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The Secret Life: Known Only to God 0:01 Welcome to the men's global live stream. If you have a Bible, I want you to hold a spot in Psalm 1 39. We're starting a new series called Secret Life, and the big idea for the next 50:13 weeks is this, every man has a secret life. Private moments, private choices, private longings, private thoughts,0:25 private actions, right, that are known only to God. And that private life can be good or bad. And there's a life that you0:36 can hide out of fear, but listen, there's also a secret life that you can pursue out of faith that God desires you to go after. And those are your0:48 only options. Right? They're very different and they offer very different consequences. The Bible says that that 1 kind of life, the life that's1:00 hidden in fear in front of men, that life is going to be exposed and it's going to be judged. Right? The other life, the 1 we pursue out of faith that God wants us to1:11 pursue is visible, but only to God and we live that secret life on purpose. And guess what? God wants to reward and bless that1:23 secret life. So in part 1, what we're going to do is we're just going to lay a foundation for the series by focusing on what the Bible says about 3 things. Alright? Our hidden1:35 or secret life. Right? We're going to draw it then we're going to draw some specific maybe uncomfortable conclusions about that. Then we're just gonna discover in part 1 and1:47 all the way through how God's man works with God on his secret life versus fears God's judgment of it. And to get you thinking in the right direction, I want you to think like news1:59 headlines, you know, specifically when the private life of somebody who's very public goes viral or comes out in in the open. I mean, it's amazing how hungry2:10 people are to know what goes on in the private world of other people especially when that person is working really hard to keep what's private private. Right?2:22 And I think, we we talk about that because we can all agree that living a double life is exhausting. Maybe like me,2:34 you've done that at some time in your life. Maybe some of you are watching and you're doing it now. And, oh, by the way, a double life is not God's plan. So2:46 let's flip the scenario and let's just say as God's man, we believe and we live out of the truth that there's no such thing as a double life when there's God.2:58 Right? We can hide things from people. We can keep our thoughts to ourselves. We can compartmentalize the reality of God's omniscience that he sees and that he knows everything. We can3:10 keep that fact neatly boxed away in our brain on a shelf to make space for certain behaviors. But in the end, if you're a man of God, you know and believe that God3:22 sees and knows it all. And when someone knows, in this case, God, you can stop pretending and start living3:33 authentically in relationship to God, in relationship to yourself, and in relationship to others. And that's my prayer for you in this series3:45 called secret life. Later in the series, we're gonna see a little twist that Jesus puts on the secret life where he describes how he wants you to live a secret life3:57 and he wants you to bless you if you live it. So let's pour the foundation biblically for the series. Let's make some observations personally. Right? And then let's decide how we're gonna4:09 live relationally when it comes to the reality of our secret life. Let's go to the top of your downloaded notes. If you are watching this and you didn't know it, there's a little downloadable notes button. Click4:21 that and then you can follow along. But at the top of those notes is a passage and it's Jesus talking from Mark 4 verse 22 and it says this, for whatever is hidden is meant to be4:33 disclosed and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. Now, in this context, he's talking about, himself to his4:45 disciples and the fact that Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus is the savior, Jesus is the truth that the world's been waiting for and those things4:57 about him that were previously hidden, they're gonna come out. And the principle, from that context, which is transferable for sure,5:09 is that truth is meant to come out. God is truth. That truth is meant to come out for the benefit of humanity. So let's5:21 make some simple observations, conclusions that we can all kind of agree on going forward. And the first 1 is this, every man, and we've said this before, has a secret life5:32 known only to God. And I'm gonna reiterate that throughout this series because it's a life men can't see or the people in your life can't see5:44 because they're people. Right? They're limited. They're finite. They're not Omni anything. Right? Secondly, every man's truest self reflects5:56 his secret life. Right? Your true your truest self is not what you present, out there in the public or to your buddies or at work. Your truest self is6:08 who you are. Listen, in private, Your private thoughts, that's who you really are. Your private actions, that's who you really are. Your private feelings6:20 and attitudes, that's who you really are. Alright? Number 3, every man's secret life, uh-oh, will be exposed. Every man's6:32 secret life will be exposed. God is truth. God is present where truth and reality are present. And when you're in God's presence, truth and reality6:45 become present. Right? Truth by its very nature Listen, truth by its very nature is meant to be revealed. And then lastly,6:57 God's man is asked to live his life before God alone. And you see that is a secret life that other people might7:08 not see, but that you see. And we're gonna dig into that as we go along in this series. You see, at some point, you and I are gonna have to make our peace with7:20 how our relationship with God and our secret life go together. And we see David working this out in Psalm 1 39. So if you've been holding a spot, open7:32 it up to Psalm 1 39. We're gonna start in verse 7 and go through 11 and then we're gonna tag verses 23 and 24 onto that. Psalm 1 39 beginning in7:44 verse 7. Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there. If I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If7:56 I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there, your hand will guide me. Your right hand will hold me fast.8:08 If I say, surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me, even the darkness will not be dark to you. The night will shine like8:20 the day for darkness is as light to you. Search me God and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts.8:31 See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. So you see the man of God, the man after God's own heart David,8:44 he is making his peace, right? With who God is and his secret life. Right? And the conclusion he makes is, there's8:56 no escape. And so what do I do now? I have to pivot in my heart and in my mind if I can't escape his awareness9:08 and his presence, guess what? I'm going to turn toward it and I'm going to partner with it. And so what do we learn from God's word in Psalm 19:20 39 as we watch David make his peace with God regarding his secret life? It's this, my secret life before God, write this down, reflects9:32 my view of God. So here's David and he's remembering who God truly is and then he's making choices based on who God9:44 truly is. Right? Can't escape him. He's got perfect knowledge, constant presence, and full acceptance. I I'm gonna turn to God. Right? Or9:56 we can have a view of God that somehow, he's on an on and off button based on what our circumstances are. We can forget who he really is, make him into something he's not, and then make10:08 choices based on false assumptions. Right? Now, we see that playing out also in Psalm 1 in Psalm 44. We look we see this this10:20 fact that my secret life before God reflects my view of God, forgetting or remembering who he is. Listen to the Psalmist in Psalm 44. He says, if we had forgotten the name of our10:31 God or extended our hands to a strange God, would not God find this out? For he knows the secrets of the heart.10:43 So we see just from that passage that we gotta get God right. I mean, no matter what you make God into to do what you wanna do, that doesn't impact the10:55 reality of who he is. And so we have to remember who God is and that he sees, he's present, he has perfect knowledge, right, and he fully11:07 accepts us. He knows us inside, he knows us outside, our seen life, our unseen life, the good parts, the bad parts. He sees it all. Alright. So now that we11:19 poured that foundation, the question is, how do I work with God who is all present, all seeing,11:31 all knowing, and all powerful. Right? How do you how do we do this in relationship? So there's a reality that I have a secret life and that secret life is11:43 before God, but how do I how do I work with him in this relationship? Alright? So we're gonna work through, some of those things. Alright? Number 1, we do what David did. We apply11:55 what we know about God for growth in God. And that's really the thrust of of Psalm 1 39 and then his conclusion in prayer at the end. He's like,12:07 okay. You're you have perfect knowledge of me. You are constantly present with me. You fully care about me. Right? So I'm going to12:19 apply what I know so that I can grow in my relationship, with you. You ever meet Christians where they might agree intellectually or mentally,12:31 like, that's true. I believe that about God. But practically, experientially, you know what they really believe? But it's not true for me. That's not what we're talking about here.12:42 Where somehow you're a special case and what's true about God doesn't apply to you, whether you're intentionally trying to do things you're not supposed to be doing, or you're just thinking that, you know, he's just12:55 he's got other things to do. And I believe that he's knowledgeable and present and accepting of me, But just not for for me and not for this moment.13:07 Listen to what it says in Jeremiah 9 23 and 24. And you really see the heart of God come out in terms of you gotta get your head right when you think about me. God says through Jeremiah this, don't let the13:19 wise brag about their wisdom. Don't let heroes brag of their exploits. Don't let the rich brag of their riches. But if you brag, brag of this and this only, might wanna circle that, that13:30 you understand and know me. I'm God and I act in loyal love. I do what's right and set things right and fair and13:42 delight in those who do the same. Once again, God is making a case, not for himself, but to those who13:54 follow him to make sure that they understand him and that they know him and that they live in light of him. So there's understand,14:07 know, right? And then he says, do. So based on what we understand and know about God, in terms of his model, who he is, his character, his attributes, we live14:19 or do our lives in light of what we understand and know about God. So that's number 1. You wanna work with the omnipresent, omniscient,14:31 omnipotent God and be in relationship. You gotta apply what you know about God for growth in God. Secondly, I admit God knows me better than I know myself.14:43 Now I ask people this this question a lot and they don't have an answer right away and maybe you won't either. But I say, do you know who the least objective person is about you?14:55 And most have never been asked that question. And then I just look at them and I say, you. The most The least objective person about Kenny is Kenny. The least objective15:06 person about you is you. Why? Because we have conflicts of interest. We have blind spots. Right? We don't have a 360 degree understanding, you know, of ourselves.15:18 And when God is in the equation in your life, who is omni, right, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, and knows you, if he15:30 knows everything, he knows everything about you, you gotta admit, hey, God. You know what? You know me better than I know myself. That's why David can say in Psalm 1 39 verses 1 and 2, some verses we haven't read. He15:42 says this, you have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit down and when I rise, you perceive my thoughts from afar. You know how15:54 different David's God was than the pagan gods of his time? When when you study pagan gods of David's time, they're very distant,16:06 they're hostile, and listen, they're very indifferent toward men. The the word David uses to describe the 1 true God, the God of Israel,16:18 when he says you've searched me Lord and you know me is the word yada. That's the word for no, y a d a. And it is like intimate, like you like16:30 you know me at the deepest levels in here. Right? So you see you see also there that David says he knows his thoughts from16:42 afar. You know what the smallest aspects of you are? It's your thoughts. Right? Probably the most invisible, the most concealable16:54 and the least known. Right? But God sees those just as clearly as he sees your physical body. Right? He says later on in Psalm 139 verse 23 search me17:06 God and know my heart now when you see that word heart in the Bible it's not a muscle. Okay. It's not the muscle that resides in your chest17:18 your heart is the center of your person, Right? It's it's your being. It's your inner being. It's the it's the Nefesh of Genesis where the Bible says17:30 that God stooped down and breathed in the Adam's nostrils, and he became a living being. Right? It's it's who Adam is separate from his17:41 body. Right? His whole inner self, his mind, his feelings, his personality. So when David says, search me God and know my heart, you know, you17:53 you're hearing words go out to someone that he really trusts. Question, do you trust God like that? Your creator, the 1 who made you you, the 1 who18:05 made you unique, 1 of 1 and put your essence uniquely in you, right? God knows you better18:18 than anyone. Better than you know yourself, certainly, because you're the least objective person about you. Too many conflicts of interest. Number 3, when18:30 we're working with God, we have to allow God to examine and test our inner man. You see David in Psalm18:41 139 verse 23 say, test me. Right? And other translations in your Bible might say, examine me. Right? I just want you to think of an x-ray.18:53 Right? So David is asking God to do a heart x-ray, an inner man x-ray, and he's hanging around19:05 for the results. He knows that God loves him too much to leave him the way he is. So he needs God to examine him, to show him19:17 some things that perhaps David needs to adjust, or perhaps David needs to change. David also knows that he's not gonna become the man he needs to be by remaining who he is.19:29 So he invites God who is all seeing. Right? Has perfect knowledge, constantly present, and fully accepts him to show19:41 him himself. It's kind of hard to say. Right? But reveal me to me. Right? Now, he reiterates this throughout many places in19:53 the Psalms, and then he reiterates it too in first Chronicles 29 and 17. He says this, he's talking to God, asks him to do the same thing. He says, I know my God that you test the heart20:05 and are pleased with integrity. Right? So David's saying, you know what? I don't want my public self to be betrayed by my20:17 private self. I want to be undivided between who I am in private and who I am in public. I want to be undivided between my identity and my activity, my beliefs and my behaviors.20:29 So I want you, and I'm inviting you to show me where the gaps are. Wow. That is not only transparent, that's vulnerable.20:42 Like David is opening himself up and just saying, God, I want you to show me to me. Now just press pause for a second. Do you ever ask God20:54 in a quiet place to show you to you? Have you been alone long enough? Have you been in the silence long enough? And I'll tell you what, that's why so21:06 many of us are uncomfortable with solitude and why so many of us are uncomfortable with silence because the solitude physically and the silence21:19 inwardly and outwardly is a space where God can show us to us. He can reveal me to me. And I want to21:30 encourage you, if you don't get anything out of this, a lot of you, in fact, probably over 80 percent of you need to find some solitude and you need to find some silence21:43 and you need to zip that, open these, and just say, God, is there something you wanna show me about me? And21:55 then be quiet. God wants to test your heart. He wants to show you you. He wants you to grow. He wants you to grow up. He wants you to22:07 become more like Jesus, but you gotta be with Jesus to become like Jesus. Right? So we allow God to examine and test our inner man. Number 4, I22:19 ask God to look for anxiety rooted in worry. In Psalm 1 39 23, David asks God, amongst other things, know what?22:31 My anxious thoughts. Right? Why? Okay. Anxiety is rooted in worry. Okay. They evidence a couple things.22:43 Number 1, they could evidence unbelief. Right? It's kind of like what I said before. Yeah. I know God's present. I know God cares about me. I know God makes promises, and that his promises are true.22:55 They're just not for me. So because I believe that, and that's not true, or I don't believe that's true for me right now, I'm gonna now worry about23:07 that thing. Okay. So anxiety is rooted in worry evidence unbelief, right? They also evidence misplaced trust, right? If you're anxious23:19 about something, you might be trusting in someone who doesn't care or is incapable. You might be trusting yourself. You might be trusting others. You might be trusting in God's that aren't23:31 God's. Right? For for the things in your life to come about and you forgotten god, and now you're placing trust in things that that aren't23:43 in charge, that aren't don't have perfect knowledge of you. Right? That isn't constantly present, that isn't fully capable and isn't fully accepting, but we do it. Okay? You've done23:54 it. I've done it. Where we get anxious, we worry and when we get anxious and worry, we stop believing in God and we misplace our trust in things we shouldn't be trusting in.24:07 I mean why do you think Jesus outs worry so aggressively? Right? In his sermons. Alright? We read, a little snippet of this24:19 in Matthew 6. Jesus says, and why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow? They do not labor or spin yet I tell you that not even Solomon24:32 in all his splendor was dressed like 1 of these. And if that is how God closed the fields, the grass of the field, which is here today and gone tomorrow,24:44 is thrown into the fire. Will he not much more circle that clothe you, you of little faith? Okay. When24:55 you feel the weight of those words, you can feel that Jesus is being a notch more aggressive25:08 on this. A, because he knows how worry creates unbelief and how worry inside of a human being misplaces their trust. But then on the relational side,25:20 it's like you have a Heavenly Father And this Heavenly Father is way more capable than any earthly father. He owns everything. He sees you, he has25:32 perfect knowledge, he has capacity, he cares, right? He's constantly present. And when we worry Jesus, you can feel it. It's like25:44 kind of a knock on God's ability to care for us, on God's capacity to protect us, on God's ability to provide for his own25:56 children. So that's why we ask God to look for anxiety rooted in worry because it pollutes our belief,26:08 it pollutes our trust, and then it kinda offends God that, am I What am I? Not here? Not able? Don't see you? Don't26:20 know? Right? Number 5, if we wanna work with a God who has perfect knowledge, constant presence, and is fully accepting of us and capable, we have to26:32 accept exposure as a path to intimacy. It's a really interesting line here now in verse 24 of Psalm26:44 1 39. David says this, see if there is any offensive way in me. Now that that phrase,26:57 offensive way, like, I am offending you, by the way I'm believing, by the way I'm behaving, the way I'm thinking,27:09 and in that way hinders or pollutes. This right here, our relationship, I want that revealed. Have you ever prayed and asked God to do that? That's why I love27:22 Psalm 1 39 verses 23 and 24 where you just pray the scripture. You get alone with God and you get some solitude and you quiet27:33 down and you simply pray these 2 verses and then you wait for him to stop speaking. But what could be offensive to God? Sin certainly would27:45 be offensive to God. Why? Because he gave his only son and sent him to earth to pay the price for your sin. Certainly self sufficiency.27:58 Like, yeah I need God on Sundays and men's group, but the rest of the time I don't need him. I I'm I got it. I'm resourceful. I'm independent. I'm a survivor. I'm a scrapper.28:10 I rely on me. Right? Well, that would make sense if there was no God, but since there's God and he's personal, and he cares about you, and he has perfect knowledge of you. That's offensive.28:21 It's sort of like when your kids are trying to do something and you're standing right there, and they keep trying to do it and they're failing when all they would have to do is go, can you help me?28:34 Right? Now you see kind of the background. It's it's it's a quest for relationship. And to keep the relationship, rooted in a right28:46 understanding of God has perfect knowledge, he's constantly present, he cares about me, he's my father. So David is really28:58 serious about, you know, if there's anything offensive in me that hinders this, please reveal it. I love this vignette in Job where God is29:09 having a serious conversation with his with his guy. Says this in Job 40 verses 6 and 7. Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. Quote,29:21 brace yourself like a man. I will question you and you shall answer me. Now, sometimes the truth is really uncomfortable.29:33 Sometimes when when someone points out some some way you're thinking or acting and it's not right, for the sake of your relationship, it's uncomfortable.29:45 And I can't even imagine how uncomfortable Job is in this moment when God himself says, better brace yourself29:58 because I got some questions for you and you're gonna answer me. You know, I I think about this conversation between God and Job and it's like, all right. We're30:10 gonna go forward. We gotta get some things straight. You're not seeing me the way you need to. You're not seeing things the way you need to see them30:22 in order to be restored with me and in me and in your life. I have to show you you and I have to point30:34 out some things. So I'm gonna ask some questions and the answer is gonna be clear once I ask the question. Right? Now exposure sometimes feels30:46 cutting. Right? But, you know, when you understand that God's a surgeon who might cut on us, he doesn't do it to kill us. It's not a stab to30:57 kill. It's a little cut to heal and some that's the way truth works sometimes. Right? Like, truth is can be freeing. Truth can be uncomfortable. Truth can be31:09 liberating. But truth gets the job done and sometimes God has to kind of sit us down like he did with Job and just go, brace yourself. I'm holding up a mirror and I'm gonna ask some31:21 questions. Right? So I have to accept exposure as a path to intimacy because in the end when you read Job, you know everything gets restored and Job's thinking right, is right about God and it's31:33 all great and he's restored. The relationship is restored, his life is restored, but not before some exposure happens. Just think about that. Right? Maybe31:45 God's taking you through some things where you know he's he's exposing some things about you that you have to work on. Alright? And be honest about31:56 so that your relationship with God and perhaps your relationships with people can be fully restored. Alright. Lastly, I have to agree to follow32:09 the new direction. So we've gone through this process. I I I know who God is. I gotta apply what I know. Right? He's perfectly knowledgeable, constantly present, and he's fully accepting of me.32:21 I gotta admit, right, that he knows me better than I know myself. I have to allow him to reveal things and test me. I got to ask him32:32 to expose unbelief or misplaced trust rooted in worry. But then when he does, I got to follow the new direction. Right? Look at what what David says in Psalm 1 3932:44 24. He says, lead me in the everlasting way. Okay? So it's this it's now this this point of faith and surrender really. You32:56 know, when the Bible talks about our relationship with God is like sheep and shepherd. This is David just going, man, I'm following my shepherd, my father33:09 to lead me in the everlasting way. So when when things are revealed, right, now and pointed out, now we gotta follow God's lead. So it's it's33:21 revealed something offensive or something about you and And then God's gonna say, all right that's revealed, don't go that way, we're gonna go this way. Right? And God33:33 reveals himself through his word, through wisdom, through truth, through counsel, through general revelation, through special revelation, through the example of Christ, what God models for us. There's a33:45 lot of ways that the shepherd leads us, but here's the relational part. Listen to Jesus talk in John chapter 10. He says, my sheep listen33:57 to my voice. Circle that. I know them and they follow me. Now again, this is a picture of intimacy. Right? That word34:09 no for those of you Greek scholars out there you know what that word is. It's ginosko. Right? And that's intimate like it's an intimate there's an intimate relationship between shepherd34:20 and sheep. Jesus says that they listen to him, they know him, and he knows them, and they follow him. That's our job, you know? And when Jesus called his34:32 sheep, it's not a compliment. You know, they're they're they're 1 of the only animals in the world who that they we can't let them out and just run free. They can't exist without a34:44 shepherd. They gotta have somebody there. So it gives you this picture. Jesus says, you know what? They know me and they know they need me, and they follow me.34:56 So if you kind of wrap that all up, what's the conclusion based on David pivoting and kind of adjusting, you know,35:08 his secret life with what he knows about God? It's this, God's man must, write this down, overcome in his secret life to35:20 experience and win the abundant life. Right? Get the fullness out of the relationship with God. Full growth, full maturity, full completeness.35:31 Right? We got to overcome your secret life. Okay? Depending on which option you're kind of living in, whether35:44 you're hiding things in fear and that's going to eventually be exposed, right, and judged, or you're like pursuing a God you can35:55 understand and know and he's perfectly knowledgeable, constantly present, he's caring, he's fully accepting, oh, I can go with my secret life to him and it can be36:07 a positive experience. But here's the spiritual battle, if you don't overcome regardless of bucket, you don't overcome36:19 those things in your secret life that you live alone in front of God, right? You're not going to experience the abundant life. And so there is a war for you to stay stuck in fear and not36:31 pursue this secret life that you have with God. Right? Satan doesn't want that. And we have some encouragement as we wrap session 1 up, pouring the foundation. That's gonna launch36:43 us into parts 2 through 5. And it's from first John 1 5 through 7. Just lean in, maybe listen with your heart. This36:55 is the message we have heard from him and declared to you. God is light. In him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have37:07 fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie. And do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light,37:19 we have fellowship with 1 another and the blood of Jesus his son purifies us from all sin. You see, I want you to circle walk37:31 in darkness, lie, do not live out the truth, circle that. When you're walking in darkness, that is a life that is dishonest about God. It's37:42 dishonest with God. It's dishonesty with self. It's it's just self deception and then that waterfalls into dishonesty37:55 with others. I mean, have you ever had a person just say, you know what, you're not being honest with yourself. Well, I I would step that up. Usually, if you're not being honest with yourself, you're not being honest38:05 with God and other people either. Right? You're you're self deceived. So we walk in the darkness. We lie. We don't practice truth. That's 1 option. Or we could walk in the light. And it's the38:17 it's the 180 degree opposite of walking in darkness. Right? That life is honest about God's person. Right? Honest with God in light of who he is, honest with self38:29 because if God knows well then I can be honest with myself. And when you're honest with God and honest with yourself, it's so much easier to be vulnerable and honest with others. And38:41 there is the abundant life. You can live 1 kind of secret life that harms your relationship with God's self and others, or you can live this life that God38:53 offers based on his perfect knowledge of you, constant presence, care. Right? And that life gives life to you. Right? And as a waterfall39:05 gives life to your relationships with others and yourself. And so, there's your foundation. Okay? Every man has a hidden life but now we get to39:17 choose how how to live it. So let's let's put down our our pens and pencils and let's go to God in prayer. Let's just be let's just be silent for a minute. Let's have some listening prayer39:32 and just say to God, God, what? God, what would you wanna say to me or reveal to me39:46 about me.Show more In this video 0:00 The Secret Life: Known Only to God
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