(MAT. 10, 26)
"FOR there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid,
that shall not be known."
No one sees it, thinks the burglar when in the hours of the night he
breaks into a house. It is hidden by darkness.
No one sees it, think the adulterer and the adulteress when they
satisfy their sinful lust. It is hidden to others. It is their secret.
No one sees it, and no one will know about it, the young man thinks
when, covered by darkness, he sneaks into the saloon.
_Yes, God sees it!_--Yes, God! But, to be sure, He doesn't tell the
neighbors about it the next morning. No, to be sure! But, nevertheless,
it will be brought forward in the light of the day--all these secrets
of darkness.
If that consciousness could but be vivid and strong within us--how many
criminals would then keep away from the paths of evil!
And how many secrets of darkness would be revealed to God through
repentant confessions--and be _forgiven_ instead of _concealed_ in the
innermost chambers of the heart like a guilty secret--a guilty secret
only to be covered by a new transgression.
"The Lord discovereth deep things out of the darkness, and bringeth out
to light the shadow of death," says Job (12, 22).
When Judas had agreed to betray Jesus, he concealed that evil secret
in the innermost chamber of his heart. But Jesus saw it in there. He
saw that this secret of darkness would push Judas into the darkness
without--down to despair--to perdition.
Therefore Jesus made an attempt to bring out that secret from the
darkness when they sat together at the Easter meal. That is my
understanding of Jesus' pointing out Judas as the traitor. It is as
though he would say to him: O, listen, Judas, let us bring that dark
secret out into the light so that it may be forgiven! But Judas arose
and went away. He wanted to keep the evil secret to himself.
Happy he or she who asks Jesus to bring forth the evil secrets from the
heart so that they may be repented and forgiven--so that their power
may be crushed! Then, on the great day they shall be revealed as having
been _repented of_ and _forgiven_--to the glory of the Lord who has
released us from the fetters of the evil secrets.
But it is not only the evil secrets that are to be revealed in the
light of the day. _All_ secrets are to be revealed.
Does man possess other secrets than those of the darkness? Will there
not be very little to bring forth in the way of good secrets from the
recesses of the heart?
No, thank God, there will be thousands of them.
All those loving thoughts which you conceived in secret, and which you
never found a chance to express--they shall be revealed on that great
day.
All the heavy sighs and all the burning prayers which have issued
forth from the depths of the heart in secret, shall be made known in
the light. And they are countless. Generation after generation has
witnessed parents praying for their children--O, could we but realize
a small part of all that which has been fought for and prayed for in
secret! Then we would be surprised to know that someone had _thought so
lovingly, had prayed so fervently, and struggled so earnestly for our
sake--in secret_.
All these good and pure secrets shall be revealed on the great day.
How radiantly they will testify that the human heart has not been
merely the battlefield of the secrets of darkness, as some seem to
believe.
And together with all the evil secrets, repented of and forgiven, they
shall glorify our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who endowed us with
the gift of _wanting to_ think lovingly, pray fervently, and struggle
earnestly in secret.