Word of Salvation – Vol.13 No.09 – March 1967

 

Self Examination

 

Sermon by Rev. G. I. Williamson on 2Cor.13:5

Scripture Reading: 2Cor.13

Psalter Hymnal: 77; 289:1,3,5; 290:1,2,4,5; 273:1,2; 273:3

 

Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ,

The subject of self-examination is a matter of considerable misunderstanding and dispute.  And I am afraid that people sometimes form their opinions more often by way of reaction to what they see and do not like – than by a careful consideration of the Bible.

(1)  Take, for example, those people and those Churches that can hardly talk of anything else but the duty of self-examination.  They see the worldliness and indifference of so many professing Christians.  They see the lack of discipline and strictness in other Churches.  And they say, ‘Ah, you see how easy it is to be deceived with the mere semblance and name of Christianity.  We do not want this to happen to us.  So we will carefully examine our hearts to see if we be in the faith.’  But the trouble is that these people so often begin to concentrate so much on themselves – on their own spiritual condition that they forget to think about the great work of Christ and the glorious promises of the gospel!  And what a terrible thing this can be.  For if you have ever known people like that or Churches like that you will know what it leads to.  For when people spend all their time looking at themselves there is only one result.

They soon become so down-hearted and discouraged that they very much doubt of their being in Christ.  That is why there are usually only a very few people who come to the Lord’s Supper in Churches that spend all their time in talking about self-examination.

(2)  But then, there is another danger as well.  For when other Christian people see what this incessant self-examination leads to, they often run to the other extreme.  They see how these people who are always examining themselves seem to fall under the cloud of dark despair.  So they begin to say within themselves, ‘there, you see what happens when you engage in self-examination!   Well, we don’t want that to happen to us.  So we will concentrate all our attention on the wonderful work which Christ has done on the cross.  And we will comfort our hearts by the promises of the gospel.  And so they go on to concentrate their attention so exclusively upon the objective work of Christ that they never stop to consider the inward condition of their hearts.  And these are the people who never stop to realize that it is not every one who says, ‘Lord, Lord!’ who shall enter into the Kingdom.

If you notice very carefully what Paul is saying in our text, however, you will see how to avoid both of these extremes.  For the Apostle says, examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.  Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobate?”

I.  THE DUTY

The first thing we clearly see, in the words of our text, then, is the fact that we are commanded to engage in self-examination!  And this in itself is sufficient to warn us against the idea that it is enough to think about the work that Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross in order to be sure of our salvation.

If I have a terrible disease such as cancer, then the thing that I need to know before and above everything else is how I can have my cancer cured.  I need to be directed to a skilful surgeon who has the ability to perform the operation by which it can be re- moved.  What I need to be saved, in other words, is not to be found within myself.  Once I know that I have cancer, there is no need for self-examination!  For the one thing that is needful is entirely outside myself.  And that is just the way it is with sinners who are not yet saved.  The Bible clearly tells such sinners what is wrong with them and what they need to be saved.  It tells them that they must go to Christ, for He and He alone can heal them.  They must look to Jesus Christ alone, and not at all to – or within – themselves, in order that they might be saved.

But suppose that I have had the operation that the surgeon recommended, and suppose that I now want to be sure that the operation was a success.  Where am I to look now for the assurance I need that the cancer has really been cured?  Well I will never discover that by taking a look at the surgeon!  I will never be sure that I am in good health by asking how he feels!  No, in order to make sure that the operation has been a success, I will need to examine myself.

And so it is with those who have professed the Lord Jesus Christ.  For it is to those who have professed His name that the words of our text – and other texts in the Bible – are directed.

There are two great reasons given in the Bible for making this self-examination!

(1)  One reason is that the Devil is constantly seeking to destroy men by leading them to accept a counterfeit salvation.  Where truth is sown, he sows error.  Where true religious experience is given by God, he gives men false substitutes for the real thing.  He is able to make men think that all is well with their souls when all is not well.  This was what happened to the Apostle Paul before he was truly converted.  He was so completely deceived by the Devil that he actually thought that he was serving the true God, when he was actually persecuting the Christian Church.

(2)  And another reason is that our hearts are deceitful.  The prophet says that the heart of man is “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.”  And this means that we can be completely fooled by our own feelings and thoughts.  We can believe things to be true when they are not true.  We can feel that all is well when all is not well.  And we can enjoy the assurance of salvation when we are not really saved.  “The hypocrite’s hope shall perish”, says the scripture, “whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider’s web.”

If everyone who professed the name of the Lord Jesus Christ were certain to be saved, then there would be no need for self-examination!  If everyone who calls Jesus Lord were sure to enter into the kingdom of God, there would be no such text as this in the Bible.  But the fact of the matter is that men can be mistaken about their own spiritual condition and estate.  Did not our Lord Jesus Christ himself, in His Sermon on the Mount, plainly tell us of this fact?  We may not like to hear it, but that will not change what He said.  “Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works?’  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”  So there certainly is the need for self-examination.  And we are very foolish indeed if we neglect this commandment of God.

II.  THE CRITERION

In the second place, let us consider what it is that we are to look for when we engage in self-examination!  “Know ye not your own selves,” says the Apostle, “how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?”  In other words, the one great proof of our being true believers is that the Lord Jesus Christ himself dwells within our hearts.  That is the one sure test, of whether or not we really are believers.

Once you understand what the Apostle is saying in our text, you will see why it is that the wrong kind of self-examination always leads to utter discouragement and despair.  For what is it that these people really look for when they examine themselves?

(1)  Well, suppose they were to look for the entire absence of all sin.  If they are looking for that, it is perfectly obvious why they only become discouraged.  For there is no man that doeth good and sinneth not.  There is no man who can honestly look within his heart and say that he has no sin.  If he does say that he has no sin, the truth is not in him and he only deceives himself.  But if he is an honest man – even if he is the most wonderful Christian on earth – he will still find so much sin in his own heart that he will have to say what David said in the 130th Psalm: “If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?”

(2)  Or suppose that they were to look for freedom from terrible doubts and temptations!  Well, again, I say, if they are looking for that within their own hearts, they are bound to be terribly disappointed, especially if they are really true believers.  For if there is one thing that Satan will never do, it is to leave us free from temptation.  We might almost say that the more a person belongs to the Lord, the more the Devil will tempt him.  Was not our Lord himself terribly tempted by the Devil, and yet the Father in heaven was well pleased with His beloved Son!

(3)  We also find people who look for the evidence of God’s blessing in favourable dealings and circumstances.  “Alas,” Alas,” says a person with this intention, “for just look at the afflictions that have come into my heart just look at the sorrow and misfortune that has been my portion – surely God cannot consider that I belong to him!”  But they forget that our Lord Jesus Christ himself was “stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.”  They forget that “whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”

The trouble with many people who engage in self-examination  then, is simply the fact that they go at it in the wrong way.  They are looking for the wrong thing within themselves.  For our text says, “know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?”  So the thing that people should be looking for, in this matter of self-examination!  is simply the presence of Jesus Christ within their hearts and lives.  Jesus promised that he would do this, you remember.  “I will come to you,” he said to his disciples.  And when they asked how he would do it, he said that he would do it by means of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him, for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”

So it is the Holy Spirit dwelling in the heart of the believer which is one and the same with Jesus Christ himself dwelling in that heart.  For “if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, “he is none of His.  And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”  And “now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” says the Apostle,

But what is the result of this indwelling of the Spirit of Christ?  Well it is the creation of a new nature a new character or personality within that person.  And this new character or personality is made in the image of Christ.  “My little children,” writes Paul to the Christians in Galatia, “I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.”  And to the believers in Colossae he writes: “Ye have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.”  And to the Corinthians he writes, “The first man (Adam) is of the earth, earthly, the second man (Christ) is the Lord from heaven… and as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.”  For if the Lord Jesus Christ dwells in any man “he is a new creature” indeed, and old things have passed away and all things are become new.  And he can join the Apostle Paul in saying, “we have the mind of Christ.”

I cannot possibly describe in any complete way all that is really involved in having the mind of Christ – or taking on his image – or having his indwelling in our hearts.  But I can give a few illustrations of what the principle involves.

(1)  One of the outstanding characteristics of our Lord Jesus Christ was his wonderful humility.  He was “meek and lowly of heart.”  And he “made himself of no reputation” as he gave himself in loving service to men.  Pride and vainglory were utterly foreign to his nature.  Well, says the Apostle in his Epistle to the Philippians, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”  “Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another.”  And “if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not,” says James, for “this wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual (and) devilish.”  Or in other words, the man who has Christ dwelling in his heart is humble.  He honestly has a low estimation of himself.

(2)  And another thing that we always see in our Lord is a deep sense of compassion.  He was always ready to show mercy and forgiveness towards those who had treated him with malice and hatred.  “Father forgive them,” he said “for they know not what they do.”  And no one ever confessed their sins – and asked forgiveness from him – who did not receive his complete mercy and favour.  “Thy sins are forgiven,” he would say, “now go and sin no more.”

Now this quality too is found in all true believers.  They too are ever willing to forgive.  For our Lord Jesus Christ himself said to his disciples – to those who professed his name – “If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

(3)  And a third thing that we will mention is that Jesus was always obedient to the will of the heavenly Father.  Whatever he found written in the scriptures he was ever prepared to acknowledge and obey.  “I seek not mine own will,” he said, “but the will of the Father which hath sent me.’  The Bible says that this desire to be obedient to God is the same as love for God.  “For this is the love of God,” says the Apostle John, “that we keep his commandments.”

So the Bible says that it is not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord!’ who will enter into the Kingdom of God, but only those who do the will of the Father.  And every true believer will therefore find in his own heart the prayer of the psalmist: (“Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.  Give me under- standing, and I shall keep thy law; yea I shall observe it with my whole heart.  Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.”

(4)  But there is nothing in the character of our Lord that is more worthy of attention than his love for those who are called his friends.  For greater love hath no man than this,” says Jesus, “that a man lay down his life for his friends.”  And “this is my commandment to you”, we also read, “that ye love one another, as I have loved you.”  Now this is undoubtedly the most important characteristic of those who really do have Jesus dwelling in their hearts.  For “by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples,” he says, “if ye have love one to another.”  “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.  He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.”  For “we know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.”

The great purpose of self-examination!  then, is to see whether or not Jesus dwells in our hearts.

III.  THE CERTAINTY

And the teaching of our text is perfectly certain as to the outcome of this self-examination!  “Know ye not your own selves,” says the Apostle, “how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?”  Or in other words, there is a truly immense difference between those who have Christ dwelling in their hearts and those who have no such thing.  So there is really no good reason to have any doubt concerning the matter.

Now there are Churches which teach that no one can really know for certain that he is a child of God.  One of the most important errors in the teaching of the Church of Rome is that no ordinary Christian can be certain that he is going to be saved.  “Our hope is… uncertain with regard to ourselves,” says the official Catechism of the Church of Rome.  And I’m afraid that the powerful influence of this teaching is not confined to the Church of Rome.  For there are a great many Christians in other denominations who suffer under the same misapprehension.  They somehow feel that it is simply impossible to know that they belong to God.  But we only need to think for a moment of the difference between a believer and an unbeliever to see how wrong this is.  The Bible says that unbelievers are dead in trespasses and sins.  It says that they are under the dominion and tyranny of Satan, (“the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.”)  And so every thought of the intent of the heart of the unbeliever is only evil continually.  He is ruled by the lusts of the flesh.  He is a slave of unruly passions.  “Having eyes full of adultery,” says Peter, “they cannot cease from sin.”  Of course other people cannot see all that is in the heart of such a person.  And it is always possible to cleanse the outside of the cup.  But the fact remains that every unbeliever every unregenerate man – is “the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful thing.”  “All these evil things come from within,” said Jesus, and they “defile the man.”

But how different it is with those who belong to Christ.  For the Bible says that they have passed from death unto life.  They are no longer under the dominion and tyranny of the Devil and his works.  For “sin shall not have dominion over you” says the Apostle, for “being… made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness… and… servants of God, (and) ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.”  Where there was darkness, now there is light.  Where there was hatred, now there is love.  For the fruit of the Spirit (the Holy Spirit of God which comes to dwell in the believer’s heart) is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, goodness, faith, meekness, (and) temperance… and they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”  In this case too, of course, we are talking about something that cannot be directly seen by the eyes of another person.  For no one will ever know what is in your heart the way that you can know it, except for the Lord Himself.  But the fact remains that every true believer – without any exception whatsoever – is the temple of the Holy Spirit of God, as God hath said, “I will dwell in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

When we stop and think of what a tremendous change this is I think that we can see how wrong it is to imagine that we should have to go through life without knowing whether or not we belong to the Lord – or whether or not we really are believers – or in other words, whether or not the Lord Jesus Christ is living in our hearts.  To say such a thing, or to even think such a thing, is to do a great dishonour to the mighty work of the Spirit.  Could a blind man be given his sight and not know it?  Could a deaf man have his hearing restored and not be certain of it?  And could a dead man be raised unto life without being conscious of it?  And yet the Bible says that: “when we were dead in sins (He) quickened us together with Christ… and… raised us up together” so that we could sit “in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”  And “he that believeth on the Son of God,” says the Apostle John “hath the witness in himself.”

The difference between true self-examination and false self-examination, then, is simply this: in true self-examination the question is not, ‘what am I?’  For that is already settled.  The only question is ‘what does Jesus mean to me?’  Is he the joy and strength of my heart?  Is he my only comfort in life and in death?  Is he the one that I desire above all others?  And is it he alone that I seek?  Does he mean so much to me, in other words, that I can truly say with the Apostle, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”  Well, there is only one way to honestly and truthfully answer that question.  And we have it in our text: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.  Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?  But I trust that you shall know that we are not reprobates.”

Amen.