Philippians 3:8-10 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

Did you ever play hide and seek as a child? I cannot imagine a childhood without it. We were always trying to find that one place no one would think to look.

In verse 9 Paul begins with the perfect hiding place, to be in Christ. Think about your adversary stalking around looking for you. That old devil could not possibly find you in Christ. What a secure place to hide!

At the end of our earthly hide and seek game we called out “Ollie Ollie Oxen Free” to call out all those who had hidden successfully. Here is the spiritual equivalent of that call.

Ephesians 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

The fellowship of the mystery, hidden in God, Jesus Christ.

This is no childish game. This is the purest form of sanctification, our separation from sin, from the enemy, and from all the dangers those two things represent.

Sadly and with all the risks involved, our Savior sends us out into the world to find the lost and bring them into the fellowship of that mystery. He doesn’t want us playing this game of hide and seek alone. There is no joy in playing alone.

Proverbs 20:9 Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?

1 Timothy 1:5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:

Hebrews 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

1 Peter 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

Psalm 24:4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

When I left off yesterday with that earnest plea, be holy for God is holy, I felt a tinge of conflict in my mind, my understanding. I did not feel it in my heart.

I know I am a sinner saved by grace. I know that I have sin, God is not a liar. I know I have no strength within me to perform that which I know is right. I also know that a clean conscience is tied to the motivations of my true heart condition and not my fumbling bungling attempts to perform holiness.

That is why I began by quoting scriptures related to the pure heart. God has gone through an enormous amount of trouble in order to change our hearts. We judge words and deeds, God judges the heart.

1 Corinthians 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.