As believers in Christ, we are citizens of the kingdom of God, and our nature is both divine and human; our giving and our doing righteous deeds is in secret, for we do these before our Father, who sees in secret and rewards us in secret.
This matter of giving in secret is quite precious yet not very much practiced in Christianity today, because many times those who give want others to know that they give.
It kills our self and our flesh for us to give in secret, for the natural man wants others to know that we give.
On one hand, in our natural man we don’t want to give but rather, we want to receive and accumulate things; on the other hand, if we give, in our natural man we want everyone to know.
But praise the Lord, as believers in Christ, we are not like the ones in the world – we have a new life, the divine life, and we have a new nature, the divine nature.
When we live one spirit with the Lord, when we live according to the divine nature in our spirit, we will live before the Lord in secret, not publicizing what we do and give, and seeking to please the Father rather than pleasing man.
This is what He does toward us, and this is what we do in our daily living.
The Lord richly supplies us without making sure that we know this and that everyone knows about it, and He bountifully cares for us and gives us even more than what we need, yet He does this in secret.
And according to the revelation in the Holy Word, the way that we Christians should manage our finances is not to accumulate or invest to become richer but rather, it is for us to be one with the Lord in our giving.
Many times the reason we don’t enjoy the Lord that much and we don’t experience Him that often is because we are held back by what we hold and accumulate in our pocket and in our hand.
On His side, the Lord is ready to supply our every need and even give us more than what we need; on our side, however, we need to give and give and give, being one with the giving Lord to not hold on to what we have but let it go.
Our giving shouldn’t be only because there is a need; our giving should be in oneness with the Lord and according to His leading, giving in secret for the Lord to appreciate it rather than others.
When we give, when we are one with the Lord to let go of the things that He has entrusted us with as stewards, we make a deposit into our spiritual bank account.
May our treasure be in heaven rather than on earth, and may we keep sending our treasures in heaven rather than depositing them here on earth where the rust consumes and moth eats up.
As Kingdom People, we do our Righteous Deeds in Secret, Living in God’s Presence and Caring for it
Something mysterious and wonderful happened in us and with us at the time of our regeneration: we became citizens of the kingdom of God, for we were transferred out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of the Son of God. Hallelujah!
As kingdom people, we need to live in an emptied and humbled spirit, and we need to walk in a pure and single heart under the heavenly ruling of the kingdom of God.
We now live in another kingdom and under another rule; we live in the kingdom of God and under His rule in His kingdom, the church life.
As kingdom people, we are not allowed to live in the flesh or do anything according to the flesh for the praise of men, but we must live in the spirit.
In Matt. 6:1-4 the Lord charged us not to do our righteousness before men in order to be gazed at by them, for if we do this, we will have no reward with our Father who is in the heavens.
When we give alms, we shouldn’t sound a trumpet before us, making sure everyone knows that we give, for this brings in the glory of men but not God’s smile or glory.
When others know what we do and appreciate us publicly, we have received our reward – we don’t need God to reward us.
When we give, we need to give in secret; we need to do our righteous deeds in secret, living in the Lord’s presence and caring for it.
The Lord charged us not to let our left hand know what our right hand is doing – our alms should be in secret, and our Father who sees in secret will repay us.
We must do our righteous deeds in secret, for our Father is in secret.
Our Father sees in secret, He wants us to seek Him in secret, and He appreciates when we give in secret and do our righteous deeds in secret.
Our very nature as heavenly people, kingdom people, is a secret nature, and we must live in the presence of the Father and care for His presence, doing things not for others to see but for the Father to see and appreciate.
Whatever we do in secret for the Father’s kingdom, the Father sees in secret.
Our heavenly Father’s seeing in secret must be an incentive to do our righteous deeds in secret.
The reward and appreciation that we need and aim to get is not something from men but from the Father; He sees in secret, and He rewards us in secret.
The Father may repay us in this age, causing the fruits of our righteousness to increase (2 Cor. 9:10), or He may reward us in the next age, in the resurrection of the righteous (Luke 14:14).
What should matter to us is not the reward but our living in secret before the Father, our being in the Father’s presence, and doing our righteous deeds in secret.
Our Father is in secret, our nature as kingdom people is in secret, and our living before the Lord should be in secret, not in a way of display.
Our heavenly Father’s seeing in secret is the incentive to doing our righteous deeds in secret, for we seek to have the Father’s smile, not man’s appreciation.
How wonderful this is, for us to have the Father’s smile and His appreciation, His reward!
Thank You, Lord, for transferring us out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God to make us heavenly people, citizens of the kingdom of God. Thank You for giving us Your holy nature, the divine nature, for us to be able to live as kingdom people. We love You, Lord, and we seek You in secret. We want to live in an emptied and humbled spirit and walk in a pure and single heart under the heavenly ruling of the kingdom. We don’t want to do anything in the flesh for the praise of men; we want to do all things for the pleasing of our heavenly Father. Amen, Lord, we want to do our righteous deeds in secret, for our Father is in secret! Yes, Lord, our Father’s seeing in secret is our incentive to do our righteous deeds in secret! What we want is Your reward, not man’s outward appreciation or glory!
Our Nature as the Kingdom People in Doing our Righteous Deeds is in Secret, not in Public
It is such a mercy for us to return to the divine revelation in the Bible and remain in what the Lord reveals to us.
We must do our righteous deeds in secret, for our Father is in secret; as kingdom people, the nature of our doing righteous deeds such as giving and praying is in secret, not in public.
However, if we look both in the world and in Christianity today, many want to be appreciated when they give, and they want their name to be mentioned when they make a large donation.
If today people in society would not be allowed to make a show of their good deeds, they may not do them.
But if there’s a public display of their righteous deeds, they are glad to perform them.
Even in Christianity, it is so sad to see the current degraded situation in the matter of fundraising and donations.
Many so-called churches and people make a display for the donors, and the greater the public show, the more money people are willing to give.
Such a show is of the flesh, and such ones receive their reward in full from men, not from God.
We may think that when we are angry, when we lust, or we live in our natural man we live in the flesh, but when we give our money to God, we surely are not in the flesh; however, making a display of our giving to the Lord is something of the flesh.
Making a show of how much we give to the Lord is boasting for ourselves, seeking glory for ourselves and not from God.
But when we give in secret, when we do our righteous deeds in secret, the self and the flesh are killed, and the Lord gains the glory.
As kingdom people, a basic principle concerning righteous deeds is never to make a show of ourselves but rather, we do it in secret.
It is good, as much as possible, that we hide in our giving or doing our righteous deeds, and we keep ourselves covered as we give or pray (Matt. 6:3).
It is not necessary that we let other people know what we are doing, for it is easy to boast and thus be in the flesh.
Whether we give material things to the saints, we pray, we fast, or we do something to please God, we must try to do our righteous deeds in secret, not in public.
When we do it in public, for others to see and know, we cannot grow in life in a healthy way; such an exhibition greatly frustrates our growth in the divine life.
But if we do it in secret, if we pray, give, fast, and care for others in secret and not for others to see, we can be assured that we are growing in life and are healthy.
Our God is hidden – He is secret; He is doing many things, and He has done and will do many things, but people are not aware that He has done them.
Furthermore, He doesn’t insist that all would know that He did this and that for them: He simply does things in secret.
Our God is in secret, He does things in secret, and His righteous deeds are not on display for others to see in this age; such a One lives in us, and our very nature as kingdom people is in secret.
As those who benefit of the Father’s care in secret, who know the secret nature of our Father, and who seek Him in secret, the nature of our doing our righteous deeds must be in secret, so that the Father would see and appreciate, not in public for others to see.
Thank You Father for Your care for us in secret. Thank You for doing so many things for us and in us. Grant us to see the secret and hidden nature of Your work in us and around us. May we realize that our nature as kingdom people is in secret. Make us those who do not do things so that others may see them and appreciate us. Save us from boasting in what we do for God. Save us from showing others how generous we are. Father, we want to learn from You to do our righteous deeds in secret. Your presence is our reward, and Your appreciation is good enough. We love You, Father, and we love to spend time with You in secret, praying and seeking You in the secret place!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, and portions from, Life-study of Matthew (msg. 21), by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Material offerings and the Lord’s Move Today, week 2, entitled, Principles of Material Offerings (2).
- Hymns on this topic:
– Take time to behold Him, / The world rushes on; / Spend much time in secret / With Jesus alone. / By looking to Jesus / Like Him thou shalt be; / Thy friends, in thy conduct, / His likeness shall see. (Hymns #643)
– Each time when I dream of the goodness of life, / I pray Thee, dear Lord, that Thou in it may be; / O do not allow me to choose by myself, / Nor seek any pleasure that’s other than Thee. / Each night when alone in the stillness I lie, / I pray Thee, Lord Jesus, that Thou wilt be near; / Each morning ere dawn comes, while still in my sleep, / Then whispering call me and open my ear. (Hymns #389)
– Waiting on Thee, Lord, waiting on Thee; / Make all my prayer to Thee / Thyself expressed thru me, / Give me Thy secret key- / Waiting on Thee, waiting on Thee. (Hymns #792)
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