to be recognized for it,
because those things you do in secret,
God sees,
and he will reward you openly,
so that everyone can see that blessing come onto your life.
You see, nothing stays a secret.
Whether its good or bad,
it’ll come out,
and it’ll be evident in your life, for all to see,
either good or bad.
Count on it.
That’s the way God designed life to be.
You might even say that He put in place a law in the universe,
the law of no secrets.
I believe that God actually works to make sure your secrets will come out in the open somehow,
because he doesn’t want people to be content with secret sin in their lives.
He put in place this law of no secrets,
And if you live your life by that law,
it’ll bless you and your family.
But if you violate that law,
it’ll eventually destroy all you’ve worked and hoped for.
So all of us have to make the decision.
What do we want to be known for.
What legacy do we want to leave.
Do we want to be like Potiphar’s wife, or like Joseph.
Do want to bring God’s blessing onto our lives,
or do we want the scorn of our wife, or husband, or children, or friends,
when they discover what we thought we could keep a secret.
Or do we want to be like Joseph,
and be known for the wonderful things
that we’ve done in secret,
without expecting reward or recognition,
but we just did them because we love God,
and we want to obey him,
and it’s the right thing to do.
If we all lived our lives like that,
by God’s law of no secrets,
I can just imagine the kind of gossip it would cause.
Did you hear the latest.
Did you know that Bob
actually went down to the hospital to visit Fred,
and stayed up with him and comforted him and read the bible to him,
and stayed there all night,
and he didn’t even tell anybody else about it?
Can you believe that?
Or, wait till you hear this –
I actually was told that Sarah went down to Serve City
and she prayed for people there who were waiting to get groceries,
and then she cooked dinner for the homeless,
and she didn’t even tell anybody.
Is that outrageous, or what?
Do you have any secrets like that in your life?
The largest gifts we got for our building campaign to buy this building,
or when we bought the serve city building,
were given by people who specifically said,
I want this gift to stay a secret,
we don’t want anyone to know we gave this,
because we want our reward to come only from God.
They’ve got a secret in their life,
but it’s the right kind of secret,
and God is blessing them openly.
Lets do a little test right now.
How many of you parents here
know something about your kids,
that they think is a secret? (HANDS)
How many of you sitting here,
know something about your parents,
or one of your close relatives,
that they think is a secret?
They don’t know you know, but you do.
How many of you here know something about a close friend
and they’re trying to keep it a secret,
but you know?
How many of you here know something about somebody at work,
that they’re trying to keep a secret?
but you know.
And because you’re courteous and polite,
and don’t want to embarrass them,
you may never say anything to any of these people,
and they’ll go on thinking they’ve got a secret,
but you know.
Jesus said,
There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.
Live your life as if there is no such thing as a secret.
If you will do that,
then God will bring blessings onto your life.
Gal 6:7-10
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Notice
we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
You see,
Our choices in life do matter.
They matter enormously.
When we choose to forgive others,
and give to the poor,
and pray, and fast,
and sacrifice,
no one else may ever see it,
but people will notice.
They’ll notice because they’ll notice your life being blessed,
and they’ll notice your joy and fulfillment,
and they’ll notice God rewarding you openly.
And they may not know the reason behind it,
but they will notice.
I heard an old saying once:
Sin will take you farther than you want to go,
cost you more than you want to pay,
and keep you longer than you want to stay.
If you think about all the people in the news,
that is so true.
There’s nobody that makes headlines for their sin,
who wouldn’t say that they never originally intended to go that far,
it cost them more than they wanted to pay,
and kept them longer than they wanted to stay.
Lets stand for prayer.
Father we love you so much, and we thank you that You love us so much, so much that you’ll do whatever it takes to purify our lives. You will even make sure our secrets somehow come out in the open, if that’s what it takes to purify us and set us on the right track.
Thank you Lord that when our conscience is clear and we have no secrets we want to hide, that we can smile and look one another in the eye and encourage one another because we have nothing to hide. We’re living life as if there is no such thing as a secret.
Thank you Jesus for letting us know that
There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What we have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what we have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.
Lord I ask your blessing on every person here. I ask that you’ll help each of us to live with a clean conscience, and walk freely with a light step, so that we can laugh easily, and be full of joy, because we have nothing we’re trying to hide. And I thank you Lord for your open reward and blessing that will come on each of us, as we obey you and serve you and honor you, in secret.
(Note: This message is based loosely on an outstanding message I heard by Ted Haggard)
