#16 Living the Kingdom Life by Living a Hidden Life (4)

Brother Tom Goetz continues our series on having a hidden life with the Lord.

Scripture Reading: Psa. 42:7; Isa. 37:31

IV. Psalm 42:7 says, “Deep calls unto deep”:

A. Others can respond deep within to only what issues from deep within us; anything that is not from the depths will never reach the depths of others.

B. The kingdom life is a life in the depths, a life that can “take root downward and bear fruit upward”—Isa. 37:31; cf. Acts 6:7; 12:24; 19:20.

C. On the one hand, we need to allow Christ as the seed of life to take root deep in the soil of our heart as the good earth (Matt. 13:23); on the other hand, we, as living plants in Christ, need to take root deep in the soil of the all-inclusive Christ as the reality of the good land (Col. 2:6-7):

1. The good earth signifies the good heart that is not hardened by worldly traffic, that is without hidden sins, and that is without the anxiety of the age and the deceitfulness of riches; we need to daily allow the Lord to deal with these things in our heart so that we can grow with the growth of God—v. 19.
2. Because we have been planted in Christ as the reality of the good land, we need to take time to absorb Him (especially in our times with Him in the morning).

D. While the sower sowed, some seeds fell beside the way, some on the rocky places, some into the thorns, and some into the good earth; this shows us four different ways for man to receive the word—Matt. 13:4-8, 18-23:

1. The Lord Jesus tells us that among these different conditions, one is the rocky places; there is a little earth on the surface, but underneath there are rocks; when the seed falls into this kind of ground, it springs up quickly, but as soon as the sun comes out, it withers because of the lack of root—vv. 5-6.
2. What is a root? It is growth that occurs beneath the soil. What are the leaves? This is growth that occurs above the soil.
3. In other words, roots are the hidden life, whereas leaves are the manifest life; the trouble with many Christians is that, while there is much apparent life, there is very little secret life; in other words, there is the lack of a hidden life.
4. If all your experiences are manifested, then all your growth is upward; there is no downward growth; if this is the case, you are a person who has only leaves without root, and you are on shallow ground.
5. The Christian who parades all his virtues before men and who does not have anything in the depth of his being has no root; he will not be able to stand in the day of trial and temptation; may God work in us so that we can take root downward.
need deep experiences of Christ like that of the apostle Paul—2 Cor. 12:1-4:

E. We need deep experiences of Christ like that of the apostle Paul – 2 Cor. 12:1-4:

1. Paul was caught away to the third heaven and caught away into Paradise, but he did not divulge this experience until fourteen years later; Paul’s roots were deep beneath the soil.
2. If we want to have Paul’s work, then we need to have Paul’s “root”; if we want to have Paul’s outward conduct, then we need to have Paul’s inner life; if we want to have Paul’s manifest power, then we need to have Paul’s secret experience.
3. This does not mean that we should not testify, but we must realize that many experiences need to be hidden—cf. 4:5.
4. To be without root is to be without any hidden treasure; it is to be without any hidden life or hidden experiences; it is essential that some of our experiences remain covered; to uncover everything is to lose everything—cf. Isa. 39:2-8.

F. A pure and beautiful spiritual life is derived from inward, hidden, and uninterrupted fellowship with God; hence, “he will bud like the lily / And will send forth his roots like the trees of Lebanon” (Hosea 14:5); this kind of life is capable of bearing much fruit—vv. 5-7.