Sermon Transcript — February 11, 2006
Today we want to continue in a very important pre-Passover preparation sermon dealing with a subject that is required for all of us as we approach the Passover season and the Days of Unleavened Bread.
First of all, I'd like to just mention that the prophet Jeremiah ran into a very serious state in the book of Lamentations. It's found in chapter 3, verse 40. The book of Lamentations, following the book of Jeremiah. This was addressing some of the serious problems that had developed in the house of Israel; and Judah—or, excuse me, Jerusalem, then, began to suffer the terrible problem that Jeremiah addresses. In verse 40 of Lamentations, chapter 3, we have the following. He says:
Lam. 3:40 – Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.
Jeremiah's admonition was that the people of God needed to examine themselves as to why was Jerusalem in this state of affairs, why did they experience sudden destruction.
In the New Testament, we find a similar admonition from the apostle Paul. That's where we're going to focus, on his admonition in light of scripture, because he was dealing with a new, young, embryonic church of God called Corinth; and the Corinthian church of God had a lot of problems. They were filled with zeal, but they were not always according to knowledge. They had many gifts and many blessings; but, at the same time, they needed help. He admonished them concerning I Corinthians 11 and verses 27-31, in which they were abusing the New Testament Passover, as it's referred to.
Some people today in various Protestant communities call it the Lord's Supper; but actually, it's the New Testament Passover that is being discussed. He's telling the people, "You need to examine yourselves in light of what you're doing because what you're doing is not correct. Here's how I have received of the Lord," and then he explains the circumstances surrounding the keeping of the New Testament Passover.
A little bit later on as he moved along in explaining the things that were on his mind concerning the Corinthian church, he summarized something in II Corinthians, chapter 13, verse 5. I'd like us to begin this afternoon by going there. II Corinthians, chapter 13, and verse 5. He summarizes the following. He says:
II Cor. 13:5 – Examine yourselves...just like Jeremiah admonished the people of that day when he saw the destruction of Jerusalem, he says, "We need to go back and stop and consider why this is happening." And so, concerning the problems and difficulties in the early New Testament congregation in Corinth, Paul is telling them that they needed to go back and re-examine themselves; and, of course, this is an admonition that certainly applies to all of us. On a yearly basis we go back and we review these things as Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread approach. But there's a deep, ongoing message here that we need to consider. He says to examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith, he says, prove your own selves. Know you not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates?
Now, that's very important for us to consider because Paul is challenging the Corinthians to take a cold, analytical analysis of themselves, to look at themselves as objectively as they can, but to realize there are some very serious problems and difficulties that you can run into if you don't examine yourself properly. He emphasizes the application of this in the present tense of the verbs. When he's using the term "examine" and "prove" in the Greek, those are the present tense words, which means it's an ongoing thing. It's not something that you just do once and that's sufficient. This is an ongoing thing, or we could use this analogy: every so often we need to take our spiritual temperature. We need to get out that spiritual thermometer and test ourselves to see, are we in the faith, and is Jesus Christ in us? Two very important elements that we need to look at.
What we want to do in the time remaining, we want to cover these very important points from this perspective: Why should we examine ourselves? We're going to ask that question. And what is the standard by which we do examine ourselves? That's very important because this is not supposed to be an ethereal type of exercise. This is supposed to be something specific, something specific that we understand; and, so, in the time remaining, what I'd like to do is to cover...and I've entitled this message today, "What It Means to Examine Yourself," because that's something we should be doing on an ongoing basis, according to the apostle Paul.
Now, the very first category we want to look at is, again, why should we examine ourselves? This carries a wide variety of elements to consider and, by far, I'm only touching on highlights. I'm not giving everything because the Bible's just loaded with things; and you could address it from many points of view. But I'm covering specifics today based on the apostle Paul and some of his admonition, because he really, as we say, he's been there, done that; and he's trying to share with us what a Christian must consider when it comes to this subject of examining yourself—how do you prove yourself and how do you know that Jesus Christ is in you, because if He's not in you, then you're reprobate, according to scripture. You're void. And that means there are problems. And none of us wants to be on that latter stage of life. We don't want to be caught in this life without Jesus Christ. That's plain and simple. He is a very important element that plays the necessary ingredient to our salvation, as we're going to see.
But Paul puts forth this very expression, "in the faith." Examine yourself, and what are we looking for? To see whether we are "in the faith." Now, Jude talks about that in his warning in the scriptures where it says that the admonition was to "earnestly contend for the faith that was once delivered." We know that Jesus Himself said that when He comes, He's going to be looking for this key ingredient, faith, in the following men and women who are His disciples. He says, "Will He find faith?" Now, that telegraphs to me that there is going to be a terrible attack upon faith in individuals in the end time. The closer we get to Christ's return, more and more, people are going to lose faith and confidence in God, in the Bible. They're just going to begin to wander through life, and they're going to have some serious problems.
We are told in scriptures that we are to examine ourselves whether or not we are remaining faithful to God, not just in a passive way, but an active way. Are we very active in our faithfulness to God? Because today people are becoming more passive, and there are a lot of dangers out there that the Bible gives to us as admonition to help us in this examination process. The very first one I'd like to address is the danger of what the Bible calls in the book of Hebrews, through Paul—who is credited for being the writer of Hebrews by many commentaries and writers—is that there's the danger of drifting. The danger of drifting. And if you'll turn with me, please, to Hebrews, chapter 2, you'll see what I mean. Now this was a very serious matter that the apostle Paul addressed in Hebrews, chapter 2, beginning in verse 1:
Heb. 2:1 – Therefore, what we need to understand is, therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed, we really need to be up on this, he says, to the things which we have heard, and where do we hear these things? Well, we hear these things through the preaching of the gospel. We hear, "My sheep hear My voice." We come to services. We hear the word of God. What are we doing with that? Are we allowing it to help us stay in the faith? He says that we should do what? We should be acting on the things we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. So these are things that can get away from you if you do not hang onto them. I've found that interesting in light of Revelation, in the third chapter, where it talks to the Philadelphia church, quoting God at that time; and it says, that message came to them, and it says, "Hold fast what you have that no man take your crown." There's something that can be taken away from you. You have to hold onto it, and especially as you see those days approaching.
Verse 2 – So here it says, For if the word spoken by angels in the past was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward...in other words, the upheaval that took place in the angelic kingdom is spoken of in scripture in Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14, when Lucifer, the archangel, launched his rebellion against God to try to create an insurrection and take over the kingdom of God and be the ruler of all eternity, he found out in a hurry it doesn't work that way, that God is in charge and God doesn't surrender that authority to anyone. He is the one who is chief Ruler; and through His Son, Jesus Christ, He has made all things, visible and invisible. Now it says that recompence of reward came fast and furious. We know that Jesus said, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven." So he paid a penalty for that insurrection, and he's still going to pay in the years to come; and so will all the spirit angels, the demons now, as they are referred to. They're all fearful and in trepidation of what yet remains in the future for them.
Now, it says in verse 3, the warning to us is, How shall WE escape, if we neglect, and that word "neglect" means to literally drift away. That's a warning. A drifting away. So we have to be careful in our evaluation of ourselves. Do we find ourselves in any aspect of our Christian calling as men and women, young and old, are we drifting? Do we find ourselves drifting? Have we lost some of the enthusiasm for the things of God that we once had? Is something pulling on us, tugging on us, trying to pull us away and cause us to drift? You know, if you drift with the current, what happens? It's smooth sailing. You just drift, drift, drift. If you go upstream, [grunt], you've got to fight your way, don't you? It's hard. You've got to really exercise some effort into it to maintain going upstream; but if you want to go downstream, just drift along, you can go very quickly in the wrong direction.
So that's the admonition, that to be "in the faith" means remaining faithful; and what we don't want is what Paul is addressing. Do not allow yourself to drift away from the things of God.
Now, in chapter 3 of Hebrews, another element is added to it. In Hebrews, chapter 3, verses 12-14, notice, 12 through 14 of Hebrews 3:
Heb. 3:12-14 – Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any...so here's an admonition showing that this can crop up in anyone's life...of you an evil heart of unbelief...Now, if that begins to spring forth, notice what it creates. It creates a problem in departing from the living God. That's the danger that...people are departing today from the word of God. People are departing from their marriages, they're departing from their faithfulness to just the basics of life. We're told in Matthew 24, the love of many will wax cold because of iniquity that abounds. And so, people are leaving off now. They don't want to be involved. They don't want to put forth any effort in things that they maybe once, at one time, would have done. So it goes on to say, not only do we take heed, it says, But exhort one another daily, while it is called today; lest any of you, notice, be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, notice, we're involved in something that binds us in a relationship with Jesus Christ, if we hold, if we hang onto, the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end.
Now, there are some people today that have this idea that, you know, once you're in Christ's hand, nothing can take you out of His hands. Well, that is true if that is where you want to stay. But if you don't want to stay, He'll let you go, because you're a free moral agent. He doesn't hang onto you if you don't want to be there, and that's one big difference. You know, as human beings we experience that, don't we? If suddenly you were involved with somebody and somebody did something and you sensed this immediately. You may have said the following statement: "Well, I know where I'm not wanted." If you know where you're not wanted, do you want to go back? No, you don't. You'll spend your time and effort going where you are wanted, and God spends His time for those who want Him. If you don't want Him, He's not going to hang onto you; and that's why in the Old Testament it says if you forsake the Lord, He'll forsake you, but if you want to hang onto Jesus Christ and you want to be a part of that Kingdom of God that He talked about, then it makes it very clear. He says He will never forsake us, never leave us, because we want to be there with Him. So this is very important in terms of how we determine whether or not we are in the faith.
In other words, it's your standing. How is your standing with God? You are standing with God, IF that's where you want to be. And that's why the Bible was written, to help us so that we could stand. God does not want us to run away. We are not those that fall back. We're the ones that stand our ground and look to God for guidance and help, because He's promised to supply our every need. And you and I can't produce what we need. Only God can do that.
The book of I John, chapter 5, verse 14 gives us another very important element. I John, chapter 5, and verse 14. It says:
I John 5:14 – And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He hears us.
Well, the flip side of that coin is obvious. If we're not walking in the will of God, there's no guarantee He is going to hear; but there is confidence, and the Lord is our confidence and keeps our foot from being taken, according to the book of Proverbs, so this is very important. To determine whether or not we are in the faith, we have to make sure as we are testing ourselves and examining ourselves, {we must} ask ourselves, "Have I been a faithful, faithful Christian?" Every so often we have to ask ourselves, "Have I drifted in any way? Have I allowed outside influences to begin to warp my understanding concerning the things of God, and is it causing me to have an evil heart of unbelief, where I am not willing to put forth that extra trust and confidence in God?" These are things we have to ask ourselves; and, of course, the Bible is there to help us.
The next thing that the apostle Paul addressed in that same context of how to examine ourselves is, not only {are we} in the faith, but to be on the lookout for Jesus Christ in our life. We must be able to reflect Jesus Christ in our life. Now, this is a little bit interesting because it challenged the Corinthians—as it challenges all of us as men and women who want to be God-fearing servants of the living God—we have to ask ourselves, "Does Christ dwell in me?" That's a wonderful thought to just understand that the Son of the living God can actually be brought to bear in our life through the power of God's Spirit, and that Christ can live in us, because that's what God looks at and what He sees. He looks and He sees His Son in our lives, and that's what brings us into that relationship. If we are without Christ, we have nothing to bond and unite with the Father. But through the Son, we have everything; and that's why the scripture uses examples like, He that hath the Son hath life; he that hath not the Son hath not life {I John 5:12}...and we're in a relationship there that is very, very important.
But let's take a look at what Jesus said in John, chapter 14, if you will. John, chapter 14, because here He brings out something very important for all of us to consider. Beginning in verse 21, John chapter 14. It says, and I refer to verse 21:
John 14:21 – He that keeps My commandments, a very important part...or, He that hath My commandments, let me put it that way, hath My commandments, and keeps them, not just knows about them, but acts on those commandments. And then it says, he it is that loves Me: and he that loves Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and, notice, I will manifest Myself to him.
So Christ becomes a manifestation, His life, His presence, comes into our life. Kind of what Paul referred to when he said in Galatians 2:20, where he says, "I am crucified with Christ, yet I live. Yet it's not I, it's Christ that lives in me." He's not talking double talk. He's merely saying the following, he's saying: "Since I have been involved in this relationship with Christ, my life no longer functions the way it did before. I used to live for Paul," or Saul prior to his name change; but in this particular case, he says, "Now, something's happened to me." He says, "Ever since I have encountered my experience with the Lord and the Master, Jesus Christ, on the road to Damascus," he says, "now I live with this understanding, that He is the one doing something inside of me through the power of His Spirit that is all in His power to do. It is not mine. My job is to cooperate with what He is doing and the transformation that is taking place." And we'll see that as we go through this.
All right. Let's see what else we've got here. Let's go down to verse 23. It says:
John 14:23 – ...If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him. So there's a very close, personal relationship that is developed in this; and verse 24 says, He that loves Me not keeps not My sayings: and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's which sent Me.
So we're getting specific instruction from the Father through Jesus Christ to have a working relationship; and, as a result of that, we then learn how to develop, with the Spirit of God, Jesus Christ living His life in us.
Now, where do we begin with that? Where do we begin? It's a very important area. In Galatians, chapter 3, if you will, Galatians, chapter 3, verses 26-27. It says:
Gal. 3:26-27 – For you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. This is very important for us, and notice, For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ...now this is where we start to make contact. Once the goodness of God brings us to repentance, once we see that we have been convicted of sin through the power of God's Spirit working in our lives, now we've got to take action. It says we become baptized into Christ, and what have we done? Just like you put on your clothes this morning, you have put on Christ.
He becomes a literal part of you. Now, how is that done? Well, the only physical part we know of is that with our attitude, we enter into a baptismal covenant with God, and through Jesus Christ, as He was placed into the...you know, death, burial, and resurrection...so that's what that portrays in baptism. That's why we have sought in our personal lives to be baptized, that we might receive Jesus Christ through the power, now, of the Holy Spirit, once the Spirit of God comes into our life. That comes through the laying on of hands. That's another subject, but it's also there in scripture in the book of Acts. It tells us how that is done.
So, here we see very plainly that we put on Christ in baptism. Now, many wonder at times, well, how He indwells. How does that happen? Well, just exactly how that goes on through the power of God's Spirit is not necessarily brought forth. We don't have all the details how God is doing that within, but this is the important thing to keep in mind: It's not how is that done; it's to know that He does do that, that this is what He has promised to do, that He is going to...our faith and confidence is that He is going to come and dwell in us through the power of His Spirit. And to realize that, that is a very important aspect of why the glory goes to God. Our job is to cooperate with God, but it is only God who can bring that transformation to pass. We can't do that. Therefore, since we are human and since we have ups and downs, it's very important that we do what? Examine ourselves periodically, like Paul said, to see whether or not, have we strayed in any way from this relationship? You know, like anything else, if you don't keep your shoulder to the plow, as Christ used as an analogy in one of His comments, then what happens is that you can lose your perspective and your direction; and you could end up disqualifying yourself if you're not careful. And that's not what God wants.
Now, disqualification has to do with whether or not an individual is going to be a reprobate or not, as Paul mentioned. He said you can disqualify yourself—in fact, I think both the King James Version and the American Standard Version use the term, "except you be reprobates"; the New American Standard Version and the NIV refer to it, "you failed the test." In other words, you have made certain outward elements but you're not making the inward transition, the transformation that is necessary, that we've all got to go through. That, again, is part of our individual responsibility. Literally meaning, it's translation is, we're not "standing the test," because we have to stand our ground. That's all we can do. We can't...God doesn't want us to fall away. He wants us to go forward; but when we meet obstacles that try to overthrow us, we have to stand our ground, as we say, and not to give in. That is the admonition and part of this understanding.
Being in the faith and having Christ—that is a very important part because in Galatians 5 and verse 4, notice what it says in Galatians 5 and verse 4. It says, if you get involved and off course, he says here, verse 4, Christ, then, has become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law. If you think that by keeping the law, just like the Old Testament Israelites did and the Jewish basic people in the days of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, "Well, we've got the law," as if that's going to do anything. Well, he commented and he made it very clear. He says, if that's the case, then he says, you are fallen from grace, because you are saved by grace, not by law. Law plays an important part, but it's not the saving part.
So, here again, Paul is telling us you can fall from grace. A state of grace is something that has to be maintained in a relationship. You know, if you have a husband and wife relationship and you love each other—that's all Jesus is talking about, it's like a love relationship; and you have to make an investment in that love. A husband and wife have to keep investing into that love to keep that love alive. If after a while, each is going his own way and they're not investing for the common good of the relationship, what happens? The relationship falls apart. Well, in the same way, grace falls away. You fall away from your status of grace with God because, again, you're not investing in that relationship. So it's very, very clear that these have profound overtones and meanings. Even Peter talked about that in II Peter, chapter 3, and verse 17, just referring to this, where he says, warning about "falling away from one's own stedfastness," meaning staying with the program that God has outlined.
Now, Jesus pointed out something that we reference at the Passover season of the year; and it certainly is a reminder throughout the entirety of the year. In John, chapter 15, if you will, please. John, chapter 15, beginning in verse 1. Here he reminds us, he says:
John 15:1-2 – I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me, notice, there's a relationship. The branch is tied to this vine, that does not bear fruit He takes away...so God is looking for something in the relationship with His sons and daughters; and through the vine, Jesus Christ, it says He's looking for that, and every branch that bears fruit, is really moving forward and putting faith and confidence into what God has said and outlined, it says, will bear fruit, and then God does what? He purges it, He trims it, He cuts it, you know, cleans it up, does whatever is necessary, so that it may bring forth more fruit. And that becomes a very important aspect. And down to verse 6:
Verse 6 – If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
In other words, the life has been nonproductive. God wants all of us to be productive in our own way, in our own capacity. Remember, He says, "I go to prepare a place for you." Every one of us is marked out for a specific assignment in the Kingdom of God. God has purposed something very wonderful for all of us. We're called "living stones." We're part of a temple, and He says, "This one goes here, and this one goes there, and we're all designed to mutually complement one another. You know, that's the beautiful part of when you come to Sabbath service, you look around and you see everybody's different; and yet, we're all the same, when we understand. You're all beautifully different because you're beautifully designed to mutually complement one another, but we're all the same because we're part of the temple that God is miraculously transforming, in a spiritual comparison. And that is a beautiful thought to keep and maintain in our thinking.
We don't want to disqualify ourselves, and the way you avoid that is you stay productive. You bear fruit. What kind of fruit are we talking about? Well, we've got the fruit of Galatians, chapter 5. Is that fruit evident in our life? That's something we, again, can look, check, and see. You know, am I happy? Am I producing the joy? Do I show the love of God shed abroad in my heart? Now, the Spirit of God, remember, does what? It supplies our every need. You and I cannot give what we haven't got. And what we haven't got is the Godly love that we need. So God has to supply that, and that's what Paul says, through the power of the Holy Spirit, what happens? It is shed abroad in our hearts, and we begin to reflect that love out. Christ used the example, it's like light. It goes out and begins to illuminate the dark world in which human beings live.
Now, to truly determine if we really know ourselves, Paul says, very plainly, he says, "Don't you know your own self? Do you really know yourself? Or do you kid yourself about yourself?" is what he's saying. This is very interesting to look at because, in James, chapter 1, go to the book of James, after the book of Hebrews, and notice what James has to say in his short epistle here, in verse 22. James, chapter 1, verse 22. He's saying:
James 1:22 – But be you doers of the word, and not hearers only, notice, deceiving your own selves.
It is possible to deceive yourself, to get a false reading of what you actually are in terms of your standing with God. Remember, there's a way that seems right to a man and woman. We all think certain things are a certain way; and in reality, they may not be. That's why Christ says "judge righteous judgment," because many times it's not what you think it is. You see certain things from your perspective, but God sees everything from the total perspective; and He looks on the heart and He tries the heart, which means He's looking at the motivational factors, what motivates people. That's what He wants to know. Because none of us is perfect. We don't know how to execute perfectly. We've all sinned and come short of the glory of God, but God knows our heart, what we're trying to accomplish; and this is what it says here.
Verse 23 – For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass, or looking into a mirror. And what do you see? Well, you don't get a true perspective of yourself, is what it's saying, if you're not following what it is saying, because it says he looks into the mirror and, then, verse 25, he forgets exactly what's happening. But if you're a doer of the work, it says, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
So, again, God wants us to do what? He wants us to be very proactive. He does not want us to fall into something that Satan is very good at; and what is that, that he's so good at? Deception. Satan has deceived the whole world, Revelation, chapter 12, verse 9, and we can fall back into that trap of deception if we get a misreading about ourselves. So this is why Paul is saying, you know, he says, "I'm not ignorant of Satan's devices. I know how he plays this dirty game. I know how he's trying to fool me and to try to bring me into his arrangement, and he wants me to think I'm A-OK, when in reality I may not be A-OK."
So how do you counterbalance that? You have to go to the word of God and do what? You have to examine yourself, Paul is saying; and that's what he had to do. And he said he wouldn't have known certain things if the law hadn't guided him and then pointed him to Jesus Christ, because he said, "Oh, man, what a wretched man I am." He said, "Who's going to save me from all of this situation?" He said, "But I thank God through Jesus Christ that that's how it's going to be done." But it's done through the power of God, not by our strength, because we don't have any capacity to make the wrongs right. Only God does, through the great Passover sacrifice of Jesus Christ; and that's what we're preparing ourselves for. We're preparing our hearts before God. That's what God is looking at. And he's going to try the reigns of our hearts to see, are we consistent? Do we want to stay with Him? Do we want Him to hold us? You've seen that commercial for Allstate, "You're in good hands with Allstate." Forget Allstate! They could go bankrupt overnight, but God's been around for a long time and continues to be here. He's going to continue to be here. You can't beat the wonderful protection that God provides.
So what we're seeing right here is, again, we are not to fall into the trap of self-deception and we don't want to become, as it says down here, a little bit further in verse 27, it says...oh, excuse me, verse 26. I stand corrected on that. It says:
James 1:26 - If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridles not his tongue, but deceives his own heart, notice, that can be done. Now, we hate to think about that. We don't like it. "Why, I wouldn't want to deceive my heart, would I?" Well, we have that proclivity, is what the Bible is saying. And it says, this man's religion is vain. Because if we are allowing ourselves to be deceived in that area and we don't take self-examination to correct it, then what we have done, our religious devotion is useless. It's not going anywhere, and that's what God does not want. He does not want us caught in that trap.
All right, now let's go to the next big question and make sure we don't lose sight of this one. By what standard should we examine ourselves? Now, this is most important because we cannot trust how we think about ourselves, because you do a snow job on yourself. You know that, don't you? We all do. You do, I do, we all do; and we have to really remember what God says in Jeremiah 17:9, that the heart is desperately wicked. Who can know it? Only God can know it, because God sees into the inner sanctum of the innermost of the heart, and He's checking our motive. He knows all the pressures that are working on a person that cause him to do what he does; and this is why He says, Judge righteous judgement, through the standard of God's word, because, otherwise, you'll rate yourself higher than where you are. You know, Merle Haggard had a song some time ago, the country singer, and it was called, "Momma's Hungry Eyes," if you remember that one, about how Daddy was always working hard and so-called getting his hands blistered, trying to satisfy the desires of Momma, because Momma wanted more. She saw what the Joneses had and, "I want what the Joneses have." "Well, I'll work harder and I'll try to get what the Joneses have," you know. But, she said she didn't realize there's people looking down on people; and that's the problem. This person looking here, and this person up here thinks, "Well, I must be doing all right because I'm looking down on this person," and then we have another person up here looking down on that person. So that's all it's talking about. You can't use human standards for judging. What it will do, it will throw you a real curve.
Let's notice II Corinthians, chapter 10, verse 18. Chapter 10, verse 18, it says:
II Cor. 10:18 – For not he that commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends.
What that basically means, in final analysis, is that God has the final word as to where we really are standing. It's not so much what we think as it is what God thinks.
I Corinthians 4, verse 4, adds another dimension to this. Paul is just filled with this topic through his writings, and in I Corinthians, chapter 4, and verse 4, he makes the following statement. He says:
I Cor. 4:4 – For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judges me is the Lord.
In other words, "I can't go around tooting my own horn. I've got nothing to accomplish and say of them by myself." It's God who gives the encouragement. He's the final arbitrator on behalf of all of us as men and women called at this time to understand. We can be wrong in our basic assumptions on things. Have you ever been wrong on some of your assumptions? Did you ever make a decision, "Well, you know, it's such and such...this is the way it is," and then you, as we say, wipe the egg off your face because you realize, "Oh, man, why did I do that? Why did I think that? Why did I even go there?" Because we draw wrong conclusions about things, and that's one of the human weaknesses we have.
Please remember in Acts 26, the chapter we'll go to, verses 9 through 11, where it talks about the apostle Paul who was persecuting Christians; and he thought he was doing the right thing. He said, "Boy, give me those letters and I'll go after those heretics, those so-called Christian heretics. I'll get them!" And he went after them, tooth and toenail. He was out to get them. He thought he was right, but he was brought to a tremendous repentance. They call it an "apostle Paul conversion" on the road to Damascus, because most people do not get converted that way as a general rule. Paul was just, bang! Knocked right off the horse, so to speak, and, "Who are you, Lord?" You know, he's blinded and he can't see, and this is a horrific experience for him. And that's when he came to really understand who Jesus Christ was. But in our lifetime, and it is a lifetime process...this thing whereby we grow in grace and knowledge; and part of coming to the right standard and evaluating ourselves is that we have to use the word of God to do so, and there are many people who are going to find themselves on the short end of the stick. We read about that in Matthew 7. I'm not going to go there, but I'll give you the scriptures there, verses 21 through 23, it says very plainly that there will be those who say, "Lord, Lord, didn't we do these wonderful things? Open to us." He says, "Get away from Me. I never knew you." And you have to ask yourself, where did they go wrong? What were they doing? Well, they had a counterfeit something going down, and it wasn't what God had outlined in scripture. Whatever their standard was, they may have been sincere, but they were sincerely wrong. And they just didn't get it at all. And so, it says, they're not going to find themselves where they thought they were going to be.
So Paul had to learn a lesson, and individuals are going to have to learn this lesson in the plan and purpose of God. That's why we have the holy days given to us that are commanded for observation and learning, so that we can see and understand, how is God going to connect the dots with everybody's life. Do you realize the complexity of problems and difficulties of human beings? And you ask yourself where this world is headed, for its final cataclysm before the return of Jesus Christ? How is all of that going to get straightened out? The answer is, He begins with faith, like the grain of a mustard seed, in your life, in my life; and that faith continues to grow and grow and grow so that we can be instruments whereby God, then, through His Spirit working in our lives, by putting our faith and confidence in what He says, not what we say, that we learn the objectivity of God. We begin to see things how God sees things, instead of the way we see it, because the way we see it, everything looks right in our own eyes. We don't wake up in the morning and say, "Ah! This is a great day. Let's see...what can I do that...oh, yeah, I want to make sure everything is wrong today." No, you don't do that. That would be silly. Everything is right! Everything is right in your eyes! But you know that's not the case. You have to be extremely careful what goes on in a given day, and you have to judge righteous judgment.
Now, another aspect of this question, again, of how we evaluate ourselves...we can't trust ourselves. The Bible makes that very clear. So we have to rely on something greater than ourselves, but another area that we don't want to get caught in is the estimation of other people—how other people evaluate or how you compare yourself with these other people. You can look over here and say, "Oh, there's so-and-so. Boy, he or she is so spiritual." That's what you think. God looks and says, "Oh! You should see what I see! Then you wouldn't think they're so spiritual if you could see what I see," because we've got somebody up there all the time that's what you call the accuser of the brethren, Satan the devil. He's always looking for every mistake we make; and he's always saying, "There's your Christian man or woman. Look at that! Look, look, look!" And unless we're crying out to God and Jesus Christ and asking Jesus, "Please! You're my High Priest, my Savior. Speak to the Father on my behalf. Please forgive me my sins." And Jesus then puts forth His hand and says, "Satan, overruled! Get out of here! This one belongs to Me." Why? Because you are a branch of the vine, and as long as that's where you run to and that's where you want to receive the strength and power of God's Spirit, it's going to be there because everything is based on God's word. God is fulfilling prophecy according to His word. He's fulfilling everything according to His word. He says through the prophet Isaiah, "The word is out of My mouth. It will not come back to Me until it has fulfilled everything that I have purposed it to do." And, boy, when you hear those things and let those words ring in your ears, you begin to realize, "Oh, I'm so glad for God, that He's in charge and that He is guiding the affairs of these things and that He is allowing me the privilege, as one of many that are called, to go along for the ride," if I may use that example. He's the one that's guiding the affairs, because human beings have done a terrible job of guiding the affairs of life.
But we're told in II Corinthians, chapter 12, or excuse me, chapter 10, and verse 12, II Corinthians, chapter 10, and verse 12, we're told not to compare ourselves among ourselves because that's unwise. So, none of us should at any time ever look and sit in the congregation of God and think we've got an edge over our brothers and sisters. It's just not right to do that. If we did that, we would be very unwise in the eyes of God. We are all in this fight together, and it is a fight for our spiritual life and survival.
Satan would like to destroy us. He'd like to take the young generation, the next generation coming, he'd like to wipe them out, just like he's wiping out the world's generation of young people. And you look at them and you see, you just cry for people today, to see what's happening in the lives of so many people. They get, as we say, the cart before the horse. They get involved in sexual immorality instead of saving themselves for the joy of the marital bliss that God intended for a man and a woman in marriage. And today, everything on television says, "Hey! Hi! How are you? Want a drink? Let's go to bed. Do you like cigarettes? Let's do this. Drugs?" I mean, it's on and on it goes. This is the world we live in, and this is done in the name of sitcoms, situation comedies, that just literally fly in the face of God in terms of His word. {We must} stop and ask ourselves as we evaluate ourselves—and we're all guilty of this, we all have to hang our head in shame—there are things today we have allowed to creep into our lives that just ten years ago we never would have ever allowed it to happen. But those things have come into our life now, and I don't mean flagrant violation. I don't mean flagrant going out and disobeying God; but I'm telling you, there are things now where we go to a motion picture show and we don't think a thing of it while we hear somebody {whack} throw out profanity, "Oh well, that's just the way it is." They can make movies without it, but they don't. They just lace it and fill it with it. If you watch a movie, hear a movie, it impacts on you. So we've all been affected by it. No wonder God says, "If you say you have no sin, you lie and the truth is not in you."
You have to recognize we've all sinned. We don't practice it. We don't want to go there, but we need to evaluate ourselves, is it creeping in on us more than what it should? Wherever it is, God have mercy on us and help us to overcome. So we don't want to bend to the approval of others because other people have wrong evaluations. Have you ever had somebody tell you that, for example, like, "Hey!" Now this is just a simple example. "Hey, why don't you go and see such and such movie. I mean, it is the most exciting movie, the best movie I've ever seen!" You say, "Oh, is that right? OK, sounds good!" So you go to the movie, and you sit there and you look and you wait and you ask yourself, "Where's this thing that they were so up in the air about? This thing is a dud! It's not going anywhere." My point being, it may have done great things for them, but it's not doing anything for you...and I'm not talking about a movie that's got bad things in. Just a movie, just a general movie, and they thought it was just the greatest; but it doesn't do anything for you. That's the point. Don't let your life be moved by what other people tell you in terms, "Oh, you've just gotta see this. This is the greatest!" Well, maybe it is, maybe it isn't; but the thing God wants you to do is to be moved by what He says. Be moved by what He says, not by what people say is so great.
I've often wondered about how people get so excited about books written by men, written by women, telling you, "Boy, if you read this and do this, oh, this is going to happen." Well, it's in God's word. It's been in there way before they ever wrote some of these. They've just, maybe, got a few good points; but how can somebody who's as carnal as a doorknob out there like you are, how can they understand anything and give you understanding in spiritual matters? They can't. The carnal mind is hostile to God. Only a converted mind, reaching for the things of God, is going to get the benefit of God. You can't find that out there. You'd have to go to THIS book to find those answers; and if that's what you want, God says, "I will make known to you My words, just like I did to Moses, My servant." And that's wonderful. It's a beautiful thing to consider.
All right. We must, then, try ourselves by the standard of God, is what it's saying, in essence. The commendation of God, it comes from God. He is the ultimate judge; and we are judged by His words, according to John 12, verse 48. The word of God can be trusted. Your feelings, my feelings, betray us. They cannot be trusted. Feelings can take you in a wrong direction. You can't always trust what others say because it doesn't always materialize like they say.
Here's the final area...some questions, this third category we'll finish up on, some questions to help us examine ourselves as we approach the Passover season. Number 1, the big one, "Is Christ in me?" That question we have to look at. "Have I put Him on? How do I put Him on?" Through baptism. "All right, I've been baptized. That's what I've done." All right, that's Galatians, chapter 3, verse 27.
The next thing, in addition, "Am I keeping the commandments of God? Really keeping them? Or do I just know about them?" If I'm keeping the commandments of God, then John 14, verse 21 comes into play. God is going to provide His relationship with us. We're going to be tied to Him, then we have to ask ourselves, "Do I visibly display the marks of discipleship? Do I visibly show the signs of discipleship?" Well, you're showing it. Right here today is one of the marks. Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy, is part of God's commandments; and you're here to keep this Sabbath Day, and it is a mark that you are one who is trying to live, to the best of your ability, the way of God.
"Do I abide in His word?" That's very important. And we're told that, again, the abiding in the word of God, John 8, verse 31, plays a very important part. Then this one is a very important keynote. "Do I love my brethren as Christ loved me?" Because this is a sign that you shall be recognized by. By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another. But, you and I don't have that kind of love that He's talking about. That's what Paul says in the book of Romans. You have to have the Spirit of God shedding that love abroad into your hearts daily. And how do you get that? Ask! Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened to you. God wants to give you that love. He wants to give me that love; but we have to ask for it, because we weren't born with it. It's a Godly love that only He can...that's part of this transformation that brings Christ to bear in our life. And when we start loving our brethren in the same way Jesus did, now Jesus Christ is being made manifest in our life. That's how it begins to show itself.
Then we have bearing fruit, the fruit of God's Spirit, in Galatians 5, verse 22 and verse 23. That's the positive proof of the Spirit that is mentioned. The fruit of happiness, of love and joy and peace. Then the fruit of our lips in praising God. Hebrews 13, and verse 15. This is why we sing in song services, to give you a chance to sing praises to God in our song service.
And the fruit of good works. Titus 1, verse 16. In the world they profess to know God, but in good works they are abominable and reprobate. In essence, they just don't do. They talk, but they don't walk in the direction that God has outlined.
The attitude of a true disciple of Jesus Christ is what is reflected by the apostle Paul in his own life. Notice, much of this has been Paul's writings that we have utilized. He is sharing with us his conversion experience so that you and I would know how to examine yourself as he had to examine himself, and to keep these things in the forefront of his mind. He said that he was very, very pleased to know that that frame of mind produced a wonderful byproduct. Let's notice Philippians, chapter 3, and verse 15.
Phil. 3:15 – Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, or mature—we're striving to be mature, like the Father in heaven, may we be thus minded...and I love this part of this scripture because it says, and if in any thing you be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
If there is something you don't understand that God is saying, just recognize that God will see you to the end result; and then He goes on and He talks about, again, how we are to conduct ourselves accordingly, not be like those whose end is destruction, in verse 19, whose God is their belly...who mind earthly things.
You and I have been called to see the big picture of life. If you try to figure out the everyday activities, you'll go crazy in the process. You have to back away and see the big picture as God has outlined it. Then, in so doing, you are able to do what? You are able to do exactly what God has commanded. You are able to examine yourself and you are able to see whether or not Jesus Christ is living in you.
Paul described these things as a wonderful, wonderful aspect of his conversion; and in Philippians 3, and verse 19, it gives us this admonition, be careful. You don't want to end up losing it all and being destroyed. It can happen. Verse 20, But our conversation, as it should read, our "politeuma" in the Greek, our conduct, is in heaven, our citizenship; and there's where God is going to (verse 21) change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself.
God will do it; and God will help us, each and every day, to examine ourselves IF we are truly honest and humble before Him. So, may God help us all as this Passover season approaches to remember how we are to conduct ourselves and what it means to examine yourself and see whether you are in the faith. God help us all to be in that condition.