Test Yourself

2 Corinthians, kind of toward the back of your

Bible. Chapter 13, we have, over the last year

or so, we've worked our way through 2 Corinthians.

We're going to finish it up tonight, Lord willing.

We're going to read the whole chapter. It's relatively

short. A lot of kind of the same ideas in these

last few chapters of 2 Corinthians. Kind of the

same ideas we kind of see repeating itself. We

kind of get what's going on. by this point in

the book. And Paul is closing this letter to

the Corinthians here in chapter 13. So let's

pray, and then we'll read through the whole chapter,

and then we'll talk about it. God, we come to

you. We thank you for being good to us. We thank

you for your word, dear Lord, and I pray that

your Holy Spirit would be with us tonight, that

you would free us from whatever distractions

and worries and thoughts and just... stresses

that we may have brought into this place, dear

Lord. Life is pretty tough. And so probably there's

some in here, dear Lord, that had a hard day

today, or maybe they got a hard day before them

tomorrow. But I pray that for a few minutes here

that maybe your word would speak to us, that

we would grow in you in some way through what

your word says tonight. So I pray that you would

help me to preach and teach in a way that brings

glory and honor to you. And let your Holy Spirit

be among us tonight. In Jesus' name I ask it.

Amen. All right, 2 Corinthians chapter 13, verse

2 Corinthians 13:1

1. We'll read all 13 verses. This is the third

time I am coming to you. Every fact must be established

by the testimony of two or three witnesses. I

gave a warning when I was present the second

time. And now I give a warning while I am absent

to those who sinned before and to all the rest.

If I come again, I will not be lenient, since

you seek proof of Christ speaking in me. He is

not weak toward you, but powerful among you.

In fact, he was crucified in weakness, but he

lives by God's power. For we also are weak in

him, yet toward you... We will live with him

by God's power. Test yourselves to see if you

are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do you

yourselves not recognize that Jesus Christ is

in you? Unless you fail the test. And I hope

you will recognize that we do not fail the test.

Now we pray to God that you do nothing wrong.

Not that we may appear to pass the test. but

that you may do what is right, even though we

may appear to fail. For we are not able to do

anything against the truth, but only for the

truth. In fact, we rejoice when we are weak and

you are strong. We also pray that you become

fully mature. This is why I am writing these

things while absent, that when I am there, I

will not use severity. In keeping with the authority

the Lord gave me for building up and not for

tearing down. Finally, brothers, rejoice. Become

mature. Be encouraged. Be of the same mind. Be

at peace. And the God of love and peace will

be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

All the saints greet you. The grace of the Lord

Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship

of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. Now, we've

already seen throughout the book that Paul's

main concern is really the people of Corinth.

He really loves them. He does not want to see

them succumb to sin. trusting in Jesus Christ

and continuing to walk in faith in Jesus Christ

and not being led astray by false teaching and

by sin. And he so desperately wants to be able

to come and to see that they are doing well.

He wants to come and he wants to get a good report.

that he sees brothers and sisters in Christ loving

one another, helping one another, serving the

Lord. That's what he wants, and that's why he's

writing this letter. That's why he's kind of

harsh toward them. He's kind of strong toward

some of his words. He says, look, I'm coming,

and what I want is to see you doing good, but

if you're not doing good, it's going to have

to be addressed. And he quotes an Old Testament

passage, you know, based on the testimony of

two or three witnesses. If a charge is brought

against you, if brothers in Christ say, look,

here's a brother, here's a sister, here's some

sin that's taking place in our community, in

our church group, among the Christians who are

here, Paul says, I'm going to have to address

that because that's not good and that's not healthy.

And so he gives them a very simple instruction.

And it's a good instruction. For us to consider

from time to time in our life. He tells them

in verse 5. He says test yourselves to see if

you are in the faith. Examine yourselves he says.

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith.

Now he's not saying doubt whether or not you're

a Christian. He's not calling into question whether

they doubt they're really a Christian or not.

What he's saying is. Do you really trust Jesus?

I'm not causing you to doubt. Maybe you are really

a Christian. I'm not trying to bring extra doubt

into your life. But maybe you really never really

did trust Jesus. Maybe you know about Jesus.

Maybe you heard me preach to you Paul saying

before. Maybe you know about the scripture. And

maybe you had an emotional response when you

heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. But you really

didn't trust him. You really didn't submit your

life to him. You really haven't been living for

him. And maybe that's a good thing for us to

consider. Maybe according to the world, we are

pretty good people. And maybe we do come to church.

And maybe we are involved. And maybe we do really

love people. And maybe we do know about Jesus.

Maybe we've even been baptized before. And there's

a lot of people that may fall into some of those

categories or all of those categories, but they

really never have trusted Jesus Christ. They've

been living for themselves, and maybe it's obvious

to them in their heart. Maybe they know that

there's a void there. Maybe it's obvious through

their own actions, through the things that they

do every day, through the sins that they continue

to commit, through the heart that they have.

Maybe there's already some evidence that's there.

Or maybe it's there and you don't even realize

it. And maybe we read through the Scripture,

through 2 Corinthians or through other Scriptures,

and we see the words that Jesus speaks, and we

see the words that the Bible speaks, and we say,

wait a minute. I've gone to church for a long

time, but maybe I'm not living for Jesus. Maybe

I've not really ever followed Jesus. And so Paul

says, look, you need to examine yourselves because

there are some things that are going on in your

life that shouldn't be going on in your life.

There are some things that you're doing. There's

a way that you're acting and this is not how

Christians act. So don't be fooled. Don't be

fooled just because you walked an aisle or just

because you got baptized. Don't be fooled to

think that that's God. that that's all God wants

from you, because God, what He really wants from

you is a heart that is repentant. And maybe you're

not, you know, you don't have any animosity toward

God. Maybe you haven't rejected Jesus Christ.

You're not just outright rejecting Him. You just,

you never really knew what it was like to follow.

And maybe somebody told you one day, if you say

this prayer, if you just walk up front, if you'll

just get baptized, then you'll be saved. And

maybe you did those things, but maybe your heart

did not change. And maybe your actions show that.

Maybe the way you're living now show that your

heart really hasn't changed. And Paul looks at

these Corinthians and he says, look, you were

doing good at one point. I saw you. You listened

to what I said. You were glad to hear it. And

even now it doesn't appear that they're rejecting

Jesus. It just appears that they've been taught

some other stuff that's kind of pulling them

away and they're kind of getting caught up in

the weeds and they're beginning to fall back

into some of the same sinfulness that he addressed

in 1 Corinthians. And he says, look, what I want

more than anything is for you to know that Jesus

is real and I want you to trust him and to follow

him and to be obedient to him. And he says, I'm

coming, and there's going to be a judgment, and

I don't know exactly what Paul's talking about.

He talks about two or three witnesses, so they're

going to be on trial of sorts. I don't know that

he's going to set up a bench for them to sit

in and say, here you are, you're on trial. But

he said there's going to be some judgment passed.

There's going to be some discipline that's going

to take place. And yeah, that was going to happen

when Paul arrived, but that's going to happen

one day for us in a much grander sense when we

stand before the Lord. And one day we're going

to stand in that judgment. And what's going to

be the witness against us? Who's going to be

the one to speak up for us? Because the one to

speak up for us is Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ

alone. And if we don't follow Jesus Christ, who

will we have to cover our sins on that day? We'll

have a lifetime of sins that are before us. And

maybe there will be many that day that will say,

Jesus, I was pretty good. Jesus, I did some good

stuff. I did go to church a lot. But I'm asking

you tonight, do you trust him? Do you really

know him? Sometimes there's people that go their

whole life and they realize when they're 60,

70, 80 years old, they say, you know what? I

never really trusted Jesus. I was still living

for myself. I didn't hate Jesus. Push Jesus away.

I didn't realize that I really wasn't serving

Jesus. That I was serving myself. And Paul says,

test yourself to see if you're in the face. Examine

yourself. Or do you yourself not recognize that

Jesus Christ is in you? Okay, we test ourselves.

And maybe you test yourself tonight. And maybe

you realize that Jesus Christ is in you. Praise

the Lord. Now, that's not to say that Christians

don't sin. I'm not saying that if you examine

your life and you see some sin in your life,

that that just means, man, I must have not ever

trusted Jesus. Even Christians sin. I believe

that to be the case for sure. I'm not saying

that if you sin, that doesn't mean that you're

really a Christian. But Paul says examine yourself

and make sure. Make sure that you are following

Jesus. Make sure that the Holy Spirit is within

you. Make sure that you're trusting in him. Make

sure that you're living for him and not for yourself.

And maybe you test yourself and you say, God,

I really do trust you. But there is some stuff

in my life that is not right. God, maybe I've

been saying the right things and I've been preaching

the right things and I know your word. But God,

maybe there's some conviction in our heart tonight

that we need to say, God, I am yours and I know

I'm yours. But I cannot live this way because

I'm not living for you. And Paul says, do you

yourselves not recognize that Jesus is in you?

Maybe he is. Unless you fail the test. Unless

you fail the test. It is a bummer to fail a test.

Everybody in here took tests in your life. And

man. Sometimes you study and you study and you

study and you think you're prepared and you think

you're ready and you think you're going to do

so good and you just bomb the test. That is a

bummer to fail a test. But when we fail a test,

it helps us to know that maybe we didn't know

as much as we thought we did. When we fail at

anything, There are things that sometimes we

think we got it figured out and we just fail

miserably. Even when we're trying our best and

we think we're doing right, we realize that we

just fail miserably. And maybe if we begin to

read God's Word, we begin to pray and we begin

to seek, and we begin to read the words of Jesus

Christ, and we begin to examine His life, and

we begin to look at our life. We begin to ask

God to reveal to us things maybe that are hidden,

that we don't see, to open our eyes, to open

our ears, that we may hear. We begin to test

ourselves against what Scripture says and against

how we live. And maybe we find that we fail,

and we fail, and we fail, and we fail, and we

fail, until when the test is done, we realize

that Perhaps we don't have faith in Jesus Christ

at all. And Paul says, I want you to know that

you know that you know that you trust in Jesus

Christ. I want you to know that you're not living

in sin. I want you not to be led astray by false

teachings. I want you not to give in to sin.

I want you to know Jesus. I want you to experience

Jesus. I want you to mature in Jesus. What about

us? Are we growing? Are we maturing in any way

whatsoever in the word of God? We should be some

a little bit. We should be. And Paul goes on

to say, he says, look. You say we're weak. You

say we fail. So be it. If that's how you view

us, if we fail, if you think we fail, then so

be it. Paul says, I'm not worried about what

you think of me and how weak I am or how poor

I speak or if I'm a failure. He says, what I

care about is you. And so many times, so many

times people reject Jesus Christ because of what

they see. from those who profess to be Christians

and maybe genuinely are. And so many times people

reject Jesus Christ because they see those of

us who are Christ's children living like the

world. Now we need to think about that because

people are looking to us. If we're going to profess

the goodness of God, if we're going to profess

to be Christian, if we're going to confess to

live by the commands of God, then we need to

live by the commands of God. Now that's no excuse.

Ultimately, people have to make the decision

for themselves. But if there's somebody here

tonight or there's somebody that's listening

online, do not reject Jesus because Jesus' followers

fail. Because Jesus' followers do fail. Don't

reject Jesus because of others. Read the words

of Jesus for yourself. See the life of Jesus.

And that's what we should all strive to do. And

that's what Paul wants the Corinthians to do.

So he says, I'm coming. I'm coming to see you

and I want to see that you're doing well. But

before I come, I want you to test yourself. To

make sure that you know that you're following

Jesus. To make sure that you have faith in Jesus.

And that's a good command for us. That's a good

instruction for us. You read the scriptures,

you seek the Lord. And maybe you say, God, I

know I'm yours. But maybe there's some areas

we need to clean up. Praise the Lord, we repent

of those things. But maybe you test yourself

tonight. And maybe you're 12 years old. Or maybe

you're 102 years old. And maybe you've been to

church a lot. And maybe you can quote more scripture

than anybody you know. But maybe the Holy Spirit's

been convicting you. Maybe the Holy Spirit's

convicting you now. And maybe you've already

taken that test in your heart tonight. Or maybe

you're going to begin to test yourself in the

days to come. And if you fail the test, I've

got good news for you. You can take it again

in Jesus Christ. I'm going to give you the answer

to the test beforehand. I'm not cheating. The

answer is Jesus. The answer to the test is Jesus.

That's the only answer. If you don't know that

answer and you don't live by that answer, if

you don't trust in that answer, Then you fail

the test. But if you trust in Jesus tonight,

if you'd call out to him tonight, if you'd repent

of your sins, he'll wash you as white as snow

and you'll get an A+. Not because you have done

anything right, but because Jesus died on a cross

so that you could be forgiven. Let's pray. God,

we thank you for these good words. We thank you

for people like Paul for showing his love and

his care for these people, dear Lord. For his

desire for them to just seek you and to live

right and to mature in you, dear Lord. And maybe

we need to listen to the things that he said,

God. Because maybe we're spiritually immature.

Maybe we're led astray sometimes. Maybe we find

ourselves giving back into sin. We've got no

business, no business getting involved back in,

dear Lord. And we know it and we feel it and

we're convicted of it and we're just weak, dear

Lord. And sometimes we just, we fall into it

again and again. And I pray that you help us

tonight, dear Lord, for those that just struggle

with sin, that you would give them strength and

comfort. Just help them to know that there is

power to overcome that through Jesus Christ.

I pray, God, that we would seek to be a people

who, would mature, that we would seek your word,

that we'd seek to live by it. And maybe we know

it, but maybe we just, maybe we hadn't been living

by it. Maybe parts of it we have and parts of

it we haven't. God, I pray that you just open

our eyes to see where maybe we say the right

words, but our actions don't match up with what

we say. God, maybe there are some tonight that...

They're testing themselves even in this moment,

God, through this word. Maybe they just heard

these words of Paul. And maybe they're just testing

themselves. And maybe there's some even in this

room, dear Lord, or some listening online. And

maybe they've been to church a lot even, dear

Lord. But maybe they just realized that they

know about Jesus, but they've never really trusted

Him. God, if there are any who fail the test,

Help them to realize that tonight or in the days

to come, dear Lord, that they would repent and

trust in Jesus Christ, that they would know without

a shadow of a doubt, dear Lord, that they have

been forgiven. I pray, God, that you would help

us to mature in you, to grow in you, and to know

your words, God, and to know Jesus Christ. And

it's in Jesus' name I pray it. Amen.