p. 42 | Secret Faults by D. Downer

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 4, 1875

Secret Faults.

By D. Downer

“CLEANSE thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins.” Ps. 19: 12, 13.

The above is the recorded prayer of David. He prayed to be kept from the very sins which were most likely to ruin his hope. Self-righteousness arises partly from pride, and partly from ignorance of the law of God. Men now seem to know but little of God's law; consequently they are not aware of the stern severity of the law, or they would have wiser notions. Let a man understand that the law deals with secret thoughts as well as outward acts, and self-righteousness will shrivel into nothing. Now David had seen God's law and praised it. After having considered its excellency, he utters this thought, “Who can understand his errors?” Then he prays, “Cleanse thou me from secret faults.”

The sins that we confess are like the farmer's small samples which he takes to market when he has left a granary full at home. We have but very few sins, that we see and confess compared with those that are hid from others, and unknown to us. Sin is sin, whether we see it or not. How often are we astonished to see how far some have gone in appearance, and yet have had so little soundness of heart. To those who sin secretly, and yet make a profession—who break God's commands in the dark, and wear a mask of goodness in the light; to those who shut the door and commit wickedness within, may God speak to you and make you pray this prayer, “Cleanse thou me from secret faults.”

Who is to be detested more than an empty pretender? People who would be shocked to see a drunkard in the ditch, are often indulging in some secret habits no less disgusting in the sight of God. It may be some other vice, but pretender, you are foolish to one moment harbor that thistle that will soon seed your entire heart, and ruin you. Dig deep as you will—try to conceal that secret sin, and the day of God will prove your foolish attempt to cover it. That pet sin is seen of God, and is photographed in Heaven. How foolish men are to think of sinning in secret!

This world is like a glass hive. God looks down and sees our works. Oh! it were enough to curb us from every sin if we truly realized these words, “Thou God seest me.” Stop thief, stop slanderer, stop tattler. Stop! God sees you now. Oh! swearer, liar, don't you know that Heaven's diary will reveal all the sins of your life. If I could know every secret thought of the reader's heart, every secret act, many would sooner give their lives, than have it published in this column. How you or I would plead, Tell of my outward acts—of them I am not ashamed; but do not tell of my thoughts and secret actions. I ask you then, in the name of my Master, to clean the black record of the past, and join with David in the prayer, “Cleanse thou me from secret faults.” Oh! leave secret sins. Yes; secret now, but one day it will be advertised on the walls of Heaven.

But there is misery in secret sin. The man professing religion, and living in iniquity is of all men most miserable. Like the mouse in the parlor, running out now and then to pick up crumbs, such men run out now and then to sin, and how fearful they are of being found out; with cunning they gloss over their sins; adding deception to deception that they may not be discovered. Let us not profess to be the Lord's, and spend our lives in the service of the devil. If we are going to serve God, let us do it, out and out. Hypocrisy and secret sins have cut the very sinews of the church of God. Above all, let us beware of committing acts that we must conceal. Secret sins bring fevered eyes, and sleepless nights. We cannot have boldness in the day of Judgment, if secret sins be found on our record. The fox followed by hungry hounds with open mouths, is more happy than a man followed by his sins.

Little sins ruin us. One thistle would in time seed the whole world—one sin cherished will ruin us. That drunkard took his first drink secretly—next, he drank in the street. Says my young friend, I will read this lascivious book, only this; I can hide it if any one comes. You will yet keep that book in your library. Oh! says one, I can drink one glass, and no more. I can go so far, and no farther. I am a strong-minded man. Yes; but there will be many strong-minded men damned. When you first sinned, the cold sweat stood on your brow; the second time, a sly, mean look; the third time, you felt a little uneasiness; finally, you enjoyed it. We would not trust ourselves in sin. If we do, the best of us will only be as straws in a whirlwind, or as chips on the falls of Niagara.

Many professed Christians harbor secret sins. They say, It is only a little sin. Little foxes spoil the vines. Little sins, like a little pebble in the shoe, will lame the traveler on the road to Heaven, and he never can make the journey with them. One dead fly spoils the dish. When will we learn that one little sin indulged in will ruin us? Let us pause and count the cost. There is your lust to be given up—your pride, your stubbornness, your self-will. God help us, as a people, to give up all for Christ. Soon Jesus is coming to take vengeance on sin and sinners. There will not then be an infidel denying Christ. No; the prayer will be, Rocks and mountains, fall on us. Sinner, where will you be in that day? Come out of your hiding place unmasked. Come out of that black chamber of sin. It is now or never with us—turn or burn. Your conscience tells you it is true.

Secondly, “Keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins.” It is true that under the Jewish economy atonement was made for all sins of ignorance but not those of presumption. A man has premeditated murder in his heart for months. His conscience has cried out, Murder, but willfully he proceeds to commit the deed. His sin is greater than that of the man who kills in self-defense. When a man is warned of God, by friends and by the Bible, and knows his sins, what presumption to continue in them. What will God do with men who are willfully breaking his commandments after he has given them light? But they stick to creeds, and dishonor God. Is it not sinning presumptuously to wait one more day before putting away sin? You presume you will live; but to-morrow you may have lived out your allotted time, and die in sin, full of good resolutions. But it is acts that weigh in the moral scales of Heaven.

David, the good man, prayed to be kept back from presumptuous sins, and we are in no less danger than he. Paul says, “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” Do Christians need warning against such sins as these? Yes. The highest saint may sin the lowest sin, unless kept by divine grace. Experienced Christian, boast not of steadfastness. You may trip and fall yet unless you cry, “Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe.” Job might have said, I never will curse the day of my birth; but he lived to do it. Of all the sins we meet, those most to be dreaded are—or will be—the sins of secrecy and presumption. Let us make this a year of self-searching and loosing from idols. Let us love one another more, and no longer have hypocrisy woven into our faith or works. Let us work like unto men who are waiting for their soon-coming Lord.

D. DOWNER.

Avon, Wis., Jan. 8, 1875.