The Secret Place by Apostle Joshua Selman: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

The Nature of God's Presence

Psalm 139:7-12 reveals that God is everywhere — a truth known as His omnipresence. The ability to be everywhere simultaneously is established clearly in Scripture. Yet while God is everywhere in His sovereignty, He does not meet with people everywhere.

God is everywhere in His omnipresence, but the place of encounter has always been specific — Old Testament, New Testament, and through eternity. Location and atmosphere matter. Just because the veil has been torn does not mean everywhere is a conducive meeting place with God.

The Secret Place

When a man or woman commands unusual dimensions of God's life, power, and presence, that individual is a person of the secret place.

Consider how world leaders prepare for significant meetings — the location, the atmosphere, the details of hospitality. Everything is arranged because the weight of the conversation demands it. How much more when meeting with God.

Every house has compartments that reflect the value of the people you wish to receive. Some guests are received at the gate. Others enter the living room. A select few are granted access to the bedroom. God is a God of the secret place.

Everything glorious in the kingdom is hidden. God hides Himself — not to frustrate, but because the value of what He offers demands pursuit. This is a kingdom system:

• The heart is hidden beneath the ribs — because of its vital importance
• A child is hidden in the womb — safe and growing until the appointed time
• An expensive gadget comes with layers of packaging — the value demands the wrapping

It is your pursuit that makes what is hidden become revealed.

Psalm 91:1-2 — He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

The secret place is not necessarily a physical location, though a person may dedicate a physical space as a meeting point with God. The secret place is a spiritual state — a posture that a man can take that allows him to access where God is.

Whoever is in the secret place will find God there. In the secret place, it is an affair between you and God alone — not between you and a prophet, not you and a minister, not you and your spouse. This generation is losing this art. There are dimensions of God that must be uniquely revealed to a person when they are alone.

When Jacob was alone, he created an atmosphere that became a secret place. A man came and wrestled with him. Jacob refused to release him: I will not let thee go except thou bless me. The result: his name was changed to Israel, and he declared, I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.

If all of you is seen by everyone, you will not be mighty in these times. There are dimensions of your dealings with God that are not for public consumption. There are things God tells you that are not for preaching — they are His customised dealings that serve as the foundation for your spiritual stability. Not everything received from the secret place is shareable.

Six Dimensions of the Secret Place

1. The Secret Place Is the Place of Brokenness

Isaiah 55:6-7 — Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near.

This is not speaking of salvation. There are dimensions in God that require timing. A man who begins to seek God at eighty years will find God — but the remaining lifetime may not afford him the time to grow and metamorphose spiritually to access certain dimensions.

Brokenness is not weakness. Brokenness is a state of the heart that declares consistent dependence on God. A broken and contrite spirit God will not despise.

Pride has almost killed men of God in this generation. The holier-than-thou mentality is not spirituality. Many feel so qualified that they believe God should anoint them — but they stand in self-righteousness and find no encounter.

• David — Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts. See if there be any wicked way in me. This posture attracted the presence of God every time.
• Moses — the meekest man on earth, yet could not enter the promised land because out of anger he struck the rock instead of speaking to it. One unbroken moment cost him the destination.
• Nebuchadnezzar — brought to his knees until he was broken.
• Pharaoh — brought to his knees until he was broken.

The number-one proof that a person is a man or woman of the secret place is consistent brokenness. It is not sin or limitation that destroys a person — it is the pride of a heart that will not break before God.

If up to one month passes without sensing a need to spend time alone with God, that is a sign your life is under attack. Men of God especially must guard against being carried away by recognition, titles, and the praise of leaders. The secret place must remain the reference point.

Retreat is not a luxury — it is a survival mechanism. Gone are the days when people locked themselves away and said: You will not see me for two days. If you do not practise retreat, you will not survive the darkness of this day.

2. The Secret Place Is the Place of Mercy

Psalm 86:5 — For thou, Lord, art good and ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.

Many people believe mercy is only for sinners. This misconception keeps them from accessing it. The mercy of God is one of the major keys that most people are looking for in this life.

Lamentations 3:22 — It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.

There are results that arrived before the spiritual principles governing them were even understood. That is mercy. If God waited for full obedience before releasing any breakthrough, most people would taste victory at ninety-seven — because the rate of spiritual assimilation cannot keep pace with the need.

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Apostle Joshua Selman
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The mercy of God moves beyond your faith level. It overrides gaps in obedience and gives — not to justify disobedience, but to reveal that He is God.

God's compassion means He is able to be touched with the feelings of your infirmity. When He gives an instruction and a person struggles to obey because of background, pain, or limitation, God does not simply mark the failure and judge. Compassion makes Him examine the condition and say: If I were in that position, what would I have done?

Psalm 25:6-7 — Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses, for they have been ever of old. Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me.

There is a difference between sin and transgression. Transgression includes violations of spiritual ordinances — whether through ignorance or disobedience. This prayer invokes mercy to cancel what justice would demand, not because obedience is irrelevant, but because mercy supersedes the record.

When blind Bartimaeus heard Jesus passing through Jericho for the last time, he did not lead with his obedience record. He cried: Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And the mercy of God responded.

3. The Secret Place Is the Place of Rest and Comfort

Everyone born of a woman — born again or not — has the potential to disappoint. This is not a pessimistic statement; it is a preparation. Because there is a place God has provided where one can find rest that no human relationship can offer.

Psalm 27:13-14 — I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thy heart.

Psalm 62:1-5 — Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from Him cometh my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.

There is a place where you can be fully understood. Life rarely gives that opportunity with people. But there is a place where God understands — not just your words, but the voice of your heart beneath your words.

Be careful about the compulsion to share problems with whoever is available when pressure overwhelms. The need for the secret place, unmet, drives people to share intricate details of their lives with those who are not mature enough or trustworthy enough to hold them. The secret place is the alternative to misplaced transparency.

Psalm 91:4-5 — He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Like an eagle spreading its wings to cover its young against predators, God says: Let me see what dares come near you while I cover you. In the midst of misrepresentation, unfair criticism, and public pressure, His presence says: My son, you owe explanation only to Me — and I have credited you.

Learn to draw strength in His presence. Learn to wait on Him rather than calling a friend or running the details of your life through whoever is emotionally available.

4. The Secret Place Is the Place of Revival and Restoration

Psalm 23:2-3 — He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul.

Psalm 143:11 — Quicken me, O Lord, for thy righteousness' sake; bring my soul out of trouble.

There are times when restoration is what is needed — not more activity. Restoration of fire. Restoration of hunger. Restoration of love for God. Restoration of physical energy. Restoration of vision.

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Revelation 2:4-5 — Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works.

This is addressed to a church that had works, labour, patience, and discernment — yet had lost something essential. The Lord's complaint was not that they stopped serving, but that they left their first love.

Return to your first love. Return to your first fire. Return to your first appetite for spiritual things.

It is possible to be quoted and celebrated while the fire within has quietly gone out. The secret place is where God restores what ministry, success, and busyness erode.

5. The Secret Place Is the Place of Illumination — Where the Secrets of Destiny Are Revealed

You will never find the blueprint of your destiny in a book. You may read it, but the secret place is where the mysteries of your destiny are unveiled to you.

Daniel 2:14-22, 28 — King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and demanded that his wise men both tell him the dream and interpret it — or die. Daniel asked for time. He went home, gathered his companions, and desired mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret. Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision.

• Daniel did not have superior intelligence over the other wise men
• He had access to a God who reveals deep and secret things
• He traded time in the secret place for the mystery the king needed
• The result: lives were saved and a kingdom was repositioned

Time is currency in the kingdom. It can be invested in the secret place and exchanged for the mysteries of destiny.

What works for one person does not automatically work for another. There are general principles that carry a person to a level — and then God says: the principles have taken you this far. Now let Me show you your own. This is the shift from general grace to personalised instruction.

Psalm 25:4-5 — Show me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

Waiting all day. Not half a day. Not two hours. A full retreat — from the rising of the sun to its going down — sitting in His presence, worshipping, waiting, even when nothing seems to be happening. Hours pass. Nothing yet. Still there. And then — late into the night — something shifts. His majesty comes and says: what have you been asking Me? Come — let Me show you.

That person rises by a mystery — and those watching cannot explain it.

6. The Secret Place Is the Place of Power

People who rise to commanding dimensions of power and influence in the kingdom are not people with superior boldness or strategy. They are people who have traded in mysteries. You do not do business in this kingdom by brazen self-confidence — you do business by the mysteries you carry from the secret place.

The devil does not fear noise. The devil fears people who carry kingdom mysteries — people who, when attacked, already know the formula God gave them for exactly that kind of warfare.

Who likes you matters more than who opposes you. There are people standing in the way of a destiny who cannot simply be prayed away — they are shielded by covenants. The wise thing is to ask God for favour — that the very person becomes an ally.

The Knowledge of God Cannot Be Replaced by Spiritual Activity

The tragedy with many believers is the assumption that God can be known by reading about Him or attending enough meetings. These things are stimulators — they should lead to an encounter. The Scriptures themselves testify of a Person, and must ultimately lead to knowing that Person.

You know a man by giving him time. Time is the non-negotiable component of intimacy.

The rate at which believers abandon their convictions is evidence that they have not yet encountered God. A person who has truly seen something does not abandon it two weeks later because someone wrote a bold proposition. Unbendable conviction is born in the secret place.

The dangers of generic knowledge of God:

• Convictions that crumble under pressure or popular opinion
• Running to people for answers that only God can give
• Pride that equates spiritual activity with spiritual depth
• An ever-learning posture that never arrives at the knowledge of the truth

The people who will be strong in the end times are those who know their God. Daniel 11:32 — the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.

Returning to the Secret Place

Return to it. That fellowship is calling you back.