EXAMINE YOURSELVES

EXAMINE YOURSELVES

“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5)

Jesus warned: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one 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 in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:21-23)

How sad that “many” will arrive at Judgment convinced that they are saved, only to discover that they are eternally wrong!

That’s why we need to examine ourselves to see if we are “in the faith”!

HOW CAN WE EXAMINE OURSELVES?

While there are many different ways we can examine ourselves, one obvious way is by looking in a mirror. Many people do this every day to make sure they are presentable. It is embarrassing to go out in public when our hair is a mess or we have food on our face. It is far more serious, of course, to be embarrassed before God because we failed to examine ourselves to see if we are “in the faith”!

Obviously, we need to seek the help of the Holy Spirit. Paul warned against self deception and wrote: “Do not deceive yourselves.” (1 Corinthians 3:18) James warned that we can look in the mirror and still be deceived. He wrote: “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 someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.” (James 1:22-25)

Note that Jesus and James are both saying the same thing. Jesus warned of those who “say” Lord, Lord, but do not “do” what he commands. James also warned of those who deceive themselves by merely “listening” to the word but who never “do” what the word commands.

SIMON PETER AND JUDAS ISCARIOT

As you know, both Peter and Judas were chosen by Jesus to be one of his twelve apostles. This, of course, was a unique honor! Studying the lives of these two apostles can provide insight in our need to examine ourselves to see if we are “in the faith”!

“One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he

also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.” (Luke 6:12-16)

The twelve apostles are listed three times in the Scriptures (Matthew 10:2-4, Mark 3:16-19, and Luke 6:13-16). Each time Peter is mentioned first, and Judas is mentioned last. After Judas killed himself the eleven remaining apostles are listed again in Acts 1:13 and Peter is still mentioned first.

• Note that Jesus prayed all night long before selecting his 12 apostles.
• Note also that Jesus apparently trusted them both! Otherwise he would not have chosen them to be apostles! The fact that Jesus trusted Judas is specifically predicted in Psalms 41:9. “Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.” Jesus quoted this Psalm on the night that Judas betrayed him (John 13:18).
• Both Peter and Judas were with Jesus for three years!
• Both Peter and Judas made mistakes!
• THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THESE TWO APOSTLES INVOLVES WHAT THEY “DID” AFTER THEY MADE MISTAKES!
• When Peter looked in the mirror and saw his mistakes he repented! Because he continued to repent each time he made a mistake Peter made progress. Every day he was a little more like Jesus!
• Sadly, when Judas looked in the mirror and saw his mistakes he never repented. Each day Judas became a little more like Satan. Remember! Satan refused to “do” what God wanted him to “do” and so did Judas. Finally Satan entered into Judas and he went out of the upper room and betrayed Jesus for his precious thirty pieces of silver.
• As we have said, James warned of a man like Judas who: “after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.”
• Peter became so much like Jesus that he was privileged to preach the first Gospel sermon on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-41).
• Judas became so much like Satan that: “It would have been better for him if he had not been born.” (Matthew 26:24)

TWO KINDS OF REPENTANCE

The versatile Greek language has two different words for repentance. The first is “metanoeo”. It literally means to change your mind and results in a change of life and salvation. It is found 34 times in the New Testament Scriptures. Here are a few examples:

• Jesus told everyone to repent for the Kingdom of heaven was at hand (Matthew 4:17).
• The city of Nineveh was saved because they repented at the preaching of Jonah (Matthew 12:41).
• There will be rejoicing in heaven over one sinner that repents more than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance (Luke 15:7).
• God commands all men to repent and has given proof of this to all men by raising Jesus from the dead (Acts 17:31).
• Peter denied Jesus three times, yet Peter wept bitterly and repented (Matthew 26:69-75). We know he truly repented because he returned to the upper room, stayed faithfully with the other apostles, and later confessed Jesus three times by the Sea of Galilee (John 21:15-23)
• Peter wrote two inspired books of the Bible and was faithful until his death.
• History tells that he died as a martyr by order of the Emperor Nero.

The second Greek word translated as repentance is “metamelomai.” It is only found 6 times in the New Testament Scriptures. It means to “regret” but not to surrender to God and be saved. This is the kind of repentance Judas had:

• “Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. (Matthew 27:3-5)
• It is obvious that Judas “regretted” what happened, but it is equally obvious that he did not truly repent. If he truly repented he would have returned to the upper room like Peter did. If he had truly repented he would have confessed Christ as Lord like Peter did. If he had truly repented he would have not done his own will and hanged himself!
• Judas had been with Jesus for three years, but each time he looked into the mirror he was a little more like Satan. Satan chose to do his own will rather than surrender to God. This is what Judas did. Even though Judas knew it was wrong, for example, he kept stealing the money that Jesus trusted him with (John 12:1-8).
• Judas, like Satan, consistently did his own will and not the will of God. As we have already said, his final act of rebellion was when he went out and hanged himself.
• “metanoeo” is true repentance but “metamelomai” is not. Judas “regretted” what he did but did not truly “repent”. Both words are used in 2 Corinthians 7:10: “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”
• “Godly sorrow” is true repentance! “Worldly sorrow” is not!

THE OLD COVENANT AND THE NEW

The old covenant is allegorized by Ishmael and his mother, and the new covenant is allegorized by Isaac and his mother: “Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise. These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.” (Galatians 4:21-26)

THE OLD COVENANT INVOLVES THAT WHICH IS “NATURAL” AND THE NEW COVENANT INVOLVES THAT WHICH IS “SUPERNATURAL”.

When Paul came to Corinth he went to the synagogue every Sabbath and reasoned with Jews and Greeks trying to persuade them to accept Jesus Christ as Lord. “But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized.” (Acts 18:6-8)

NOTE THAT THE CHURCH MET “NEXT DOOR” TO THE SYNAGOGUE. THIS PROVIDED AN EXCELLENT OPPORTUNITY TO COMPARE THESE TWO DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO GOD!

• The synagogue tried to “conform” people by threats of punishment.
• The synagogue focused on a physical mountain like Sinai. The church focused on a spiritual mountain like Mount Zion and the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:18-24).
• The synagogue tried to “conform” people by physical punishment.
• Jesus warned that his followers would be scourged in the synagogues (Matthew 10:17).
• Paul himself once punished the followers of Jesus in every synagogue trying to force them to blaspheme (Acts 26:10-11).
• Five different times Paul himself was beaten with 39 lashes by the Jews (2 Corinthians 11:24).
• The Jews in the synagogue at Corinth got so mad at Sosthenes (the synagogue ruler) that they beat him in public (Acts 18:14-17).
• Physical punishment did not make men holy. Jesus said: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.” (Matthew 23:15)

In the church people are not “conformed” by outward pressure, but “transformed” by pressure from within. Paul put it like this to the Romans: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:1-2)

• The Greek word translated as “transformed” is “metamorphoo” from which we get our word “metamorphosis”.
• This, as you know, is the word that describes how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly!
• No matter how many times you beat a caterpillar, you can never make it fly!
• Similarly, punishing sinners with a whip does not “transform” them into the likeness of Jesus!
• Like Isaac, the people in the church at Corinth were “born again” in a supernatural way!
• The change in their lives was so dramatic that they were called “new creations.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Paul explained to the Corinthians: “Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from

Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” (2 Corinthians 3:1-3)

• “He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Corinthians 3:6)
• “Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!” (2 Corinthians 3:7-11) The Old Covenant, written in stone, brought death. But the new covenant written in our minds and hearts brings life. The “glory” on the face of Moses was “fading”. When he looked into the mirror his face got a little darker every day. The New Covenant, by contrast, causes our face to grow a little brighter every day.
• “Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (2 Corinthians 3:12-17) Satan, the god of this age, has blinded the minds of unbelievers with a veil so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). When the gospel is preached that veil is taken away!
• “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:18) EVERY TIME THE CHRISTIAN LOOKS IN A MIRROR WE SHOULD LOOK A LITTLE MORE LIKE JESUS! JUST LIKE GOD “TRANSFORMS” A CATERPILLAR INTO A BUTTERFLY, THE HOLY SPIRIT “TRANSFORMS” US INTO THE IMAGE OF JESUS FROM GLORY TO GLORY!
• “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6)

A LESSON FROM MOSES “Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life.” (Revelation 2:10)

Of all the billions of people who have lived on the earth, Moses was perhaps the most holy and the closest to God:

• Moses was more humble than any man on earth (Numbers 12:3).
• God spoke to other prophets in visions and dreams, but God spoke to Moses face to face and not in riddles (Numbers 12:6-8).
• God enabled Moses to work miracles and thus deliver the people of God from Egyptian bondage (see Exodus chapters 7-12).
• Moses alone was permitted to approach God on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 24:2).
• When Aaron sinned God was angry enough to destroy him until Moses prayed for him (Deuteronomy 9:20).
• When Korah, Dathan, and Abiram rebelled against Moses they persuaded 250 others to join them in their rebellion. Moses said: “This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea: If these men die a natural death and suffer the fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the realm of the dead, then you will know that these men have treated the Lord with contempt.” (Numbers 16:28-30)
• These rebels died just as Moses said they would!
• Jesus was Himself a prophet like Moses (Acts 3:22-23).
• There are many other marvelous things we can say about Moses, but Moses was not faithful until death!

A TINY MISTAKE MADE BY MOSES

When the people came to the desert of Zin there was no water. “They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord! Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!” (Numbers 20:3-5)

“The Lord said to Moses, “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.” So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him. He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.” (Numbers 20:7-12)

• God commanded Moses to “speak” to the rock!
• Moses “struck” the rock!
• For this reason Moses was forbidden to enter into the Promised Land!
• James wrote: “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” (James 2:10)
• Moses climbed Mount Nebo and looked across the Jordan to the Promise Land. “Then the Lord said to him, ‘This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants’: I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.” And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said, He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where the grave is.” (Deuteronomy 34:4-6)

THE REASON MOSES WAS FORBIDDEN TO ENTER INTO THE PROMISED LAND IS

REPEATED SEVERAL TIMES

• “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up this mountain in the Abarim Range and see the land I have given the Israelites. After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, for when the community rebelled at the waters in the Desert of Zin, both of you disobeyed my command to honor me as holy before their eyes.” (These were the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin - Numbers 27:12-14)
• “Because of you the Lord became angry with me also and said, “You shall not enter it, either. But your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage him, because he will lead Israel to inherit it.” (Deuteronomy 1:37-38)
• “At that time I pleaded with the Lord: “Sovereign Lord, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you do? Let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan—that fine hill country and Lebanon.” But because of you the Lord was angry with me and would not listen to me. “That is enough,” the Lord said. “Do not speak to me anymore about this matter. Go up to the top of Pisgah and look west and north and south and east. Look at the land with your own eyes, since you are not going to "cross this Jordan. But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see.” So we stayed in the valley near Beth Peor. (Deuteronomy 3:23-29)
• “On that same day the Lord told Moses, “Go up into the Abarim Range to Mount Nebo in Moab, across from Jericho, and view Canaan, the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession. There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people. This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the Desert of Zin and because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites. Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance; you will not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel.” (Deuteronomy 32:48-52)

THIS WAS WRITTEN TO TEACH US!

“For everything that was written in the past was to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4)

Not only was what happened to Moses written to teach us, what happened to the whole Hebrew nation was also an example to teach us!

“For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil

things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel. These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:1-13)

KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS

“Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:25-33)

AS LONG AS PETER KEPT HIS EYES ON JESUS HE HAD SUPERNATURAL POWER AND COULD WALK ON WATER! WHEN HE TOOK HIS EYES OFF JESUS HE BEGAN TO SINK!

Jesus said: “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” (John 3:4-15) When Israel was in the wilderness they spoke against God and Moses and complained and said “There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this food! Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.” (Numbers 21:5-9)

THOSE WHO TRUSTED IN THEIR OWN CLEVERNESS AND STRENGTH DIED! THOSE WHO KEPT THEIR EYES ON THE SERPENT (JESUS) MIRACULOUSLY SURVIVED!

Jesus told his disciples: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it

will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:5-8)

THE SECRET TO THE SUCCESS OF THE APOSTLES WAS ABIDING IN JESUS! THIS IS ALSO THE SECRET OF OUR SUCCESS.

CHRIST IN YOU IS THE HOPE OF GLORY! (COLOSSIANS 1:27)

APART FROM JESUS WE CAN DO NOTHING (JOHN 15:5).

IN JESUS WE ARE “MORE THAN CONQUERORS (ROMANS 8:37).

WHEN WE EXAMINE OURSELVES AND LOOK IN THER MIRROR TO SEE IF WE ARE IN THE FAITH, WE NEED TO SEE JESUS! (2 CORINTHIANS 3:18)

SATAN IS NOT GOD, BUT HE IS SUPERNATURAL. WE CAN NEVER DEFEAT HIM BY OURSELVES, BUT WHEN WE TRUST IN JESUS WE CAN APPROACH JUDGMENT WITH JOY UNSPEAKABLE AND FULL OF GLORY! (1 PETER 1:8-9)

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:3-6)

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)