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2 Corinthians 13:5-10
Examine Yourselves
/Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.
Do you not realise that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?
And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test.
Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong.
Not that people will see that we have stood the test but that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed.
For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.
We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is for your perfection.
This is why I write these things when I am absent, that when I come I may not have to be harsh in my use of authority—the authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down/.
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mong the most disturbing affirmations Jesus ever uttered is that one recorded in *Matthew 7:21-23*.
Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?”
Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you.
Away from me, you evildoers!”
People who are convinced they are Christians, acceptable to God and accepted by God, will be openly rejected by the Son of God at the Judgement.
How can men and women so deceive themselves?
It is no great task to deceive others, but to deceive oneself seems amazingly difficult.
That it is possible to deceive oneself is apparent from even a casual reading of the Word of God.
People listen to the Word, and ignore its commands, thus deceiving themselves, just as is stated in the Word.
/Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.
Do what it says.
Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does/ [*James** 1:22-25*].
In our text is an admonition for those considering themselves to be a people of God to examine themselves.
Though assuming that he was writing Christians, the Apostle nevertheless urged self-examination to avoid deceiving oneself.
The message this day is a call to self-examination to avoid divine condemnation.
Join me in exploration of this unsettling, though necessary, exercise in Christian growth.
The Examination – /Examine yourselves…/ We Christians are an amazing people, capable of practising the most incredible self-deceit.
Did you ever take note of the number of warnings written in the Word against deceiving oneself?
In *Romans 16:17,18* we are warned against being deceived by smooth talking religious leaders who are themselves deceitful.
Apparently, the naïve among our churches are especially vulnerable to such deceit.
Christians may deceive themselves about their own importance in the world [*1 Corinthians 3:18-20*].
Again, the Apostle warns against being deceived by the disobedient [*Ephesians 5:6,7*] and he warns against being deceived by /fine-sounding arguments/ [*Colossians 2:3*].
Of course, it is especially possible that one may be deceived about the doctrines concerning Christ’s Second Coming [*2 Thessalonians 2:3*], as is also apparent from observations of contemporary believers.
All these examples of self-deceit have no impact on our eternal salvation, though they do affect our relationship to the Lord.
In the text for this morning’s study, however, Paul speaks of some who are attached to the church, perhaps even apparently part of the Body of Christ, who may be self-deceived about their own salvation.
In this, he is in line with warnings issued by both by James [*James 1:22-27*] and by John [*1 John 1:8-10*].
Therefore, his call is to examine whether we are in the Faith … whether we are saved.
The issue is of such importance that we must challenge ourselves, lest we deceive ourselves.
Long years before Paul, Jeremiah had warned that /the heart is deceitful about all things and beyond cure/.
Then he asked rhetorically, /Who can understand it/ [*Jeremiah 17:9*]?
With the contemporary emphasis upon emotions and the need to be in touch with our feelings, we are a people susceptible to grossest deception.
That preacher who calls the professed people of God to self-examination will not necessarily be loved, but he will provide a vital service to those spared that awful judgement before the Living God.
The precise question put before us is to test whether we are in the Faith.
The specific means by which we apply this test is to discover whether Christ Jesus dwells in us.
Let’s apply the test and engage in some healthy self-examination.
First, Christ dwells in the believer by faith.
Have you, in faith, called on Him as Lord of life?
Have you confessed that you are a dreadful sinner and that your sins caused Him to die? Have you submitted to Him as Lord of life, calling on Him to be your Saviour?
This is the message of life presented in the Word of God. /If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”
For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”/ [*Romans 10:9-13*].
As has been stated in previous messages, either Christ is Lord of all or He is not Lord at all.
Either we submit ourselves to Him or we do not have His life.
Yet, simple as this call is, some remain confused.
They have joined the church, been baptised, partake of the Communion Meal on a regular basis … and yet they have no peace.
Challenged to state whether they are in the Faith, they are staggered by the difficulty of that affirmation.
Certain characteristics mark the life of the child of God.
John, in his first epistle, outlines those characteristics.
Turn back to that wee book that together we may discover these marks, applying them to our lives.
*1 John 2:29* informs us that If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of Him.
The first mark to be observed is that the Christian does right.
Here, as in other places, we can deceive ourselves.
We imagine that “right” is defined by what feels “right”.
/If it feels good, do it/ sounds so right.
It carries with it the stench of death, however.
Right is defined by what honours God, by what is pleasing before Him, and by what is for our best good.
We are a society controlled by our feelings, and consequently we are a society moving steadily away from what is right.
We fall in love.
Should it be any surprise that we fall out of love almost as fast as we fall in love?
We worship in the church of our choice.
Is it really a surprise that we choose more frequently to worship at home while watching the latest sitcom or the hot new video release?
We let our conscience be our guide.
Why are we surprised that we can justify nearly any action on that same basis?
The Christian does what is right, however.
The second mark John presents is that *the Christian does not continue to sin*.
No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him, he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God [*1 John 3:9*].
Don’t misunderstand, the child of God is not perfect, but the child of God cannot sin with impunity.
A friend of mine used to say that though the lamb may fall into a mud puddle, it will not lay down and wallow.
Pigs, upon discovering a mud puddle, lie down and roll in the slop and the mire.
Sheep may become soiled, but they will not enjoy being dirty.
If you enjoy sin, you need to ask the hard question of how you, a professed lamb, can enjoy lying in the slop of a dying world.
The child of God, though perhaps stumbling into sin, can never enjoy himself or herself in rebellion.
If that child attempts to enjoy sin, because he or she has a relationship to the Living God, He will call them to account, disciplining them for their own good.
Remember the words recorded by the author of the Hebrew letter: If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.
Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it.
How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!
Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.
Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it [*Hebrews 12:8-11*].
The third mark of a Christian is that *he loves the brothers*.
/We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers.
Anyone who does not love remains in death.
Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him/ [*1 John 3:14*].
That individual who insists that he or she is a Christian, but who holds himself or herself aloof from the people of God, reveals by that chosen lifestyle that Christ is not present in their life.
The child of God will want to be with the people of God.
The child of God will seek to be one with the people of God.
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