The Importance of Self Examination

Okay, so again, good morning everyone. I'm gonna take this off.

I can't really talk with this. Sorry. I'm not gonna do like brother

Mark Kansky and swing from post to post. He was wanting to see everybody and so hopefully

I can stay put and won't be a distraction to you. So again, good morning. The Lord is so good to us and I hope you've had a blessed week.

So this morning, our touchstone scripture that we want to look at, if you will please turn with me to your

Bible, with your Bibles and to 2nd Corinthians 13 5. And in 2nd

Corinthians 13 5, we have the Apostle Paul. And he's having to defend his ministry here.

And he's under scrutiny. His message and his ministry is under scrutiny. And these are under scrutiny from Christians, from believers, that he has labored, he has brought up as children in the faith.

And now he's wrestling their scrutinism like their sword out of their hand and now he turns it back on to them.

They're saying, I don't understand. Why is your ministry about suffering? They're boasting about their strengths.

And he's saying, no, no, no, I need, I boast about my weaknesses that God may be manifest.

You're boasting in the wrong things. Pride has slipped in again and entered in.

And what he does, he wrests their sword from them and he turns it back on them and says, examine yourselves.

That's the background of this second epistle. So let's just read 2nd

Corinthians 13 5. Examine yourselves whether you be in the faith. Prove yourselves.

Know ye not your own selves. How that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates.

Let's pray. Father, all things in us, Lord, appall you and cry out rejection.

But all things in thee, Lord, says reception. So Lord, I pray you are so beautiful and I pray that your people this day,

Lord, will hear your word and those who have yet, Lord, to come unto you.

Lord, I pray that this will be the day of their visitation. Lord, we thank you for your love and kindness and thank you have not dealt with us according to our sins.

And Lord, please bless this stammering carpenter's mouth this day. You're faithful and you're just.

We ask this in Jesus name. Amen. In worship today, thousands, thousands are gathering all around the nation and they feel churches today.

There's a great stir about religion today. And I'm sure you can attest to that today in worship.

There are only two options. We're either gladly going to glorify

God through Jesus Christ. Are we going to harden our hearts and put God to the test?

Those are the only two options that's going to happen today. And there's a tragic reality that's occurring this very moment.

This very moment that people are coming to worship and they're going to fall under God's wrath.

It's a fearful thing to fall in the hands of angry God. The only way to enter the blessing of God's rest is by faith in Jesus Christ.

Do not deceive yourselves this very day and believe that you're going to remain neutral today. So I did a little research.

This comes from the U .S. Census Bureau of Quick Facts. There are 13 ,841 churches in Georgia alone.

13 congregations per 10 ,000 people. In Bartow County, there's 112 ,000 people.

23 ,000 in Cartersville. If you do the math, that's 146 churches in this county alone.

And that means about 30 churches in the city limits of Cartersville. There's over 200 theological seminaries in the

U .S. 30 to 40 of those are Calvinistic Reformed. We have the

Internet. We have Sermon Audio. We have One Place. We have podcasts. And you could probably name your you probably have a favorite as well.

We have books, publishers producing great literature. Banner of Truth, Solid Ground, Reformation Heritage.

You can probably name many more. Then you go to ChristianBook .com and there's 52 versions of the

Bible that we can purchase. 52 versions. Do you see we live in an age of spiritual privileges?

To whom much is given, much is required. Yes. So much our respect is being paid to Christianity today.

God has been so gracious today and we are swimming in grace. My question to you all this day is though, are we any better for this?

Are we any better for this information? But that's not the question.

That is not the question. The question is, but how is your soul? How is your soul?

Have you communion with your soul lately? Have we taken spiritual inventory of our soul?

What are you craving for this morning? Why are you here? Humbly, I believe many people today are gathering in buildings for an excitement, for externals, to have their ears tickled, to be accepted by men.

Kind of sounds a bit like when you're going through acts. The Athenians were always chasing something new.

Always wanting to hear something new. Always wanting to share something new, but never the old past.

My question, beloved, is where is the, where it's like, where is the resolve of someone just being teachable?

Being hungry just for the old past? And just believing in God's Word?

Not believing in, not believing in God's Word, but believing God. People, if we really reflect on this and look back, you know,

I'm sure that as Noah's Ark was being built, they would look at it and say, that, this structure really is gonna float.

I believe in it. It's made out of gopher wood. This is a big boat. It's gonna, it's a safe place.

They could name all about it, but that day came and they weren't, they were not in it. They knew all about it.

Could give it the assents, probably a bunch of amens to it, but they were never in it.

You see, there's many young and restless today that are ready always to do the radical things, and I'm preaching to myself.

Always ready to do the radical things, but oftentimes we show up, we can't show up to work on time.

We fail to pay our bills on time. We murmur about our bosses, constantly complain about our wages.

The list could go on. I used to call this the young and the restless, but I believe this young, middle -aged, old, everybody's restless now, because we have forgot

God, and we have turned from His ways, and we must turn the searchlight on our own heart.

The greatest problem of our own country is our own heart. Believe me,

I share this to you and break this in love to you. The one that tells you the most truth is your best friend.

And beloved, as Hebrews 4 .12 says, the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two -edged sword.

That's the only impartial friend that you have. We have an impartial, we're our own best flatterer, and so we're impartial to judge ourselves.

We're not a just judge. We're impartial to ourselves by nature. So I invite you with me, to stay with me as we endeavor on this great duty that is often neglected within the church.

So this morning, I want to launch out, my outline this morning is going to speak about,

I want to share with you how everything originates and terminates in the gospel with self -examination.

If you don't get anything from this message, remember this, self -examination originates and terminates in the gospel.

And if we don't start and end with the gospel, it's an unbalance, and it's an impartial test.

It's a faulty test. And then we land in ditches, and we get in trouble.

And that's leaning upon the arm of the flesh, in Proverbs 28, I think 26, round 28, it says, a man who trusts in his own heart is a fool, is a fool.

So this morning, I want to speak to you of how the gospel brings to you purpose in self -examination, how the gospel brings pattern, how it brings pardon, and how it brings power.

So this morning, I want to share with you how the gospel brings to us in self -examination, our purpose in this, our pattern, the pardon, and the power.

And then I want to transition and speak about two D's, the difficulties of this and the dangers.

And then I want to try to land this plane that we can go out and live this in a shoe leather faith. So let's launch out.

The apostle Paul says, examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith, prove yourselves, know you not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates.

Beloved, do you see it says examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith, prove your own selves.

That double repetition speaks of a necessity that has to be done. Because oftentimes, at first glance, we don't see things clearly.

And then we see it clearly. So there's two great purposes of self -examination.

Number one is to reveal sin. Psalm 66, 18 says, if we regard iniquity in our heart, the

Lord will not hear us. I don't know about you, but I want the Lord to hear me.

I need help. So number one is to reveal sin in our lives.

And number two is to kindle encouragement, to kindle encouragement.

So with those two great aims, that's our purpose is the purpose says, why, who cares?

So what? Beloved, if we do not take this solemn act seriously, eternity is at stake.

And I don't know what else could be more serious. You're a precious in the sight of God. So this morning, as we continue, when we look in, we see the sin, but we take

God's word. And as a preface, I want to share this with you first as a preface. There's a critical point in self -examination.

As I already mentioned, it originates and terminates in the gospel. And this is the great news of Jesus Christ.

And if you can't remember what the gospel is, Jesus died for me. Remember four words,

Jesus died for me. That's enough. That's enough. But I want you to remember this, please.

Remember that it was his righteousness that was imputed to you. He stood before God as though, as though he was you.

And now we stand before God as if it were him all by faith, a gift of God. So this morning,

I want you to remember, please, it's simply put, we're not searching to see if there's anything within us to merit

God's favor. It's through Jesus Christ alone that we've already merit the favors of God. And the question is, are we walking worthy of the manner in which we've been called?

And that's what we want to seek out this morning. We want God to search us out and tell us the true inventory of our souls this day.

Let us not be deceived. But the positive side in that is encouragement.

Not only do we see our sin and shortcomings, we need to see the grace of God. Beloved, I know you have remaining corruption.

We are in the world, not of the world, but everything opposes a child of God in this world.

This is a war, this is a battle battlefield. And when you have put all trust in and forsaken all the riches as we just sung, a lot of times

Christians, they say, we don't tell lies, we sing lies in church. The question is, have we really riches

I heed not, nor man's empty praise? Thou my inheritance, now and always.

Do we really embrace that? So the pattern, I want to say, if you look within, but we beseech the living

God. So as I already mentioned that there's an impartial judge, we cannot judge ourselves rightly.

So what we do is we beseech God through the Spirit by the power of His Word to search us.

And that's key, that is key. So the pattern that, so we have, is understanding as 1

John 2, 6 says, Christ is our standard. He is the standard. He is as the, as builders,

He is the plumb line to the whole building. So how do we do this?

Where do we get started? Well, in the gospel, we open up God's Word and we beseech

Him and we cry out, Lord, search me, search me. A true child of God loves to be tested.

He loves to be tested. He loves to be tested. And we know the gospel brings second.

The third part is the part into our self -examination. Beloved, it is wonderful truth to know that God knows the worst about you and still loves you.

God knows the worst about you and still loves you. I need that.

I need to hear that every day. He has not dealt with us according to our sins.

And He says, and if you're, he who confesses his sins and forsakes them will have mercy.

Basically, if we uncover it, He covers it. But if we cover it, He's going to expose it.

That's scandalous. That's a wonderful exchange. When we're resting in Christ, the love of God causes self -examination.

Do you remember when the first part of self -examination started in the garden in Genesis chapter 3?

Sin causes us to hide. It hides from our own selves. Adam, where are you?

God cares about self -examination this much. That was the first thing He said to the fallen creatures, made in His glory, the highest of His creation, that was able to be a partial, a judge as though God is because we're made in His image.

And that's what differs us than the creatures of the field. And many of us, prior to salvation, live like beasts of the field.

So then we have the power. The gospel brings power to the self -examination. Grace transforms this duty into a

Christian pilgrimage where it, it takes like the drill sergeant and makes him a butler where he serves us.

Self -examination does not have to be like buckets of water that quenches your faith.

Charles Spurgeon said, anything that quenches your faith is the enemy of God. Because it's by faith, not works.

And that's what Hebrews tells us. It's by faith, by faith. Hebrews 11, 6,

I think it's 11, 6 says, without faith it's impossible to please God. So faith is the element that the

Christian lives and moves and has his being in. But self -examination doesn't have to be like a bucket of water throwing it onto your fire.

It can be a bucket of fuel. Let it be a bucket of fuel to fan you on and say,

I'm not that man I used to be. I'm not that woman I used to be. I have victory over sin.

I have a new taste. Sin has become bitter and Christ is becoming sweeter. That's a blessing.

That's the Spirit of God working in your life through the sanctification of his Word. You're beginning to taste and see that the

Lord is good. Bitter things we spit out of our mouth and let us wage war on sin.

Become resolved to say, I'm waging war on sin. It makes me stupid.

It cauterizes the inner courtroom and it draws me further away from the one I love.

So this morning, I want to talk a little bit about and share with you the difficulty of this great duty.

It is difficult. That's why I believe here the Apostle tells us examine yourselves and then prove your own selves.

He says it twice because we're naturally, we don't want to do this. We don't want to do this.

This takes maximum effort. You remember the when Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount, he comes to them and it's basically he's saying, you have heard but I say unto you.

He's dealing with true and false religion in that Matthew 5, 6, and 7. He's dealing with true and false religion right there.

And he ends that and he says basically a man who's built his house on the rock, it will stand.

Because it takes maximum effort to dig down, search within, and dig on that rock of Christ.

Maximum effort. The one who built on the sand, it takes no effort. Up it goes. Both edifices look the same until the storm comes and then it's revealed how that house has stood.

The eye sees everything but itself naturally. The eye sees everything but itself. Lust hides in secret corners.

Men naturally, we naturally read many books but we must shift this and live in the book.

Remember David, he thought very fair of himself and was going about his merry way until Nathan, his friend, came to him and said, thou art the man.

Today you are the man. So we're not here to judge a pastor or sermon or a carpenter expounding

God's Word. The Word is here to judge you. Many today eat, drink, and be merry as if there was no heaven or hell and it concerns them not.

Ever wonder why the Pharisees hated Christ? Because he dealt with their hearts. The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart.

And that's what the Lord said, I came to seek and save that which was lost. He is the great physician.

He can do a work which no man can do. And he delights to do it. So why is this so, why is it so difficult?

I was a false convert. I ran into a church because I did a horrible act and I was afraid of the consequences.

I was baptized and went about my way and nothing ever changed really. All the other people around me were living the way

I were, but now when I'm doing everything as an outward -professing Christian, nothing ever changed.

This burdens me. This really burdens me because many today are coming to churches.

Many today are walking and living and dreaming about paradise and they're going to wake up in Satan's arms.

Many people are dreaming about paradise and will wake up in Satan's arms. This is sobering.

This is very sobering. Lord, in Matthew 5, 6, and 7, the

Apostle in 2 Corinthians 13 is not speaking to irreligious people, he's speaking to religious people.

Self -deception is how Satan works. As Spurgeon said, as the worm hides in the sweetest part of the fruit, so does

Satan in religion. How do people get lulled and self -deceived?

That's the question, isn't it? Because they prayed a prayer, they felt an emotional excitement, they saw a film, they saw a movie that stirred them, scurried them about.

Someone told them to pray a prayer, never doubt it again. It's just that simple.

It's a formula of creed and off you go on your way. Someone has given you a false sense of assurance.

You know, you can say all the right things, you can know all the right things and still be lost.

You can say all the right things, know all the right things, and still be lost. Because there's a failure of self -examination.

There's tests and examinations in every sphere of our lives. There's a driving test, there's tests growing up in schools, there's tests in every aspect.

I had a contractor's test, my wife had a nurse, everybody has. We have exams that test us.

Do you see the disconnect? Why are we not turning this searchlight back on ourselves and testing ourselves? We have a great disease.

We have a great disease. But beloved, remember, greater is our Savior. Greater is our

Savior. So this morning, I want to continue on this.

The deceived come in so many categories. Superficial, the involved, and hypocrite.

That was from John McArthur. So how do we notice them?

How can we notice them and help them? That'd be the question. How can we notice first within our own lives to see if this is in us, to be able to help those?

Because Jeremiah 17 9 says, the heart is deceitfully wicked above all things, who can know it? I don't know if you've ever made this correlation, but in, and I think it's in 2

John's in Revelation, it says the Antichrist is the deceiver of the nations. You have that form in your own bosom.

Have you ever thought about that? You have a form of the Antichrist dwelling within your bosom.

Your heart is deceitfully wicked above all things. That should make you tremble.

So my question is, how can we spot these souls and be a service to them? First, there's some that only are theologically, academically here, just as the interest of understanding more knowledge.

They're more committed to the reformed theology or denomination or whatever it may be. There's some that are even, they're caught up in the, always desire to have their feelings, always in, always caught up in the byproducts of religion.

You know, there's a, there's a cuttlefish and I've always been interested in this fish for many reasons

I share with you many times. Then there's a fish in the ocean that's called cuttlefish. As a biology major,

I studied this fish. Very interesting because it has fish in his name, but it's not a fish.

It's a mollusk. It's like a tail that came out of his shell, never went back. It has fish in his name, but it's not a fish.

It's a mollusk. And it's like, it's like an apron with a jet propulsion, like bowling through a straw, how it moves through the water.

So it's like a propulsion through the water with like skirts on the side. But you know, one of its ways of defending itself, it blends in instantly to his background.

If it's a red, boom, danger, red turns red. In another way, when it's serious danger, it shoots ink in the water and then it escapes.

It has no backbone, it's an invertebrate. Do you see where I'm going with this? Can you tie these together?

Many profess and have a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof. Does Christ dwell in you is the question.

Is he everything to you? Not church attendance, not anything. Because when we start speaking of that, then we start shooting ink in the water, we start changing to our backgrounds, if Christ is not all.

So the dangers I want to say this morning is, is that I used to really, you know, we either swing to ditches, we either don't do it or we do self -examination enough.

So we're probably swing to both hypers. How can we keep this balance and guard ourselves from being too introspective?

Because we don't become like Christ looking within, we look without. So but when we look within and we see the darkness, beloved, go over to those windows when it's dark and yank them curtains wide open and let the light of God shine through.

Let it shine. He is the light of the world. Christ is the light of the world. And when there's darkness, rip those curtains open and let

Jesus shine through there. So we have to be careful.

Any good gift or duty can be misused. Therefore, we must avoid twisting scripture.

Sin causes, you know, we can take food and twist it to gluttony.

We can take money and twist it to greed. We can take sex, which God has given us as a privilege of being married.

We can twist it to lust. Please hear me. Self -examination can be twisted to hypocrisy.

It leads to crushing shame. Therefore, it's misused and we must avoid this ditch. It can lead to legalism.

As I said, it's through Christ we have the favor of God. We don't merit God's favor. Jesus said,

God said, this is my beloved son whom I'm well pleased. And in him, he's pleased with us because he doesn't see no longer the stamp of Adam on our neck and Satan have us bound in feathers.

He sees Christ, his son. It was at the cross we saw our first light.

It is at the cross we find forgiveness and healing and joyful restoration. If we carry this burden of shame away from self -examination, we have missed the cross and we have failed this examination.

It is faulty. It is faulty. Thomas Chalmers, a

Scottish church leader, once compelled, he says instead we must go to that window as I just mentioned, open those curtains and soak in that gospel sunlight.

Christ is the light of the world. And remember that self -examination originates and terminates in the gospel.

So I want to share with you, if you will, turn with me to Psalm 77.

This is a Psalm of Asaph. Psalm 77 is a great example of this.

I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God my voice, and he gave ear unto me.

In the day of my trouble, I sought the Lord. My sore ran in the night and seized not.

My soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God and was troubled. I complained and my spirit was overwhelmed.

Selah. Thou holdest my eyes awakened. He couldn't sleep. I'm going to pause right here for a second if you're listening.

This is the occupation of the sleepless. This is your occupation when you can't sleep.

And it's not if, it's when. I remember God when I was troubled.

I complained and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah. Thou holdest my eyes awakening.

And I am so troubled that I cannot speak. Here it goes. I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient of times.

I call to remembrance my song in the night. I communion with my own heart. And my spirit may diligent surge.

Will the Lord cast off forever? And will he be favorable to me no more?

Is his mercy clean gone forever? Does he promise fail forever?

Have God forgotten to be gracious? Has he shut up anger?

Has he anger shut up his tender mercy? Selah. And I said this is my infirmity, but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most high.

I will remember the works of the Lord. Surely I will remember the wondrous, the wonders of old.

I will meditate on all thy work and talk of all thy doings. I'm going to pause right there.

If you look back up above in those 12 verses, you see all the eyes.

Do you see all the eyes? Something, he's calling himself, he's been examining his heart in the midnight cry.

If you look back up, notice this is what he says. This is what he did. Number one, he considered the days of old.

He drew upon God's faithfulness and his history that he's never changed. You've delivered me here.

You won't change and you'll deliver me here. So he starts preaching the gospel to himself and remembers

God of the ancient of days. I call to remembrance my song in the night.

Number two, remembrance. How blessed is the memory of the righteous? Remember God says,

I'll give you the words to speak in that hour. I don't think it's just necessarily outward words.

I think it's inward words. How can you give what you don't have to another if you don't own it yourself?

Evangelism is only an overflow of your cup. That's all it is. You can't preach repentance if you're not living repentance.

You can't tell and say behold the Lamb of God if you're not beholding the Lamb of God. And people know, people know.

Notice that the remembrance of my song. We're to hide God's word in our hearts. This is the occupation of the sleepless.

If you're restless today, this is your occupation. Consider God's faithfulness from days past.

Remember, remember, remember those songs you once sung.

He put a new song in your heart. I once was blind but now I can see. And if you can't remember, he told the

Gadarene demoniac what I love about this. He didn't say go and preach the five points of Calvinism and talk about Tulip.

No, go and tell what great things I've done for you. Wasn't that wonderful? It's like a liberty set you free.

It says just go and tell what great things I've done for you. Because I believe in that you will light a fire so big because you do not have to ever advertise a fire.

Get on fire. And this is how it happens. Let take that.

Let it not be a bucket of water self -examined. Let it be a bucket of fuel because he who began a good work is going to finish it.

And you see in last in this he says, I communion with my own heart and my spirit may diligently serve.

That's what self -examination is communion with your own heart. That's all that comes up communion with your own heart.

It's almost like the moment that you bring these words to an unbeliever, one that's dead in their trespasses and sins, they become a fugitive to this duty.

They're a fugitive. They run. But it's so sad because this is what

Adam did too. And we're to pity them. We're to pray for them because they have the stamp of Satan still on them.

And they're doing so many things in the name of God. And God is not going to be mocked. And they're bound in fetters.

As I already mentioned, dreaming a paradise. It'll be an awful thought to wake up in Satan's arms.

That's awful. That is awful. And I'll finish this.

So notice he's so taken up with God. He preaches God's to God. He preaches the word to himself.

He draws upon this as he's restless. Notice this. The eyes are. Watch this. After verse 12, eyes forgotten.

This is what we need to be so taken up with God. You forget yourself.

Watch this. In verse 13, thy way O God is in the sanctuary. Who is so great as our

God? That's a question. Who is so great as our God? Who is like unto him?

Thou art the God that doeth wonders. Thou hast declared thy strength among the people.

Thou hast been my arm and redeemed thy people, thy sons of Jacob and Joseph, Selah.

The water saw thee O God. The water saw thee and they were afraid. The depths also were troubled.

The clouds poured out water. The sky sent out a sound. Thine arrows also went abroad.

The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven. The lightnings lightened the world.

The earth trembled and shook. The earth was in the sea and thy path in the great waters and thy footsteps are not known.

Thou leadest thy people like a flock by the hands of Moses and Aaron. He is a wonderful shepherd.

He is wonderful. And I would say as Psalm 211 says, fear the

Lord and rejoice with trembling. That's a holy mixture. That's a holy mixture.

To be deceived in this matter is the most stinging of considerations. I read this and this is sobering.

For a man to deceive himself is as a form of a self murderer. It's a form of suicide.

You say, wow, how do you come up with that? Listen to this. As a self murderer is accounted a greater sin than a murder of just another person is because he takes because it's against that charity to ourselves, which is the copy and rule of charity to another.

Self murder is accounted as a greater sin than murder of another person. Because it's against the charity to ourselves, which is the copy and rule of charity unto another.

Beloved, one of my favorite missionaries, William Carey, Pastor mentioned him earlier. In 1834, he passed away on his grave site, his epitaph.

You know what it reads? This man had a honest estimate of himself.

This man, his epitaph, that little granite still preaches.

And it says, a wretched, poor and helpless worm. On thy kind arms

I fall. Oh, to be a worm. Oh, to be a worm. When God came and spoke and addressed

Jacob, in Isaiah 41, 14, he addressed him and said, fear not, you worm of Jacob.

You men of Israel, I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord. I want to read that one more time.

A wretched, poor and helpless worm. Unto thy kind arms I fall.

Do you see there's a secret there too? Do you hear the beatitude, the first beatitude being preached in that?

Blessed are those that are poor in spirit. Do you see great faith in that? I believe that faith marvels

God. This man had an indomitable spirit, and he could not be conquered by sickness, death, no matter what came his way.

And when we look in, you know, when we look in and we call upon the

Spirit of God to help us, the Spirit of God is the paraclete. Christ is the paraclete.

You have the physician applying the comfort. You have the comforter applying the comfort. We just, as Jesus showed up in the midst of His disciples, tormented, disturbed, the shepherds gone, they're back fishing, back to where He found them.

Y 'all caught anything? Y 'all caught anything? You could hear it probably, no.

Peter sees Jesus jumps off the boat, swims before the boat hits the shore. And how does

Jesus restore His loving disciple, His head disciple, His apostle? How does

He restore the one that got rebuked by two -thirds of the Trinity? How does He restore a backsliding leader of the church?

I'm going to pause right there, I'm going to go back to one, a pastor brought this to me a long time ago, and I'll never forget it.

One of the greatest questions asked in the Bible came from Judas, not Iscariot. Judas, not

Iscariot, asked one of the most profound questions in the Bible. How will you manifest yourself?

How will you make yourself known to me and not the world? Jesus responded, if you love me.

If you love me. That cuts to the quick. So how does

Jesus restore His apostle, I mean, His disciple, His lead disciple? He looks at him,

I'm sure with nails scarred hands, and He says, look at me. Look at me.

Look at me! He's here serving him, hungry, and He feeds his weariness,

He satisfies his soul, and He says, Peter, do you love me? Do you love me?

That's the question today, ultimately interspection finishes right there. Do you love me? That's where it ends.

Do you love me? What more can He say? What more can He do? He has said it,

He has done it, He's fulfilled it, and He's still going a little bit further, interceding right now for us in Heaven.

So, I want to try to land this plane, as we're pretty close to the Cartersville Airport, and I think it's the

Cessna coming in. This is going to be some strong medicine, so I just ask you to please embrace, as they tell you in the plane, put your trays in upright, seats up.

Let's land this, but it's going to be some strong medicine. This comes from Charles Spurgeon, and I just want to read this, and just let this bless you, but also let it search you.

So, I'm trying to help you. I'm not your enemy. First, if we were to examine ourselves, we must begin with our public life.

Are you dishonest? Can you thieve? Can you swear? Are you given to drunkenness, uncleanliness, blasphemy, taking

God's name in vain in violation of His holy day? Make short work of yourself. There's no need to go any further.

No need to do any other test. He that does these things has no inheritance in the Kingdom of God. You're in a reprobate, and the wrath of God is abiding on you.

Your state is very fearful. You're in a curse right now, except you repent, or you'll be a curse forever.

And yet, Christian, despite your many sins, you can say, By the grace of God, I am what

I am, and I seek to live a righteous and godly and sober life in the midst of a wicked and corrupt generation.

Remember, Professor, by your works you shall be judged at last. Your works cannot save you, but they can prove that you are saved.

Or, if they're evil works, they can prove that you are not saved. And I'm here, and I must say, every one of us has a good cause to tremble.

For our outward acts are not what we would have them to be. Let us go to our houses today and fall upon our face and cry again,

God, be merciful to me, a sinner. God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

And let us seek more grace that henceforth our lives to be more made into the image of Christ.

Again, let's go to another set of tests. These will be private tests. How about your private life?

Do you live without prayer? Without searching the scriptures? Do you live without thoughts of God? Can you live in habitual stranger to the

Most High? Having no love to Him? Having no fear of Him?

If so, I'll make short work of the matter. You're in the gall and the bitterness of the bonds of iniquity.

But, but, don't you love those buts in the Bible? But, if you are right at heart, you will be able to say,

I could not live without prayer. I have to weep over my prayers, but still,

I would weep ten times more if I didn't pray. I do love God. It is my meditation all the day.

I love His people. I love being in His house. And when my heart is busy with the world's affairs, it is often going up to His throne, a good sign.

Christian, a good sign for you. If you can go through these tests, you may hope all is well.

But go a little deeper. Let's go a little deeper. Have you ever wept over your lost condition? Have you ever bemoaned your lost estate before God?

Have you ever tried to save yourself and found out it's a failure? Have you ever been driven simply to reply wholly and entirely on Christ?

Yes. If so, then you have passed the test well enough. And have you now faith in Christ, a faith that makes you love

Him, a faith that enables you to trust Him in the darkest of hours? Can you say of a truth that you have a secret affection towards the

Most High, and that you love His Son, that your desire is after His ways, that you feel the influence of Divine Spirit, and seek every day to experience the fellowship of the

Holy Spirit more and more? And lastly, you can say that Jesus Christ is in you.

If not, you're a reprobate. A reprobate simply is a counterfeit. Sharp though these words may be, but if Christ Jesus be in your heart, though your heart sometimes be so dark, and you can scarcely tell if He's even there, yet you're accepted and beloved.

And you may rejoice with unspeakable full of glory. You know, it's impossible to go any further.

Jesus paid it all. All to Him we owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, and He washed it whiter than snow.

So let's pray. Oh Lord, You're beautiful.

You are majestic in all Your ways. Awesome power in Your work and wonders in our midst.

Lord, we desire Your glory to fill this earth. Lord, we desire to see rebels as we once were transformed into worshipers.

Lord, it's already been mentioned, we will not stand. Lord, we don't want to regret standing before You saying,

I wish I could have done more for You. The question is, I would ask everyone and myself,

Lord, this day, is He worthy? Is He worthy? Of all honor and glory and praise.

So Lord, I pray that You will help us to have a healthy understanding of this holy duty that You've called us to do.

Examine yourselves to see if you be in the faith. And Lord, we know that faith is so precious.

It is so precious. And Lord, we don't see to believe, we believe that we may see.

And we thank You for this gift of life. And Lord, if we had a thousand tongues, we'd never stop praising

You. We are the church militant, and we long to be united with the church triumphant. And Lord God, I pray that You soon come.

Come, Lord Jesus. Restore the honor and glory due unto

Your holy name. Forgive us, Lord God, for trampling grace under our feet.

Woe is me, O God. I'm a man of unclean lips. O wretched man that I am, who would deliver me from this body of death?