My Secret Life

Who am I? is a very good question for you to ask yourself today. It's a very timely opportunity to ask a very insightful question. Who am I? Back in the sixties, people were going off to find themselves. And what they tended to find was a very self-saturated, hedonistic pursuit of themselves and every imaginable thing that they wanted to load onto themselves. And they became the love generation, which is supposedly loving others, but they did the opposite and became lovers of themselves generation.

And they became the peace movement, which incidentally turned into one of the most disastrous times of internal struggle and strife created within families, created with anti-government, anti-disestablishmentarianism is the term of the day, anti-authoritarianism, anti-just about everything, including getting going, the great mentality, I think that's permeated humanity since the sixties, of being critical of authority and people in authority. So the end result was something that grew out of the hippie movement and out of that young culture that really destabilized and was the opposite of what it was purported to be all about love and peace, man.

This hypocrisy that lives within humanity is not really foreign to you and me. So the question for you and me is, who am I? Now you might think, well, that's kind of silly. I know who I am. I checked the mail this morning. My name and address was right there. You know, I looked in the mirror. I know who I am. Silly question, right? And yet, the real answer to who am I might surprise you. It might even shock you. The real true answer. You may be shocked when Jesus Christ says to you, who are you?

At your resurrection, because he said he will be doing that to many people. Who are you? Let's let the Bible expose the hidden you in a sermon today entitled, My Secret Life. We need to know in advance who we are, not be surprised by Jesus Christ asking us, who are you? We need to find out something about ourselves that is secretive, that is hidden away, that's elusive, that's a little bit counterfeit.

Who are you? What do you stand for? It's pretty easy to answer that, really, because we can come out and say, well, I'm about God. I'm about godliness. I'm trying to be a man or a woman after God's own heart. I'm in God's church. I'm living God's way. I know who I am. Let's take a look at a story about a person who was righteous, who was a man after God's own heart, who knew who he was. It's found in 2 Samuel 12 and the first seven verses.

2 Samuel 12, verses 1-7. Now, the man after God's own heart is set up high. He's going to reign underneath Abraham over the twelve tribes of Israel. This is a great individual. You and I might say, well, I'm not quite as good as David. I'm not really quite there, but I'm striving to be, so I think I'm okay.

2 Samuel 12, then the Lord sent Nathan to David, and he came to him and said to him, just a minute, you're David. You're the guy. You're the man. You're doing all these wonderful things. God's working with you. You've got the kingdom going. You've got the armies getting crushed. You're the man. And Nathan said there were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. David looks at that. Yeah, okay. Let's see why he came to me about this. The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing, except for one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished.

And it grew up together with him, and with his children ate of his own food, drank from his own cup, lay in his own bosom. It was like a daughter to him. And a traveler came to the rich man who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him.

So he took the poor man's lamb and killed it, butchered it, cooked it for the man who had come to him.

And David said, that's not right. It's just, nah, that is not, that's not right. That's not what I'm standing for. That's not what I'm about. That's not the church I'm in. That's not the laws I keep. That's not the God I serve. And David's anger was greatly aroused against this unknown man.

And he said to Nathan, as the Lord lives, this unknown man who has done this shall surely die.

And he shall restore fourfold for the land, because he did this thing and he had no pity.

And then Nathan said to David, you are the man.

What a shock! David came face to face with a secret life, with a self he didn't see.

He thought himself of one type of individual, and yet he came face to face with a counterfeit. He was the counterfeit, and the reality was an individual he said should die.

David had a secret life. In fact, it was so secret he didn't even know about it.

What about you and me? You know, all humans have a secret life, it turns out.

Everybody does. Now if you don't, that just means it's secret. It proves the point.

People can't see it, or they don't see it, and they're convicted of what they can see. They're convicted of what they see on the outside. They're convinced that the thoughts that roam around in their head of the ideals of what they are and who they want to be are the reality. But they don't see that other side, and if anybody raises that to them, they become deeply offended. Somebody has blamed them or tarnished them or brought some ugly accusation up against them. We don't want to know about our real life, our real self. We're convinced of some false self. Why is it secret? Even you and I don't know about it. Or we don't care to know about it.

We try to pretend it doesn't exist. In Jeremiah 17, verses 9 and 10, we find some real, insightful news here about our mind, about the heart or the real, deep-felt person that you and I are. Not the polished, not the lightly stuff, but the real core. It says here in Jeremiah 17, verse 9, the heart is deceitful above all things. This is why we don't really know our true self, our secret life. It is so deceitful. It's more deceitful than anything. He says, more deceitful than everything. Now, some things are pretty good, you know? Deception runs really well. This is more deceitful and deceptive than even that. Who can know it? And the answer is really nobody. Curious that God created us with this brain. It is an amazing thing.

This brain is housed within our skull.

I heard this last week. It has more connections between its cells than there are atoms in the entire universe. That doesn't make sense, does it? More connections between the cells of the brain than there are atoms in the universe? What scientists are finding here is this brain is so highly, highly complex and connected that it can really get into some deep stuff, like deceiving yourself and me. Just really, really over the top powers and abilities.

Humans have a blindness and it shrouds our view. We cannot see reality. Verse 10, the next verse, I as the Lord search the heart, the real depth of our thoughts and who we are. I test the mind to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doing.

So we know this, and Jesus says this again in Revelation the 22nd chapter, that he's coming with his reward to give to everyone according to their works. What are our true works?

This is a good question. Who am I, really? Do I want to get the surprise of my life when Christ returns and think about it for the first time then when it's a... Who are you? Whoa! A little late, isn't it? Do I want to think about it now and have this revealed so there's time to go in and do something? Who are you? What do you stand for? These are questions I ask myself. These are questions you need to ask yourself. What if you were one of the 12 disciples? Wow! Got it, mate! One of the 12 disciples you're right there with Jesus Christ. You're special, you're chosen. I mean, you're good to go, right? What if your name was Judas?

Wow! You see, you can have your secret life. You can be a disciple. You can go everywhere with Jesus. You can participate in miracles. Probably could even go out and cast out demons and preach and whatever the disciples were doing and feel pretty good. Feel pretty connected. Pretty much okay to go. And yet this little secret life that you kind of ignored as you dipped him and he justified stealing a little and little there and he justified the 30 pieces of silver because he knew Christ wasn't going to get caught anyway and Christ had all these miracles. It's just a little money. You know, by the way, we need a little extra expense money for the disciples. And yet, what happened? Was he good? Was he good to go?

The point is to know yourself. To look at your secret life, not your public image.

I like to think of it this way. And I asked my wife on the way over here. I said, Dear, do you perceive that there is a Sabbath me and a weekday me? Is there the nice Sabbath kind of guy that does his thing on the Sabbath and then I'm really the real me during the week as somebody else? See, that's what we're looking for. What is it? Is there a Sabbath individual in your life and then a weekday individual? Do we all come here and we all are sort of nice and dressed up when we're on our minding our Ps and Qs and you know, just really lovely people, but at work or at play or at home, what comes out of the mouth? What actions? What emotions are there? Who is the real individual? The Apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 7 in verse 15 that he had a secret life. Let's look. Romans chapter 7, the guarantee beginning in verse 15. Thankfully, the Apostle Paul shared his deep insights and we cannot look in any way negatively at him, but actually thankfully and see him as an older brother in the faith who is showing us the way.

And as he looks at his life, he says, for what I am doing, I do not understand. There's a lack of understanding here. There's a secret life. There's a parallel me here, and I don't understand it.

For what I will to do, Sabbath Paul, that I do not practice weekday Paul.

Or you could say, that which I will to do, myself in my best wishes, best hopes, best intentions, is not what I actually practice.

So I think of myself and I propel myself and I have intentions of this and that's who I see, but in reality, that I do not practice, but rather what I hate, that I do.

Now, if you don't see that in your life, you have a secret life. It hasn't shown up. It's there, because here's one of the best, you know, one of the best in the book, one of the best in the body, telling us this is reality. Verse 18, for I know that in me, that is in my flesh, nothing good dwells. Well, what was wrong with Paul? What's the matter? Nothing good dwells. When I look at me, I see lots of good things dwelling there. In fact, I see pretty much everything good dwelling there. It's only when I look at you that I don't see such good stuff. And so we become judgmental of others, condemning of others. But Paul says, no. When I look at my secret life, the real me, there's nothing good dwelling there. For to will is present with me. Yeah, sure, I will, I intend. But how to perform was good, I do not find. For the good that I would to do, I do not do. But the evil that I will not to do, that I practice. Now, is that true of you also? Or just righteous Paul? Just David, the man after God's own heart? Well, those are the bad guys, right? We're the good guys and gals. Or can we honestly say we have a secret life? And the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread are all about digging in and finding and exposing that unleavened bread that so easily inflates us and gets us into trouble.

Paul asked the church to consider this topic in relationship to the Passover. In 1 Corinthians 11, verses 28-32, he says, but let a man examine himself. Hmm. Examine. Now, we know that God examines us. We know that God is judging the church. We know that God knows our heart and He tests our mind. We've already read that. But do you and I examine ourselves? Do we go looking for the hidden real person? Well, in the context of the Passover itself, which is very genuine, is very true. Jesus is the way, the true, the life. He is all about truth. And He did something literal that we depend upon. As we come up to that, are we the genuine real deal? Are we really that which we espouse to be or want to be or hope to be? Well, certainly we're not. But we need to be growing that way, don't we? And each year, we're given the annual reminders of our need to grow and to overcome and to repent and then to develop the fruit for the harvest that will take place when Jesus Christ returns. And so in verse 29, He says, for He who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner, eats and drinks condemnation to himself. In other words, Jesus's blood is not going to cover our sins if we are not repenting, if we are not genuine, if we're not really of the faith. God only forgives those sins that are genuinely repented of. If we are simply saying, well, I don't know of any sin, and therefore, how can I repent? I'm not really seeing anything, except in you, how can I repent? You know, I think I'm just pretty much waiting for Christ to come, one of those pretty good people. Well, that's why we need to examine ourselves, because here He said, if we're not discerning the Lord's body, what it's for. Jesus Christ didn't just come and go through all He did and all the pain, the agony, the suffering, and return to the right hand of God so that you can say, I don't really need you. You know, why did you bother doing all of that? I didn't really need that. We need to be shown by God. We need to see it. We need to hate it, and then we need to put it out. Going on in verse 31, for if we would judge ourselves, the Greek word here means to put on trial. If we would put ourselves on trial, I don't know if you've ever been in a trial situation, or if you've ever had accusations, and people bring up an accusation against you, and you think, that's ridiculous! That is so ridiculous! I can't believe they would even say that! Okay? And you're telling everybody, you know, and the person who's, you know, supposedly brought this to your attention, you're gonna have some meeting, or powwow, or jury, or something, and you're just so stupid! And then you get to the meeting, right? And here comes evidence! You said this! That's ridiculous! I'm not that kind of person! Oh, really? We have a recording!

Oh, we have an email! Oh! We have five witnesses! Really? You know, the tears start to flow, are they?

I didn't remember! I just didn't...

You know, it's just not the us that we are seeing in a mirror every day. It's not who we think we are, is it? If we would put ourselves on trial, we would not be condemned, as what verse 31 is saying. Great word, crino. We would not be condemned. In other words, if we put ourselves on trial, if we examine ourselves and go ahead in our making changes, God's not going to condemn us. We are going to be in His Kingdom. We are going to be making progress. Verse 32, it says, but when we are judged, and Adam Clark commentary says of that word, it should say corrected, or it means corrected. When we are corrected, we are chastened by the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world. So God is going to chasten us. He's going to correct us so that we don't receive that ultimate condemnation and are not in His Kingdom. Correction, therefore, is good.

It's good if God shows us this hidden secret self. And we should actually pray to God, show me who I really am. Show me this self. For those who are coming up towards baptism, or interested in it, I always encourage you, pray that God will just open your eyes to that secret self, that the real carnal person that you really truly are, so that you can see a little cross-section there of that which you're going to be working on for the rest of your life. You really need to see that nature, and God alone can show it to you. But a person will say, well, you know, I've been thinking about baptism for the last X number of times, and I don't really see anything. Well, see, the secret self can't be seen. The heart is so deceitful. The eyes are shut down and blind. We have to pray and beg God, show me my real self. Show me the old man, the old woman, as Paul says, becomes old once we die to that way of life and try to move forward.

This isn't a small matter just for the church members. Oh, before you take the pass over, you should examine yourself. Make sure, you know, kind of take it this way or that way. As we've heard, this is time to really take stock, really take look here. In fact, Paul says this again to the same congregation. He's speaking to you and me through the Scripture in 2 Corinthians. Let's go over there. 2 Corinthians chapter 13 and verse 5. 2 Corinthians 13 and verse 5.

See, it's not just, oh, before pass over, examine yourself. Sort of a little technicality or just sort of put the bow on it. He says here, same church into you and me. 2 Corinthians 13 and 5. Examine yourselves as to whether you are even in the faith. You know, this is the real issue, isn't it? Are we in the faith? I don't mean just believing the Sabbath, believing the Holy Days.

Are you in the faith? Faith involves the works, the loving, the sacrificing, the real mentality of God. He says, test yourselves. Look for the fruits. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you unless, indeed, you are disqualified? So these are the important things for us to examine, not just before pass over, all year. But it is a good time for you and I to consider how genuine, how authentic the view that we have of ourselves is and ask God for help in really seeing ourselves and doing something about it.

You know, if your secret intentions are different than your public image, you're a hypocrite.

And you can put on one thing, but you can really think and want something else. Isn't that what Paul was saying? That which I really propose and, you know, purport to be, that's really not what I am. So I'm really saying one thing and being another. We need to look at this concept. The Old Testament word translated, hypocrite, is hineph. The international standard Bible encyclopedia says it means to cover, to hide, or be cloud. Isn't that something? We cover, we hide it, put it under here, nobody can see it, or we'd be clouded. We put clouds around it, and we can't really see it. We don't really know what's there. We know there's something in the clouds, but, you know, we don't really see what it is, so it's easy to ignore. And that's what the Old Testament word is translated, hypocrisy means. That word hypocrite is used the most times in the book of Job. It's used eight times in the book of Job, to be exact. One example of that is in Job 27 verses 8 through 10, where the question is asked, for what is the hope of the hypocrite? Now that's a good question. This is you and me. We have hope for the kingdom. We're here, we're trying to be godly, we're hoping for all the good things, right? What is the hope for the hypocrite?

Well, who's the hypocrite? Wait a minute. That's what we're talking about. It's all of us who have this sort of secret life that is secreted from us. If we don't try to dig in there and find it, well, he goes on. Though he may gain much if God takes away his life. So if we're all about loving and serving and giving, but we're really here on earth to get more stuff for me, more love, appreciation for me, more toys for me, more things for me, then we're hypocrites, aren't we? And though we might get a lot of that stuff in life and maybe have a badge, some honors, some titles, some things to go along with it, we're just... it's been a really nice life, isn't it? Good, good life. But if God takes away your life, what good is it? Will God hear his cry when trouble comes on? Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he always call on God? No, he won't delight himself in God because he's a hypocrite and he will not call on God because he's not of a godly mentality. Hypocrite in the New Testament is a term that was used in classical greed for stage playing, acting out of the hurt. It was not the real person, it was that of an actor, used a false voice, it meant to pretend and to feign. In a way, it's like a modern actor would be. You think, wow, that person and we're watching here in the movie or on TV and you're just right there with him and the actions go along, you think, yeah, this is the real guy. And then tomorrow, you see another TV show, same guy's in it, only this one's a comedy. You think, wait a minute, I thought that was the, you know, I thought he was a spy. No, he's a comedian. The next, you know, week later you're watching a movie, he's singing and dancing. Wait a minute, I don't think this guy, I don't think I know the real guy here. I thought he was a spy, then I thought he was a comedian, now he's dancing and he's got a singing, you know, career going. I just don't know who this guy is. If I met him on a plane or something, well, you read well. That's about all I can say.

You act, but who are you? You know, who are you? We don't know that you.

So, the same for you and me. Who are we? Are we acting out a part? Are we pretending?

Is the real us, the genuine us, to be clouded somewhere?

In Matthew, Jesus Christ uses this term 15 times.

An example is in Matthew 6.

Matthew 6, verses 2-6.

I find this really, really intriguing.

As we go through a little bit of this, you'll see why.

The context, Matthew 5-6, of course, is the Sermon on the Mount. But he begins in verse 2, Matthew 6, Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, Now, what's a charitable deed? Isn't that love for others, serving others?

You're doing something to help somebody else, right? So, here comes the action of service to someone else.

When you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogue in the streets, that they may have glory for men. Oh, it wasn't about love and service, was it? No, it was about self-love and self-promotion.

But it seemed to the individual doing it, wow, I am so generous. I pulled out of my store some money, and, you know, I'm giving it to the poor. And I feel good about it. Looks like all of them feel good about it. I think we're all good with this.

But it wasn't an act of love. It was actual love. Actually, fake. It was a hypocritical love of self and serving of self.

Now, how can you and I apply what Jesus said in our life?

Well, loving others? Why? To feel good?

Well, are you loving others? No, loving yourself in order that you feel good. Are you loving others to get a reward from God? No, you're actually trying to put something in the slot machine and get a payout from God.

Are you asserting others to look good for visibility, to obtain an office, to get a kickback? These are part and parcel of all of our human nature.

Ananias and Sapphira were good examples of that.

It's a charitable deed, but we as humans in our secret life do these things for personal gain.

And Jesus is explaining to us here that we need to change that, be aware of it. He says in the next verse, or the last part of verse 2, Assuredly I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.

Make sure there's no self, promotion, the reasoning, the motivation isn't coming from something driven back to yourself.

That your charitable deed may be in secret.

Verse 5, and when you pray, ah, when you pray, what is an act of love to God? Isn't it? It's communion, communication.

It's like telling your spouse, you know, I love you and spending time with him, or your child, or your friend, or whomever. That's an act of sacrifice, of showing love, or showing concern to others. And when we do this with God, when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corner of the streets that they may be seen by men. See, they're actually turning their back on God. They're supposed to pray to God, but what are they doing? They're actually turning their back on God and promoting themselves with an act of yet. That is the opposite. It's hypocritical. I assuredly I say to you, they have their reward, he said. But when you pray, go into your room, and when you shut your door, pray to your father who's in the secret place.

Now, I'd like to just mention something here. The model prayer outline is given within the context of hypocrisy that we've just read. The model prayer outline comes during this discourse of hypocrisy, and the hypocrisy discourse continues right after the model prayer. Isn't that interesting? We often, I do. I'll jump in. Model prayer. There it is. There's the outline. Let's see it. Good to go.

Not realizing that what he's telling us here is your relationship with God needs to be genuine, not hypocritical, not the secret life going on over here, and you've got, you know, Sabbath John over here. It needs to be the real deal. It speaks to our double-mindedness. You know, our give-serve is really get-gimme. Our prayers and our fellowship with God is really, what can I get?

Notice the last thing that Jesus tells us before telling us how to pray. Verse 8, Therefore, do not be like them, for your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. Don't be like them. Don't be trying to get all this stuff for yourself. Don't be trying to, you know, propel, advance, whatever, and make it all about you. Your Father knows what you need before you then ask. He then gives instruction that does not include anything about ourselves.

The word I or me is not in the Mahalaprabra outline. There's nothing there to receive for me other than Jesus Christ is the bread of life. And yet, in my other self, my secret life, my secret self, you know, all of the so-called religiosity of seeking the kingdom for me, prayer and Bible study so that I'm approved by God.

You know, praying for everybody, including me, it sounds so good. It feels so right.

Do we do these things for others? Or do we pretty much focus on God with relationship to my needs, my wants?

He continues in verse 15 right after the Mahalaprabra outline with the hypocrisy.

If you don't forgive others, but you want to be forgiven, you're a hypocrite.

And I'm not going to do that for you. He says, I'm just not going to do it.

But that's part of our secret self. I mean, that's just that's part of life.

Of course, forgive me. Don't forget those dastardly people. Look at all they've done to me, the horrible things that they've done. But forgive me because I haven't really done that much.

Pretty good. And you like me anyway. I'm easy to like.

Verse 16, you fast self-evasement, but you use it for self-elevation. Hypocrite. Verse 19, you profess to seek the kingdom and his righteousness, but you focus on materialism for yourself here and now.

Hypocrite. And so the question comes, who is the real you? Who is the real me?

We must always ask God for help to see our secret life, our secret self, and not just the facade. You know, facades, I don't know the history of the word, but it sounds French.

And a facade is so typical of the world of architecture.

I don't know if you've spent much time looking at facades, but you don't have to look far to see that a storefront can be really big and spectacular. But then if you stay in a motel or a hotel that's a couple stories high just around the corner and look back, you can see these brand new-looking stores are actually old buildings, maybe built in the 30s and falling down, kind of rounded off old roofs, but have this nice square front on them. There was a pilot flying over the city. It's very, very difficult for people who come along as passengers to have any idea where they are. That's a mall down there. That's a mall? Doesn't look like a mall. It's like a bunch of old air conditioners stuck on top of flat roofs, you know, and some angle iron holding up, you know, something. But you get down on the ground and it's all fancy and glittery signs and all polished and looks really nice. It's a facade. And so Jesus talks about us as humans, as looking good on the outside, but not so good in reality on the inside. You and I have two lights. One is self and one is serve. Both begin with S. Self and serve. Serve is who we propose to be, purport to be, who we show on the outside. The self is really what's at our core. So the question is, which God, big G or little G, do I serve? You know, who is your God? Well, the Bible talks about various gods. Belly, God of money and materialism. It can be a self. We can make ourselves into our own God, promoting ourself and thinking we're doing God as service, thinking we're doing the work or whatever, but we're really just promoting little G in our life and putting that first. Jesus said in Matthew 6, verse 24, just dropping down, no one can serve two masters. Which God are you going to serve? Big G or little G? For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he'll be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God, big G, and yourself, and mammon, and all these other physical things that you want for me. Ephesians, the fourth chapter, talks about the church, about the body, about growth, about love. It's nice to be in the body, isn't it? It's nice to be in the body of Christ. Maybe I just make it a little bit too brutal, but you know I want so much for every one of you to be in the kingdom of God. We have this one opportunity. It's the most precious opportunity that ever has or will ever exist. And Jesus said there are many who seek it, but few will find it. Many are called, but few will be chosen. There's a broad way, but few will ever find that secret door. I don't know what that quote ends, for your life or mine in particular, but I'll tell you, you and I need to encourage each other to be brutally realistic, not just sort of fancifully optimistic and kind of hope for the best. Brutally realistic and fight the good fight, using all the talents, using all the skills, using all the armament of God, using His Holy Spirit, getting in there and fighting and waging war. And it sometimes isn't pretty when you're fighting yourself in your own human nature. But that's the reality that we need to get in and that we need to be doing. That's the place we need to be living. And so it may be nice to be in the church, may be nice to be in the body, right? But let's go down to Ephesians 4 verse 17, right after it talks about the body, right after beautiful verse 16, every part doing its share, edifies the growth of the body in love. That's the body. There we are. We like the structure.

We're all there. Don't you just feel it? Can't you just sense it? And then verse 17, the next breath, this I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk and the futility of their mind. Oh, could he be talking about the same people? Could he be talking about the body of Christ? Could he be talking about the ones edifying each other in love? And he comes out and says to our dark side, having their understanding darkened, it's enshrouded in clouds. There is a part of our heart that is deceitful and desperately wicked. We don't see it. We don't know it. Being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that's in them, because of the blindness of their heart. Yes, brethren, you and I are also susceptible to that. And this is what we must fight. And that's why we have the Holy Days. That's why we have the Sabbath. That's why we are told to ask for forgiveness every day. Verse 19, who being past feeling have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness?

We need to come out of that, Paul said. Verse 20, but you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard of Him and been taught by Him as the truth is in Jesus. Notice verse 22, that you put off concerning the former conduct. We've got to put this to death. We're coming back to have our feet washed, synonymous of more sense, more burial that we need from God and a recognition of that. Not that Passover is a time of forgiveness. Passover is a reminder that we are constantly forgiven when we repent. We don't come to Passover to get an annual one-time shot of forgiveness. That's not what it's about. It's symbolic of the forgiveness that Christ continues to give us as we travel through life and get our feet dirty, you know, in analogy, and continue then to want to be clean and ask God, purge me, purge me with a hyssop, clean me up. And He's willing to do that at any time.

That you put off concerning your former conduct the old secret man, which grows corrupt according to deceitful lust. Wow, just when you think you're, you know, made good progress, you're out of the mud, you're good to go. The old man grows corrupt again according to deceitful lust. It's a struggle that we will fight our entire lives. If you see it, you won't struggle, though, if you don't see the secret self. Question, you might ask, can you do everything that you do in public? Now, that's a very good question. I think we all need to ask ourselves that at times.

Not that that's the only question to ask. Just ask that. Is there anything that you do that you would not really consider doing in public?

What you say, what you think, what you do, what you drink, how you react, what you view, what you read, what you hear. You know, have you ever had somebody come up to you out there when you're in society in the middle of the week and all of a sudden, oh, it's the church member, and they're asking me, oh, how are you? I didn't expect to see you here. And you go, oh! Or do you? Like, oh, why? You know? And next breath, next step, you're just, it's the real you.

That's the question, you see? Does somebody come in and quickly turn off the computer?

Flip the page. Turn the TV off. Flip the channel. Phone rings. You know, you die for the volume control. Doorbell rings. There's the door. There's this racing of footsteps.

Is there anything that you would not do in public that you do in secret when no watcher is around?

Everybody has a private life. Does it coincide with the Word of God? Does it coincide with God being part of it? Does it coincide with what God teaches? If not, ask God for insight, for repentance. And please change that for everyone's sake. Those of the rest of us who are struggling in the body, we want you to be successful. We want you to be in the kingdom forever. So please change along with the rest of us. You know, there's a future shock in the future.

That's what future shock will be, I guess. When Jesus Christ will say to some, who are you? Who are you? Who are you? In Luke 13, verses 23-30, there's a statement from the one, once again, I keep telling you this, he has a tough responsibility. He has to decide. He has to decide, hey, you live and you folks die. And sorry it has to be this way. I've done all I possibly can. But these are the choices that you have made, and therefore you live and you die.

And so this is always on his mind. Always on his mind. You can read about this in Deuteronomy. You can read about this when he's on earth. You can read about this in Revelation, when he's talking about the third resurrection. And here is a statement asked to him by one of the disciples, Luke 13, 23. One said to him, Lord, are there few who are saved? I have this view, I think I'm soft-headed in it, this view that nobody's going to miss out on the kingdom. Surely once they really get God's Holy Spirit, once they really get a chance to taste God's way of life, nobody would slip away or let something like that get away. Nobody would throw that away.

And so the question is asked, Lord, are there few who are saved? And he said to them, strive to enter through the narrow gate. For many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Many of us will come up in the resurrection. We will seek to enter the kingdom, but we will not be able. What a surprise! Guess what? There was a secret life there that we didn't bother really to uncover. We didn't really care to get into that cloud and see who the real me was.

Verse 25, once the master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you, he didn't say it, and those people out there, them carnal people, no, he says, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door saying, Lord, my Lord and master, Jesus the Christ, Lord, my master, the Messiah, the coming King, open for us, and He will answer and say to you, I do not know you. Where are you from? What? What do you mean you don't know me? And then you will begin to say, let me describe my outer facade. Let me tell you who I pretend to be. Let me tell you who I've thought of myself as being. Verse 27, but he will say, I tell you I do not know you.

And we will sit there shaking our heads and say, what is going on? I have seen myself in a certain way and it's good according to the Bible. And I'm being told God doesn't know that individual. He knows somebody else. He doesn't know me like that. I don't know you. Where are you from?

Your secret life really is the real you. It's the real me.

Jesus goes on, depart from me all you workers of iniquity. Iniquity? What? Lawlessness? You've got to be kidding. I believe in the commandments. I believe in love God with all your heart, soul, and might. Love your neighbor, yours, yourself. I believe in the laws, the holy days. I believe in all of that. How you call me a worker of iniquity. That's somebody who does.

Things self-centeredly or self-promotionally or whatever. Verse 28, Then there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. When people finally see that I wasn't the real deal, God was judging the heart. God was looking at the true man. God knew the heart and the mind. I just didn't take the time to find out.

Verse 30, And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.

See, there are the first, you might say, the greatest will be the least. I believe is what he's saying here. It's not the timing of things. It's the first, the primary, the preeminence. Those who look like they're in authority, look like they're in position. They are the primary ones. There are many who will be looked at as the great that shall be least in the kingdom. He explained in Matthew 18, Whoever humbles himself as a little child, that's the least, will be greatest, will be preeminent, prominent first in the kingdom. So this hypocrisy that you and I live is actually a flip on the reality of God's kingdom. We think that the dressed up facade version, which is looking to advance self, is great, but it's actually reversed in the kingdom. It's the one who humbles himself like a little child is the greatest. Matthew 20 says, Whoever desires first to be first among you, see the same word, Whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave. Let him be the least.

It's the reality of the family of God. Jesus Christ was the slave to us. He is the one who is given the most. He will have the greatest preeminence in the coming kingdom. Matthew 5, Some teachers will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. Some teachers who are now first, they have the preeminence, they are sort of the primary ones, these will be called least. So the first, rather those in first place, the prominent, the principles will be least, and the least shall be prominent. That's the way God's mentality works. Things will not be as they are today.

Things will be light, they'll be clear, they'll be honest, they'll be genuine.

And that's what the kingdom of God is. And so it's important for you and me now to be looking at ourselves and getting rid of all this hypocrisy, all of this old stuff, and become genuine, humble, really serving, giving low people of a low mind so that we can be prominent in the kingdom and the family of God. In Ephesians chapter 5, verse 8 through 18, we're taught that change needs to happen.

And we do not come out of a bright place, none of us. I'll use myself as an example. I may have grown up in the headquarters location of God's church around very godly people. I was as carnal as you were when you were a kid. Okay? That's the way humans are. We are all carnal. We all have this nice facade, but inside, you know, there's a fire that burns for the self. And so he says, for you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Jesus Christ can come and shine light in dark places, and He can expose the darkness and the deeds of darkness if we want Him to. Walk as children of light. For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth.

We want to really know and be the real deal. Verse 11, have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. This hidden self and its hidden deeds and this enshrouded, clouded being that we are, that we think so highly of ourselves, really needs to be exposed.

For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. So secret, maybe we don't even realize that they're not right. We're convinced that, you know, evil is good, and good is evil. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. And therefore, He says, awake you who sleep, arise from the dead. But the old man in, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.

If that's something you want to do, then God will help you do it. He'll help transform you more and more into a child of His, a genuine thinking, walking, talking, godly person, more and more each day. Not that anybody will ever get there in this lifetime, but we'll make good progress.

Verse 15, see then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, accepting your facade, but as wise, redeeming the time, not letting any time get away, using it all for important stuff. Because the days are evil, therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

You know, you can try to pretend in the presence of God, you can try to deceive yourself, you can let the heart kind of run, and it feels good. But Jesus said in Mark 4, verse 22 and 23, there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed. You can reveal it now, you can get God to reveal it now, you can deal with it now, or God will do it later. It's going to be revealed. He said there's nothing hidden that will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret, but that it should come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. Now is a good time for us to look at ourselves, dig down there, get the cloud off, get the secrecy off, shine the light, God to show us, see the ugly evil, and then flush it out with the water of the Word, the washing of the water of the Word. You know, cleanse it with the blood of Christ, get rid of it. Then it's no longer there, no longer applies. Why put a cover over it? Why try to hide it and hope that nobody will notice, you see, but not deal with it? To see and fight the flesh is very, very difficult. We need a helper. You know, we need a helper even to desire to fight. A helper to even desire to go try to find the old secret self. Because of and by ourselves, we're not interested. I don't know about you, I'm not interested. Whatever it is, I don't care. As long as I'm happy, as long as I'm healthy, as long as my future is bright, you know, why should I go look in my, you know, casket and see what's rotten and stinking in there? Well, God can give us the desire to find out. And then He can give us the ability to see. And then He can give us the tools and the help to change. All of these are available from God. His ears are not closed. He's waiting for us to call upon Him.

He's ready to help. All we have to do is respond. Repentance and change are gifts of God, and with Him we can see the secret life inside. We can know what to do about it and shine truth on it.

God's Spirit in us can motivate us in a different direction and forgive us of all that stuff. Just get going again. Let's go to Hebrews 4, verses 12 through 16. Hebrews 4, beginning in verse 12.

The first few words here are, For the word of God is living in powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. I think we mistakenly associate that with the Bible and think that the word of God is living in sharper than a two-edged sword because it says the word of God. But this is actually not referring to the Bible at all, as we're going to see in a minute. It's referring to the Logos of God, Jesus Himself. The Bible is just words in print. But notice, the Logos, Jesus, is now alive. He's living in powerful and He's sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of the living being and spirit. He knows the thoughts. He knows the intents of the heart and of joints and marrow. In other words, it's like He's laid you out on a table and He's got a knife and He's doing an autopsy. He's dissecting every piece and pulling you apart. Guess what? There's a secret man or woman in there. There's a secret life and Jesus Christ is a discerner of all of these things. All the thoughts that He attends to the heart. See, the Bible can't. It doesn't know the thoughts that He attends to the heart. It's the Logos, Jesus Christ, who knows that. Verse 13, and there is no creature, the Greek word katisis again, no converted person as Paul is probably using this, no converted person hidden from His sight. See, the Bible doesn't have sight. It's not talking about the Word of God, the Bible. It's talking about Jesus Christ.

Capital H, if you notice. No converted person hidden from Christ's sight. But all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. We have to give account. Verse 16, therefore let us come boldly before the throne of grace. What do we do about this? Feel guilty and convicted and low? No, let's come boldly before the throne of grace. Let's repent and that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. God wants us to see who we are. He sees who we are. If we will see who we are, He'll help us change who we are. If we refuse to see who we are, then He's got a little surprise for us at our resurrection. Who are you? I don't know where you're from. So in conclusion, you need to identify your secret life. You need to quit letting it pull the wool over your eyes. You need to realize you've got very good company. David, Paul, I'll put myself right up there, and many others I talked to. We're in this wrestle together and we're not too proud to admit it. We need to stalk our old man, our old self, our old woman. We need to stalk our secret life and put it to death. We need to find it, expose it, and get rid of it. Then we need to promote the new man or woman. You know, promote fertilize, water, encourage, get some light, get some growth so we can live. In closing, let's read Romans chapter 12 and the first two verses and then verse 17. Romans chapter 12 verses 1, beginning in verse 1. I beseech you therefore brethren. He's using this term beseech. The margin says urge. This isn't just, brethren, you ought to do this. I urge you brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice.

Holy, acceptable to God, the real deal, which is your reasonable service. If you want to be part of his family, if you want to take part of the blood and the broken body of Christ, you want to accept those things. You want to accept his graciousness, his forgiveness. If you want to accept being a co-heir with him of the entire spiritual universe and all that that entails, your reasonable service is to present your bodies a living sacrifice of love and serve like God is to others. And do not be conformed to this society, but transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Verse 17, let love be without hypocrisy. God is love. He's called you to love.

You stand for love. You are a representative of the family of God, an ambassador of the kingdom of love. Let your love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil and cling to what is good.