Matthew 10:26–28

"So have no fear of them." The first motive for not fearing is this: I have travelled the same path; do not be afraid. "Have no fear of them… for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known." He means: you will understand the reasons and motives of people's unbelief another day, if not now. Everyone who knows the truth and does not follow it must dislike those who do. As it was with Me, so will it be with you: but do not be alarmed. Be full of good courage, and persevere in the testimony.

And now He speaks the word which is to calm their fears: "Fear not." What meaning it has coming from such lips! Angels spoke the word "Fear not" long ago. They are only creatures sent with a message from the Throne. But the One who speaks here is the Creator Himself, made a little lower than the angels He had created… He tells them of the day when everything will be uncovered, and the secret things made known. This fact is to be before them, and before us, every day. Let us learn to look at all things in the light of the judgment seat! "Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God" (1 Corinthians 4:5). In view of this revelation of the secret things our Lord tells us to be bold and to declare the whole counsel of God.

Three great principles are here presented. First, the great general truth: man can keep nothing secret, though it may seem so. He can hide nothing. All must be in the light. God must have the upper hand, and light will win. Second, we must give an account of ourselves to God. Third, we are not to fear the secret schemes of men. We are to fear God, and bear witness according to the light given to us. To say that man can hide nothing is still not strong enough. There is nothing secret that will not be brought to light.

This is a very important principle. It upholds the authority of God as light. If anything could be kept back from that light, it would escape His power and judgment, and evil would go on independent of Him. It also upholds integrity of conscience.

They may well trust the strength of His own word: "have no fear of them." Their falsehood may seem to win for a time. But it will be fully exposed, to their own shame. Truth will win its complete victory in the end.

They themselves were to hold nothing back. They were to proclaim on the housetops all that they had been taught. God would bring everything into the light — their faithfulness to Him in this, as well as everything else. This answered the secret plotting of their enemies. It was also to mark the ways of the disciples themselves. God is light, and He sees in darkness as clearly as in light. He will bring everything out into the light. They were to do this now, in the way they lived.

All this is to keep the conscience in the light before God. Where there is anxiety about being exposed before other believers, shame before men still rules the heart and will. Self-love and reputation govern the mind. We are not in the light before God. Sin does not have its right character in our eyes. The reason is that self still has its power and place.

"So have no fear of them." The first reason not to fear is this: I have travelled the same path; do not be afraid… As it was with Me, so it will be with you. But do not be alarmed. Be full of good courage, and persevere in the testimony. "What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops" (v. 27). He encourages them to the greatest openness and boldness.

What the Lord spoke to them in darkness (that is, privately) they were to speak in the light, for it was the truth that men needed. In the same way, what we learn today in quiet communion with the Lord we are to declare with the boldness of honest faith. These things must not be just our opinions, but what the Lord speaks.

The Lord speaks of the disciples publishing on the housetop what He had told them privately. Matt. 10:27; Luke 12:3. You can often see this way of proclaiming in the East, when the public crier calls out from the housetop the news he has to make known.

They were His witnesses. What He told them in the darkness they were to preach in the light. What they heard whispered they must proclaim on the housetops (Matt. 10:27). The essence of Christ's gospel was its publicity, and also, as was later developed, its universality. Its ultimate scope was to all men and not to a few only.

They themselves were to hold nothing back. They were to proclaim on the housetops all that they had been taught. For everything should be brought into the light — their faithfulness to God in this respect, as well as all other things… God, who is light, and sees in darkness as in light, would bring all out into the light. But they were to do this in practice now.

Accordingly, Jehovah, in commissioning Jeremiah to be His prophet, said to him, "Whatever I command you, you shall speak" (Jer. 1:7). Also, the Lord, when sending out the twelve Apostles, said to them, "What you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops" (Matt. 10:27; Luke 12:3). The Apostle Paul writes in one of his letters, "I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you" (1 Cor. 11:23).

The glory of Christianity is AN OPEN BIBLE. Freemasonry, by contrast, has secret signs, and the lodges write their ritual in a secret code. Our Lord tells us that every secret will be revealed. He instructed His disciples: "What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops." (Matt. 10:27)