Examining Ourselves Before the Passover

Happy Sabbath, everybody! Good to see you. That's a different rendition of The Lord is my Shepherd. Very nice. Like that crescendo there at the end. Looks like some of you were quite warm today. I don't know if we can turn on the whatever we have. Air cooler or air conditioner for people. I understand this past week the temperature got up to about 82 degrees up in our area. We had to open the windows at night. I walked into the bedroom one time. It was just so warm in the bedroom. We had to open the windows up. I like that, by the way. My wife doesn't. I used to open the windows in Idaho in the winter. I had a mustache, and I'd wake up in the morning and be frost on my mustache. Sometimes it could be pretty cold up that way. We appreciate the summertime, but of course when we get into the summertime, we look forward to the cool air when it comes rolling in. Well, it's hard to believe in just over two weeks the Passover season will begin in earnest. We must put out leavening from our dwellings, as God commands us to do every year. While we're doing that, we are certainly to continue to consider our spiritual condition before God.

Let's go over to 2 Corinthians chapter 13. 2 Corinthians chapter 13 and verse 5. Here, the apostle Paul admonished the Corinthian brethren to do this, as we are admonished to do it. But in 2 Corinthians chapter 13 and verse 5, Paul said to them, to examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. It says in the New King James, do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed you are disqualified? But he said, I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified.

And so here he was calling upon the Corinthian brethren to examine themselves. And an examination for a Christian is always important and always good. I don't think we should just do that during the time of the Passover, as the Passover approaches. I think we need to be doing that throughout the year, but especially as we approach to the Passover. But in this particular instance, when Paul is asking the brethren to examine themselves here in 2 Corinthians 13, 5, Paul had a particular reason for instructing the Corinthians to examine themselves. So there was a purpose in what he was doing with regard to this. We know that in 1 Corinthians 11, it talked about the Passover. So during that time, that letter was written during the time of the Passover. In terms of the book of 2 Corinthians, we don't know again the exact timing of that, but certainly it tied into some of the events that had happened in the first letter that was written to the Corinthians. But Paul wrote to the brethren at Corinth for a reason. Since they had experienced problems where many of them had been deceived, that the church had become severely divided over their biases against the Apostle Paul.

Remember he had to defend his apostleship? There were those that were divided over who they were for. Were they for Peter? Were they for Apollos? Were they for Paul? Paul even joked that some of them were for Christ. So they were divided. Also, over them becoming puffed up by being tolerant of a man who was committing adultery with his own stepmother and their midst. The church was rife with problems of all sorts because of the lack of spiritual understanding over the Passover, even. They weren't keeping the Passover correctly.

And on and on it goes. We could mention a dozen other things that the Corinthian church was doing wrong. And this is why Paul here says we need to examine ourselves. Are we in the faith? And, brethren, I think that we need to examine ourselves as God's people right now in this time that we've gone through because we've had divisive issues which have affected the church in a very big way. You know, have we viewed things as Christians should view them?

And have we conducted ourselves in a right manner? Or have we allowed attitudes perhaps even foul attitudes to creep in? Have we allowed anger to explode and malice in attacking people and criticizing people? Have we allowed ourselves to speak evil of others, disrespect others, and even have we allowed ourselves to rebel? And so, just as the Apostle Paul says, examine yourselves as to whether you're in the faith. I think that this is a good time for us to do that. We need, brethren, this Passover to examine ourselves whether or not we are in the faith and we need to move forward as God's people.

And like the Apostle Paul said, he trusts that we are not disqualified, but we are qualifying to be a part of God's coming Kingdom. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 11 over here. Here in 1 Corinthians 11, again, this talks about the Passover. But in verse 26 it says, For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes. So every year when we observe the Passover, we are looking toward the time when Jesus Christ is going to return as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Therefore, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. And he goes on to say, But let a man examine himself.

And so here Paul again broaches the same subject with the Corinthian church. And so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. In other words, after examining ourselves, we don't say, Well, I guess I'm not qualified to take the Passover. But we examine ourselves, and frankly, as I personally look at it, I think we come to realize how much we need the Passover, how important it is to us.

So examine ourselves, as he says here, and then go and eat the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. And for this reason many are weak and sick among you and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.

And so I think it's a very important thing to pause to think about, brethren, there, that if we can take the time to judge ourselves, then we won't have to be judged of God. And it says, but when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

And so, brethren, it is a time for us to examine ourselves. I think this year we have more reasons to do that than we have had in previous years because of what we have seen that has happened within the church. So we're told to judge ourselves, in other words, to make those corrections as we see those areas that we need a change in, and we would not need to be judged of Jesus Christ and the Father in heaven in a future time.

We must, brethren, deeply consider our lives as we approach the Passover in regard to these things. Am I taking the sacrifice of the Son of God seriously? Am I building Christ-like character, godly character, by putting sin out of my life? I think that's what we need to be asking ourselves, brethren, about our personal lives.

So, let's talk about how we need to scrutinize ourselves and what we need to examine for the upcoming Passover that we're going to partake of. It is not really that hard to do that. It's really not guesswork to determine whether or not we are in the faith. So it's not something where we have to have four or five hours of somebody teaching us how to examine ourselves.

I think, frankly, we know areas to look at in our lives. I think the most important thing, brethren, we should look at when we're examining ourselves—and I'm going to direct this not to you, brethren, but to me as I examine myself before you—I have to ask myself the question, do I still seek the kingdom of God and God's righteousness first in my life? Am I doing that? Am I putting God first, like it says in Matthew 6 and verse 33? Am I putting the kingdom of God first? I think we really do need to ask ourselves that, because when we get off the track with regard to that, brethren, we've lost it. And, you know, it's like Mr.

Warren says, we're toast. If we get off of that track and we stop seeking God's kingdom first, I'll tell you what, the world will win out, absolutely, if we're not seeking the kingdom of God first. Let's go to Luke chapter 9. Over here, Jesus Christ, of course, was preaching and teaching in His ministry. And I'm sure there were many people that came up to Christ and wanted to follow Him, because of the kind of magnetic leader He was, very charismatic, I'm sure, in terms of Himself as a person. You can look at that and see that in many cases. In some cases, when people would want to follow Christ, they'd say, No, you go tell your family what has been done for you. And, you know, sometimes people would go back and tell their families, and their families would become converted. They would accept Jesus Christ as a result of what witness was given to them. But here in Luke 9, in verse 57, let's notice, and it says, Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, Lord, I will follow You wherever You go. I want to follow You wherever You go. And Jesus said to Him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. In other words, You want to follow Me. You know, I'm not seeking a permanent place here upon this earth. My job, my responsibility right now is to do the work of God. I don't have a place to lay my head. Now, of course, by that He didn't mean that He didn't have any place to sleep.

He didn't mean that at all. But He said He had a work that had to be accomplished and done. If you're going to follow Me, you know, you may have to go places you never thought you would have to go. You may have to do things you never thought you would have to do. And it says in verse 59, And then He said to another, Follow Me. But He said, Lord, let me first go and bury my Father. You know, there are always needs, aren't there, in our lives. And what did Jesus Christ say to Him? Okay, go ahead, go. Come back when you're ready. No, what did He say? Let the dead bury their own dead. But you go and preach the kingdom of God. You go and preach the kingdom of God. I don't think in this particular case, by the way, He was telling him that He should neglect His family. You know, in this situation here, but He had to, again, seek God's kingdom first. And, you know, we do that in many ways.

I know when I was called, when you were called, a lot of times we have to get up and get away from our families. You know, in my situation, I went off to Big Sandy, Texas. I mean, who wants to go to a place that is big and has sand there, too? When I first told my advisors when I was at Northeastern State University, I was going to go to Ambassador College, they looked at me like I was loon, a loon. But I was crazy for doing it. But you had, we, of course, loaded up in the bus and headed down to Big Sandy. First person I met, by the way, was Joe Dobson. And I was happy to see Joe Dobson at the conference this past January, February, 1st of February, that was there. In verse 61, another also said, Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house. Got a big family reunion. I got to go tell them, you know, so long, or, you know, whatever the tradition was of people making excuses in those days. I'm sure it was an excuse. But notice what Jesus Christ said. And Jesus said to him, no one having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. You know, they're not worthy of the kingdom that is coming. You know, I think that there's a lesson here with regard to farming as well.

A man cannot plow a straight roll looking back. You ever done that before? Try to make a straight line? I don't know if you've ever even taken a rototiller and tried to do a straight line. And looking back, you always end up, there's a jag in it. Somehow or another, you get, you know, you're crooked and plowing that row if you're using a rototiller or a tractor. And, brethren, if we look back all the time, you know what happens? Our spiritual walk with God is going to be crooked. It's going to be crooked. It's not going to be straight the way it should be.

God wants us, brethren, to keep our eye on the Kingdom of God. You know, you keep your eye on that point out there that you're wanting to achieve. And you'll get there. It's like the, you know, sailors in ancient times that, you know, they would focus on a star and they would be able to traverse the oceans of the sea. But you put, again, your eye on that one thing. You keep working toward that, brethren, and you will achieve it. But if you look back, again, you're going to be walking crooked. And that means you're going to be walking contrary to God's way of life.

You know, those who said they would follow Christ, what did they do? They made excuses, didn't they?

They made excuses about it. And I would guarantee you that you probably made excuses before you were called. And that may have been why it took a while for you to be called. I know when I was being called, I made excuses. You know, I made excuses, well, you know, how do I know these guys are right? When I was beginning to hear people talk about the Bible. And sure enough, I was right about them. They weren't right, because these were Protestants when I first started out.

And I found, began to find out things in the Bible, first in terms of the Sabbath. And then the next thing I learned about was the Holy Days. And God began to open these things up. But, you know, all of us make excuses at the very beginning. But, brethren, we can't make excuses. Do we use our job, brethren? Do we use school? Do we use our mate? Or maybe the excuse of money to not serve God the way that we should? Let me ask you, brethren, what excuse is good enough to neglect your calling?

We're going to have that discussion? What excuse is good enough? I think you would agree that there are no excuses that are good enough. Let's go to Luke 14. Luke 14. So, I want to make sure, brethren, I am still seeking God's kingdom and His righteousness. And I don't stand up here as a paragon of virtue. It's a perfect example of what to do, brethren. I, as a member of the church, as a Christian, I wrestle just like you do in my life. And I want to obey God. I want to seek Him with all my heart and soul and mind. Sometimes I don't measure up. But in Luke 14 in verse 26, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father, and of course we know that means love less by comparison. Our father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters. Yes, in his own life also. He says that he cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Remember what Jesus Christ, the stake that He bore when He took upon the sins of the world. He dragged that stake after being beaten with a cat of dine tails.

He had a burden that He bore, a cross, if you will, that He bore. And so do we, brother, in our lives, whatever that cross might be. It may be the burdens that we have to carry around with us.

You know, the responsibilities that we have with us. But we have to be willing again to take up the cross, whatever it is, and follow Jesus Christ and bear the cross that is put upon our shoulders.

And it says, for which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether He has enough to finish it? And we know, of course, before we're baptized, we always talk about counting the cost. You know, am I counting the cost? Did I count the cost when I was baptized? Did I do that? Did I know I was going to have to keep going no matter what?

Well, I remember when I was making promises to God, and I think we all do, I told God that, look, I don't know if I can get there, but I surely will crawl across the finish line if you'll help me do it. I really didn't know if I could make it. You know, when I was being, going through the calling process and counting the cost about it, but Brother and I made that commitment to do that, to finish the job. Well, Brother, have you at all become so overwhelmed with trials that you think that you can't finish the job? That you can't move forward in your life? Remember, Jesus Christ sometimes had periods of time where it was extreme pressure upon Him, especially before He was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Remember, He prayed to the Father. He said, if it's possible, let this this cut pass from Me.

And of course, we know He prayed three times, and He came to realize that it was just only way that He was going to have to give His life as a sacrifice for all of mankind. And He realized there was no other way, and He had to finish the job. He had to finish the job and complete the job. You know, and what did Jesus Christ do, brethren, when He felt overwhelmed in His life?

You know, when He felt so overwhelmed that He dropped to His knees before the Father? What He did is He took His feelings to God, just like we should. You know, we get to the point where we feel overwhelmed, brethren. We have to go to God. And sometimes in my own personal life, brethren, I could feel like sometimes I'm just completely drained, that there's not one other ounce of energy in me. And the only way to replace that is to go to God, and He will do it. You know, sometimes when you're praying, you think, I'm never going to feel strong, because you're just so drained. But somehow, God doesn't. I don't know how. He doesn't. But I assume it's through His Holy Spirit that He gives to us when we really need it. Brethren, do I really make every effort to be at the feast and to keep the feast the way that I should? Or am I treating it like a sort of a meaningful tradition? You know, do I look upon it as something that's sort of optional in my life?

Or do I look at it as a command of God that I need to deeply desire to obey and to follow?

I ask myself those questions, brother. I want to make sure that the feasts of God, the days of the 11 bread don't become old hat to be. Or the feasts of tabernacles, that they're fresh. They're days when we're learning always, moving forward a little bit at a time sometimes, but moving forward, always moving forward. Let's go to Deuteronomy 16.

So again, am I putting the kingdom of God first in my life? That's what I want to do.

In Deuteronomy 16, down in verse 13, it says, you shall observe the feasts of tabernacles seven days. And so here's a directive, brethren, to us. You shall observe the feasts of tabernacles seven days. When you have gathered, it says, from your freshened floor and from your winecress, and you shall rejoice in your feasts. You and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant and the Levi, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates. Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the eternal your God, to the place which the eternal chooses, because the eternal your God will bless you and all your produce and all your work of your hands so that you surely rejoice. And then he talks about the three times in the year appearing before God and the place he chooses. And he talks about, again, the days of unleavened bread in verse 16, the feast of weeks, and of course the feast of tabernacles. And so the Bible says you shall. This is a directive, brethren, and a command and not something that is optional for us. Well, brethren, is that spark still in us? You remember when you first heard about the Feast of God? I remember distinctly when I came to see the Feast of God. I want to keep that spark there, that great spark that ignited in my own personal life back in about 67 or so before I was baptized. I found out about the feast that we ought to keep God's feast forever. You know, we need to, again, keep that spark alive. So the number one thing, brethren, I want to ask myself, as I'm examining myself, is Matthew 6, 33. Matthew 6, 33. Am I seeking the King of God first at God's righteousness in my life? Another thing, brethren, that I would want to make sure that I ask myself, and I have asked myself this year, is am I staying out of spiritual Egypt that is out there in the world? Am I staying out of that? Am I apart from that? It's separate from that. You know, do I have the idea that everybody's doing it? You know, as often people do in the world and society, and sometimes people can do this in the church as well, everybody's doing it, so why can I? Do I take liberties that way and maybe break God's law? Again, if I come out of Egypt, the Egypt of the world, brethren, we have seen the power and the influence of the world with regard to women and the women's liberation movement that took place. Of course, it sort of morphed into different movements through the years, but what was the end result, by the way, of the influence of this movement in the world? What was the end result? You know what the end result, brethren, was? It destroyed the concept of marriage. It destroyed the concept of a husband's and a wife's role in the family. You know, sometimes our young ladies may not realize that even within the church, the men have been impacted by what happened in the world with regard to women's liberation.

Our men are not as strong as they used to be.

Unless you become comfortable and think somehow that you're better than the men, of course, women have been affected as well. It's amazing. Sometimes when I'm counseling people with regard to the marriage and the roles within marriage, I have to ask a wife who may be very strong, would you give your husband permission to be the head of the family? Think about that.

That's what the Bible says, doesn't it? 1 Corinthians 11. But I have to ask somebody, would you please give your husband permission to be the head of the family?

And again, I think it's very sad that it's come to that in the world and society that we're living in today. And men and women, brethren, do not have a clue of what the difference is in this world between right and wrong. And unfortunately, when new people are called, they come somewhat equipped with those things. And it takes a lot for us to be brought out of those kinds of ideas.

So I have to ask myself, am I alert to the evil influences and trends in society? Are you, brethren, alert to what is going on out there in the world? There is a trend in the media, I hope that you've been watching this, brethren, that the media is standing against all Christian values. In fact, I think that it would be better to be a Muslim now in their eyes than to be a Christian. And we understand that we're talking about professing Christians or so-called Christians, but at least even so-called Christians may have certain values that go along with the life of Christ in their lives. In other words, they try to make an effort at being like Christ in some things. But the media stands against Christian values. And what they do is they paint Christians as radicals. We're radicals. We're dangerous. It's kind of interesting, again, how the tables have turned so much in this society. And people are being led eventually, what they're being led to do, brethren, is to reject the Bible entirely, to reject God entirely, to reject Jesus Christ.

That is where they're being led to, brethren, in this world right now, today. And the world again, in the media, is becoming more and more tolerant of Islam and less and less tolerant of Christians.

Now, I don't know whether you followed the incident that occurred with regard to the burning of the Koran and how somebody was killed. You know, Christians were killed, and again, I can't remember the nation where that happened, but Arabs rose up and killed certain individuals there professing to be Christians over the burning of the Koran. But let someone burn a Bible, and that's an entirely different story, isn't it? That would be all right. That would be all right.

To do that. But, you know, we again see the world as becoming more and more tolerant of Islam and less and less tolerant of Christianity. And this influence, brethren, can have a powerful impact upon you and me and the way we think. You know, when people today see tsunamis like happen in Japan where so many people have died and so much property has been destroyed, you know, what do people instantly do? Do they blame Allah? No, they don't, do they? They blame God.

They blame God for it. And what is the line of reasoning that is often used? It has been for some time, but more, I think, recently than ever. How could a loving God allow such a thing, you know, to happen? How could a loving God allow that? For these men to suffer, these people to suffer so much. And, you know, what we are seeing now is a very big movement of people that are actually trying to, again, do away with God, the belief in God, altogether. I don't know if you've seen, I certainly have not read it. I understand the gist of it, though. Richard Dawkins' book, The God Delusion, you know, the idea that there is a God is laughable in his mind. I saw, in fact, an interview of him, and he was sort of chuckling about how that back in the Dark Ages people would believe in the Bible, you know, and now science has grown so much and advanced so much that, you know, we don't need the Bible anymore. We don't need God anymore. And another book that was written by Nigel Leves called The God Problem, basically about the same type of thing. But you see where these people are going. Richard Dawkins, by the way, is an evolutionary biologist, and Nigel Leves is an author. And what is so amazing to me, brethren, is these men, of course, are atheists.

That's not amazing. But the media courts them as intellectuals who are to be praised.

You know, if man believes in God, he's a wacko. He's a wacko, brethren. That's where it's heading.

And the world eventually is, I'm sure, going to...a majority of people are going to go along with this. In fact, it's already seeming to happen in many nations where people simply do not believe in God anymore. I should have written down some of the statistics I saw on that and how many nations, what percentage believe in God and what percentage do not believe in God. I'm not going to go to Psalm 14 verse 1, but it says, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. And what David says, in the remainder of that particular verse, he says that they are corrupt. They have done abominable works. There is none who does good. In other words, those who reject God, brethren, want to have a life which is not judged by the Bible. You know, they want, in other words, to live corrupt lives where there are no constraints. Show me a man, again, that doesn't believe in God, and he wants to do his own thing when it comes to morality. And that's just the way it is.

Let's go to Romans 1. Romans 1. Notice what it says over here. Romans 1 and verse 18.

And I believe that Romans here 1 and verse 18 is talking about some of the intellectuals of this world and this society. Of course, even from the time of Paul, when he wrote this, these things were problems then. But in Romans 1 and verse 18, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifested in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that were made, even his eternal power, and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. The world is without excuse. Because although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile, and their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened, professing to be wise, they became fools.

I mean, if a man can examine the human body, and we can see a whole lot more than we used to be able to, about the inner workings of the human body, down to the microscopic level, you know, and say that there's no God, he is indeed a fool. He is a fool. If you can look into the heavens and see the gargantuan distances that we're talking about, and the order, you know, that is in the universe, and not believe in God, such a person is a fool. You know, if you look the word fool up, you would find the picture of that person in the dictionary.

So, you know, I have to ask myself again, am I staying out of this world?

Am I staying out of this world that, frankly, is topsy turvy and upside down?

The way of the thinking of this world. Second Corinthians 6. You know, I found, by the way, when I was studying at Northeastern State University, a lot of these men who you feel are very intelligent. You start asking them some questions, they become very antsy, because they don't know the answers. They don't have the answers, and yet they act as though they do. In 2 Corinthians 6 and verse 14, let's notice this, it says, Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. And so we are not to be yoked with unbelievers.

For what fellowship have righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion have light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? And what part has a believer with an unbeliever?

And what agreement has a temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God, as God has said. I will dwell in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore come out from among them, and be separate. So we're commanded to come out of the world, the society, and be separate, says the Eternal. Do not touch that which is unclean. In other words, stop sinning. Stop being a part of the unclean way of life that is in this world. And I will receive you. I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. And so we must remain, brethren, apart from this world.

And again, I need to ask myself that question about it. It allowed myself to sort of creep back out there in this world, in the way of thinking that is in this world, in society. No, we shouldn't be seeking the approval of the world in our personal lives. We need to be seeking God's approval.

So if you're writing the number of these down, the third thing that I wanted to ask myself, as I'm examining myself during the time here approaching the Passover, is, can I still be corrected? Can I still be corrected? Or have I gotten too big for my britches? You know how that saying, when your mother talked to you about things, or your dad talked about something you needed to change when you were a kid, is you got too big for your britches? You know, Mr. Armstrong used to say, he said, the two hardest things to admit to do, I should say, the two hardest things to do is, number one, admit that we're wrong, and the second hardest thing is to repent. A lot of people will admit that they're wrong, but they won't repent.

You know, we again need to admit we're wrong and change, and we should be able to take correction from anybody. You know, if a little old lady comes up to you and tries to set you straight, you better give her a year, because she may go and pray to God, and boy, then you'll be in trouble if that happens. Let's go to Jeremiah chapter 10. You know, this is what the Bible says about human beings that upon the earth, I pitched myself this morning to make sure I was still human, and I went out so I know that I am. Jeremiah 10 verse 23. Jeremiah says, Oh, eternal I know the way of man is not in himself. It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps. But do I think that I have it in me to direct my own steps, such that I don't need to be corrected? I think I'm willing to be correct. I believe I am.

But notice in verse 24 where Jeremiah says, Oh, eternal correct me, but with justice, not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing. And that's always good, rather, to keep that in mind.

That verse 24 there. To ask for God's correction, but please God, be gentle with me.

Because you don't want the full wrath of God. We don't want something coming from God's anger with what we do. You know, I have to ask myself, do I rely on myself, or do I look for correction of where I'm wrong? Do I ask God for that, to show me where I'm wrong? But then I think we all need to do that. We really need to do that. And, you know, I think that by and large, as I see God's people, I think that that's what most of God's people do. They're willing to listen. If somebody comes to them and says, hey, can I talk to you about this? Nearly every case, by the way, I have dealt with people, they're always willing to listen. But again, remember, there are two hard things. Number one, to admit you're wrong, and the next is to repent and really change, to turn around in your life. Let's notice what David said in Psalm 51. Psalm 51.

David says this in verse 1, he says, Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your loving kindness, according to the multitude of your tender mercies. Blot out my transgressions, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. So David acknowledged his transgressions, acknowledged when he was wrong.

I think I mentioned to you, if I do something personally in my life that I maybe say or do something wrong, when I begin my prayer, it's almost like I've got to say, God, I know you got me here.

I know I'm wrong here. And again, doing that clears the air, and then I can begin to pray our Father who art in heaven. David seemed to be the kind of person that just openly admitted before God, when he made an error and when he needed to repent. In verse 6, it says, Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts and in the hidden part. You will make me to know wisdom. And he says, Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than so.

Have you ever asked God, brethren, to scrub you up?

To use some sort of a syringes to get off the sin that is on you, to clean you up?

You know, David wanted to know things even he didn't see.

You know, he wanted to be honest with himself. Brethren, are we being honest with ourselves and looking into our sins? Brethren, it's really important that we not begin to use the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as an excuse to slack off. You know, as, of course, some did in the early church, and I'm sure that some do today, turning the grace of God into license to sin. So we always have to be careful about that, brethren, not to allow ourselves to to simply use the sacrifice of Jesus Christ without, again, admitting we're wrong, without repenting of our sin. Another thing I ask myself here as I examine myself before God and before you is, have I begun to let up on the basics of being a Christian? You know, the basics, prayer, Bible study, fasting, and meditation. I'm not going to go through each one of those, but have I let up on those things? Remember how it was when you first came into the church that it's like you were driven to your knees? And I think as we're in the church longer, it comes to a point where, frankly, we have to do it out of habit. We have to establish that habit in our lives, but let's not make our prayers diatribe before God. Same goes with Bible study.

You know, I remember going to bed at two in the morning studying the booklets. You know, some nights you'd read four or five booklets, and you know, you'd almost have to force yourself to go to bed. How many of you were that way? I mean, when you first learned the truth, were you like that? You stayed up till two in the morning reading the booklets. Would you show your hands? I'd like to know if I'm the only one that did it. Okay, I know I wasn't the only one that did it, but you know, it's because that sparked that it was so much in you at that time. And I know it was in me. I really wanted to... I remember many times, too, just going off into the...

we called them the woods behind our house. There was a stream. I'd go down and sit on that stream and just think and meditate about God. I wish we had a stream like that behind our house that flowed through, but if that happened, it would be a terrible thing because it would mean all the levees and the dams are broken. So let's go to 1 Thessalonians 5. 1 Thessalonians 5.

1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 17. Here it says, Pray without ceasing. And so we need to be praying, brethren, all the time.

Pray without ceasing. And everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Let's not smother the Holy Spirit that God has given to us. Do not despise prophecies.

You begin to despise prophecies. They may come to pass.

And then will we be? Test all things and hold fast that which is good, or prove all things, as it says in the King James. And it says, abstain from every form of evil. And so we, as God's people, again, need to abstain from all evil. We need to pray without ceasing.

And we need to prove all things and hold fast that which is good.

Our prayers must be consistent. God's people need to pray on a regular basis. And, brethren, we need to study the Scriptures. We just do. We have to prove things. And if you prove it once, you can prove it another time. You can do it again, like a mathematician on a blackboard.

You know, you work, you put the numbers down and it comes out the same every time, doesn't it?

One plus one always equals to two. I guess, though, in some people's world, that's not true.

They've got a little skewed idea about numbers. Let's go to 2 Timothy chapter 2.

2 Timothy chapter 2 and down in verse 14. You know, I ask myself sometimes whether or not I actually fulfill this before God, the Father. But in 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 14, it says, Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of hearers. Be diligent to present yourselves. Approve to God a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. You know, am I approved of God?

For my understanding of the Scriptures? That's what I want. I mean, there are a lot of people in this world, as we know, that have PhDs. You know what PhD means, don't you? Piled higher and deeper. They have PhDs after their names. And I'm not sure what PhD means, but like the PhD.

But, you know, they are not approved of God. You know, God has not accepted them. But rather than hear you and me, you know, we're not like the intelligences of the world, but because we study this book, God approves of us and what we understand. It's amazing to me that God would rather hear from us about what the Bible says than somebody that has a, you know, a dozen degrees.

in theology of this world, this society. And like I said, all the scholarship in the world has not discovered when the Sabbath is. Isn't that amazing? And it is amazing that people go on and on. But we are to, again, be approved of God, as it says here. And in verse 16, he says, But shun, for profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness.

So we have to be careful, brethren, about getting into some of the things that oftentimes people of this world get into. So are we doing, brethren, profitable Bible study, which engenders peace and growth spiritually in us? I think another important thing is a basic, brethren, is how much are the Ten Commandments a part of your life? How much are they a part of my life? You know, the Ten Commandments express the character of God. They are a mirror to us, brethren. And remember what the apostle James says, that we should be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving ourselves.

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror. For he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man that he was.

But I like what James says afterwards, but he who looks into that perfect mirror of liberty and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the word, this one will be blessed in what he does. That's the person who's going to be blessed, that we look into the scriptures, brethren, and we live by those scriptures. You know, I think another important basic that I would ask myself if I'm doing, do I fellowship with God's people?

Do I spend time with God's people? Over in Hebrews chapter 10, let's notice Hebrews chapter 10, over here in verse 25.

Here we're told, not forsaking the assembly of ourselves together as a manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching.

See, the attitude that we should have, brethren, is that we just simply would not want to miss services. We want to be there because at Sabbath services, brethren, this is where the action is.

This is where the action is, and there's going to be more action as time goes on.

And so it's important for us as we approach the end of the age. Sometimes I wonder if we see the urgency of how close we are. Have you seen the world in more turmoil than it is right now?

I mean, if you have, I've been on the wrong planet. Somehow or another, I think that the times are rife for many things that are prophesied to start really popping and happening in prophecy.

I think another thing is we need to not just fellowship with one another, but do I have a foot-washing attitude? Again, I guess you could use it, am I too big for my britches kind of thing?

Do I have a foot-washing attitude? I'm willing to wash anybody's feet. Do I have that attitude, brethren? Or have I allowed an attitude of bitterness to creep in and separate me from anyone in the church? Is there someone that you're bitter about? I pray about that every evening because I know that God will not forgive me unless I am willing to forgive other people.

So do we, again, fellowship and spend time with God's people? Do my words and do my actions reflect Jesus Christ in them? You know, Philippians 4.8 tells us about our words and our actions.

What sort of things are true? What sort of things are noble? What sort of things are just? It goes on through, as we know, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good report. If there's any virtue, if anything, praise worthy meditate on these things. You know, there's so many negative things that happen, brethren, that occur. We shouldn't dwell on those things. We should dwell on the positive things. Am I positive or am I gossipy? Is my language good or is my language bad?

Is my modus speaking sound? And is it godly? Do I handle my anger properly? Now, the Bible says, be angry and sin not. It's interesting, when you look at the works of the flesh, how many of the works of the flesh deal with this kind of thing? Anger and wrath. How many tie into it? In the living Bible, it says, but when you follow your own wrong inclinations, this is Galatians 5, 19, in the living, you don't need to turn there. If you follow your wrong inclinations, your lies will produce these evil results. Impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, spiritism, that is encouraging the activity of demons, hatred and fighting, jealousy and anger, constant effort to get the best for yourself, complaints and criticisms, the feelings that everyone else is wrong except those in your own little group, and there will be wrong doctrine, envy, murder, drunkenness, wild parties, all that sort of thing. And it says, let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the kingdom of God, but when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, He will produce this kind of fruit in us, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. And here, there is no conflict with the law. It's interesting, isn't it? It has to do, again, with anger. It has to do with maybe bitterness as well. So, the Bible tells us that we need to control those things. If we're not controlling them, again, Paul says we're not going to be in the kingdom. Just not going to be. But we have to, again, bear those fruits of the Spirit which are peaceful by their nature. Another thing that I examine myself about, brethren, is am I improving my family relationships?

No, as a husband, am I a good husband? As a father, am I a good father? As a wife, brethren, are you a good wife, you ladies? Are you good mothers? Are you wives submitting to your husbands? And husbands, are you loving your wives and treating them with respect and submitting to them in the fear of the Lord as they are to do so with you? How about our children? Again, am I a good parent? Do I teach our children the right things? You know, am I bringing our sons up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord? Am I training them, in other words, in God's way of life so that they will be good fathers and good husbands?

No, so there are many things I can ask myself about. What am I doing?

And a fifth, brethren, a fifth area that I would examine myself in is, do I compromise with God's word when to do so benefits me materially and socially? Do I compromise God's word when it benefits me materially or socially? Note, here we're going to have the the tax man that's coming knocking at our door here in April. And, you know, I have to ask myself, you know, am I going to be completely honest in doing my taxes? Or do I fudge the numbers? Am I going to tell the truth?

You know, some might say that's just a small lie to benefit us, but still it's a lie, isn't it?

You know, am I going to pay my debts? I had to examine again my life whether I paid all my debts that I owe to people. You know, have I been faithful in God's ties? Have I faithfully tied the way I'm supposed to? Let's go to Malachi chapter 3. Malachi chapter 3.

Malachi is an easy book to find, isn't it? Except when you have a thousand pages to turn to.

Malachi 3 in verse 8 here, Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me, but you say, in what way have we robbed you?

In ties and offerings is the answer God gives. So we can again rob God when it comes to ties and offerings. You know, we, of course, if we're not paying ties, we're robbing God. You have with the pay God what we owe Him in order to not be a thief. And it says, you are cursed with the curse, for you have robbed me, even this whole nation. You know, perhaps if someone loses a job, you know, you have to ask the question, okay, have I been a faithful tiger? Maybe it's to teach a lesson to us, to show us what we need to put first, what we need to make as a priority.

And then here Malachi says, bring all the ties into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and try me now in this, says the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.

And so, you know, I have to admit that with tithing that God has always taken care of Jonah and our family. You know, Jonah and I have gone through difficult times, but always God has taken care of those needs. Sometimes, you know, we've had to deal with lesser money than we've had before, but God always somehow gets us through the problems that come along that are sort of inherited in this physical life. I have to ask myself, also, am I faithful in the finances that I have been given? The opportunity of having the money that God sends our way? Am I living beyond my means? Do I abuse credit cards? I know my wife and I, when we first started in our marriage, we decided we did not want to have a massive debt.

The only debt that we have, in fact, is our house. And we wouldn't have had that particular debt, by the way, if we had not come here, as you well know, you know, what it costs to buy a house here.

But still, God has allowed us to, again, live and survive these years that we've been here with us, with you. Now, do I have an attitude, brethren, that if unless it's something that the Bible says, thus says the Lord, then I'm not going to obey it? In other words, that I won't take just principles that are in the Bible. I've got to have a thou shalt not, or thou shalt do this, to do that. Well, brethren, if we do that, we're not going to be obeying God. Because, tell me, where in the Bible it says that smoking cannot be done? Thou shalt not smoke. In fact, Isaac, remember, when Rebecca came, she lighted off a camel. At least that's in the King James, isn't it?

Dating outside the church. How about that? Now, if I dated outside the church, my wife would kill me.

participating in pagan holidays to please men rather than God.

Fellowshipping with this fellowship.

Again, make sure the person is to fellowship before you decide not to fellowship with them.

But, brethren, can we see there are principles revealed in the Bible, and if we're always looking for a thou shalt not, or thou shalt, sometimes you're not going to find that.

But, you're not going to be looking at the Bible through spiritual eyes.

So, brethren, the time to examine is right now. I've got to examine myself. I have to look at myself, and you need to look at yourself as we approach the Passover. And we need to reflect so when we eat the bread, and when we drink that cup, brethren, we do so in a worthy manner before the Lord our God.