I'd like to read just one verse, verse 5. The Apostle Paul writes to the
church at Corinth, and to you and I, examine yourselves, whether
ye be in the faith. Prove your own selves. Know you
not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you? except
GB reprobates. The title of my message is examination
of self. We've all seen on television
courtroom dramas and some others have experienced it in real life
where in the setting of the court someone is called to the witness
stand. The state whatever calls so-and-so
to the stand. And this is what Paul does. He
says, examine yourselves. I want to ask you a question. What was your first reaction to my text and to the title of
this message, Examination of Self? What was your first reaction
to that? Uneasy? Uncomfortable? No calls to be alarmed. No calls
to be alarmed, one or the other. Remember, remember, throughout
the Word of God, we're told over and over again, That true faith,
genuine faith. There's also a false faith. The Bible speaks of that and
gives us example after example. Judas is a prime example of that. That man never believed Christ. He didn't believe and then ceased
to believe. He wasn't saved and then lost.
He was never saved. Even though he witnessed so much,
was privy to so much, he never believed God. But true faith,
true faith looks to Christ. And I remind you, true faith
doesn't trust faith. But Christ, the object of faith,
and that, that, Christ himself, gives us peaceful and calm assurance
that we may know, as John wrote, that we have eternal life and
that we may believe on the name of the Son of God. Turn, if you
will, for a moment back to Luke's Gospel, chapter 2. Luke, chapter
2. In the case of Simeon, You have
a good example, a good picture of genuine faith, saving faith. He demonstrates it for us. He
exercises it. And we have the privilege of
observing. Here in Luke chapter 2 verse
25, you know the setting, you're familiar with this. Mary and Joseph bring the young
child Jesus to the temple to do as was commanded by God's
law. Verse 25. And behold, there was
a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And the same man
was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel.
What was the consolation of Israel? The Messiah. The promise that
God would send the Messiah. This is what Simeon looked for
and longed for. He waited for the consolation
of Israel and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed
unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before
he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into
the temple. And when the parents brought
in the young child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the
law, Simeon does this, verse 28. Then took he him up in his
arms. This is a picture of faith. He
took him up in his arms, that is this babe, Simeon goes over,
takes him out of the arms of his mother, and takes him into
his own arms. And blessed God and said, Lord,
now, now, right now, it'll be okay. I don't need to wait one
minute longer. Now let us thy servant depart
in peace according to thy word. Now, Simeon said this very moment,
now remember this is a picture of faith, he's seen the Messiah
He sees God in flesh. That baby, yes indeed. Yes indeed. Very God of very
God. Oh great, Paul said, is the mystery
of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh
and Simeon saw the Messiah. And not only that, he embraced
Him. He embraced him. And sinners,
by the grace of God, when Christ is revealed to them, by the miraculous
work of God's Holy Spirit, by faith, with the arms of faith,
they embrace Him. They embrace Him. And their testimony,
their testimony then becomes the same as Simeon's. Now, Now
I'm ready to die. Now I'm prepared to die. Now I'm ready to face God. Why? My soul, that's a pretty
bold statement, isn't it? Let us now, thy servant, depart
in peace. Let me die. Let me leave this
world. Why? Let me go out and face God
Almighty right now? At this very minute? How can
a man be so sure of that? Look what he says. For mine eyes
have seen thy salvation. That's how. I see your salvation. Yes, I'm ready to die. Yes, I'm
ready to stand before a righteous, just, and holy God because I
won't stand there alone, brother of the Lord. I won't be alone. Just as I've embraced Him in
that day, He'll embrace me. He'll recognize me. He'll take
me before the throne of God and say, Father, I and the children,
my children and your children, they're all here. Let me die. Oh, what a blessed example of
faith. If my profession, if my profession
cannot bear examination by God's Word, Is it counterfeit? And if so, if so, I want to know,
I want to know. Paul said in Philippians 3, to
write the same things unto you for me is not grievous, but for
you it is safe. If my profession of faith in
Christ is genuine, then examination of it will do me no harm, will
do me no harm. It will reinforce that blessed
assurance, that comfortable good hope in Christ and in His great
salvation. When I was in school, high school,
it's been a couple years, if I remember right, if I remember
right, They would have a six-weeks test, a six-weeks exam before
the end of the semester. I think that's right. And it
was called a six-weeks exam to see if we'd learned anything,
to see if we'd progressed, to see if we'd paid any attention
to what the teacher had been telling us. And it usually proved
that I wasn't prepared. That's what it proved. I wasn't
prepared. And if I'm not in the faith,
if I'm not in the faith that Paul speaks of here, nothing
else, nothing else, nothing I know, nothing I've experienced, Nothing
I profess can prepare me to meet God except this, faith in his
darling son. Our Lord himself taught that
over and over and over again, didn't he? We should have stayed
in Luke. Turn back there again, if you
will, for a moment. Luke chapter 13. Look what we're
told here. Luke chapter 13, verse 23. Then
said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? Are there few that be saved? And he who alone knows who, how
many, and so forth, he answered him. He answered him. This is
not my answer, it's Christ's answer. And look what he said
at verse 24. Strive to enter in at the straight
gate. For many, I say unto you, will
seek to enter in and shall not be able." Well, my soul, I've
heard all my life that it's easy to be saved, to believe Lester's,
easy as falling off a log. I mean, soul winners can sneak
up on your blind side and get you saved without even you being
aware of it. It's easy. Not according to the
Lord Jesus Christ, is it? He said, Strive to enter in at
the straight gate. For many, I say unto you, will
seek to enter in. They'll seek to enter in, and
they shall not be able. Why? Why will they not be able
to? He tells us in verse 25, When
once the master of the house is risen up and hath shut to
the door, and ye begin to stand without and knock, Knocked like
they must have knocked, like they must have pounded on the
door of the ark, but it was shut. God shut Noah in. It was too
late. The master had shut the door,
saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us. And he shall answer and say
unto you, I know ye not whence ye are. Then shall ye begin to
say, we have eaten and drunk in thy presence. And that was
taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you,
I know you not whence ye are. Depart from me, all ye workers
of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and the prophets. in the kingdom of God and you
yourselves thrust out. What a horrible, horrible picture. But it's the truth. He who was
truth tells us so. But he didn't stop there, did
he? He didn't stop there and neither shall I. Look what he
said in verse 29. And days shall come, oh yes,
as terrible as it is, Horrible as it is to consider, many shall
seek to enter in and they won't be able. They'll knock, but the
master shut the door. It's too late, but he didn't
stop there. And they shall come. Oh, the
door's been opened to many, and by the grace of God they entered
in, and they're saved eternally, and they shall come from the
east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the
south. All my sheep will come to me, and shall sit down in
the kingdom of God. No wonder the Apostle says examine
yourselves whether you be in the faith in the light of what
our Lord taught. Last Sunday's message you may
recall from Hebrews chapter 11 verse 13. These all died in faith. They all died in faith. Nothing
else matters does it Joe? Nothing else matters. If I die
on a bed of gold. What does it matter if I die
lost? Oh, but to die, to die in poverty,
I'll die a rich man. If I can say with Simeon, I see God's salvation. I see
the Messiah. I'm going home to be with Him. I like the old hymn. That's why
I quote it so often. And I've told you before, Delilah
mistakenly thought one time I knew all the hymns that I quote. No,
I don't. But I know this one. I know this
one. Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let
me hide myself in thee. let the water in the blood from
thy wounded side which flowed be of sin the double cure save
from wrath and make me pure top lady went on to write could my
tears forever flow could my zeal no lanker know these for sin
could not atone thou must save and thou alone in my hand no
price I bring simply simply to thy cross I Top lady died when
he was only 38 years old. 38 years old. That's the age
of my oldest son, Larry. Larry Dale. Right now, he's 38
years old. And I pray, God in grace, do
for him what you did for his father. what you did for this
man, who also went on to write this. While I draw this fleeting
breath, when mine eyes shall close in death, when I rise to
worlds unknown and behold thee on thy throne, O rock of ages,
cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee. What else matters? Soon, you and I, soon, when a
few days, a few more days are coming, we'll go to stand before
God Almighty, before God Almighty. Last Sunday night, as I usually
do, After the services of the day,
I tried to unwind. It usually takes a while. I think
it was, yes, it was last Sunday night. I was channel surfing, and it
was the broadcast, I think, they're the Academy Awards, and this
fella had won an award, and he said, I want to thank God. And my father, my daddy, he's
gone, but I want to thank him. He's up there now looking down
on me, probably drinking him a Bud Light, sitting there in
his boxers, and everybody laughed. They thought that was just funny.
It's not funny. It's not funny. Eternity is not
funny. The fact that we all possess
an immortal soul is not humorous. Oh, no. It's not a joke. It's
nothing to take lightly. It's nothing to assume one day
soon, maybe today, Larry Criss is going to be ushered into the
presence of God Almighty. I'd better be in the faith that
the apostles spoke about. I looked the other evening at
the titles of every message I've preached since I came here a
few years ago to be your pastor. I looked on Free Grace. They're
all there. Why did I do that? Because I wanted to be sure that
every message I preached to you was of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. and Him crucified. I wanted to
be sure that if ever a sinner would come into this place and
hear any of those messages that I'd preached, he would have heard,
look unto me and be ye saved. Behold the Lamb of God. He would have heard there's life
in a look at the crucified one. Look! Look! And live! I want to be sure, absolutely
sure of that. Our Lord, we read a moment ago,
in Luke 13, but in so many places he constantly warned his listeners
of that one thing need. Well, take heed, he said. Take
heed what ye hear. Remember in Matthew chapter 7,
he said, many shall say unto me in that day, we've done many wonderful works
Then shall I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me. But he didn't
stop there, did he? He told us why that would happen. And he compared it to two builders. He said in the very next verse
after saying, many shall say, Lord, you know us. And he'll
say, no, I don't. I don't know you. Depart from me. He said,
therefore, therefore. Like two builders, one building
on the sand without a foundation and one building up on a rock.
And you know the story. It's so familiar to you. Oh,
but that house that was built upon that rock, Yes, the storms
came. God's people are not exempt from
storms, are they, Mike? No. They're not exempt from heartache. Through much tribulation we shall
inherit the kingdom of God. Oh, but those storms beat against
that house. But it failed not, our Lord said,
because it was founded upon the rock. on Christ the solid rock
I stand. Everything else, everything else
is just sinking sand. Look what Paul says in our text. Examine yourselves. Examine yourselves. Now you know that the church
at Corinth had been examining the Apostle Paul. Some false
teachers came in and said to the believers there, you know,
you really don't have to listen to him. After all, it's doubtful
that he's even an apostle. When Christ was on earth, he
didn't walk with him. He wasn't with Peter then, and
James, and John, and Andrew. So he really doesn't have any
authority. And Paul speaks to that. He addresses
that in both epistles. He said, you think my words,
my epistles, my writings are weighty and powerful, but you
say my physical appearance is contemptible? To be despised. He said, you're examining me?
He said, but examine yourselves. Examine yourselves. And he says,
don't examine each other. That's an easy thing to do, isn't
it? That doesn't give much of a standard
and that leads to just self-righteousness or a false assurance from a mere
man. Can't take man's word for this.
Too much is at stake. And not whether, Paul says, examine
yourselves whether you be in the church. In all believers. Brother Henry Mahan in today's
bulletin has a good article on that about us being family. the
church of God, the believers in it, our family. But I've heard
people say they profess to know God. I don't belong to any church.
I don't belong to any church. And they seem to think that's
spiritual. No, no, no, not at all. That
means they don't have any responsibility. That means I don't have to give,
I don't have to attend, I don't have to be faithful, I don't
have to do nothing. That's the reason. But we can
still, with all that, we can still be in a local assembly
of believers and not in the church of the living God. Paul says,
examine yourselves whether you be in the faith, not in the doctrine. Again, that's so very important. The doctrine of Christ is very
important, but one can know the doctrine of grace and never experience
the grace of the doctrine. That's so. One can have a head
knowledge of the doctrines of God's grace without ever experiencing
the grace of the doctrine. Simeon could have stood there
and said, well, look there. Yes, there's that baby in Mary's
arms. Yes, that's the Messiah in Mary's
arms. And then he could have went out.
No, no. Simeon said, no, that's not enough.
That would have been correct. He would have been right. But
that wasn't enough. I've got to take him in my arms. I've got to embrace him. I've
got to know that he is mine and I am his forever. That's what faith is. And that
brings us to our second point. Notice what Paul says. First,
what we're to do, and why are we to do it? Whether ye be in
the faith. That's the issue. That's the
issue. All other issues just pale into
insignificance in comparison to this. Do I believe in the
Son of God? Do you believe in the Son of
God, John Copeland? Do you believe in the Son of
God? Do you really believe that Jesus
is the Christ? Do you? If I believe that Jesus
is the Christ, then I'm saved. I'm saved. And if not, I'm lost. I'm lost. No matter what else
I may claim. If I've never believed on Christ,
I'm lost. Oh, but if I do, if I do, then
I'm saved. Turn, if you will, to 1 John
chapter 5. So many places we could turn
to to illustrate this, but let's look at 1 John chapter 5. Look
what he writes. And he tells us why he's writing
it. He's not writing that we might doubt, but that we might
continue to believe. In 1 John 5, verse 11, the beloved
disciple says, and this is the record, this is the record, that
God had given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
This life is in his Son. He that had the Son had life. The very life of God. That's
why he'll live forever. And he that hath not the Son
of God hath not life. Verse 13, these things, John
says, I have written unto you that believe on the name of the
Son of God that ye may know, that ye may know. Oh, are you
a believer? Oh, Larry, but my faith is so
weak. Mine too. Mine too. It ebbs and it flows.
It's up and it's down. It's great and it's small. Me
too. But it's not the strength of
my faith that saves. It's the object of my faith that
saves. It's that one in whom I believe
that gives me comfort and hope. And this is what John says, these
things I've written unto you that believe on the name of the
Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life and
that you may believe. Just keep on believing on the
name of the Son of God. Oh, what comfort that is. There's
much I don't know. I'm sure, I'm sure that doesn't
come as a surprise to anyone. There's much I don't know. There's
much I don't understand. Again, referring to an old hymn.
I know not how this saving faith to me he did impart. I really
don't know how God does that. I know it's through the Word.
I know faith cometh by hearing. I know it's through the preaching
of the Gospel. But how God, mysteriously, miraculously, drops faith into
the heart of someone who before is dead in sin. He cannot believe. He will not believe. He cannot
come. He will not come. And then suddenly,
he's believing. He's believing. Suddenly, he
comes from darkness to light. Suddenly, he's asking, what must
I do to be saved? Before, everything but that was
more important to him. Now, nothing's important compared
to this. I must know the Son of God. He finds himself believing. I
know not how this saving faith to me he did impart, nor how
believing in his word wrought peace within my heart. Those are mysteries. But my comfort doesn't lie in
understanding those mysteries, but this, I know whom, I know
whom I had believed. and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day." That's
exactly what Paul said, didn't he? I suspect the hymn writer
borrowed those words from Paul, those last words in the chorus.
I know whom I had believed. I'm not ashamed, the apostle
said. I know whom I had believed. Oh
God, Give me grace that when my time
comes, like it did for Paul, when death is standing at my
door like it was Paul's. Give me grace to bear testimony
to my faith in you and your faithfulness and your grace and your mercy
and to leave this world with the testimony of I know whom,
not what, whom I have believed. And because of that, I'm convinced
that he's able, oh, to be in the faith is simply to believe
on Christ, to know Him. And can we have peace in any
other way? If I know whom I have believed
in, I have an anchor, brother Lord. I have an anchor for my
soul, an anchor, Jesus Christ Himself, that cannot be swept
away. It can't even be moved. It can't
even be moved. There's much I cannot know and
still be saved, but it's impossible to be saved without faith in
Christ. That's impossible. That's just
impossible. I've encountered folks and they
tell me, I believe election. You still must believe or be
lost. I believe in five points, not
four, not four and a half. I'm staunch. Five points. You
still must believe to be saved. Isn't that what Philip told Euny? That fellow said, what hinders
me from being baptized? Philip said, if you believe.
If you believe with all your heart, you may. And he said,
oh, I believe. I believe Jesus is the Christ,
and Philip He immersed him in water. That's what the word means.
And he said, or rather we read in Acts 8, that that eunuch went
on his way rejoicing. He was probably singing as he
rode in that chariot, redeemed. How I love to proclaim it. Can't
wait to get back to Ethiopia and tell all my friends about
this. What did Brother Paul say to that Philippian jailer? who was ready to kill himself,
thinking that Paul had escaped. And Paul shouted out from the
darkness of that cell, don't harm yourself, we're all here.
And that man fell down before Paul and said, what must I do
to be saved? And Paul answered him. And Paul's
answer wasn't, well, you can't do anything. Nothing you can
do. It's all been done. I'm glad
I didn't run into that sort of answer when I was seeking God's
mercy. The man didn't ask, what can I do anyway? He said, what
must I do? And Paul told him what he must
do. Believe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and you'll be saved. Believe on Christ because He's
able to save under the uttermost all that come unto God by Him. Every sinner that's ever come
to Christ found mercy. Every sinner that sincerely came
to Christ looking for mercy went away with mercy. Went away with
salvation in his soul. Because Christ is mighty to save. And he delights to show mercy,
doesn't he? He doesn't save reluctantly.
His arm doesn't have to be twisted. Oh no, his arms are spread open.
Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will
give you rest. I had a conversation by email
with Brother Don the other evening. I made mention about my desire
for the salvation of my children. I said, Don, ever since I brought
them home from the hospital and put them down in their baby bed,
I prayed, God, save them. God, be merciful to them. And Don emailed me back and he
said, Larry, I can never forget a prayer that Rex prayed one
night before service. He was praying for his children
as well and he said, Lord Jesus, no parent, no parent ever brought
a son or a daughter to you that you cast out. It never happened.
It never has. It never happened. in the Gospels. It never happened, did it? It
never happened. I had a conversation a while
back with my oldest brother. And he said, Larry, you believe
God chose people for salvation? You think God chose those he's
going to save? And I said, yeah, Jim, I do.
And then he said, it doesn't matter what I do, then does it?
I said, wrong. I said, wrong, Jim. You're responsible
to seek God's mercy. You're responsible to flee to
Christ. And if you don't, Jim, and you
perish, it won't be election's fault. It won't be God's sovereignty
that's fault. It'll be because you would not
come. If you're cast out into hell
eternity, won't nobody be to blame but yourself. And that's
just so. That's just so. And I know that
this also is so, that God has appointed a day, we're told in
Acts 17, in which he shall judge the world. and knowing that there
is such a thing as God's wrath to come, and knowing this, knowing
this, brothers and sisters in Christ, knowing the truth, the
reality of this, listen to these verses, and I saw a great white
throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and
the heaven fled away. And there was found no place
for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before
God. And the books were opened, and another book was opened,
which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out
of those things which were written in the books, according to their
works." Knowing that that's so, and knowing As God said to Ezekiel,
I've set thee as a watchman upon the wall. If you see the sword
coming and you don't warn the people, I will require their
blood at your hands. No wonder Paul said, woe is unto
me if I preach not the gospel. And knowing that our time here
is short, it's short. So when you come here and gather,
And I stand here to speak. Should I entertain you in the
light of those things? Should I humor you? Those that
come here and don't know God, should I treat them as though
they did? Should I flatter them and say,
peace, peace, when there is no peace? Well, if I'm a harling,
that's what I'll do. But God helped me not to do that.
God help me not to do that. Years ago, there was a man named
Rupert Lewis. He was driving on the Jackson-Vicksburg
Highway in his truck one night in Mississippi, following behind
a car in front of him. And all of a sudden, the taillights
of that car in front of him just disappeared. It's like they just
melted into the highway. And Lewis caught a glimpse of
a black gap in the concrete just before his truck plunged over,
and he found himself in a rushing river. He kicked out the window and
clowned out, and he thought to himself, I've got to warn people. Got to warn people. So he got out on the highway.
Stop! Stop! The bridge is washed out. Stop! Stop! Before he could get
anybody to stop and listen to him, 10 cars drove by and plunged
into that river. And 14 people died before finally
he got their attention and they stopped. Oh, I pray that God in his mercy
and grace would force my children and your
children to stop, to stop. And for you who are believers,
the message is the same. Just keep beholding the Lamb
of God. Just keep looking. I know today's Religious world,
it's big business. Religion is big business. And
we're always being bombarded with, look what we've got. Come over here. We're bigger. We're better. We've got more. We've got all the, look, look
at what we've got. But don't do it. Don't do it. By the grace of God, keep your
eyes fixed upon Christ. Old Matthew Henry said this.
Though the grace of faith is universal throughout our whole
lives, is of universal use, I'm sorry, is of universal use throughout
our whole lives, yet it is especially so when we come to die. Faith
has its greatest work to do at the last, to help believers to
finish well. I think you had a, your former
pastor gave you an eyewitness account of that, didn't he? to help believers to finish well,
to die in the Lord, and so to honor Him by patience and hope
and joy, so as to leave a witness behind them of the truth of God's
Word and the excellency of His ways for the conviction and establishment
of all who attend them in their dying hour. Let me wrap this
up. Look what Paul says lastly. What
are we looking for? Examine yourselves whether you're
in the faith, what we're to do, why we're to do it. But what
are we looking for? Prove your own selves. Know ye
not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you, except
ye be reprobates? It's not what is it, but who
are we looking for? Jesus Christ, the object of faith. Jesus Christ himself. He alone, he alone gives me a
good hope of acceptance before the holy God, of eternal salvation,
of entering heaven, having a right to be there. Did I stumble over
my words? Did I mean to say that? That's
what Paul said in Colossians 1. Because God has made us meet,
fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in life. Faith
puts me in Christ, and I find upon believing Christ in me the
hope of glory. True faith trusts Christ alone
and enjoys peace with God. It all comes back to this, doesn't
it? He that had the Son had life,
and he that has not the Son has not life, but the wrath of God
abideth on him. That look of faith that sends
the soul to Christ also sends Christ to the soul. Christ in
you, the hope of glory. One hymn writer put it this way,
Child of God, listen to these words. This is true of every
believer. Jesus, thy blood and righteousness, my beauty are,
my glorious dress, misflaming worlds in these arrayed, with
joy shall I lift up my head. Bold shall I stand in that great
day, for who ought to my charge shall lay, while through thy
blood absolved I am from sin and fear and guilt and shame. Hallelujah. what a savior what
a savior god bless you thank you for your attention