Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast,
where we are proclaiming the truth to the world.
My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to
this podcast.
I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen
you in the word of God.
Now, come along.
Let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today.
If you have your Bibles, turn there with me.
2 Corinthians, chapter 13.
And we have been studying this book now for quite a bit of time,
and we're in the last chapter.
And you might say, hey, I'm just joining you for the first time.
Am I going to get anything out of this?
The Bible says that all scripture is given by inspiration
of God, and none of it returns void.
So we're going to learn something here today.
All of us are going to learn something together.
And so what we're going to be talking about today is a continuation
of what we've been talking about with Paul, and that's Paul's
compassion for the church there in Corinth.
And.
And we as Christians are called to have compassion.
Um, the Bible says that even Jesus, as he was walking in his earthly
ministry when he saw the people and he saw their need for
a savior and he saw their brokenness, that he was moved with
compassion.
And as Jesus is our greatest example, we are to follow that example
by having compassion in our lives.
And so what Paul does here is Paul's demonstrating to us what it
means to have compassion for those that might not necessarily
even love us back.
If, if you go back and look at chapter 12, Paul says, the more I
love you, the less I feel loved.
But isn't that the type of love that God calls us to have?
That.
That word, agape, the Greek word for the love that he's describing
in, in the New Testament, is the love that's sacrificial, a love
that's selfless, a love that says this, I will love you even if
you don't love me back.
And that's true compassion.
And in the midst of Paul's compassion, he demonstrates some
things.
He demonstrates love, true biblical love.
He demonstrates the desire to teach them the truth, the real truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
And where do we find the truth?
We find the truth in the word of God, in Scripture.
So Paul says, it's not about me.
It's not about my opinions.
It's not about necessarily my pedigree in where I've been trained.
It's about the Word.
And.
And remember what's happening in Second Corinthians is that there
are these other people that have come into the church there in
Corinth, and they've essentially been trying to steal
Paul's message by saying Paul's fake.
We're the true apostles, we're the super apostles.
And Paul says, no, just match us up to what the word of God says.
Match us up to the truth.
And so compassion is demonstrated through truthful teaching,
but compassion is also demonstrated through edification.
That's a big word.
But what is edification?
Edification is building others up in Christ, meaning this.
I want to do everything that I can to strengthen you in your relationship
with Christ.
If I have compassion for somebody, I will do that.
So by what I say and by, by what I do and by how I sacrifice,
by how I teach, all of this is to build other people up in Christ.
And that's what it means to have compassion for folks.
You know, we, we looked at it last week in the idea of edification.
But, you know, if I love somebody and if I have compassion
for somebody, I'm not going to talk negatively about them.
I'm not.
As we saw at the end of chapter 12, the King James puts it,
whispering, that's, that's gossiping.
I'm not going to gossip about somebody.
I'm not going to spread slander about somebody.
I'm not going to say negative things about them that are going
to tear them down.
And you might say this, well, Pastor, isn't it true what I'm telling
that other person is true about that person?
They did this.
That is true.
But is it edifying?
Paul says, all things are lawful, but not all things are expedient.
Meaning, as a Christian, there are things that I can do that are
not beneficial to my own spiritual walk and not beneficial
for other people.
And so it's a sacrificial way of saying, I don't need to win this.
And that's meekness.
Meekness is strength under control.
It's having the understanding of, I could say this about this person,
I could do this to somebody, but I'm going to have some control,
some self control, to be able to say, no, that's not gonna benefit
this person.
That's not going to edify them.
And so one aspect of compassion is edification, building
them up.
And the other aspect of this would be something called exhortation.
We're gonna talk about exhortation here today.
What is exhortation?
It's a, it's a, it's a word that we don't use quite frequently.
Most of you in your workplace aren't gonna use the word exhortation.
How many of you exhorted someone this week?
I don't know.
What does that.
That sounds kind of crazy.
What's exhortation?
Literally, exhortation means think of it.
I.
I like to think in pictures.
I don't know about you guys.
I like to think in pictures, think about someone walking alongside
of someone.
It literally means coming alongside of somebody and challenging
them to, in the context of Scripture, challenging them to be
more like Christ.
So it's an exhortation.
It's a challenge.
Think about it this way, a challenge.
I'm challenging you, and I'm coming alongside of you, and I'm
going to be with you in this challenge.
That's what Paul is going to do here in 2 Corinthians, chapter
13.
He's going to exhort the church at Corinth to be more in Christ,
to walk in Christ, to walk in their faith, to be people who walk
the walk and not just talk the talk.
That's why we read this morning in James, chapter one.
Hey, don't just be a hearer of the Word, but be a doer, because
it's easy to hear and agree.
I could get up here today and say, jesus is good.
Jesus calls us all to serve, and we can all say, yeah, that sounds
great.
The truth is, though, if I leave this building today and I allow
that to go in one ear, out the other, it means nothing.
Because I can agree to something, I can even believe something,
but that might not affect my life.
Where it affects my life is when I become a doer, when I put
it to practice.
And that's what Paul is challenging the church here in 2
Corinthians.
And so Paul's compassion and his concern leads him to what we
would call an exhortation, or dare we say, a confrontation here
in 2 Corinthians, chapter 13.
And so I want you to refer back to chapter 12 and look at verse
20 and 21, because before we get to chapter 13, we gotta see the
end of chapter 12.
Because this is what he's confronting them on within the church.
And he says, verse 20.
For I fear lest when I come, I shall not find you such as I would.
He's like, I, I, I, I'm.
I'm cautious.
I'm.
I'm concerned that I'm gonna come back and not find you the way
that I'd like to find you, that I should be found unto you such
as Ye would not.
Meaning if I come back and find you like this, you're not gonna
like how I come back.
And, and so there's an area of challenge here.
He says, lest there be debates, this is fighting, okay?
We talked about, remember this last week, divisions, envyings, okay?
That's.
That's jealousy.
That's.
That's wanting what other people have and thinking that other
people don't deserve what they have.
Wraths, stripes, backbitings.
That's slander, okay?
Talking about someone, whisperings, that's gossip.
Swellings, that's prideful speech, tumults, that's.
That's chaos.
That's.
That's anger against other people practiced by what we do.
He says, don't allow any of that to happen.
Because if you say that you believe in Jesus and you say that
you believe in his love, and you.
And you walk in this and you act in this way, you're.
You're contradicting yourself.
He says, unless when I come again, my God will humble me among
you, and that I shall be well, or I, I shall sorrow many which have
sinned already and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication
and lasciviousness or sensuality which they have committed.
Meaning this.
He says, when I find you, I'm not going to be upset that you've
sinned, okay?
That's one thing, okay?
If I'm a pastor and I walk around here today and I go, if any
of you sin this week, we've got issues, okay?
No, we're all going to sin, okay?
I'm gonna have an issue with myself.
The, the true test of a believer who's walking in Christ
is the repentance, a broken heart over the sin, to disdain sin,
to hate sin.
So he says, it's that repentant heart that I'm looking
for when I come back.
And.
And so that's Paul's challenge here.
And so now as he returns to them, he's going to point out to
them a need for inspection.
Because as he says here, if you don't want to be here and you
want to be a repentant believer and you want to be walking
in the truth, you need to take some steps.
And that's what he's going to challenge him with here in chapter
13.
So now you've got the background, now you've got the context.
Let's jump into chapter 13.
He says, this is the third time I am coming to you.
So that's pretty clear what's happening here.
Paul says, I'm planning to come back to you for a third time.
Okay.
The first time you.
You learn some things.
But obviously, if you know the story of the church at Corinth, and
if you don't, I encourage you to read First Corinthians.
There were a lot of chaos that was happening.
There was a lot of.
A lot of sins still involved with the Corinthian Church.
And essentially what they were doing is they were trying to honor
God by allowing their pagan ways to be blended with the things
of God.
And, and, you know, we're guilty of that within our church
today.
You know, we, we want to follow the word of God, but sometimes
we want to bring in things from the outside.
And that's what was happening here.
And so he says, I'm coming back to you for a third time.
In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.
Now, there's a lot of commentary about what this means.
Essentially, Paul is quoting the Old Testament here, and he says,
the mouth of two or three witnesses, that could either be the,
the third time he's visiting.
He says, basically, how you're living is.
Is who you are, or he could say, you know, some of the other
witnesses that have told me what's happened.
He says basically this.
In the mouth of two or three witnesses, this is your testimony.
This is who you are.
This word is going to be established.
And so we're going to figure out where you stand in the eyes of
God.
We're gonna figure out where you stand in context of Scripture.
And so then he says in verse two, I told you before and foretell
you as if I were present the second time.
And being absent now I write to them which here for have sinned,
and to all other, that if I come again, I will not spare meaning
this.
Okay, he says, I've told you before, I'm coming back.
And, and there's going to be.
There's going to be some reconciling that's gonna.
There, there.
There's going to be a challenge that's going to happen.
I.
I'm going to call you out on the carpet is basically what Paul
is saying here.
Now.
Now, ultimately, we know that Paul's an apostle and Paul is given
this divine position by God.
But ultimately we could say that God is going to reveal who we
truly are eventually.
At some point, we can hide it from other people.
We can try to be someone different in public.
We can be different even at church.
But the Bible says very clearly that God knows our heart
and all things that are in the darkness will be brought into the
light.
And what we're seeing here is Paul says, hey, who you truly are
is going to come to pass.
We're going to know who you are.
Verse, verse 3.
Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me.
By the way, they said, we don't believe, Paul, that you're
from God.
We believe these other guys who are teaching us these things
are from God.
You're not from God.
And so Paul says, you're seeking proof in Christ, in me, which
to you word is not weak, but is mighty in you.
For though he was crucified through weakness, and so he's going
to liken his position before them to the position of Christ.
Now he says, you know what?
You.
You call me weak.
And, and you can understand by context that Paul was being called
weak by the church at Corinth.
They said, paul, you're weak.
No, you, you.
You show your pain.
You.
You're struggling.
Now, these other super apostles that we like to hear from,
they're strong.
And so the challenge for Paul was, you're weak, you're not from
God.
And so Paul says, oh, you think I'm weak?
Verse 4.
For though he talking about Jesus was crucified through weakness,
meaning seemingly from people from the outside.
Jesus was weak when he went to the cross.
Now we know he wasn't weak when he went to the cross.
We know it was something called meekness.
Right?
Strength under control.
Jesus went to the cross willingly.
Jesus wasn't forced on the cross.
Jesus wasn't killed.
Jesus gave his life for us as a sacrifice.
But what Paul is saying, so that people thought Jesus was weak
on.
On the cross, yet he liveth by the power of God.
Meaning this.
You thought he was weak.
No, it was the power of God that brought him back to life.
He says Jesus is powerful because his power was demonstrated
through the power of God and the resurrection from the dead.
So he says, yet he liveth by the power of God, for also we are
weak in him.
Paul says, we talking about himself and his party, we are weak,
yes, from your perspective, but we shall live with him by the
power of God toward you.
So he says, the same power that rose Jesus from the dead is
the same power that's driving our ministry, our gospel message,
what we're doing.
So we might look weak to you, but the power of God is resting upon
us.
You might say, what is he talking about?
Well, remember Second Corinthians, chapter 12.
He says, When I am weak, he is strong.
So the more that we realize our inadequacies and our need for
Christ, the more the power of God rests on us.
So, so I could stop the sermon right now and say, guys, let's be
more weak in ourselves and more powerful in Christ.
Die to ourselves and be understanding the power of Christ.
But yet we can continue on further here because we're going
to see him challenge them here.
So.
So what is Paul doing in the first four verses?
He's putting into context what he's about to do.
He's about to challenge them, and he's giving the framework for
the challenge.
Number one, I'm coming back.
Number two, who you are is going to be revealed.
Number three, you think that I'm weak?
Well, let's judge it in the power of God.
Let's judge it in the proof of Scripture.
And so then we're going to get to number five, verse number five
here.
And now here we really see the understanding of what he's talking
about.
So.
So he's returning to them.
And remember, this is all set in the context of love and edification.
And I want you to see that here.
Anytime I'm going to make an assertion, I want you to see the
word, I want you to see Scripture be a berean.
Follow me here.
So.
So 2 Corinthians, chapter 12, verse 20.
Or, excuse me, let's go back and let's look at verse 15.
Paul is doing this all in love and edification.
We've already discussed those two words, verse 15.
And I will verily, very gladly spend and be spent for you.
So Paul says, the reason why I'm doing this, the reason why I'm
spending myself for you is why, though the more abundantly I
love you, the less I be loved, he says, I'm willing to sacrifice
for you.
I'm willing to do these things because I love you.
So what Paul is doing is he's.
He's challenging them in love.
But then it goes further.
Verse 19 of chapter 12, he says again, think ye that we excuse
ourselves unto you.
Ye speak before God in Christ.
We excuse me, we speak before God in Christ, meaning Paul saying,
I speak the words of Christ, but we do all things, dearly beloved,
for your edifying.
So remember, Paul is challenging them here in love and
edification, not because he doesn't like the Church of Corinth,
not because he thinks that they're less than him, not because
he wants to prove that they're a bunch of sinners.
Paul is challenging them because he loves them and he wants
to build them up okay, let me give you an example before we get
to chapter 13, verse 5, I, I gotta kind of paint a little bit
more of a picture.
I have my children, okay, so Micah, Nora and Silas, okay?
Each one of my children I love immensely, okay, Equally sometimes.
You ever had your kids come up to you, dad, who do you love more?
I love all of you guys, okay?
Completely.
But in, in their life, I, I, I can see as their father, areas where
they need to be challenged.
Right?
So, so one child might have an inadequacy here and another child
might not even struggle with that.
Okay, so what do I do?
Well, I don't challenge them the same way I challenge this child
to grow in this area.
Why?
Because dad just wants to torture me.
Dad's gonna make me order at a restaurant and save these things
cuz he hates me.
No, because I know that that child is, is fearful of people and
doesn't want to come out of their shell.
And so I say, okay, we're gonna challenge them here.
The other kid might just talk to anyone in the restaurant.
Okay?
So I'm not gonna challenge them in certain areas.
And so, so what I do is I see the need in an area and because of
my love for them and because I want them to be built up in that
area of their life, I'm going to challenge them and get them out
of their comfort zone.
I think all of us at our parents understand that.
And I think that's what God is doing with us when he challenges
us.
It's not a matter of he wants to torture us.
It's a matter of he wants us to get out of our comfort zone and
be stretched and be able to grow in those areas that we are inadequate.
And so when we come to this area of challenging, Paul is not.
You know, if me as a pastor, when I get up here and challenge
you, number one, when I challenge the church in, in a passage
of scripture, just know that I've been challenging myself with
that passage of scripture a lot longer than this sermon, okay?
Because this is a challenge for me.
But then number two, when I challenge the church, it's not to
say, hey, look, I'm up here telling you how good I am and how
bad you are.
It's the idea of, hey, I want us all to get to the place where
we need to be in Christ.
So it's love and edification.
And so that's what Paul is dealing with here.
And so we, we exhort each other.
Hebrews, chapter 10.
Some of you like this verse, when it comes to the idea of church
attendance.
And I like this verse, too, with church attendance.
Hebrews chapter 10, verse 24 sometimes is a proof text for people
to say, this is why you should not skip church.
And I would echo that.
Okay?
I do believe that this is a passage of scripture that challenges
us to get together and worship together.
Okay?
But there's more to that than just sitting in a pew and going home.
Let me show you here In Hebrews, chapter 10.
Hebrews, chapter 10, verse 24.
We're gonna look at verse 24 and 25.
And he says, and let us, talking about Christians, consider
one another to provoke.
Now, this is not a bad provoke.
This is literally.
We talked about this in our Bible study this morning.
This word provoke means to stir up, to make active.
So it says here, and let us consider one another to provoke unto
love and to good works.
We are to provoke each other in a good way, to stir each other
up for love and good works.
How do we do that as Christians?
Well, it says verse 25, not forsaking, not neglecting the assembling
of ourselves together as the manner of some is meaning that some
people have already forgetting about this even back at this time
in the book of Hebrews.
But here's our word here for the day, exhorting one another, and
so much the more as you see the day approaching.
So the way that we provoke each other to love and good works
is by exhorting one another, by challenging one another in a healthy
way with love and edification.
And so I wanted you to see that when we get to verse number
five in 2 Corinthians, chapter 13, just to know Paul's heart when
he challenges them here, and to know my heart when I'm about to
challenge you here.
Okay, so Hebrews, chapter 10.
Take that into account, and let's go to 2 Corinthians, chapter
13, verse 5.
And here's our main text.
I know that's a long Runway, but the first four verses in.
In Second Corinthians, chapter 13, Paul is warning them of this
impending confrontation.
Verse 5.
Here it is.
He says, examine yourselves, examine yourselves.
Test yourselves.
Look carefully at your own light.
You know, I think there's a lot of times in the church when we
do gather, we're more concerned about what someone else
is doing, and we're more concerned about examining somebody
else.
But what does Paul say here?
Examine yourself.
Now, there is a time and a place to confront and to challenge
and to exhort.
But before we get to that place, we.
We need to inspect Our own life.
We.
We need to see where we stand, where are our motives?
Where.
Where are our desires?
Where.
Where is.
As we're going to see here, where is our faith placed?
And so Paul's heart is that the church in Corinth would come
to repentance.
Remember, that's chapter 12.
He says, you have been doing all these things, and you have been
called to change and repent.
What that.
That word repentance means to turn away from.
Okay, so.
So Paul's challenge is for repentance.
And.
And so his heart for the church is, change your ways.
Turn away from where you're at.
And so verse five, examine yourselves.
And so as Paul is challenging the church at Corinth to examine
themselves, so I believe God is challenging us today to examine
ourselves, to look into our own life, to say, where?
Where.
Where do I find the greatest joy?
Where do I find my satisfaction?
Where do I find my sufficiency?
Say, well, Pastor, I'm in church on Sunday morning.
I've done my job.
No, go back to.
What did Hebrews chapter 10 say?
Hebrews chapter 10 is not just about assembling yourselves together,
but it's about doing the works of God together and challenging each
other to serve and to love and to grow.
And so that even goes back to that idea of discipleship, right?
Paul challenges us in Second Corinthians, and ultimately God throughout
the New Testament challenges us to have a heart of discipleship.
What is discipleship?
You growing closer to the Lord in the process, showing others how
to grow closer to the Lord, making disciples.
That's actually what the Bible calls the Great Commission.
And so he says, examine yourself.
But examine yourself for what?
Well, I'm in church.
I look the part.
I gave my tithe.
That's not what the examination is here.
Okay, let's look at the examination.
Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith.
There it is.
Where's your faith?
Is your faith in Christ because we know that's the object
of our faith?
Or is it in something else?
Okay, so the examination is, where is my faith?
Well, I believe that God exists, but I.
I need something else on top of that.
Or, you know, I know that God's grace is sufficient.
We just studied that.
But he doesn't understand what I'm going through right now.
Folks, that's an examination of our faith to realize that our
faith is not in Christ alone.
Our faith is in Christ in something else, or our faith isn't
something else complete.
So he says, examine yourselves, whether ye be in the
faith, prove or Demonstrate your own selves.
Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you,
except ye be reprobates, or that you fail the test.
That's that.
That Greek word for reprobates would mean you fail the test of faith.
So.
So the challenge here is not, are you a good person?
Because of all of.
All of us?
If we look at our lives long enough, we can justify like, well,
I'm a good person.
Not as bad as that person, right?
I'm.
I'm a decent citizen.
It's not what the test is.
The test is this.
Do you have faith in Christ?
And are you living in that?
That's the question.
So.
So he is telling them to look at their own lives and their own
heart to see where their faith is placed.
And by extension, here this morning, I am asking you on behalf
of God, thus saith the Lord, to examine your life, to examine
your heart, to examine your faith.
Where is it placed?
The challenge is this.
Examine your motives.
Examine your thoughts.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, Pastor, you can't.
You can't judge what's going on in my brain.
No, I can't.
But Jesus said on, on this wonderful sermon called the Sermon
on the Mount, that, hey, you've been told that what you do
is sin, but I tell you that what you think about is sin.
You say, well, what is that?
Because God desires not just what we do on the outside.
He desires our heart.
He desires our mind.
He desires all of our body.
Romans chapter 12 says, present your bodies, a living sacrifice
wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And so he says, examine your motives, your thoughts, your actions,
your heart.
Are they in Christ or are they in something else?
Okay, I know that this is tough, and I know that this isn't
popular in the world because we.
What's popular in the world is this.
If I get them to church, I've got them.
Okay?
Now tell them everything that they like to hear.
Okay, So I could have.
Oh, man, I got a full crowd today.
So.
So you guys.
You know what?
You guys are just wonderful people.
Don't change anything that you're doing.
Keep up the good work.
That sounds good.
And.
And I do want you to keep up the good work, but, folks, there
is a realization that all of us need to change.
All of us need to grow.
I.
I'm not here to entertain.
I'm here to tell you the truth.
The truth is, maybe I'm the only person I need.
I need growth.
I, I, I.
You.
You ever.
Those signs on the road that say, we're in Delaware.
So we all know these signs.
Road under construction.
Okay.
Pastor Josh is under construction right now.
Okay?
I am not where I need to be.
You say, well, then why are you our pastor?
Because God has called me to be.
But, like, let's be honest, nobody is where you say, well, I
don't know about that.
I want my pastor to be there.
Would you guys want Paul if.
If Paul could come back in time?
You guys know who I'm talking about, the Apostle Paul.
If Paul could come back in time, would you have.
Pass.
Would you have Brother Paul, Apostle Paul sit up here and preach
to you guys?
Would you guys be okay with that?
Okay.
Paul says in Philippians, he says, I'm not there.
I have not attained.
Still pressing forward.
So I think it's a biblical concept to say we're not where we
need to be yet.
And so we go back and we see, okay, what's the challenge?
The challenge is, is Christ living in you?
Is Christ driving you?
Is Christ the one who.
Who is God and you?
Are you walking in the spirit or are you walking in the flesh?
He's concerned with their spiritual health.
He's concerned with them.
You know, it would be like, for example, if.
If I love you, going back to compassion, I love you, and you walk
up and I have some sense of medical prowess that I could look
at you and see a sign of something that might be a disease.
I think there was, like, this story in the news where there was
a person on the news and there was, like, a lump on their throat.
And someone was.
A doctor was watching that, and they said, hey, you know what?
I see that lump.
And that could be possibly something.
And eventually it caused.
It was actually cancer.
And it got caught early enough because that person saw it on tv.
And so if I was looking at you and I see, like, a sign of a disease
or something, and you might not know, if I loved you enough,
I would tell you, hey, you know, you might want to get that
checked out.
Okay?
That.
That might be something more serious.
It's the same thing when it comes to our spiritual lives.
If I love somebody enough, I will tell them the truth about who
Christ is.
I'm not worried about offending them.
If my son had an issue on his arm and it was, you know, that looks
pretty bad, but I don't want to bother him with that.
No, I'm going to do everything I can, you know, and even with Silas,
we can't explain to Silas that, hey, they're Going to have
to give you a shot.
Hey, they're going to have to cut your, you know, whole mouth open
and do this and have weeks and weeks of pain and surgery, you know,
and we couldn't explain that to him, but because we loved him,
we were willing to say, like, hey, there is a growth process.
There is a challenge here.
And so within the church, we have to be willing to say that.
We have to be willing to say like, look, I need to examine my
own life.
I need to examine myself.
And so the test isn't necessarily their actions as much
as whether Christ lives within them now.
Their actions will follow.
We.
We know that the Bible says that if Christ lives in our heart
and the Holy Spirit is guiding us, and the Holy Spirit is, is.
Is giving us direction, and we're heeding that direction.
The Bible says that our actions will follow.
But.
But if I sat here today and said, how many of you are in church?
Every one of you could raise your hand because you're here.
Unless you're on the line, then you're watching on the live
stream, that's totally fine.
But the truth is, is that this being.
And I love you guys and I'm.
People say this, pastor, be careful about this, okay?
If you don't come back because I say this, I love you anyway, okay?
But being in church is just not enough, okay?
Sitting in a pew is not going to save you.
What's going to save you is Jesus Christ.
And the Bible says very clearly that it is he who died on
the cross.
I didn't die on the cross for your sins.
This building didn't die on the cross for your sins.
The Bible very clearly says it is Jesus.
He is the test.
I don't care how long you've been in church.
I don't care how many ministries you've been in.
The Bible says it's Jesus Christ and him alone.
That's why we sing that song.
In Christ alone, my hope is found.
And so the Bible says very clearly here that the test is Jesus.
And then he says, test yourself.
Except ye be reprobate.
What happens if you fail this test?
What do you do?
Well, the test is Jesus.
And so Jesus is the answer.
If you.
If you inspect your life and you say, you know what, there are
some inconsistencies.
There's some areas of.
Of spiritual growth that I need to have.
There's some areas in my life that need attention.
Folks, the answer to that is more Jesus.
It's Jesus pervading my life.
It's the love of Christ.
It's the word of God, folks.
That's what the Bible tells us is the answer to all of our problems.
You know, the world, some people, like, we want world peace.
And it just needs to be this or this.
Or needs to be this policy or this policy or this person.
Folks, the answer to every problem is.
Is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
That is what's going to change hearts.
Folks.
I.
I don't.
I could sit up here today and tell you all the reasons why I'm
upset and my.
Why my week was bad and why life could be much better.
But then, you know what, if you ask me how I'm doing, what I
should tell you, is this better than I deserve?
I can't imagine it being any better.
Why?
Because Jesus Christ, and because what he has done in my life.
Every day is a gift.
Every moment is a gift.
Every.
Every person that you come across, you know, it's a lot easier
in life to have joy in the Lord when you see every moment in
your life as a gift.
Every person as a gift.
You say every person as a gift.
Every person is an opportunity for you to either see them grow in
Christ or bring them to Christ.
You can boil all relationships down to them.
They do not know Christ.
Lead them to Christ if they know Christ.
Edify them, build them up.
When I look at my children, some of you that have young children
or some of you that have had young children, they can challenge
your heart.
Oh, some of you don't remember putting your children down at bedtime.
Okay.
Back then.
And go to bed, you know, okay, so.
So there's those ideas that, okay, instead of seeing this as a
moment of, I've been there, this child is a gift.
And I need to edify them in the cosmic gospel.
I either need to lead them to Christ or lead them in the truth
of Christ.
Take a step further in church.
I've got a ministry over here.
There's a ministry over here, and there's tension.
Well, it's a lot easier for me to live in Christ and live in the
gospel and live in truth when I see that person as a gift, as an
opportunity for service.
And so when we see that here, Paul says, there's the test.
The test is Jesus.
Verse 6.
But I trust that ye shall know what?
Excuse me.
But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.
Meaning Paul's like, hey, you should trust that you should see
Christ in our life.
Reprobates.
That word, reprobates.
There just Means those who fail the test, those without Christ,
those guided by their flesh.
And so the test for us today, if, if we are going to take the challenge,
is there like a movie that's like, here's your challenge.
If you, you know, follow it or whatever, choose to accept it, I
think is what it called.
Okay, here's your challenge.
If you choose to accept it, examine yourself and say, am I guided
by the flesh?
Am I guided by the spirit?
Is my faith in Christ alone, or is it in something else?
Is my faith in Christ plus?
Plus what?
Well, faith plus works, right?
Isn't that what it is?
I believe in Jesus and then I work really hard.
And he.
He rewards those who work hard.
No, no, there's no work.
For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves.
It is a gift of God, not of works.
Lest any man should boast, Bible says that we are to work, but
the works are not what save us.
It is the salvation that drives us to those acts of service
and works.
And so he says, I would trust that you are understanding that we
are not reprobates.
We are not the ones that fail the test.
Our testimony speaks for itself.
Now, I pray to God that you do no evil.
Not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that
which is honest.
Though we be as reprobates, Meaning, though.
Though you might treat us as reprobates, hey, look, there's this
idea of be honest with yourselves, that you would be honest.
And that's the true test.
Are we going to be honest?
Are we going to be authentic?
Are we.
Instead of constantly, you know, examining others like we already
mentioned, you know, I think that it's the idea that, that we
as Christians should first and foremost examine our own lives.
A lot of times we look at people and we say, well, are they
going to meet my expectations?
Is this church going to meet my expectations?
Is this person going to meet my expectations?
Is my spouse going to meet my expectations?
Instead of seeing it from that perspective of like, is everyone
gonna meet my expectations?
How about we flip that script around and we should examine ourselves
to see if that we're meeting God's expectations.
You would say, whoa, what's God's expectations?
Well, I'm glad that you asked.
Bible says, what is the greatest commandment?
Some of you already know it.
Like, summarize it for me in everyday English, just call it out,
love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength.
So we can say this way, love God with Everything that we are,
okay?
We love God.
That's what he calls us to the second commandment.
So right after that is to love others as we love ourselves.
Right.
First commandment is to love God.
Okay, great.
Easy.
Well, not so easy.
What does that mean?
If I love God, it's going to tell everyone that I love God.
Well, that's a good start.
But that doesn't mean that you love him.
Okay, I love my wife.
I love my wife.
I can say my, I can say a thousand times, I love my wife.
But does that mean that I love my wife?
Not necessarily.
It's what I do that proves that I love my wife.
So Jesus very clearly told us to what we do in the book of John.
He says, if you love me, you will tell other people that you love
me.
Not initially.
What does he say?
You love me.
You will keep my commandments, you will obey me.
So the way that we demonstrate our love to God, the way that we
obey God ultimately is by following his commandments, by doing
what he says.
This is not an analogy.
I think a lot of people think, well, Jesus just wants us to kind
of say, like, hey, you know what?
Kind of be like me.
Kind of follow what I say when it makes sense.
But when it doesn't make sense, it's all allegory.
No, Jesus wants us to obey him.
That's what it means.
And so when we see here God's expectations, what is God's expectations?
That we obey him.
That we simply obey him in faith.
Because if we have faith, we will believe.
And if we believe, we will obey.
And if we obey, we please God.
That's the basic cycle that we see.
You would say, well, I, I, I'm not sure about that line of thinking.
We'll go with me to a few other passages of Scripture.
And I want to amplify this a little bit more, because Paul himself
followed this practice.
Before Paul was going to challenge anyone at the church at
Corinth, he was willing to go through the same process.
He was willing to go through the same excruciating process of
God examining his life.
Look at Galatians, chapter six, verse four.
Galatians, chapter six, verse four.
And then we're going to look at another passage of Scripture.
And, and, and so there's this idea that Paul says, hey, look, before
we go examining others, we need to examine ourselves.
Galatians, chapter 4.
Or, excuse me, Galatians chapter 6, verse 4 says, but let
every man prove or demonstrate his own work, and then shall he have
Rejoicing in himself and not in another meaning.
Examine yourself.
Prove yourself.
Demonstrate your own ideas, your own heart, instead of trying
to be tied to somebody else.
Another passage of scripture is in First Corinthians, First Corinthians,
chapter 9.
We.
We are in Second Corinthians.
Go to First Corinthians, chapter 9.
Want you to see this, because this is a very convicting passage
of Scripture.
Paul.
Paul's talking about this examination process, by the way,
this examination process has to happen over and over again in
our lives.
So it says here, First Corinthians, chapter 9, verse 27.
Paul says, But I keep my body.
I keep under my body.
You say, what is that talking about he keeps under his body?
Basically, it's this.
He keeps his body in subjection.
He puts himself to a place of responsibility, he says, and bring
it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached
to others, I should be a castaway.
I myself should be a castaway.
So he says, what are you saying here?
He says he disciplines himself in Christ so that he can preach the
message of discipline.
He.
He preaches a message of dying to the cross and giving himself the
opportunity to.
To take up the cross and die to his flesh and to, to identify
with Christ.
He says, if I'm going to preach that message, I have to do
that myself.
And so here's a very simple way to remember it.
To, to make disciples, we have to be disciples.
To be a disciple, we have to obey Christ.
And so if we want to see disciples made within our church,
we have to be a church made up of disciples.
We have to be people that are desiring to obey him.
So isn't that a little legalistic, Pastor?
No, it's gospel centric.
Okay, because we're not saying that's the legalese that gets you
saved.
It's the desire after you are saved.
The Bible says that we should not continue in sin, God forbid,
right?
So the Bible says that it's a desire to know him more.
So what are we looking for?
What does it mean to be in Christ?
Well, if there was just a list.
If there was just a list to show what it means to be in the Spirit,
it would be a lot easier, right?
Oh, you know, wish God would do that.
He did.
Galatians, chapter 5.
He gives us something called the fruit of the Spirit.
You want to test your life to see if Christ lives within you.
Christ living within you just means that you're indwelled by the
Holy Spirit.
Okay.
And if the Holy Spirit is guiding your life, these are the
character traits that are going to be manifested.
So you would say, was this decision that I made in the spirit
or the flesh?
Let's match it up to the great test of the fruit of the Spirit.
So let's look at the fruit of the spirit.
Galatians, chapter 5, verse 22.
But the fruit of the Spirit is.
Here's your list.
You like list?
God's given you a list.
Okay.
Love, joy, peace, long suffering.
That's patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness.
We've already talked about that.
Temperance.
That's self control or God control.
Against such there is no law.
You would say.
I thought we weren't supposed to live by list.
Well, if you try to follow this list in your own strength, that's
wrong, man.
I'm just gonna try to be more joyful today.
Hope everything goes well.
I'm gonna be.
I'm gonna try to.
I'm gonna try to have more peace today.
But then circumstances happen and then we.
We don't have joy and peace.
Folks, these things that are given to us here are only by the
power of the Spirit.
And.
And they're outside of circumstance.
You say?
What does that mean?
Well, all of us have no problem having joy when things are
going well.
A raise at work.
I gotta.
I got a raise at work today.
Yes.
Okay.
The Bible doesn't say have joy when things are going well.
Fruit of the Spirit is joy.
So this means I can have contentment in Christ no matter what
my circumstances.
I can have patience, I can have love, I can have peace.
I can have gentleness, I can have goodness.
I can have faith.
I can have meekness and temperance outside of my outside
circumstances.
Because it's not my outside circumstances that are drawing me
to these things.
It is what is living within me that's driving me to live this way.
And so, folks, I don't care how bad the world gets.
I don't care how bad your job is.
I don't care how bad your health is.
The Bible says that we can have all these when we are indwelled
with the Spirit, when the Spirit lives within us and guides
us in our life.
Folks, this isn't magic.
This is God.
This is.
This is a miracle.
This is the miracle of salvation, that we can have Christ
and that it doesn't matter what people do to us.
Who.
Who wrote this?
Paul?
Well, Paul had a good life.
Paul had an easy life.
You know anything about that?
Paul did not have an easy life.
Paul was in prison.
Paul was persecuted.
Paul had a thorn in his flesh.
If you were here a few weeks ago, we talked about this, this thing,
and he asked God to take away from him, and he didn't take it away.
But Paul says, have love, joy, peace, all these things, Love, long
suffering, patience, all these aspects that are what we would consider
to be impossible.
But God gives us the grace to be able to live this way.
So you say, am I walking in the Spirit?
Am I living in Christ?
Examine your life, examine your actions, examine your motives.
Are they driven by the Spirit in these areas or not?
I have some people that say, pastor, I lost it with my wife last
night.
We just totally had a big argument.
And you know, I don't know if that was from the Spirit or, or was
that my flesh?
Okay, well, did you do it in meekness?
No.
Did you do it in love?
No.
Did you do it in self control?
No.
There's your test.
That was in the flesh.
Well, you know, and so that's, it's.
I know, I know.
Sometimes we put it that way.
It's, it's, it's silly and it's basic.
That is the true test.
Am I walking in the Spirit or am I walking in the flesh?
That's my test.
Examine my.
Myself.
And then we would go further here.
Okay, so let's take it a step further.
Let's, let's get.
It's.
It's always good to get a little convicted here and there.
Okay, let's get convicted.
Psalm, chapter 139.
Go with me here.
If we want this type of life, if we want to examine ourselves,
if we want God to clean us up.
And by the way, it's only God who can clean us up.
I can't clean you up.
The church can't clean you up.
It's the word of God, the power of God that gets us to a place
of changing our life.
It's the Bible that shows us what can change and what can't change
and what needs to change and how we need to adapt and how we need
to grow.
It's not me, okay?
And I think a lot of times people say, well, let me get cleaned
up, Pastor, then I'll come to church.
No, no, no, it's not the other way around.
Come to church all of your scars, with all of your brokenness,
all of your pain, with all of your sorrow, and, and say, look,
I need Jesus to change me.
But we get to Psalm 139 and we see this and, and I would say, let's
make this a prayer in our lives.
Let's make this a prayer, a desire.
God, I want you to do this.
This is tough because not all of us are gonna wanna pray this prayer.
Well, let's look at it here in verse 23 of Psalm 139.
Psalm 139, verse 23 and 24.
Search me O God and know my heart.
Try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way
in me and lead me in the way everlasting.
Search me oh God, know me, know my heart, Try me know my thoughts.
How many of us guys by the way, how many of us would want to
have God see our deepest darkest thoughts and desires?
Let me tell you something, he already does now.
And so it's an opening up to realize that and say, Lord, search
me.
And then he says here and see if there be any wicked way in me.
And lead me in the way everlasting.
So.
So just as much as we are called to exhort others to love and
good works, so we ask God to exhort us.
Lord, see if there be any wicked way in me.
And lead me.
That's what that word lead means.
Exhort.
Come alongside of the Lord leads us as he's walking with us.
Lead me in the way everlasting Lord, guide me to that place in my
life where I'm walking in your truth.
That's the desire that we should have basing everything that
we do in truth.
Big question today is what, what is truth?
Well, your truth is my truth.
And maybe your truth is not my truth.
Folks.
The truth is the word of God.
That's right.
Hold your bibles up.
That is the word of God, Thy truth.
Sanctify them by thy truth.
This is, this is Jesus's prayer.
Sanctify them by thy truth.
Thy word is true.
God's word is true.
And so where do we judge ourselves by?
Look to His Word.
You want to know what God wants for you in his life?
Read his.
Read His Word.
Study his Word.
Folks.
I.
I guarantee you, I guarantee you if you are searching after him
and you read His Word, he will speak to you.
I've heard many people that say, you know what?
I just went on a task of reading the Bible.
I didn't know what to believe.
I didn't know where to go in church.
I just started reading the Bible.
Things started changing.
I started to see the truth.
I started to be revealed.
Hey, this is where it's.
Hey folks.
The word of God is swift.
It's alive, it's powerful.
Sharper than any 2 inch sword as the Bible says folks, I, I, I
encourage you to inspect your life.
And so if, if Paul's weakness could contribute to the strength
of the Corinthian churches, he would be glad.
That's what he says there.
And so when we look at that passage of scripture in second Corinthians,
let's, let's go back, this is where we'll, we'll conclude today.
Go back to Second Corinthians chapter chapter 12 or excuse me,
13.
He says, for we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.
Meaning Paul says there's nothing else that we can preach but
the truth.
There's nothing else that we can live by but the truth.
Verse 9.
For we are glad when we are weak and, and ye are strong.
Paul says, if it takes suffering for you to come to Christ
and to grow in Christ, I'm glad.
That's some tough stuff there.
Paul says, I'm willing to go through it so that you can understand
Christ.
That is what brings me joy, folks.
What brings us joy?
What brings us gladness?
Well, when people minister to me, what should like, it's okay,
it's okay to love when people minister to you.
But folks, we should understand that there's a greater
joy in the area of seeing another person come to Christ.
There's a greater joy in knowing when someone else is growing
in the truth.
There's a greater joy when you see somebody else go out and serve
that has been in your ministry.
Had an opportunity to go down this past summer and see a young
man that I was able to teach in high school, go through the ordination
process and now and then he came back here to our church and
he, he's on deputation for missions going to Spain and just
to see him in church here, it was like can't describe to you the
joy of seeing a young man following after Christ.
I had nothing to do with it, but there was joy in the fact that
I got to be a contributing person to show him Christ.
And it's the same idea for us.
We should strive to desire more and more what it means to not
only understand the grace of God, but to give the grace of God
to others and to grow in those areas.
And so he says here, hey, his real joy is, is what that he says,
for we are glad when we are weak and you're strong.
And this also we wish even your perfection.
You say wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
I thought you said that God doesn't expect perfection from us.
And Paul, he's talking about completion, or what we would say
is.
Is maturity.
Paul says, I have joy when I see the church maturing and growing
and launching out verse 10.
And then this is where we're going to end.
He says, therefore I write these things being absent.
So Paul says, I'm writing these things.
I'm not with you.
Lest being present, I should use sharpness.
He says, I would if I was with you right now.
I might be sharp according to the power which the Lord hath given
me to edification and not to destruction.
He says, the whole point of this, the whole idea is that you
would be edified, that you would be built up and not destroyed.
Every time we talk about the challenge of the church, the challenge
of the word, the challenge of the Gospel, it's never to tear people
down and make them feel terrible about themselves.
It's about building them up in the cause of the gospel.
It's always about edification, always about lifting up Christ and
lifting up others with him.
And so it's this idea of.
Of this compassionate challenge is based in truth, and
it's always based in edification.
Okay, so two things this morning.
Number one, are we willing to examine ourselves and understand
that God loves us enough to challenge us?
We're willing to examine our hearts, our motivations.
Are we willing to allow God to search our hearts?
Number two, are we willing to get to a place in our life as we
grow, that we can take that step of challenging and exhorting
others for the sake of edification in the truth?
Not my business, not my problem.
You know, let them go the way that.
No.
If I love a fellow brother and sister in Christ, I want to come
alongside of them and exhort them.
Love sometimes.
What do they say?
Love is messy.
Love is difficult sometimes.
Love.
There's some.
There's some lumps.
You get.
You take your lumps.
True love is difficult.
True edification is difficult.
True exhortation is difficult.
We've been called to something that's worth it.
Anything that's worth it is difficult.
And I tell you, if the Christian life was easy, there'd
be a lot more people.
If the Christian life was a.
Was a cakewalk, a lot of people teach it that way.
When we have our faith in something that's not the truth, everything's
okay until the stakes are raised.
What do I mean by that?
You can believe something and say you believe it, but the true
test of whether or not you believe something is when the stakes
are raised, when there is something to lose, when.
When there might be A risk.
What I would say here this morning is this.
You might say that you profess Christ, and I hope that you do.
And I can't judge your heart.
I cannot see your.
But what I would say is that if you got on your hands and knees
and said, lord, examine my life.
Look into my deepest, darkest corners of my heart.
Where is my faith, folks?
He knows already.
And the truth is, is that if we're willing to.
To allow that examination in our life, we should be willing to
then allow the Lord to speak to us to change certain things.
Where is my faith?
I'm a religious person, Pastor.
I'm not asking if you're religious.
I'm asking where is your faith?
In Christ alone.
That's it.
In Christ alone.
Bible says that God loved us so much that he gave his only begotten
Son.
That's love.
God, you know, we want that type of love within our church, folks.
The greatest act of love, the Bible says In Romans, chapter 5,
verse 8, For God commendeth or he demonstrated, he showed his love
towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us.
God the Father loved you so much that he said, I will send my
only begotten son so that you who sinned against me would still
have an.
You would still have a path, you would still have an exit route.
That is love.
So that's the reason why we believe, that's the reason why we
trust.
Because God has proven himself to us.
My children love me.
Not because I'm wealthy, not because I'm good looking, not because
I give them everything they want, because they want a lot of
stuff.
And I'm like, hey guys, can't have that.
But my children love me, I hope, because I've demonstrated to
them that I'm there for them, that I'm willing to sacrifice.
Same reason for us as believers, we know that God loves
us.
And if you're an unsaved person here this morning, maybe you
have no understanding of what that even means.
There's a point in our lives where we must say that I cannot save
myself.
It is ultimately he who can save me.
And I'm putting my faith and trust in what God has done for me
in his love.
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed or given unto
us that we should be called the sons of God.
That's love.
So are we willing to love others?
Are we willing to challenge others?
Are we willing to be those that are examining our own lives?
I'm gonna ask if you're able to.
To Stand with me this morning, every head bowed, every eye closed
as the music plays here.
This is a.
This is what we call a time of invitation.
And it's an invitation to respond to the preaching of the Word.
It's.
It's really.
It's really this.
It's an invitation to respond to God speaking to you.
By the way, I'm.
I.
I am not an apostle.
There.
There's nothing that I say in my life that is any more powerful
than anybody else.
But when we start quoting the word of God, that is the power the
Bible says, that is the word of God.
Thus saith the Lord.
That can change lives.
And, folks, this morning we've thrown a lot of Bible out there,
and what I would encourage you to do is to respond to the Word.
Don't allow distractions in your mind and your heart.
Allow you to get away.
I know it's late in the hour.
I know that you're probably hungry.
I know that there's a lot of things that are pulling you away,
but the truth is, is that don't run from the examination right
now.
Embrace it and say, lord, where do you want.
Search me.
How many of us will be willing to say this morning?
I.
I'll come forward and I'll pray that prayer.
Search me, oh God, and know my heart.
Try me and know my thoughts.
See if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.
Are we willing to do that this morning?
Are we willing to take the challenge to examine ourselves?
I pray that you.
You take that challenge this morning.
But number two, if you don't know Jesus as your personal savior,
maybe you're not living in Christ, you don't believe in Christ,
or maybe you do, but you don't know what that means to have salvation.
Come forward.
We've got some folks up here that can show you in the Bible what
it means to know Jesus and to know everlasting life, to know forgiveness.
Folks, all of us want forgiveness, but we're trying to
find forgiveness in all the wrong places.
Forgiveness is only found through Jesus Christ and his work
on the cross.
Conquer death so that you might have life.
So this morning, let's think about that.
If you need Jesus, come forward this morning.
Lord, I thank you for this time.
Pray that you be in this moment of invitation.
I pray that you work in hearts and lives.
I pray that you challenge us to examine ourselves, Lord, even
now, Lord, I'm praying, Lord, search me.
Know my heart, try me and know my thoughts.
See if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting
Lord, I pray that you'd be in this time of invitation today.
In Jesus name, Amen.
As the music plays, some have already come Follow as the Lord leads
here this morning.
Sa Foreign.
Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church
podcast.
I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you.
If you would like to find out more information about our church
or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org
or find us on Facebook or YouTube to.
You can also email me directly at Josh Massaro at middletownbaptistchurch.
Com.
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Thank you so much.
God Bless.
Have a wonderful day.