Examine Yourself

Well, good morning again to all of you. I can be sure to tell Carol we miss her. I guess we got the Carols out today. I don't see Carol with the kids either, so hopefully they will be doing better and be able then to be back with us here next time. I want to, in a sense, give what would be pretty customary as we look toward the Passover, as we look toward the time of the spring Holy Days. It's only in a month, but we need to prepare ahead of time because that's directly what the Bible tells us. How is it that we ought to observe? Well, not only do we have the pattern that is set for the Holy Days, the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread in the spring and then the summer and the fall festivals, but you have the example of Jesus. You have what he did with his disciples. You have how he changed the symbols. And I was thinking about this when I saw a, what is it, I guess it's not a statue, but it's a little setting of Jesus and the 12 disciples together, seemingly at what they would call the Last Supper. And I was looking at what did they have on their plate. And they had some wine glasses. I thought, okay, they had wine and they had some bread there and they had a fish. And I thought, huh, I don't know that that was what it was. I mean, they had a number of fish. And I, and I understand, I mean, it's not wrong to eat fish, but I was thinking, how come they don't have a lamb there? Or how come they don't have what would look to be what I think they actually were doing as far as the disciples whenever Jesus told them to go and prepare the Passover for us so that we can meet together. They would have had the bread, they would have had the wine, they would have had bitter herbs, they would have had lamb, I think. Or at least, I mean, that just struck me as kind of odd that I don't know that I'd ever, I've seen that same thing, you know, numerous times and I've never focused on, you know, didn't look like a cat, didn't look like a catfish.

I guess that was, they gave up meat for Lent, and so fish is not meat.

Anyway, it is amazing whenever we think about what God offers us and what He actually tells us as we celebrate the Passover as an annual memorial, which of course we're also directed, and we want to read this here in 1 Corinthians 11, but I want to just remind you of how it is that between now and the Passover. Each of us individually need to, we need to take a personal inventory, an inventory of how are we growing, how are we developing, and of course, the reason for that is clearly defined here in 1 Corinthians 11 because this is, you know, Paul's directive to the church that met in Corinth. This is what he was telling them to do here in chapter 11, 1 Corinthians, verse 23. He said, I received from the Lord, when I also, as I have handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed, this is what we read about in John 13 and John 14 and 15 and 16 and 17, you know, the whole section there that is often one that we want to read before we get to the Passover service, but we're reminded of what happened during that period of time, and John is really the only place 13 to 18 that records that.

You have other references to the fact that they were meeting together in Matthew and Mark and Luke, I believe, but John's the one who details it. He's the one who gives a lot of information, and yet Paul is directly stating this to the Church of God in Corinth, and he says on the night that Jesus was betrayed, he took a loaf of bread, and verse 24, when he'd given thanks, he broke it, he said, this is my body that is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

And in the same way, he took a cup, and after supper said, this cup is a new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. Or as often as you eat this bread and you drink this cup, you proclaim a memorial. You proclaim the Lord's death. And of course, the Passover itself is a symbol. It is a picture of the death of Jesus Christ.

Now clearly, Jesus did die. He was in the grave three days and three nights, and then he rose from the dead. He could not be held in that captivity at all. But what we see, what he says, is in verse 26, you proclaim that death on an annual basis until he returns. And whoever, it says in verse 27, eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. And so it's a serious thing. It's not something to be done frivolously. It's not something to be done without preparation. It's not something that we want to be, say, overly worried about. I mean, we're told to go ahead and do this, to do the Passover, but it tells us exactly what to do in verse 28. Examine yourselves. Test yourselves. Prove yourselves. It later says, judge yourself. And that, of course, is what we are as Christians.

And if we're going to be growing from year to year, we're going to be testing ourselves. We're going to be proving ourselves. We're going to be seeing how much we are grateful for this glorious blessing of knowing about a Passover service as we will be celebrating. So it says in verse 28, to examine yourselves and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For those who eat and drink in an unworthy way, who do not discern the Lord's body, eat and drink judgment to themselves. And for this reason, many are weak and ill, and some have died. But if you judge yourself, we shall not be judged. So Paul gives clear instruction to, and we've gone over this in the past, how that it is not a fact or a manner of that we need to come to the Passover service and think that we're worthy of doing that. Because in essence, we're not worthy of God's blessing and God's calling and God's forgiveness and God's Spirit. We're not worthy of that, but God has extended that to us anyway. He, in His mercy, that's the way He describes His people, that people who have come to understand that they need forgiveness. People, see, the Passover is for sinners. The Passover should be observed by those who have a clear understanding of sin. And I'm going to point that out more so here in the sermon today. But, as I said, you know, we do want to take the Passover in a reverent manner. The Greek word that's used here for, let's see, in verse 27 and 29, verse 27, in an unworthy way, it was actually implying, and I think it's clear the word translated in the King James clearly means irreverently. We don't want to irreverently come to the Passover service. We want to do what it says in verse 28 to examine ourselves.

And, of course, that's a wonderful blessing. So, brethren, we should be, each one of us should be deeply humbled by the fact that God has called us, by the fact that He has forgiven us, that He has extended His mercy, that He gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit, and that we have a deep appreciation for His involvement in our lives. And we really have nothing to boast about because we're not the wise, nor the noble, nor the powerful of this world. You know, as we know, we're a relatively small group, but that's according to God's directive. You know, that's what He says. His people would make up a small group for a little flock. But that doesn't change the fact that God is doing a powerful work. And so we have nothing to boast about because we're not the powerful of the real world. We simply are the chosen. See, that's what happened. Whenever God drew us to an understanding of our need for forgiveness, of our need for Jesus Christ in our lives, well, He was drawing us. He was choosing us, even as we've already read about how He worked with people in the Old Testament. He chose Abraham. He drew Abraham to be the father of the faithful. He would later prove that through His action and through His faith. But He dealt with Abraham, and later Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and Moses and Joshua as we've covered. He directly dealt with each of those individuals by His choosing, by His calling, by His involving Himself in the lives of what would appear to be very few people. And this is what we find recorded in the history of the Old Testament or throughout the Old Testament, the history of the people of Israel.

But it is a wonderful blessing to be drawn to Jesus Christ by the Father. And we want to fulfill His purpose in allowing us to be a part of His divine family. See, that's what He's doing. That's what God's purpose is, to cause a divine family to grow. And so if we go back here to verse 29, chapter 11, verse 29, He who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment to themselves. So there clearly is a matter of discerning the body of the Lord, discerning an understanding of what Jesus went through, of what He gave, but also discerning our grouping together in the body and how that all of us make up different parts of the body. And we have to function together under the direction of the head. That's got to be clearly in our minds in order to do what we're told here in verse 28. Examine ourselves and then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. You know, it is a directive even as we read John chapter 6, how Jesus told His disciples, and He told those who were around, and even the Pharisees who didn't understand what He was talking about. He told them, you're going to have to eat my flesh. You're going to have to drink my blood. And they thought, this is outrageous. This is ridiculous. So what is He talking about? Well, He had simply in John 6 been talking about the fact that your ancestors, being the people of Israel of the past, had been given manna, been given bread from heaven, been given angel food, been given blessing from God, and yet I am the living bread.

I am the bread that if you eat thereof you shall have eternal life. And so, you know, that is what is so wonderful about how we prepare now for the Passover. How we look forward to this, as we said, this will be April 21st here four weeks from this past Thursday. We'll be gathering together. And we'll be observing a foot washing service, and then we will take the bread, and we will take the wine, and we will read what Jesus did. But it's clearly something each of us are to prepare for. So how can we best examine ourselves? I'm going to offer, you know, just what might be a simple way of doing this. You can say it's the three S's of examination. Sin, Satan, and self. That's, you know, that's a pretty simple capsuleization of how it is, you know, God expects us to examine ourselves. And what it is that most people would not really choose to do. They would not focus on what the Word of God clearly tells us to focus on. So the first of those things to keep in mind whenever we are thinking about the Passover is, how is it that you identify sin? How is it that we undo? We really see our own personal sins. In Romans it tells us that it's through the law that comes the knowledge of sin.

So you've got to be able to look at the law. You've got to be able to look at the Ten Commandments specifically. See, if we back up here to Matthew chapter 19, and some of this I'll just reference because it would be too much to try to read through. But in Matthew chapter 19 you see an example of Jesus and the rich young ruler. And in verse 16 he asked Jesus as the teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life? And Jesus answered, and he said, why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. Of course that is God. But if you wish to enter into eternal life, then keep the commandments. Observe the commandments of God. Now does that, if we obey the commandments, does that earn us salvation or earn us eternal life? No, it doesn't. But at least it does show us the way of life, and it does show us what sin is and what to turn from. And of course he asked him, well, what commandments are you talking about? And it's pretty clear when he starts enumerating you are to not murder or commit adultery or steal or bear false witness or honor your father and mother and love your neighbor as yourself. He was making a clear delineation as to how can you see sin. What is it that you could use? And of course, using the Ten Commandments. And I guess we have to think or ask ourselves, can we easily name the Ten Commandments? Is that something any one of us could do? I know we have to think about it, and I know Hank's getting older. He may not be able to remember all of them in order.

I'm pretty sure he probably could. But see, sometimes, even if you just try to write them down, you may not be able to get them out. You may not be able to see that the first four appear to deal with our relationship with God, not having any other God before God, and not having and bowing down or serving any other image or idol, and not using God's name improperly or forgetting.

The fact that the Sabbath has been designed and created by God. It's been designated, it's been sanctified, it's been blessed. God didn't ask you, when do you want to go to church?

He said, the Sabbath is the day that I have made holy. And of course, the directive in Exodus 20, verse 8, is that remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. You are to respond to God. We, I'm sure I'll always include myself, but we are always responding to God's directive.

And see, that seems to be lost on most of the world. That's not a priority item. It's not something, and you know, again, it is somewhat of a signifying thing for us. It does designate, you know, what can we say, a distinctive of the church of God. And yet, those first four commands deal with seeing how we relate to God, and the last six, of course, how we love our neighbor. That's the way Jesus summarized them in Matthew 22, when he was asked about the greatest commandment. Which one's the greatest? Well, love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength, it says, in another spot. And the second one is, like it, love your neighbor as yourself. Those have to be the standard that we look at whenever we're examining our lives and ourselves and our sins. See, I think we could back up here in 1st Corinthians because we often read this in 1st Corinthians 11 because it does deal with the Passover service and it deals with preparation by examining ourselves. But why don't we look at chapter 10? There are a couple of things that Paul says beforehand and some things he even says afterwards. There are a lot of information that we could go over, but I'm wanting to focus these. Here in chapter 10, he says in verse 1, I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren, or unaware that our ancestors, talking about Israel of the past, were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea and were all baptized. Moses in the cloud and the sea and all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from the spiritual rock that followed them. That rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them and they, for the most part, died in the wilderness. Now, clearly, Paul is talking to those who would have an idea of the history of Israel. He was talking to those who were aware of that, and then if they were not aware of it, then they should become aware of how it was that the Israelites, even though they were given a blessing from God, in many ways, didn't respond. They didn't think about how it was that sin needs to be analyzed in my life. Am I obeying the Ten Commandments?

He goes on in verse 6 and says, now these things occurred as examples for us so that we might not desire evil as they did. See, that's amazing. You know, whenever, and of course, he's going to go through a list here of five or six things that all could be applicable to us. You know, do what is my heart's desire? See, what happened with the Israelites was that they were brought through the Red Sea. They were ushered out of Egypt, in a sense, kind of pushed out and plundered the Egyptians as they left. They were on the other side.

They were protected by a cloud by day and fire by night. They were given a remarkable blessing. Didn't take very long at all. Within the matter of days, within a matter of months, it seems like they had totally forgot what God had done for them. And so they desired the way they'd been living all their lives.

They desired the evil things that they had in Egypt, not just the way of life but the food and, well, at least we had a place to live and at least we had something to drink. You know, they desired the evil things. And actually, you see them turning back immediately. Moses is up on the mount getting from the hand of God the Ten Commandments. And Aaron is down there collecting stuff, collecting the jewelry and the gold and throws it in the fire and out pops a golden cap. That's what he said when Moses asked him, how'd this come about? Of course, I think the text says he fashioned it and shaped it and made it into that.

Of course, he was kind of minimizing a little I'm sure. I don't know how that thing got here. Pretty sad. Pretty sad. But see, it wasn't just Aaron. It was everybody. They were in cahoots. You know, they desired evil things. They didn't desire to please and honor God. So here in verse 6, it says, we have examples for us that we might not desire evil things. God has brought us and for the most part, many of us have been brought out of the connection to the world for decades.

But sometimes, you know, some of the things that are done in our lives or around us become a little appealing. We're tempted. We should think about how I examine myself in that regard. Verse 7, don't become idolaters, as some of them did. As it is written, the people sat down and ate and drank and rose up to play. So here, you know, they were desiring evil things. They were not focused on obeying God. They were clearly willing to put a graven image to bow down before it to disregard what God had done for them and to focus on what obviously was wrong, was an idol.

It goes on to say, verse 8, we must not indulge in sexual immorality or fornication, as some of them did. 23,000 fell in a single day. You know, here in this world, you know, sexual immorality, you know, that's almost a foreign term. People, if you said that, people would almost wonder, what in the world are you talking about? Because they're not focused on, you know, well, how would you define fornication? Fornication is almost undefinable in this world. How would you define adultery? Because they can't even define marriage.

You know, things are breaking down in such a way, and of course, you know, with the pornographic way in which the internet expands people's opportunities, as well as just trying to get through any checkout stand. You've got people, you know, dressed or undressed magazines all along. You can't get away from sexual immorality in this society. And so we have to consider, you know, how is it that that type of prevalence of sin affects me? Now, I would say we can't avoid seeing. I mean, we're going to be exposed.

We're exposed. We have to see that, but we also have to have a mindset of knowing, well, part of the Passover and a part of my examination is to identify sin. Be able to recognize it for what it is.

We go on here. Verse 9, we must not put Christ to the test or tempt Christ, as some of them did, and they were destroyed by serpents. You know, this was another example. And again, I don't have time to go through all of these in the Old Testament as far as the illustrations from the Israelites, but they were willing to tempt God. They were willing, and we have to think about that in our own lives. Do we put ourselves in compromising situations, hoping that God will drag us out, back out? You know, we have to think about it. We have to consider how much we hate sin.

Verse 10, and do not complain or murmur, as some of them did, and they were destroyed by the destroyer.

You know, that was one of the prime things you read about through numbers, is that people complained about almost everything. They complained about the eats, the drink. They complained about not having the comfort or luxury they had in Egypt.

They complained about Moses. They complained about Aaron. They had plenty of things to grumble about. You know, what's that? Is that wrong? Well, a lot of things. A lot of times people, oh, that's not so wrong. You've got to complain about something. Well, you know, I don't know whether that's such a frivolous thing or not. Should we be complainers? Is there a benefit to complaining? We might get our own way, and we might get used to doing that, but that doesn't have anything to do with what God is doing either. So don't be complainers. It says these things in verse 11 happen to them to serve as an example. They were written down to instruct us on whom the ends of the age have come. It wasn't directly so much for them that they went through that, and it was recorded in the Bible. It's for us to read, for us to have an impact in our lives.

And even, he goes on to say, see, all of these are obviously clear errors, clear sins that they would engage in or indulge in. But in verse 12, if you think you stand, watch out that you do not fall. See, even if we think we're doing quite well, and that, well, you know, my record is pretty good.

Well, we better reconsider, because if we think that we're an exception to the rule, or the rules don't apply to us, then we're deceiving ourselves, because the rules apply to everyone.

You know, you can read that in so many other places, but it's easy, again, whenever we are doing well, to begin to think how well we're doing, instead of watching and heating, because, you know, we can fall. Again, you know, no testing. We can go ahead and read verse 13. No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful. He will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing, it will also provide the way for you to be able to endure it. Sometimes, you know, whenever we're weakened, maybe when we're sick, maybe when we're down, maybe we're not on guard as much, and certainly we often feel that our prayers are not near as effective. I know that my prayers seemed scrambled and jumbled and confused whenever I didn't feel so good here a year ago, and even off and on at much of the time. If I don't feel very good, then I don't feel as clear in my talking to God. But see, that's what God tells us. He says, you know, realize that you want to identify and see personal sins, because they're there, whether we see them or not. But that's what we're to repent of. That's what we're to change. The second of the three S's was, I mentioned sin and Satan and self. The second one is Satan, and the fact is, Satan has got to be resisted, because he is out to draw us down. See, who does Satan hate more than anyone on earth? Well, I would say, from what we read here in Revelation 12, Revelation 12, this of course is a prediction of the end time. And here in Revelation 12, it says in verse 10, I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, Now has come the salvation, empowering kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah. You know, this is looking into the time. And again, we are anticipating Christ's return. We want him to come back. We want his kingdom to be set up. We want this to happen. But it says, Now has come the salvation, empowering kingdom of our God, because the accuser or for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses him day and night before God. But they, see here it actually in a sense kind of says what's going to happen. And it says what we should do. Revelation 12 in verse 11, what should they do?

Realizing that Satan is out to pull us down. It says in verse 11, They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb. See, that's the only way we can conquer. Satan's effect on us is through drawing close to God. Of course, we'll read that in a second. But they conquer Satan by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of his testimony. And they did not cling to even to the face of death. Rejoice in verse 12, you heavens and those who dwell on them. Woe to the earth and the sea the devil has come down to you with great wrath because he knows that his time is short. See, ultimately God's prediction of what will happen to Satan being contained, being restrained and later contained and no longer a factor in human deception. And that's what he's, that's his name. He's the adversary, he's the deceiver, he's the enemy, not only of God, but of every one of us as his children. And so, you know, who is it that Satan is angry with? Well, us. Who is it that he is jealous of? That's amazing because what God is not because of us, but because of what God is doing in our lives. Satan is jealous of that. He wants that so badly and yet it's not being offered to him. It's being offered to human beings who can die, but thankfully who can be resurrected. You know, that's what we want to keep in mind. And certainly, you know, when you read this description of the devil coming down with great wrath because he knows he has but a short time, you know, that would appear, you know, to be at the very end of the age. That would appear to be at a time that we seem to be living in, but we don't know how much longer and how much worse. You know, this past week we've had more chaos in Europe. We have, you know, more destruction, more terror, more strife, which could happen every week from now on. We don't know. And yet, what we find about Satan is that he hates us and he will do anything to try to destroy us. But verse 11 says we can conquer him by the blood of the Lamb. Conquer Satan's effect on us. James 4, verse 6 and 7 and 8.

See, we're shown how it is we can win a battle against a spirit being that's far more powerful than we are. See, God knew when he placed Adam and Eve here on earth that they were going to be facing a force that was stronger than they were.

God knew that. That's why he had a plan to redeem us. He had that even before he put us on the earth.

But see, the fact is, you know, if we submit ourselves to God, that's what James 4, verse 7 and 8 are talking about. Submit yourselves to God and resist the devil, and he will flee, but draw close to God, and he will draw close to you. And he says, Cleanse your hands, you sinners. That's a scripture that deals with examining ourselves, seeing our sins, recognizing Satan would like to destroy us.

Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

See, those are instructions that are giving us hope, giving us power over Satan's influence. And of course, in Ephesians 6, you have an entire section. Ephesians 6, verse 10.

Starting in Ephesians, let me go back over there and read this. It says, Finally be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his power, put on the whole armor of God, that you may able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Now again, can we enumerate the armor of God?

See, some of these type of things are things that we teach our children, things that we should teach our children and help them to be mindful of. The Ten Commandments, the armor of God, being able to list that, the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, our feet involved in the preaching of the Gospel, the sword or, excuse me, the shield that is going to fend off the fiery darts of the wicked one and the sword that we study daily. And yet, we need to keep those in mind, knowing that it's through that closeness to God, through drawing close to God, that we clearly resist the devil.

So we've got to identify sin in our life, and that can only be done through an understanding of the law, and then through an understanding of the Word of God, we've got to resist the devil.

And then finally, the third S, sin, Satan, and self.

Self. You know, is that really a problem? Is that a problem for any of us? Do we focus on ourselves more than God, more than Jesus, more than the Word of God, more than others? Well, we need to consider, and it's amazing to see how the Bible shows us that the nature of man really reflects the attitude and the outlook and the bad attitudes of Satan more than it does of God. I think it's incredible to look at Psalm 139, because this Psalm is really remarkable, and I am primarily just focusing on the last couple of verses here, where clearly in Psalm 139, David says in verse 23, he said, God helped me to see myself. God helped me search me, O God, and know my heart. Know my heart and test me and know my thoughts and see if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. See, now that is what I encourage all of us to do, to ask God to show me not only my sins and how I need to do battle in a spiritual warfare, but that I need to be able to overcome my own selfishness, because too many times that becomes evident. That's why we squabble. That's why we have misunderstandings. That's why we have outright disagreement. That's why we have a lack of unity, because people are not focused on overcoming themselves, because that's clearly what David was asking God to do. But if you look at this entire chapter, it's incredible. If we go back to verse 1, O Lord, you have searched me and you you truly know me, and you know when I sit down and when I get up, and you discern my thoughts from far away. This whole chapter again is describing David's understanding that God was aware of everything. Now, as we said, it didn't appear that David was too concerned about that at times. He forgot. He lapsed. He sinned, as do we. And yet, clearly, David's perception was an understanding that I cannot get away from God, no matter where I go, no matter what I do.

I can't go high enough. I can't go low enough. I can't go far enough to be out of the review of the great God, the one who is. See, too many times, you know, we can put on a a good image, and we always want to do that, you know, whether we are intentionally trying to do that or not. And yet, see, what this psalm shows is that we can't get away from God. God knows what's in our thoughts, what's in our heart, what's in our actions, what's in everything that we do.

And of course, you know, it's remarkable. Verse 7, where can I go from your spirit?

You can't. You can't go anywhere where God isn't there and where he isn't aware.

And of course, David continues to talk about how it is that he understood that God was working with him.

Verse 16, your eyes beheld my unformed substance, and your book were written the days that were formed for me, when none of them even existed. See, that's talking about not predestination or some unusual understanding of that verse. It's simply the fact that God had a purpose.

For David's life, before he existed. As God has a purpose for each of our lives, as we only come to understand it, as we learn to overcome ourselves, as we learn to actually recognize what human nature is about. Human nature, as we call it, is just the nature of man. And yet, when we read the Bible, it says in Romans chapter 8 that the carnal mind is against God. It's against God. It's against God's law. And it has to be that way, because we're affected by Satan's anger, his jealousy of God, his arrogance in thinking that he might in some way overthrow or overrule God. How ridiculous. Completely ridiculous. Absolutely clueless, really. But of course, God used that for good. But throughout, maybe we could back up to chapter 138, verse 8. He said the purpose for me. God has a purpose for human life. He has a way of working with humans, and of course, as David would say at the end of this chapter, he said, please show me myself. Not just show me my sins, but show me myself.

And if we're to look in Mark chapter 7, you see, in a sense, kind of a delineation. In Mark chapter 7, the disciples are with Jesus, and the Pharisees are complaining, as usual, to Jesus. And they're concerned over whether the disciples washed their hands whenever they were eating, or if they washed the plates right, or all the stuff that they were concerned about. And yet Jesus makes it real clear here in Mark 7, verse 14, He called the crowd together, He said, listen to me, all of you, and understand this. There is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that defile, the things that come out of the man are what defiles the man. See, He's going to elaborate on this more. He says, if you happen to eat some dirt, well, you know, you'll survive. That used to be a nice ploy that my brothers and I would do on the youngest, you know, make up some nice dirt clods and tell them it's candy and have them eat it. Didn't take too long to figure it out, you know, they were pretty bright, only two or three. No, usually the first one would do it. But if you eat dirt or if you, you know, if you happen to eat a, you know, something off a plate that's dirty, you know, you may wish you hadn't, you may get sick, but that's not going to defile you. That just goes through you. That's what Jesus says. He says it goes out into the sewer. That's not what is really important. What He says in verse 20, it is what comes out of a person that really, truly defiles. See, and He was directing this not only to the disciples, but to the Pharisees who were grossly unable to see anything about their selfishness or their lives.

But here in description of the human nature, verse 20, it's what comes out of the person that defiles, for it's from within, within the human heart.

That comes the evil intentions, and fornication, and theft, and murder, and adultery, and jealousy, and wickedness, and deceit, and licentiousness, and envy, and slander, and pride, and folly.

Now, you know, that could be the whole sermon, perhaps, but Jesus puts them in one sentence. He puts them in one verse of describing what's wrong with human nature. Oh, well, everything.

Everything you can think of that is despicable and ungodly. He says in verse 23, all these evil things come from within. They come from within the human heart, and that is what truly defiles a person. Do we see ourselves in that way? Here in Galatians 6, Galatians chapter 6, it mentions how easy it is. And I might mention as well, in contrast to what we read here in Mark 7 about human nature and how it is that we see human nature, how it is that Jesus said, this is what you are like. This is what all of us are like. This is what defiles us.

But see, what nature does God want us to reflect? Well, He wants us to reflect His nature. He wants us to reflect the nature that Jesus had. And you could summarize that in Galatians 5, verse 22 and 23, where it lists the fruit of the Holy Spirit. See, again, those are fruits that we should be able to enumerate in our head. We should be able to know that the love and joy and peace and the long suffering and the gentleness and the goodness and the faith and the meekness and the temperance that are listed there, those are what we value the most. This is what we want reflected. If we're going to be a new creation, then we've got to see what we're getting rid of and what we are asking God to cause to grow in us. But here, down below that, just a little bit, in chapter 6 of Galatians, He says, starting in verse 3, If those who are nothing think that they're something, then they deceive themselves.

But here He's talking about self-deception. They're talking about Galatians 6, verse 3.

They deceive themselves. He says in verse 4, almost tests their own work.

Then that work, rather than somebody else's work, will become a cause for pride, for almost carry their own loads. But in verse 6, those who are taught the Word may share in all things with their teacher. And in verse 7, don't be deceived. God is not mocked. You will reap whatever you sow.

Understanding our own selfishness, understanding how that our selfishness is, in essence, a cause of many of our problems, many of our difficulties, many of our sins come from selfishness. And so, we want to examine and clearly identify sin in our lives. We want to resist Satan's influence because it's real. And of course, the way to do that is to ask God to deliver us from the evil one and to put on the armor of God. And finally here, regarding ourselves, just looking at ourselves, our own selfishness, and not allow ourselves to be deceived. See, in 1 Corinthians 13, you see an enumeration. This is right in line with what Paul was talking about here in 1 Corinthians 11, where he talks about examine yourself and then take the Passover.

As I said, we read a little bit in chapter 10. I want to focus a little more here in chapter 13, because he says, in talking to this church that was in many ways what you might say is pretty divided. They weren't a united bunch. They had a lot of conflict. They had a lot of anxiety about what other people were doing, what they were doing. They struggled with that. They didn't see themselves too well. But here in 1 Corinthians 13, I don't want to read the whole thing because it's, again, too long to go through right now, but I do want to read verse 4. Down to verse 8, because here it says, The love of God is patient. The love of God is kind.

Love is not envious. It is not boastful. It is not arrogant. It is not rude.

It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things. It believes all things. It hopes all things. It endures all things. Love simply does not fail. Now, that should be something we commit to memory because you could say, of course, he's talking about the love of God. He's talking about how powerful that is. He's talking about how all inclusive it is and how that, in essence, this is a description of God. God is patient, long-suffering. God is kind.

God is not jealous, as I said. Satan is. God is not boastful. He is not arrogant. He is not rude. God does not insist on his own way, except, of course, when that's right for his creation.

God is not irritable. He is not resentful. He does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but in the truth.

God bears all things. He believes all things. God hopes all things. He endures all things. God simply does not fail. He is permanent. He is reliable. He is steadfast. And see, again, we can read that and say, well, that's nice. I hope somebody does that. See, the real test, the real examination is to read these little verses and put in our own name. See, is Joe patient? Is Joe long suffering? Well, occasionally. Sometimes.

Not as much as I want to be. Is Joe kind? Well, occasionally. Is Joe jealous? At times. Is Hank boastful? Oh, yeah. At times. Certainly not all the time and not usually here in church.

Is Hank rude? Not where we usually see him. Did you uninsist on his own way? I don't think we'll take a poll. He takes the fifth.

That's deceiving yourself. Taking the fifth is deceiving yourself. Oh, is the rain irritable? No, surely not. Is Carol resentful?

Is Cindy always rejoicing the truth instead of wrongdoing? This is something that we can do. You can do this for yourself. I don't guess I have to go through all of them. We'd have to say, do we bear old things or believe old things or hope or endure old things?

Well, that's what we want to grow in. We want to grow in this divine nature.

And only if we see that the nature that we have needs replacement. The selfishness that we have needs to be replaced. And of course, in our examination, as we see ourselves, we know that God requires that we repent. I won't again take time to read Revelation 2 and 3 because you see a whole listing of messages to the churches. And in each one of those messages you have, you have directive, you know, you're doing this right, you're doing this wrong.

And yet, God's directive is to say, okay, what you need to do is repent. How you can solve this is to repent and do the first works or repent or risk the wrath of God. Or he says, I gave you time to repent, but she refuses to repent. See, that's amazing that the directive is that we need to seek repentance. Remember what you've received and obey and repent. I'm coming soon. Hold fast. I discipline those I love. Be earnest and repent. Then of course, whenever I say repent, that's not just turn, but go the other way. Seek the nature of God. And that, of course, can allow us. That can allow us and help us in being able to properly approach the Passover as we back up a page here, as we are told. If we're going to, in verse 28, examine 1 Corinthians 11, verse 28. If we're going to examine ourselves and take a look, identify the sin, identify how much Satan influences us, identify our selfishness. We want to see that. And of course, we don't want to project that. That's something we try to avoid. But see, if we examine ourselves, then we're told, only then, eat of the bread and drink of the cup. We are directed to do that. We're directed to, and as Jesus said in John 6, eat my flesh and drink my blood, otherwise you don't have eternal life.

You know, that's a requirement. But also is the self-examination. And so as we do that, we can see very much our need for God. We can see our need for Jesus Christ because He's the path. He's the way. He's the one who is going to enable us to succeed, enable us to be the people of God.

And so I encourage all of us, we've got a month here before we get to the time of the Passover, to examine ourselves. And then let us eat the Passover of 2016. The New Testament Passover that God commands us to come and be a part of, but He wants us to prepare by examining ourselves. And we can do this, you know, just as Jesus, and in this case Paul, but clearly Jesus directing Him commands us to do.