How Do We Stand Before God?

Rather than Sunday night, April 1st, is the Passover, as we all know. The Passover pictures the death of our Savior for the sins of mankind. He died for the complete removal of our sins, and also so that we could be healed. On Monday night, April 2nd, we will observe the night to be much remembered. It pictures Israel's deliverance from Egypt. As Israel departed from Egypt, so we must depart or come out of sin. We focus on our deliverance through Jesus Christ from the world, from sin, and from Satan. You and I are on the road to the Kingdom of God. They were on the road to the Promised Land. And we're on the road to the Promised Land, too. That's God's Kingdom in this case. The whole plan of salvation revolves around God bringing the human family into His Kingdom. And you and I are begotten children of God now, and we will be changed and made immortal at the resurrection. Monday night, April 2nd, an evening begins the Days of Unleavened Bread, the seven-day period of eating unleavened bread and putting all leavening out of our homes. Now, Exodus 12, beginning in verse 15, I won't read this, but we already read it in the first sermon, talks about putting leavening out of our homes. And as we learn, physical things are given to teach us lessons. They are a constant reminder to us. We do need to be putting leavening out of our lives and out of our thoughts and our minds. During that seven-day period, when you would normally eat bread, you should eat unleavened bread. We're not eating any leavening during those seven-day periods. And I think what that picture is, it pictures the positive things that we should be doing. Just not enough to concentrate and say, well, I've got sins. But you and I need to become righteous. We need to be putting on sincerity and truth. Now, when I say we need to become righteous, that's not implying we're not trying to do what's right. But we need to concentrate on the positive, I think, during that period of time. Also, we need to make sure that we properly prepare for this season. We are to put ourselves to the test and see where we stand before God. So, that's what we want to focus on in this sermon. Where do we stand before God? There are two words in the Greek New Testament that are used for the word test. How many of you enjoy taking tests? Sort of like pulling teeth, isn't it? Especially in school. I don't know necessarily anyone who enjoyed taking tests in school. Now, if you knew all the material, you were well prepared. You didn't care. But there were those who didn't like to be put to the test.

I think you'll find these two Greek words actually refer to two different types of testing. We want to focus on that. Our understanding of these two concepts will help us to understand how we are to go about examining ourselves. It will also help us to explain the difference in God's approach and Satan's approach. What is God trying to do with us and what is Satan trying to do? One of the concepts comes from the word, Dachymodzo.

Let me spell that for you. D-O-K-I-M-A-Z-O. Dachymodzo. The word refers to the act of testing someone or something for the purpose of approving it. Not disproving it, but approving it. To test, to examine, to prove, to scrutinize, to see if something is genuine. Sometimes you can take a painting. You think you've got a rim brand. I don't know any of us who have a rim brand. But let's say you think you have a genuine rim brand.

And you take it to an art expert. He looks at it and says, this isn't a rim brand. This is a fake brand. Or whatever it might be. It's not the genuine article. So you know, I don't have a rim brand. So you put it to the test, such as metals, coins, to recognize as genuine after examination to approve and to deem worthy.

That's what the word docimodso means. Now, Westward Studies, from Treasury of the Greek New Testament, page 126, 127, quote number one, has this to say about these words. There are two words in the Greek New Testament, both meaning to test. They are important in the interest of accurate translation and interpretation to distinguish between them because they refer to different types of testing. One is docimodso. It says, we'll look at some of the instances of how this was used in the Greek world.

And it will give the explanation. The word is used in the manuscript in AD 140, which contained a plea for the exemption of physicians, especially of those who had passed the examination.

In other words, they passed like a lawyer passes a bar. Doctors had passed the examination. The word passed the examination, or the translation of this Greek word. From this we arrive at the definition. The word refers to acts of testing someone, or something for the purpose of approving it. These physicians had passed the examination for the degree of the Doctor of Medicine. The word has in it the idea of approval, not disapproval. This word, when you see it in talking about God, means that God puts us to the test to approve us.

He's not trying to disprove us, but to approve us, whether it be worthy to be received or not. In the Greek, it's used for a technical term. The word further implies that the trial itself was made in the expectation and hope that the issue would be as such that all events, there would be no contrary explanation. In other words, it would have a positive result. Now, Alan Dance, I think, is a CPA. He had to pass an exam to get a CPA license. Now, when you pass that and you hang that on your wall, it's proof that you're the genuine article, that you are what you say you are, because you got the paper, you passed the exam, and you can show that.

You have a driver's license, a patrolman stops you on the highway, and he pulls you over, and he says, I'd like to see your driver's license. If you don't have a driver's license, you're in trouble. But if you have a driver's license, it's proof at least you have some type of minimal skills to drive that car, and you pass a test.

What that does is certifies that you meet a certain standard. Now, let's notice Luke 14, verse 19. Luke chapter 14, verse 19. Christ was inviting different ones to the wedding supper, and they all had excuses as to why they could or they could not come. Another said, I have bought five yokeboxings, and I am going to test them.

I ask you to have me excuse. The word test there is doc imodso. Notice what West says about this. The man who bought the oxen went to examine them, not for the purpose of discovering what their good points might be, or whether they had any defects. He bought them for sound, healthy livestock, otherwise he wouldn't have purchased them, and fully expected that they were what the seller represented them to be. He merely wanted to put his approval on what he had purchased. This is what doc imodso means. In other words, he went to buy the oxen, and he just wanted to put his approval upon them. 1 Thessalonians 5.21 says, Prove all things.

Hold fast that that which is good. Or test all things. In other words, see what is genuine and what is not genuine, what is real, not real. Somebody brought you some counterfeit money. Well, today they're trying to make it so that people can look at the bill and tell if it's counterfeit or not. You'll find a lot of times when you give a 20 to cash register the people, they'll hold it up, they'll look for certain signs.

Sometimes there are codes written to it, there are different letters, there are strings, there are all kinds of things inside of those bills. So you can tell whether it's genuine. You can't duplicate that on a copy machine. So you and I are to prove all things. That's the same word. Now Acts 1711 talks about the Bereans. Acts 1711 says the Bereans were more noble, not in the thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness.

And they searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. To find out if they were. They were not trying to disprove Paul, but here for the first time they'd heard the truth. And so they got their Bibles out and they began to look up in the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was accurate.

And they were trying to see if it was so, if his teachings were correct. This would be like somebody today, for the first time in their lives, hearing that they should keep the Sabbath. Maybe they hear a sermon on the Sabbath. They say, well, I've never heard that before. In all my life I've kept Sunday. And so they take their notes home and they begin to look through the Scriptures and read all the Scriptures, trying to see if it's so. Not trying to find some type of loose brick, but reading that to see if it really does prove what has been said. Now, in 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 28, 1 Corinthians 11-28, we find here concerning the Passover, 1 Corinthians 11-28. Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. You and I are told to examine ourselves, to approve ourselves, and then we are to eat the Passover. Because verse 27 shows that you can eat the Passover in the wrong way. Wrong attitude. Wrong manner. They were doing it in the wrong manner. Verse 27, therefore, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, in an unworthy way, in other words, will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.

We need to realize that those symbols picture what our Savior did, and to take it lightly, or to do it in a way that discredits that. We're going to bring the wrath of God upon us.

So, you and I should be able to approve our life. If we find shortcomings, and we repent of them, and we can work on them. Now, there is a second Greek word for test, and it is the Greek word parazo. P-E-I-R-A-Z-O. Notice what West's word study has to say about this. The other word is parazo. The word meant in the first place to pierce search to attempt. Then it came the mean to try or test intentionally with the purpose of discovering what good or evil, what power or weakness was in a person or a thing. But the fact that men so often break down under this test gave parazo a predominant sense of putting to the proof with the intention and hope that the one put to the test would break down under the test. You'd hope that he would break. Thus, the word is used constantly of solicitation. Now, the word is temptation. This is the word that temptation comes through. But it's also a word that's translated test, and it doesn't mean temptation. But it is used as solicitation and suggestion of the devil. The word means to try to make a trial of, for the purpose of ascertaining his quality, what he thinks, or how he will behave himself. It also can mean to solicit to sin or to tempt. And you have to tell in the context which one it's referring to. It's used of God when he brings a trial or a test upon us in order to prove his character, our character, and steadfastness of our faith. Is our faith genuine? Do we really have that? So, let's notice how this word, parazo, applies to God, how God uses it. John 6, verses 5-7. Jesus lifted up his eyes and seen a great multitude. Coming toward him, he said to Philip, Where shall we buy bread that these may eat? But this, he said, to test him. Now, notice, he's putting Philip to a test. Is he trying to get Philip to sin? No. What he's trying to do is to find out where he is. Is he going to view this from a spiritual perspective? Or is he going to view it just from a human perspective? He himself knew what he would do. He knew he was going to create food there for them. Philip answered him, Well, 200 denarii, where the bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little. Jesus Christ was testing Philip to discover what faith he had, or lack of faith he had. Did he have clear spiritual insight, or did he lack spiritual insight? Was his view natural, or was it supernatural? What did he have? And the test brought out Philip's thinking. He was reasoning only on a human plane. If he had been reasoning on a spiritual plane, he would say, Lord, we don't have any food here, but, boy, I know you can feed them. What would you want us to do? You see, that wasn't his approach. So Christ put him to the test and found that he was just thinking more along the physical, natural line. Now, in Hebrews 11.17, it says that God put Abraham to the test.

Again, parazzo. Abraham was put to the test.

We find by faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promise offered up his only begotten son.

God proved Abraham's character, did he not? He proved that Abraham was willing to put him first, even over his son. That Abraham was willing to serve him no matter what. And God must know the same thing about us. So when God allows a test like this to come, God is trying to prove us. Will we continue to put God first? Here in the last 10-12 years, we've all been tested doctrinally, that we had to put God first. We wouldn't compromise with that. And again, we're all to be commended on that. But we must continue to show God that he comes first. Because God will not give eternal life to anyone who puts God second. God has to be number one. Now, notice how this word is used in connection with Satan the Devil. What Satan the Devil tries to do. Matthew 4 and verse 1. Matthew 4 and verse 1. Jesus was led up by the Spirit in the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. Was Satan trying to get Christ to become more righteous? To do what was right? To prove that he had holy righteous character? No, he was trying to get him to sin, was he not? And if you'll notice, in verse 8, he took him up in a high mountain, and he showed him all the kingdoms of the earth. He said, all these things I'll give you if you hold down and worship me. Uh-oh, a problem. The Lord your God is the only one you're supposed to worship. So he was trying to tempt Christ to sin. And that's exactly what Satan the Devil does. His purpose is solicitation to evil, to give in to your lust, to give in to your baser drives, to give in to your passions, your pride, your ego, and to disobey and to sin. 1 Corinthians 7, verse 5, is another clear way that this is used. Here it's talking about marital relationship between a husband and wife.

And we read here, do not deprive one another except with consent for a time. 1 Corinthians 7, verse 5. Now this is talking about sexually, that you may give yourself to fasting and prayer. So if they were going to go fast and pray for a period of time, then come together again. Why?

So that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. So we're told here, we're not to deprive one another in the marital relationship, lest Satan tempt you. He can incite a person to sin, to have wrong faults, to do things that you would not normally do, give in to your lust again. So we're told, don't give him room, in other words. Satan's desire motive is to destroy us. To get us to sin, he knows if we sin, then we are not going to be blessed by God. We come under a curse, and the more we sin, the more we give in, and the more debased we become, the more he can influence us. So he wants you to go against God to disobey, and God's motive is the totally opposite. God's motive is to strengthen us, to build us up. He will test us to see where we're lacking. What if, as an example, you lose your job, and the only job that comes open requires you to work on the Sabbath, and you say, well, I'm sure that this will work out, and so you start compromising, you start working on the Sabbath. You failed that test because you compromised with God's law. Now, it wasn't God's motive to get you to sin, but he wanted to see, would you put him first? Would you do what is right? So it's his desire to build us up, to test us, to show us where we're lacking. And if we see that we're lacking in an area like that, then we can go work on it. We can pray for strength, and we can do what is right. Dok'imadzo is used generally of God, but never of Satan. The word is never used of Satan. For Satan never puts us to the test in order that he might approve us. But God does so that he can approve us. He can say, yes, that's my child, that's my son, or that's my son and daughter. James 1.13. James 1.13. We read this. Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God. Perodso, again. For God cannot be tempted by evil. So there's no test or trial. Nothing's going to come along. There's going to be a temptation, a lure, an enticement to God to break his law, to go against his nature. It just won't happen.

Now, that's very clear. It is not God's purpose with using Perodso to tempt anyone to do evil. God may check our motives. He may check our character. He may check our willingness to obey, our sincerity, our genuineness. But always with the motive of helping God, helping us to see what we need to work on. Now, verse 14. But everyone is tempted when he is drawn away, how? By his own desires. The word is lust in the King James Version. By his own lust, or his own desires. And then he is enticed. So, brethren, we are tempted to stand by our own lust. Now, Satan works on our lust.

The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. He's out there appealing to those things. And, you know, he wants us to disobey God. And it says here, we are enticed. The word is lust in the King James Version. And it says here, we are enticed. The word in the Greek language means to bait or catch by bait.

Our lusts are like a lure that you throw out in front of a fish. Oh, it's so tempting. You know, the fish sees it, and you've got a lure, and you bob it a little bit, and you jerk it, and he sees that, and he thinks, Oh, something to eat, and he grabs the bait. Well, that's what Satan does for us. He throws what? Pornography out there. He throws the glamour of this world.

He throws all kinds of lures out there, and people get hooked. They take the bait, and then they get hooked on it. He entices. So our lusts are like bait to a fish, or bait to a lion. It will catch us. And then we find in verse 15, Desire, or lust, has conceived.

It gives birth to sin. And sin, when it's full grown, when it really blossoms, brings forth death. The wages of sin is death, the Bible says. So brethren, the word here, lusts, conceives, means to seize or take as a prisoner, or to conceive like a woman conceives. You and I are not to let sin grow. See, if it gets a toe-hole, when a woman gets pregnant, it starts with one egg and one sperm cell. They unite. And that's the time, if you don't want growth to take place, that's the time that people can miscarry and so on very easily.

But once those start dividing, you've got 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and you keep multiplying until you've got billions and trillions of cells. Well, this is the way sin can be. It starts out real small. But you leave it there. You don't do something against it. And it begins to get a toe-hole, and it conceives, and it grows, and it becomes ugly. And then when you try to do battle with it, it's much more difficult to overcome it. It begins to take control of you, to rule over you, to dominate you.

Now, let's take a look at Dachim Odso and see what God tells us to do. There are certain things, certain commands that God tells us that we need to be doing. Some of these I'll refer to, some I'll read. We've already read 1 Corinthians 11-28, where we're told to examine ourselves. We are to examine ourselves in order to be approved before God. See, examining ourselves is not always negative.

You see things, hopefully, that you're doing right. See, when you take an examination, you're in school, and you take an examination, maybe you make 95 on it. Guess what? 95% of the time you were right, 5% of the time you were wrong. So, you should feel good. 95% of these answers I know. Now 5% I didn't know.

So you find out what the 5% were, so you can learn that. And if you ever take the test again, you'll be able to pass it. The same thing is true with God. God examines us, and there's always room for improvement, is there not? We can always grow. We can always improve. Romans 12-2 says, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. We should prove there our test.

God wants us to prove what His will is. We need to know what God approves of, what He doesn't approve of, and live by those standards. Live by His way, His will for our lives. How many people in the world actually go to the Bible and say, I'm going to use this to find out God's will and what God wants me to do? To many humanistic approaches today that we find in society around us. Galatians 6-4 says, You and I are to try, or to examine our own works. So we should look at our works, our good deeds, the things that we're doing, and see if they truly are approved of God.

Are we serving? Are we helping our neighbors? Are we giving? Are we loving our neighbors as we should? Is there any room for improvement? God may look at us and say, doing a good job. But, remember Revelation 2 and 3? God says, well, you know, these are the good things. But then there's always a but. And then God says, but, you know, you need to work on this. Do we serve out of vanity, out of pride, for praise, self-exaltation, to impress?

So you can always do things from the wrong motive. So if we look at ourselves and we say, yes, I'm trying, I know I could do better, but I think my motive is right, then good. You see the positive. You've approved. Now in 2 Corinthians 8, 8, 2 Corinthians 8, verse 8, Paul said, I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love.

So we need to make sure that our love truly is sincere. If it is approved, it truly is love. We already read 1 Thessalonians 5, 21, prove all things, hold fast that which is good. So we're to prove all things. Then you might remember 1 Timothy 3, 10, talking about the qualifications of a deacon, 1 Timothy 3, 10, that they need to be proved or tested. Anyone who's going to be ordained, whether he's an elder or a deacon or a deaconess, they need to be serving.

They need to be meeting the standards that are outlined in Titus 1 and 1 Timothy 3. And then that way, we can see that, yes, they're the genuine article. They're not just big personality. They're not just the golfing buddy of the minister, which I could play golf. They're not whatever it might be. They're somebody who is genuinely serving the congregation. And if you were to go out and ask the widows or if you were to ask the leaders, anyone in the congregation, who's really serving, they would say, such and such are. And so they show by their genuineness, by their actions, that they truly are doing this.

Now, notice how God uses Dokkim Adzoh and his relationship to us. What I described here is what God tells us to do, what we need to be doing. In 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 11, 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 11, we find, for no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. And now, if anyone builds on this foundation, gold, silver, precious stone, wood, hay, stubble, each one's work will be clear, for the day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test everyone's work of what sort it is.

Brethren, God will test our works to see if they are genuine, and if they've been built by his Holy Spirit, and if we truly are relying upon him for good works. The Bible says our own righteousness before God is like filthy rags. So our righteousness has to come from God. 1 Thessalonians 2.4 tells us that God will try our heart. 1 Thessalonians 2.4, God will try our heart. We have the example of Abraham. God tried his heart. God knows our heart, our attitude, our faithfulness, our approach. But sometimes God doesn't know what we're going to do until he puts us to the test. Remember what God said about Abraham after Abraham was willing to offer up his son? He says, now I know. God knew something he didn't know before, that Abraham was willing to put him first. Now, in 1 Peter 1, I think is an extremely important scripture. 1 Peter 1 and verses 6 and 7. 1 Peter 1 verse 6. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while. If need be, you've been grieved by various trials.

Now this comes from, this is the noun word, parazimos, that the genuineness of your faith. Now notice what God's interested in. That we have genuine faith. Just like money, that it's a genuine coin or a genuine dollar bill. If it's a Rembrandt, it's a genuine Rembrandt. So if you and I say we have faith, God wants to know, is it genuine? Is it real? Then he goes on to say that the genuineness of your faith be much more precious than gold, though it be tested by fire. Now this is dokimatzo. May be found to praise. Now notice, God will test us by fire, by trials, by tests.

And what is he trying to do? Is he trying to condemn us, hurt us? No, it says that you may be found to praise, so that God can praise you, and to honor and to glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. See, Satan the devil comes before God and accuses us day and night, and we find that Christ is there saying, look, no, they repented of that. They've overcome that. They've changed. And he's there defending and praising us. And we're looking forward to the time of the resurrection when the resurrection is it, isn't it?

It shows whether we have approval or we don't have approval. Whether God says, yes, this person has overcome. They will be in my kingdom. And God has put his stamp of approval on us. So we have to prove to God our absolute trust in him, that we look to him for guidance, for healing, for direction.

He wants to see that our faith is the real thing. Now, that brings us over to 2 Corinthians 13.5. 2 Corinthians 13.5. Where we read this, examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Okay, this is paradzo. Examine ourselves to see if we truly are true believers or not. Brethren, are we truly true believers? Do we live the way of life? Do we walk the walk or do we just talk the talk? Do we agree with it doctrinally, but we're not living it in our lives? That's what he's saying here. So examine yourself whether you are in the faith. Find out if we're doing what is good and what is right. Test yourselves here. Or as the King James Version says, prove yourself or test yourself.

This is dakimodzo in this particular case. In other words, they were to prove themselves to know. Put the approval on themselves. I am a Christian. I do trust God.

I believe Christ is my Savior. I know I'm human, but with God's willingness to forgive, I will take the Passover. It doesn't say examine yourself and not take it, but you examine yourself and you do take it. And then, notice it goes on to say, do you not know yourselves that Christ is in you?

Unless, indeed, you are disqualified, you and I are to know or to become thoroughly acquainted. We need to know that Jesus Christ is in us, that God's Spirit dwells in us. We ought to be able to see the fruits of God's Spirit. We ought to be able to see change. We ought to be able to see growth from year to year and be able to have satisfaction with that. The word disqualified is the word not standing the test or not approved. You and I don't want to come up to the resurrection and not be approved by God. God gets a big stamp out and says, reject, reject.

Now, you want the stamp that says, approved, and we want to be approved. This word was used in the case of metals, coins, that did not stand the test. So, you and I, brethren, must stand the test. So, here we have two Greek words. You find one is used only of God, and it is applied to us, that God wants to put His approval on us, and that we need to check ourselves so we can make sure that we are truly genuine.

You find that Satan the devil will try any way he can to get us to sin. And yet, when God leads us through a test, He's only doing it so that we can see where we need to change, and He knows what our weaknesses are. When God sees that we lack in an area, then He can begin to work with us. He can begin to help us. He can begin to assist us. He can come to our aid so that we don't just struggle along.

And so, God will allow this. Brethren, we are to examine ourselves. We should be doing this all year long. But we're told especially at this time of the year before the Passover.

We need to be honest with ourselves.

That's hard to do, but we need to be honest. God approves us. We are His children. See, when God looks at you, He's not looking down and saying, No, that's not my child. God looks down at you and says, That's my son. That's my daughter. And so, God wants us in His kingdom.

When we are lacking, God will bring that to our attention. But what if God never brought to our attention what we need to do to overcome? And we remain the same person, the same way. Well, we never change, and we won't be in His kingdom. But God brings it to our attention. Not only does it bring it to our attention so we can begin to work on it, but then He comes to our aid to give us assistance. So, we might be able to overcome. Now, Satan, on the other hand, is out to destroy us. He tempts us to sin. He tempts us to do evil. God may try us, but it's always for our good, our betterment, for our improvement. And as 1 Corinthians 11.31 says, 1 Corinthians 11 verse 31, If we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. So, if we judge ourselves, we see ourselves, then God doesn't have to correct us. But we go on to find, when we are judged or corrected, we are chastened by the Lord. That we may not be condemned with the world. God doesn't want to see us go down the tubes. He doesn't want to see us end up in the lake of fire. He wants to see us in His kingdom. So, when we are corrected, God does it so we won't be condemned with this world. God always has our best, our good, and mine. So, brethren, we need to take the Passover this year with confidence in God, understanding how He operates, and understanding our own needs and humanity. We indeed have a Savior who died for us and wants us to become a part of His eternal family, the family of God.