Thy Father Which Seeth in Secret
Category: Peace & Assurance
Key Passage: Matthew 6
Speaker: Paul Chisgar
Date: June 7, 2024
Matthew chapter 6. And we’re going to read a little bit more out of the bat than typical Sunday morning. The first verse, number one to verse number four, talks about alms deeds. Let me explain that before reading. Alms deeds is giving or doing something for another person. Maybe they… you know they have some need. Our church knew of a couple that was visiting some, and they needed some help with the rent, and we helped them financially with the rent. That’s alms indeed, you help someone. You ever shake someone’s hand, or you have it happen to you, but you shake their hand, and either you have it in your hand or they have it in their hand, they’re giving it to you. But inside that is a $20 bill. That’s a good handshake. Either way, it’s a good, been giving or receive. I actually bet more blessed to give. That’s alms, okay, doing for others. That’s alms giving. There’s tithes, offerings, and alms. Look at verse number one. Matthew 6, verse number one. He says, take heed that you do not your alms before men to be seen of them. Otherwise, you have no reward of your Father, which is in heaven.
Therefore, when thou dost thine alms, do not sound the trumpet before thee, as a hypocrite does in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. And verily I say unto you, they have their reward. When thou dost give alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth, that thine alms may be in secret, that the Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. That’s the first subject, alms. He’s going to change the subject here, all right?
For the next several verses, are going to talk about praying. They’ve been focusing on prayer a lot in our church. He starts talking about prayer here in verse number five, all right? He’s changing the subject, but let’s see what he says. And when thou prayest, thou should not be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet. When thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father, which is in secret. And thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
Now jump down several verses. You go to verse number 16. Verse number 16, he changes the subject again. He has several other verses about prayer. We won’t read those. But now he’s changed the subject in verse number 16 to fasting. I know that’s a dirty word to use in the Baptist Church, you know, fasting. I understand what you’re saying there, but it’s amazing what God will do. I’m not, I’m getting off subject a little bit, but I’m not a great person of fasting like all of these. And I’m amazed sometimes. I’ll fast just a little bit, not like I should, but a little bit, and it’s amazing what God will do sometimes. None of these are about us being great, but it’s about God that’s great.
And using these sayings, we’re talking about fasting here, verse number 16. He said, moreover when you fast, be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces. I thought about that. I wonder what Jesus or what face Jesus had in mind when he said they disfigured their faces. Did they go around, you know, with their lip curled up, mad at the world, or man, I’m hungry? I wonder what that meant, disfigured faces, you know? I just cried all the time or what, you know? But these people that fast, they want everybody to know, “Oh, I’m so hungry today.” Maybe that’s what he meant by fasting. I don’t know. Disfigured in their face. But he says they’re, I’ve done lost my place now. For they disfigure their faces, verse number 16, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head and wash thy face. My other men, it is very common. They have to do those things in the very dusty world, that they appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father, which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
If I’m that man, if I fall into that trap, I’m just putting on, I want to be seen of men. We had one of our men, he had went to a church where they had this faith healing. Now, God heals, for him, I praise the Lord. If you’ve been around for a while, we’ve seen the Lord do some miracles. God heals, but He doesn’t need some man to hit somebody over the forehead to heal him. God heals, not man. And he had went to one of these churches, just a lot of showmanship up, and he said, “Pastor, it’s amazing.” He said, “I’d see a guy really just start doing all this stuff and being involved and all that, and he said, I would watch him look around to see who’s looking at him.”
And this man, I think he’s got some discernment about it. In fact, one time I believe he told me, he said, “I think that’s one of my gifts, the gift of discernment.” And if I’m doing it to be seen of men, I’m concerned about what everybody else thinks and if they’re seeing me do this or not. And that’s my mentality. Look what Jesus says about it. Look in verse number one, this phrase. I want you to see this phrase Jesus uses it in every situation. We’ll see it. Verse number one, keep your Bible. We’ll go back there a lot. He said, “Take heed that you do not your alms before men.” Here it is. Would you read that next phrase out loud with me? Here we go: “To be seen of them.”
Yeah. Look in verse number five. Verse number five, now he’s talking about praying. I believe it was Spurgeon who said sometimes we’re not praying to God; we’re praying to men, preaching a sermon at them. You can call that preaching, but that’s not praying. But he says in verse number five, “And when thou prayest, thou should not be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets.” Would you read that next phrase with me? Here we go: “That they may be seen.”
Yeah. Look at verse number 16, verse number 16, if you would please. “Moreover, when you fast, be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces.” I already read it, got going too quick. Would you read that out with me, please? “That they may appear unto men.” I’m amazed in this passage how many threes. I should have told you ahead of time, I meant to tell you, when I’ve underlined a lot of the threes, first word was hypocrites, you’ll find that three times. Now you’ve found three times to be seen of men.
Can I just stop and say here, if I’m trying to get a marriage that looks good to everybody else, something’s not right. Sometimes we fight all the way to church, and then, man, we get out of the car at church and, whoa, time to put on the spiritual robes, you know, to be seen of them. Now listen to me, I ought not be raising my children to be seen of them. It’s not about what they look like to everybody else; it’s about what they are. If I’m not careful, I’ll do my things at church because I want everybody else to see it. If I go to work and I just want to look good to the boss, something’s not right for it. To be seen of men, it’s amazing. This is amazing how we want others to think we got money. Not crazy, but we do. I’ll try to look like it and act like it. It’s amazing how we want to, want everybody to think we know everything, and we got to, you know, we act like we know everything. And the honest truth is we don’t. We’re far from it. We’ve got to have an opinion about everything sometimes. And just all this to be seen of men, and what do people think about me and how do I appear to everyone? You know, the world focuses on what everybody thinks about them, what they look like to everybody else. And, frankly, can I just say something here? That’s a sad commentary of a Christian. The end of that commentary is very sad. And when my life gets all about to be seen of men, to be seen of men, to be seen of men, hey, the Lord is not saying this is a good thing. He’s rebuking the people that are doing even good things, but they’re doing good things to be seen of men. It’s not about all about being seen of men.
Here’s very interesting. Notice another little phrase that appears three times in this passage. Look at verse number two. We’ll find it the first time. Verse number two here. It’s talking about alms deeds here. Verse number two. “Therefore, when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men.” For verily I say unto you, here it is. Would you read that phrase with me? “They have…”
Wow. Look, if you will, in verse number five. Verse number five, I’ve told my prayer here. “When thou prayest, thou should not be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.” Verily I say unto you, here it is. Would you read it please? “They have…”
Look at verse number 16, if you would please. Verse number 16. “Moreover, when you fast, be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men to fast.” Verily I say unto you, they, would you read that loud? Here we go: “They have…”
I couldn’t help when I studied about this to think about Elvis Presley. Boy, you’ll find Elvis Presley stuff in people’s houses and, you know, and all that. And he did a whole lot of things to be seen of men. You can say amen right there. He wasn’t doing it to help; he was doing it for his own pocket, for his own popularity. You can say amen. Pretty miserable in, sitting on his toilet, throwing up, dying for a drug overdose. Is that the truth or not? Sure, it’s the truth. Hey, living to be seen of men always has a sad ending, and the Lord says, “You have your reward.”
Ever think about it? It’s pretty crazy. We’re always trying to impress dirt. That’s about it. We can get stuck in this lifestyle of to be seen of men, to be seen of men. What a sad thing.
The Lord makes it very, very clear in verse number one. If you go back to verse number one, the end of this saying here, verse number one, if you look over there, he says, “Take heed that you do not your alms before men to be seen of them.” Otherwise, you have no reward. Read it again. “You have no reward.”
Wow, that’s pretty powerful. No reward. Whether you want to talk about eternal rewards or blessings down here, that reward can mean a whole lot of different things, but God said, look, if you’re doing what you’re doing to be seen of men, you’ve got no reward from God.
So I want my marriage to be blessed, I want my kids to be blessed, and I want this, that, the other. Hey, are you doing what you’re doing to be seen of men? Do you want man’s reward or do you want God’s reward? Because what I’m doing what I’m doing to be seen of men, friend. Now wait a second. Hey, the Lord says, you got no reward for you. It’s a sad ending to that. What a sad thing.
You know, as a preacher, it’s a pastor, I have to watch that. I heard somebody on the radio, Christian radio this week, and I can’t remember the subject, but I remember the statement, but they said something like, “And so pastors are an example in every area.” There’s some biblical truth to that. An example is the Bible word. That’s heavy, heavy. That’s a tough one right there. I don’t always measure up to that. But here’s what I’m saying about that: If I’m not careful, I’ll just adopt this lifestyle. I can become a professional pastor, if you will, preacher, and everything’s about to be seen of men. And it’s a hollow, empty shell, and God says you have no reward from me. I have to guard for that. I want my life to be about what God sees, not what men see.
I was amazed years ago. I had a funeral. And we had a funeral here years ago. And a man said, “Can I talk with you, pastor?” And I said, “Sure.” There was a visitation. We were here for hours. And so I went back to my office back there. And he doesn’t attend our church. I don’t know if he’s ever been to a church service, maybe once. But a good man. And we knew each other. And he said, “You don’t know who my wife is and who my mother-in-law, father-in-law is.” And so, of course, “No, I don’t,” you know. He said, “If I told you their name,” he did eventually, he said, “you would know them.” Have I told you what country songs she sings? You would know them. He did, and I do. And he said, “They’ve been in the country music business for years and years. He said, ‘They’re one of the wealthiest musicians there is.’ Back just this morning I looked up, and the internet was saying their net worth is millions and billions of dollars.” He said, “That’s that’s my that’s the family I married into. They’re one of the unusual ones that are very known, but they’ve been married for a long time.” He said, “And everybody thinks everything’s wonderful. He said, 'I’m married in that family, kid. I just tell you, pastor, he said, ‘I need some help. I need some counsel from from from a preacher, from a Christian, and somebody I can trust.’ And he said, ‘Can I just be honest with you?’ He said, ‘They are miserable. They fight all the time. Just one big fight to be in their family. They’re about to tear me and and their daughter, my wife, about to tear us apart, and I don’t know what I’m going to do about it.’ And they got all the money and the fame.” He said, “If you get to know them, they’re just miserable people.” He started crying. Them all for just shedding tears.
They’ve married—excuse me—they’ve ruined some of my children by marriage, ruined their life to where they’ve committed, or excuse me, attempted to commit suicide, and they’re messed up so bad. And he said, “I can’t help it. I blame so much on them, these popular people that people praise them.” And I’m saying this world is all about what you look like to everybody else, but you get down to the core of it all, and, friend, that’s not the important thing. They had all everybody looking at them, thinking they’re great, but they were miserable because they had no reward from upstairs. That’s where it matters. Every good and every perfect gift is from above. They’re miserable. And he just wept in my office. He said, “I don’t know what to do about it. I want to keep my marriage together.”
It’s amazing when you get to know even the ones of the world. They just think they’re wonderful, and they’re doing so much to be seen of men. So often their life is so empty. So sad. Jesus Christ is giving a warning. He said, “Hey, don’t do even good things to be seen of men because you’ve got your reward. You don’t get no rewards from God for eternity and for lifetime down here.” Just an open statement Jesus makes.
Now let’s look at the other side here. Look in verse number four, if you would please. Verse number four, and he’s talking about the first subject here, alms deeds. Verse number four, he says, “That thine alms…” Well, jump up to verse number three so you get the gist of it. “But when thou doest thine alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth, that thine alms may be in secret.” It’s an amazing statement right here. Would you read this next statement out loud with me? The next phrase, here we go: “And thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.”
Look in verse number six. “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet. When thou shut the door, pray to thy Father, which is in secret.” And here it is: “And thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.” Look in verse number 18. Oh, excuse me, verse number 18. “That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father, which is in secret.” Here we go. Would you say it with me out loud? “And thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.” Isn’t that amazing? When I do things in secret, I’m not doing it to be seen of men, and it’s in secret, God says, “I reward you then.”
Help me out. Would you rather man reward you or God reward you? Oh, yeah. Man can’t change your family’s hearts, but God can. Man can’t make that neighbor, that co-worker, that loved one get saved. Man can’t work in that heart strongly to try to get them saved, but God can. Man can’t—most men can’t—most men won’t bless you financially and take care of you every financial need you ever have, but God can. Friend, I’m saying it’s all about who do you want to get rewards from. Friend, when you go to work, are you doing everything to be seen of God or men? I want my boss to see it. I understand that somewhat. But friend, if your boss upstairs sees it, He can take care of you.
And if I do these things in secret, “Thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.” We focus so much in America about everything in the open, but gotta get everything in the open, everything out here. Friends, you get everything right between you and God in secret, all the open will take care of itself. We spend our lives focusing on the open in front of everybody, and the secret is in shambles, and we wonder why we can’t travel very far. Friend, you’d be better off to not worry about the open. God’ll take care of that. Worry about the secret. That’s the key. God gives peace. God’s peace passes all understanding. People can’t understand it. God gives joy. He says, “Rejoice in the Lord always.”
Yeah, I’ve already mentioned, but your family, listen, friend, we can’t even change ourselves, much less our spouse or our kids. I’m for, you know, raising my kids right, come closer to that than any of them, but God’s the one that works in hearts. A friend, just to go across the board, every good and every perfect gift is from above. And if I’m going to get the good and perfect gifts He wants to give to me, I must focus—I must focus—on the secret. And we spend so much time focusing on the open. And Jesus says, “You’re missing it. You’re missing it. It’s the secret that’s what matters. My Father, which seeth in secret.”
By the way, what is He saying? He shall reward thee openly. Help me out. Who would you better to promote yourself, you or God? That’s pretty much the question right here. He rewards you openly. It’s always amazing to me. I told my—Jesus Christ in Philippians chapter two, He says He made Himself of no reputation. We’re such the opposite of that. We’re good about promoting ourselves. Jesus wasn’t like that. It’s when you let God, He’s the one that rewards you openly. Such a different lifestyle than the world, a different way of thinking. I want to make sure the secret time with the Lord—that’s what I’m focusing on. That’s what I’m putting my energy into. That’s what I want to make a priority in my life because that’s right. The outside and the open will take care of itself. God can handle that. Yeah. That’s what Jesus is saying. By the way, when God rewards you, that’s rewards for all eternity. Pretty good deal. To be seen of men, it’s pretty short-lived. And you’re just to be seen of dirt anyway, so what’s the big deal there? But we’ve got rewards from God. Man, that lasts for 10 years, 100 years, a thousand years, a million years, 10 million years, and for all eternity. Pretty good deal right there. Where do we want rewards from? It’s all about they’re doing good things. They’re doing good things. But if I’m doing it to be seen of men, God said, “No, you got your reward, none for me.” Such a different way of living, a higher way of living.
I look at the end of those, and I don’t know man’s heart, of course the Lord does, but just look at it. I think of Apostle Paul. It seems he was not living to be seen of men. He seems to be living for the Lord Jesus Christ. He was His apostle. Yes, he was concerned about his testimony, but the ultimate wasn’t for him; it was for the Lord. Paul’s end of his life, it looked pretty rough; he’s in jail, martyred for the Lord. That’s been about 2,000 years ago. Think it’s been looking good since then. Got rewards for all eternity.
I think about Brother Duane Douthit, a man in our church years ago, was our youth director and a deacon in our church. And Jess was a good, godly man and a good soul winner. And he got cancer. I remember towards the end, he had a heart condition, and he got cancer, but it was his heart condition. I remember towards the end one time, he had taken a teenager in an activity, and he always had pain for a couple days after because of his heart problems. And I said, “Hey, Brother Wade, you know, maybe you need to slack up on this stuff and not doing it.” And he told me this: He said, “You know,” he said, “if I want to have a couple years to live, this is the way I want to live those couple years, serving these kids that God’s called me to serve.” What are you going to say to that? You can’t tell him to stop when he tells you that, you know. And it seemed like it wasn’t to be seen of men, and he wanted to live for the Lord. And he said, “I want to spend the last days of my life just living for the Lord.” That’s basically what he told me.
And I remember the call that was Wednesday night after church. We got a call that he had passed. My wife and I rushed up there, I don’t know, 10, 11 o’clock at night. And we went in one of the first rooms, one of the rooms where he passed. He still had a hospital bed there. A lot of the family weren’t there yet. Now they’re trying to get there and understand that. But we came in there. We were one of the first ones. By the way, that day he had been saying, he’d been telling family and everyone, “He’s ready to go home.” And some of them got it. They said, “Preacher, I’m telling you, he’s talking about going home to heaven.” I thought he was saying he wanted to go home with his family. But we walked in the hospital room, and his body was there still in the hospital bed. I’ve seen fairly good amounts of dead bodies. And some of them before the ambulance ever picked him up, seen that many of the time. Man, I walked in that room, it’s so much more obvious that I’ve ever seen a dead body. He died with a smile on his face. He just had a very obvious smile. He had been saying all that long, “I’m ready to go home.” You know why? Because he wasn’t living for the reward here. He was living for the reward here. Hey, friend, man, he spent the last years of his life just living to be seen of God.
It’s a different way of living, but it always ends up good because He’s the one that gives the rewards. Can I show you two keys and we’re done? We’ve got just a bit of the two. Look in verse number four. Verse number four, you’ve kind of already seen it, but I want to point out two things real quickly. Two keys to this thing here. Verse number four, “That thine alms may be in secret.” And here’s the phrase I want you to see. It’s amazing how many threes come in this passage here. Would you read just the first portion of that phrase? Here we go: “And thy Father which seeth in secret.” That’s it, just “thy Father which seeth in secret.”
Now look in verse number six. Verse number six. “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet. When thou shut the door, pray to thy Father, which is in secret.” Would you read that first part of that phrase? Here we go: “And thy Father, which seeth in secret.” What is—you look at verse number 18. Verse of 18, “That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father, which is in secret.” Here it is. Would you read out loud with me? Here we go: “And thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.” God’s looking at the secret. Three times, He states that “thy Father which seeth in secret.” God’s looking at the secret. That’s key. That’s where God three times says, “The Father, which seeth in secret.”
I want a good marriage. All right. Work on what you’re doing in your marriage that nobody else knows about. Maybe not even your spouse sometimes. My Father which seeth in secret. I would—I’d like to make a difference at my workplace. I’d like to see some of the people, my coworkers, get saved. All right, don’t worry so much about in the open. God’ll take care of that. What are you doing in secret about that situation? Thy Father which seeth in secret. He’s looking. So what—what should I focus on? I tell you what: you focus on the part that He’s looking at. And He says that Father which seeth in secret.
Let me show you one more thing. We’re done. “Thy Father which seeth in secret.” Look back another phrase real quickly. Look at verse number six. Verse number six. He’s talking there about prayer, verse number six. Are you there in verse number six? Good. Verse number six. “But thou, when thou prayest, enter thy closet. When thou shut the door, pray.” Would you read this next little phrase with me? Here we go: “Pray to thy Father, which is in secret.”
Yeah, He is in secret. Look in verse number 18. Verse number 18. “That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father, which is in secret.” Would you read out loud with me? Here we go: “Thy Father, which is in secret.” That’s interesting. He only makes that phrase twice. It wasn’t until studying this sermon. Why is that one only twice? And yet I kind of looked at that and I thought, well, that verse number one, He’s talking about alms deeds you’re doing for fellow man, right? Look back in verse number one, if you will, here. Verse number one. Very honest, because this one is only twice, “Our Father, which is in heaven,” that is that phrase. Look at what He says here in verse number one: “Take heed that you do not your alms before men to be seen of them. Otherwise, you have no reward of your Father, which is in heaven.”
It’s almost like in that instance, God said, “Hey, look, I’m not a man like that. I’m in heaven.” When it comes to this one here, I’ve already quoted the verse a couple times: “Every good and every perfect gift comes from above,” from heaven. It’s almost like that case. He’s putting emphasis on, “Hey, friend, you do for other people that everybody don’t know what you’re doing, you know, you do for them. I’m in heaven. I give all good things. I can work out a million ways to get it from heaven to you. I’m in heaven.”
That phrase though, “Thy Father, which is in secret.” Here’s the thing. I think maybe the Lord wants us to focus on here: God in a special way is waiting for you in secret. What we think so often are getting connected to God, and I’m for that in front of everybody; that’s wonderful. But if you want to get real close to God, you’re going to have to get alone with God. My Father, which is in secret.
Very interesting. We talked about that verse there. He says, “Shut the door.” Go on your prayer closet. Shut the door. We’re having public prayer meetings. I’m for all that. There’s power in collective prayer and all that. But if I really want to get real close to someone, I get alone with them. My Father, which is in secret. You may have to turn the world off and all the activities off. You may have to get away from everybody, everything, and you may have to just tune it all out and hang it all up and put it all away from it and get in secret. That’s where your Father is waiting. The Father, which is in secret.
A year or two ago, I was—I don’t know how I found it, but I think it was on YouTube. And I was watching these videos about these old ragtag cars. I looked up to see if some of them were on there, and I looked up again this morning. Specifically, one was an old Volkswagen bug. And I’m talking it looked rustiest can be, dirtiest, you know. One of these—I don’t know what color it was because it’s so dirty and rusted out, you couldn’t tell what color it was. The tires didn’t look like anything special. The rims just looked like an old piece of junk. The back hatch that’s got the engine in the back, it wouldn’t even close right. It looked like it was tied down with a bungee cord or something.
But man, that was very deceiving. They had that car souped up to the max. Really, the honest truth was that he had such a big engine in the back of the back hood wouldn’t close. There was such a big engine in there. From the outside, it looked like the biggest piece of junk in the world. And they would get with these people that had literally Ferraris and Lamborghinis and Lamborghinis and all the rest, and they would drag race in that Volkswagen bug. Now, they won a lot of money taking people’s money because they had that bug. It looked horrible on the outside, but on the inside, oh, my goodness, that thing could run.
You take somebody that doesn’t look real good to everybody else. They don’t have much talent. They maybe have a scar, messed up background life. They don’t have all the appearance. And some people say, “Boy, look at them!” And God says, “Boy, they got something inside. They’ve been meeting with me. They’ve been doing things in secret. Nobody else knows about it.” God says, “I know about that. And God says, that’s the people right there that I reward.”
Hey, the bottom line is, who do you want to reward you? Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? Maybe you’re there, and if the truth be known inside, you’ve never really put your faith in Christ alone to save you. And inside, you may have the outside, but inside you say, “Preacher, I don’t have a time that I can go back.” Now, I’m not talking about a date, but a time in your mind. I don’t have a time when I look back at when I was truly saved, I was born again. And inside, you’re just not really sure you’re saved. Can I talk with you just a minute? I’m not trying to call you out. I love to help, but friend, at the end, that’s what matters right there. Now, if that’s you, today would be a great, great day to settle that thing and get the secret—nobody else knows about it—get that secret part right with God. He loves you. He longs to save you. Be a great day in your heart right there in the secret of your heart for you to trust in Christ alone. Put your full faith in Him.
If that’s you right there and you say, “Preacher, I know my sin. I meant that. I understand there’s a penalty: death and hell. But I believe Jesus died to pay that sin debt. Now I never have just clearly went to Him, but I want to go to Him right now, right there in my heart, the secret part. Would you go to Him right now, right there? Would you go to Him? Would you trust on Him? Would you put your full faith in what He did to get you to heaven, not what you can do to get you to heaven?” Me there, would you just call Him, “Oh, Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner, in the deepest part of my heart. I’m trusting in You, Christ. You’ve got to save me. Please. Thank You for moving in on the secret part inside. Thank You here this morning.”
Said, “Preacher, I just settled that. I just settled.” By the way, the Bible says if I confess Him, I trust and believe on Him, I won’t be ashamed of that. You said, “Preacher, I just called on Him. I put my faith in Him to be my Savior. Just trusted in Him alone.” Just did that. That’s you with your heads bowed. Just lift your head. “A preacher, I just did. Just trusted in Christ alone to save me.”
God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. We’d love for you to come forward. There will be some men standing down front or a man in the back. You go to them, shake their hand, and say, “Hey, I need to get some assurance.” They need to get this thing settled. They have Bible verses. They can help you on that thing, get an assurance of it.
Maybe you hear this morning, you say, “I know I’m a Christian, but I’m going to start working at my secret life.” I mean by that, I’m not saying necessarily it’s super sinful, but just say, “I’m going to kind of stop focusing on so much of what everybody else sees. I’m going to focus on what only God sees.” “Preacher, God spoke to my heart. I’m going to be focused. I’m going to be this saying of ‘Thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.’ I’m going to focus on that secret.” God spoke from my heart. “I’m going to be focusing on that secret that God sees.” And God spoke to my heart about that. That’s you this morning. Just lift your hand up. “Preacher, we’re focusing on that.” God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you this morning. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. “Preacher, I’m going to be focusing on meeting with Him in secret. My Father, which is in secret. I’m going to focus on that. I realize it’s the open that’ll take care of itself. I’ve got to get to Him in secret. Now I want to spend a lot of time alone, away from everything, everybody. I’m going to focus on my Father, which is in secret.” God spoke to me. “I’m going to be meeting with Him in secret a lot more.” God spoke to my heart about that. That’s you this morning. You slip your hand up. That’s me. Ask me. God bless you. That’s key. That’s key. God bless you. God bless you. Thank you for letting the Lord speak to you. Thank you so very much.
I’m amazed. I really am amazed the more I’m around other preachers and pastors and whatnot. I heard a number statistic, and I don’t know that it’s accurate, but the percentage is so high of pastors, senior pastors—I think the last thing I heard—that are introverts, and they’re a good pastor. They’re going to love people, but their focus is about being alone. Maybe God did it that way because He knows that’s the key. That’s the important part. And we, man, we focus on all this. God’s telling us in this passage, He focuses on the long time. And such a key thing. So glad you’re in church this morning. It’s a great day in a lot of ways. One way, because we’ve got an extra hour of sleep. Somebody say, “Amen,” right there. Yeah, that’s a good way right there. And then Brother Josh has come forward, and he’s going to get baptized this morning. And praise the Lord for that. And Miss Beth, his wife, she’s coming to join. She’s been saved and baptized by immersion, and she wants to become a member of our church. So we’re excited about Beth coming and joining. What a blessing they are. If you’re for Beth coming and joining, would you say, “Amen?” And praise the Lord for great people, and just God putting together a great team for His glory and His honor. A great couple, and God just gives us the privilege of being with them about a year. And Brother Josh was saved years ago. It was sprinkled, but he studied out God’s Word, and he says, “You know, it’s kind of like, you’re right. I need to get dunked.” And he’s going to get baptized because he’s seated in the Scriptures. And what a great blessing it is. So if you hang on, Brother Anthony leads in a song. We’ll baptize in just a moment here.
I’m on the winning side. I’m on the winning side. Page number 562, and we’ll sing those verses there. 562. While the preacher’s baptism gets ready, 562, “I’m on the winning side.” On that first verse: “Once I drifted out in sin, had no hope nor joy within, and my soul was burning down. My Savior came along and He showed me I was wrong. Now I know, yes, I’m on the winning side. Shout and say, ‘No more the cause of truth and right! Praise the Lord, I’m on the way!’”
Praise the Lord, we’re on that winning side. Let’s sing that second verse here. “From the straight and narrow way, I was drifting every day, out upon the waters wide. Now my soul is on the wing side. Yes, I’m on the winning side! Shout and say, ‘No more the cause of truth and right! Praise the Lord, I’m on the way!’”
What a blessing to be on the Lord’s side, the winning side. And Ms. Beth told me before service, she said, “You know, this is special. Not many wives get to see their husband get baptized.” It is a precious time. And praise the Lord for Brother Josh, just got a heart for God, wanting to do what’s right. Praise the Lord. I know God’s very pleased with that. And Brother Josh, you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? Amen. Amen. In obedience to the command of our Lord and Master, and upon your public profession of faith in Him, I baptize you, my brother, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Buried in the likeness of His death. Raised in the likeness of His resurrection. Amen. Amen. Amen. Love you, brother. Amen. Amen. It is done as the Lord hath commanded. Yet there is room. That’s exciting. And would you please stand and be back in your place at 6 o’clock tonight? What a blessing. New members in the church and just growing in the Lord. It’s exciting to see. And I love to see their tender heart for God. What a blessing that is. And praise the Lord for them. Ms. Beth, can I get you to come stand in front there? She says, “You’re going to make me stand alone. My husband is not with me.” And I think last time we came this way, if I remember right, we’ll come this way and just come by, welcome her to the church. And Brother Josh, when it gets out, if you do that. And praise the Lord for His blessings on our church. What a great, great thing. And we praise the Lord for it.
Original File: Thy Father Which Seeth in Secret - Pastor Paul Chisgar Sunday AM 1112020