Expanding Self-Examination Part 1

I love the summertime. But you know the summertime can sometimes make us a little sluggish and a little slothful, because we tend to lose the desire of self-discipline. Discipline is such a great word, but we don't like to use it very often, nor do we like to be engaged in discipline.

Because Paul says that we are to discipline ourselves unto godliness in 1 Timothy 4, verses 7 and 8. He talks about this as a trustworthy statement. This is a factual statement. Everybody in the church knows this. It's axiomatic. We all know this. That if you discipline yourself unto godliness, that's the way it needs to be.

But we don't like the word discipline because it's a word where we get the English word gymnasium. Okay, it's the word g, and even in saying the word, it's got a grunt word. You know, when you in the gym, you're grunting, right? G. And so it's a grunt word. It's a sweaty word. It's a smelly word. And nobody likes to smell and sweat, right? But that's what discipline is. And that's why we don't engage in it very often. It's just too much work.

And one day I want to take you through the disciplines in the Word of the Lord to help you understand the disciplines of the Christian life. The other day I wrote down 18 different disciplines that we need to engage in.

One is a discipline of solitude. We don't like to be alone. That's why we have earbuds, right? That's why we're always on our phone. We don't like to be in silence. By the way, that's another discipline. The discipline of solitude is the Sabbath rest for our li, and the discipline of silence is a Sabbath rest for our lips. We don't like to dis silence because we like to talk too much. We always like to talk. We love to hear ourselves talk. But the discipline of silence is so profound in the scriptures.

And by the way, the discipline of solitude is the number one discipline practiced by Jesus Christ our Lord. He would often slip away into the night or rise early in the morning and slip away into solitude to be by himself. We live in a culture that hates to be alone. But in order to be disciplined into godliness, you got to be alone. You've got to be still and you've got to be silent. That takes time.

There's a discipline of supplication, right? Our prayer life is a discipline. How many times did you spend in prayer this week? How much time did you spend on your knees before the throne of grace? How much time did you actually communicate with the Lord in prayer? It's a discipline. If Satan can keep you out of the word and off your knees, he wins. He wins for that day. And so it's a discipline, the discipline of silence, the discipline of solitude, the discipline of supplication, the discipline of scripture, right? That's a discipline to be in the Word of God, to study the Word of God, to memorize the Word of God. All that is gymnasium kind of work. And for most of us, it's just too much work.

There's also the discipline of self-denial, the discipline of surrender, the discipline of song, the discipline of steadfastness. And the list goes on and on and on in Scripture. And one day, I promise you, if the Lord allows me to live long enough, I will preach through those disciplines for you and lay them out before you and say, "Okay, how do I engage in the discipline of scripture? The discipline of solitude and silence and song and steadfastness and supplication." The list goes on and on and on and on. The discipline of speech. That's a discipline, right? Saying the right words at the right time. How many times do we say the wrong words at the wrong time? To discipline our speech. All those things play a or make a profound influence in our lives, but they are disciplines.

But I thought for today I would do a discipline for you. And that discipline would be the discipline of self-scrutiny or self-examination. It is a discipline. We have looked at it in Hebrews 2, Hebrews 3, Hebrews 6, and Hebrews 10. Examine their lives. Why? Well, to see if we know the supreme and all-sufficient God of the universe. And that's what the writer of Hebrews warns: "Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the day of provocation in the wilderness. For those of you who go on sinning will, there remains only a terrifying expectation, a fiery furnace that's awaiting you."

So, there's a need for self-examination. Before the Lord's table, we examine our lives, right? Before you eat of this cup, or eat of this bread, and drink this cup, examine yourselves so that you don't eat and drink in an unworthy manner. So there needs to be self-examination when it comes to the Lord's table, right? Paul would later say in 2 Corinthians 13:5, "Test yourself, prove yourself to see if Jesus is really in you."

That happens in the discipline of solitude. The discipline of silence is that discipline of self-examination. Looking at our lives from a biblical perspective, not from a church perspective, not from a friend's perspective, not from my parents' perspective, but from God's perspective. He's the only one who matters. What does God say about my life? That's why the psalmist said in Psalm 139, these words: "Search me, O God, know my heart, try me, and know my anxious thoughts."

The place of searching is the heart and the head. And then he says, here's the purpose of searching: "See if there be any wicked, hurtful way in me." There's a place for me to search. That's my heart and my head. There's a purpose in my searching, and that is to see if there be any wicked way, any hurtful way in me. Because, Lord, if there is, I need to know what that is. And then there's a product of searching. What's the product? It's this: "And lead me in the everlasting way."

Every one of us needs to do a soul searching, a self-examination of where I stand with the Lord. I love the words of one of the members of our church. When they became a member, they had to write out how they were saved. He wrote these words: "During the first 45 years of my life, through church, Sunday school, and youth meetings, I acquired an intellectual knowledge of and assent to the teachings of Scripture."

For 45 years, I was in church. For 45 years, I was involved in youth ministry. For 45 years, I was instructed week in and week out. And I had this understanding in my mind as to who Jesus is, what Jesus did. But he was in church for 45 years. And he says this: "And on May 22nd, 1987, a gracious and merciful God drew me to myself, to himself. Opened my heart and allowed me to see the dreadful condition of my soul and the need of a Savior, granted me the gifts of faith and repentance. And by his irresistible grace, I received his forgiveness and salvation, and was delivered unto the kingdom of God's dear Son, Jesus. And given the right to be called a son of God."

That was Larry Cassler, who died a year ago this coming September. It was September, right, Peggy? He went home to be with the Lord. But for 45 years in church, never really examined where he was with the Lord, just kind of did what everybody else did in church. Learned, understood. Acquired knowledge, got more information, right? It's a lot of us. But he realized that he was never truly born again. And what helped him realize that was when he married Peggy and realized the need for a Savior. Gave his life to Christ.

You know, there needs to be an examination of our lives every day. The summertime allows me to do that more so than any other time of the year. I don't preach on Wednesdays in the summer. I'm off all of August, so our elders will preach the month of August. Tom will preach the first couple of weeks, then Bruce and then Esteban. And they'll preach in August for me. But it gives me time to read things that I wouldn't normally read, study things I wouldn't normally study. And yet it allows me to get ahead on my studies. But it allows me a lot of quiet time. A lot of examination.

And you know what I do? I'm going tell you what I do. Number one, I examine the reality of my faith. I examine the reality of my faith all the time. James makes it very clear in James chapter 2. He says these words very clearly: "What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but has no works? Can that faith save him?" Can a workless faith save you? Answer: No. Because faith always produces work. Faith is the root. Works are the fruit. They're the fruit of that which is real in the inside of you.

So he goes on to say: "If a brother or sister is without clothing, in need of daily food, and one of you says to him, 'Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,' and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body. What use is that? Even so, faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself."

And then he gives an illustration, two of them. One of the great prophet, the other of the great prostitute. Abraham and Rahab. Wow. And when we get to the month of September, we're going to embark on the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, the great faith chapter. That was next line. I was going to do that today, but because Hebrews 11:1 is two parts, I didn't want to give you five weeks in between. So I thought, well, I'll wait and do that. But it's going to be unbelievable as we unfold for you every character in Hebrews 11.

Abraham and Rahab, there they are. The great prophet of Israel and the great prostitute. There in the land of Canaan. How God used them and the faith they had. It was proven by their works. The reality of our faith. That's important, isn't it? Do I truly have saving faith?

I love what James says. James is the book of Show Me. That's the title of the book, Show Me. James says, "If you have faith, show me. Show it. Show and tell." That's the book of James. If you have faith, you can show it, you can tell it. Don't have faith. Guess what? You don't show it, and you certainly don't tell it.

So James says this in James 1: "If anyone thinks himself to be religious, any here thinks themselves to be religious? Oh, you talk to any in the street. Are you religious? Oh, yeah. All right. Are you a Christian? Oh, yeah. I'm a Christian. I'm religious. If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his own tongue, but deceives his own heart. This man's religion is worthless."

This is so profound. James says, "Let me give you a test about the reality of your faith. If you can't control your tongue, but you say you're religious, your religion is worthless." Why? Why that illustration? Because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Do you know I can judge your spiritual condition just by listening to you speak? Because what you say here comes from here. I didn't say that, Jesus said it. So, from the abundance of the heart, the man speaks. So, I'm able to understand your spiritual condition by just listening to your tongue.

James says: "If you think you're religious, let me give you an example. Look at your speech, your tongue. If you can't control that, your religion is worthless." And he says, "This pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this." You know what pure religion is? The kind of religion that's undefiled, it's unstained, it's the pure, true religion. Here it is: "To visit the widows and orphans in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world." In other words, not only do you have a controlled tongue, but you have a concern for the needy and you have a clean life. Is that you?

Self-examination says, "Search me, O God. Try me. See if I have true religion. Is there a reality of my faith?"

And then there's a destiny of my soul. That's number two. Examination. "What should it profit a man if he gained the whole world but loses his own soul?" The destiny of my soul. Very few times do we ever think about what happens when we die. That was the greatest thing about COVID. There is death everywhere. The reality of death was before the world to show them you're all going to die. Some will die now, some will die later, some will die from COVID, some from die from cancer, some from die from car accidents, but you're going to die. The question is: Are you ready to die? What is the destiny of your soul?

When the rich young ruler in Luke 18 came to the Lord, he said, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Well, Christ says, "Why do you call me good?" He says, "Good teacher." Because only God is good. And if you call me good, you must recognize me as God. If you recognize me as God, then you'll do whatever I say. So he quotes the second half of the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments. Which young man says, "Oh, yeah I do all of that stuff. Oh, yeah. Are you kidding me? I haven't committed adultery. I don't lie. I honor my mother and father. I'm good, man. I'm in."

And Jesus says, "Okay, I tell you what. I want you to go and sell everything that you have, give it to the poor, and come and follow me." Nah, can't do that. Why? Because the Lord challenged his commitment to God. Did he love God with all of his heart, all of his soul, all of his mind, and all of his strength? Was God the priority of his life? Was God truly the adoration of his life? Was God fully the affection of his life? If you recognize me as God, you'll do whatever I say because I'm the master, you're the slave.

And I'm sure if the man would have said, "Lord, if that's what you want me to do, I'll go back and sell it all and give it all away," Christ probably would have said, "You know what? You're not doing that." And was trying to figure out where your heart is. Of course, the Lord knew where his heart was. He wanted the man to see where his heart was, and the man went away sad, broken. Because he wasn't willing to do what God said for the sake of his soul.

The reality of my faith, the destiny of my soul. Self-examination, where we spend eternity. Do you know that? And then, number three. There's another thing that needs to be done, and that is the authenticity of my heart. The authenticity of my heart. Is it genuine? Is it true? Is it sincere? We know the heart's wicked, desperately wicked. No man can even know his own heart, Jeremiah 17:9. We know that God looks on the outward appearance, a man looks the outward appearance, but God looks upon the heart. God sees the heart. God knows the heart. So the psalmist says, "Search me, O Lord. Try me. Search my heart. Search my head. Investigate me, Lord."

Is your heart authentic? Is it genuine? Do the things that you do come from a sincere heart and a pure, genuine faith? Or the things you do, you do for show. You do for you. You do for more recognition. You just want more admiration. You just want to be seen. What's the authenticity of your heart? Is it genuine? Is it true?

Proverbs, those great words by Solomon. When he said, "Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life." Guard your heart. Protect your heart because everything about you flows from your heart. He would go on and say, "Son, give me your heart. Give me your heart." God wants the heart of a man. He wants the center of affection. From man, "Give me your heart."

That's why the Lord said to Peter. At the end, after the resurrection, met him on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. After having breakfast, he said, "Peter, do you love me more than these?" And there's all kinds of discrepancy about what the "these" are. The disciples, your fishing, your future. "Do you love me more than anything else?" Just throw whatever you want to throw in there. "Do you love me more than your family? Do you love me more than your friends? Do you love me more than your finances? Do you love me more than your future? Do you love me more than anything else? Peter, do you love me?"

And the Lord said, Peter said, "Of course I love you, Lord. I know I denied you, but yeah, I love you." "Do you really love me, Peter? Feed my sheep." He asked him again, then he asked him again, and Peter got irritated. Got irritated that the Lord asked him three times. Why would he get irritated? If you love the Lord, why would you be irritated? Because the Lord was examining Peter, not for his sake, but for Peter's sake. Because Peter thought that the love he had for the Lord was good enough, but it wasn't.

So Christ says, "Peter, do you love me? Follow me." Then he began to forecast his death, how he would be crucified. What does Peter say? "What about John? Is he going to die too?" And Christ says, "Forget about John. Who cares if he lives till I come again? You follow me."

The authenticity of my heart. We say, "Well, Lord, what about my husband? Is he going to follow the Lord?" The Lord says, "I'm not talking to your husband, I'm talking to you." "Well, what about my parents?" "I'm not talking to your parents, I'm talking to you." "Well, what about my friend?" "Forget about all of them. What are you doing? Are you following the Lord with all of your heart? All your soul, all your mind, all your strength, the inclusivity of your life, along with the intensity of your life, centers on the heart of a man."

"Do you love me with all of your heart?" Have you ever examined your heart? Do you love the Lord more than fill in the blank? Do you know what? For most of us, we can't say, "Yes, we do." There is something else that seems to be more important to us than the Lord that has stolen our affection. It steals our attention. It steals our adoration. And then that becomes what? The idol of our heart, right? That's why, when the rich young ruler said, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Christ went to the heart of the man: "Sell all that you have. Give it away because the idol of your heart is not me. It is a false God. It is a God of possession and money. You worship at that altar. You need to worship at my altar."

The reality of my faith, the destiny of my soul, the authenticity of my heart. How about this one? The purity of my mind. The purity of my mind. So incredibly important. A couple of weeks ago, I stood right here with my son, Cade, and his new bride, Rachel. And I said, "If you want a legacy of long-lasting love, it begins with the purity of your mind."

Our minds are dark. Our minds are defiled. Our minds are distracted. Our minds are depraved. Our minds are discouraged. The list goes on and on and on. Our minds need to be delivered that they might truly honor the living God. Our minds need to be cleansed from all defilement. And only the Lord can do that. But there needs to be a purity of mind.

That's why I love what Peter says. It's so great. It's best in the King James, which says, "Therefore, gird up your minds for action." It's Oriental turn where you take the long flowing robe and you tie it between your legs so that you can walk fast and run fast. Nothing that will hinder your ability to move quickly. And Peter says you need to take all the distractions in your mind and wrap them all together, gird up the loins of your mind, get them all together. Don't let there be all these entanglements out there, all these distractions out there, wrap them all together in the realm of truth.

"Gird up the loins of your mind. Keep sober in spirit. Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance. But, like the holy one who has called you, be holy yourselves in all your behavior, because it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'"

You can't be holy unless you gird up the loins of your mind. You can't be holy if your mind is completely distracted by the things around you and then becomes defiled by the culture that you live in. I love Daniel. Daniel 1, verse number 8. He would not allow himself to be defiled. Twice it says that in verse number 8. What a great testimony. No defilement.

You ever read about the 144,000 in Revelation chapter 14? 12,000 from every tribe are chosen in Revelation 7. They go all through the tribulation. So in Revelation 14, they're standing on Mount Zion with the Lamb. They got it all the way through the seven-year tribulation, and there's 144,000 in chapter 7, and there's still 144,000 left in chapter 14. They all made it. Not one was missing. Not one. God marked them out for himself. The Antichrist marks out his people with the mark of the beast, but the Lord marks out his people as well. And they make it all the way to the end. You know why? It tells us in Revelation 14, makes it very, very clear.

"These are the ones who have not been defiled. They have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste. They are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb, and no lie was found in their mouth. They are blameless."

Undefiled. These are the men that God uses in the tribulation to proclaim the gospel. And listen to this. There isn't one characteristic of those 144,000 that deals with the knowledge of information they had. Nothing about the accumulation of intellect. The smartness of these guys – they were so smart, they knew how to get around the devil and the Antichrist. They were so intelligent that they were able to articulate their faith. No, nothing there about their intelligence. It's all about their character. That's all that matters. If you lose your character, you've lost everything. Your testimony has failed. Your influence is minimal at best. Character is the only thing that counts. Nothing else. I don't care how much you know. It must rub off on you in such a way it changes everything on the inside of you.

Purity of mind. Where is your mind? What are you thinking about right now? What do you think about in the recesses of your mind? What do you think about when you're alone at home? Is it a pure thought? Is every thought being taken captive under the obedience of Christ? This is self-examination at its best. This is self-scrutiny at its best. Is there a reality of faith? Is there the destiny of my soul? Where will I be going? How about the authenticity of my heart? What about the purity of my mind? Where am I with the Lord? All those things need to be examined. Oh, and the list goes on. Believe me, it goes on.

There's the integrity of my life. That needs to be examined, right? The word integrity just means wholeness, completeness. In other words, everything about who I am in the dark, matches who I am in the light, the integrity of my life. I'm the same at church as I am at home. No difference. I'm the same at work as I am at home. I'm the same when my family's gone. Or when they're home. I'm the same when I go on a work project out of state as I am at home. There's no difference. That's integrity. The integrity of my life.

The psalmist says in Psalm 15 these words: "O Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell in your holy hill? He who walks with integrity and works righteousness." That's who. Solomon says, "The man who walks in his integrity, how blessed are his descendants after him." You want to impact your children? The life you live at home must match the life you live everywhere else. So when they show up at work, you're the same. Whenever they show up in secret, you're the same. The integrity of my life.

The psalmist would go on to say in Psalm 26, these words: "Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Examine me, O Lord, and try me. Test my mind and my heart." Test me, O Lord. How about you? The integrity of your life.

How about this? The quality of my walk. Another area of examination, the quality of my walk. 1 John 2, verse number 6 says, "If you say you abide in him, you ought to walk even as he walked." That's a quality of walk. Am I walking the life of Christ? And if you read through the book of Ephesians, it talks to us that we are to walk in certain kinds of ways. We are to walk worthy of our calling. Walk is just daily conduct. That's all it is. I'm to walk worthy of my calling. I'm to walk humbly, patiently, and gently.

If you go on Ephesians 4:17, I'm to walk uniquely and differently than the world because I am no longer engaged in my former lifestyle. If I go on in Ephesians 5, I am to walk in a manner after my Lord, and I am to walk lovingly. I'm to walk as he walked in love. Go on to Ephesians 5:8 and to walk brightly. I'm the light of the world. Go on further and to walk wisely. Ephesians 5:15, right? "Be ye not unwise, but wise, understand the will of the Lord." How? By redeeming the time.

Do I walk wisely? Do I walk purely? Do I walk brightly? Do I walk lovingly? Do I walk securely? Do I walk intelligently? Do I walk wisely? Do I walk lovingly? How do I walk? What's the conduct of my life? That's why you need to take time to examine where you are with the Lord. Not be overly consumed with who you are, but looking at your life in light of what God's Word says. What is the quality of my walk? What is the integrity of my life? What is the purity of my mind? Where is the destiny of my soul? What is the reality of my faith?

Examining myself before the Lord, you do that. You need to, you need to do it all the time. In the quietness of your home, in the quietness of your heart. We lose the battle in the courtyard before man because we refuse to bow in our closets before the Master. That was Peter. Christ says, "Come away and pray for a while. Pray with me, lest you enter into temptation." Disciples were undisciplined in the discipline of supplication, in the discipline of solitude and silence. They were very good in the discipline of sleep, although it's not a discipline. It's called laziness.

They fell asleep, eve of the crucifixion. "Could you not stay with me for one hour? Could you not stay awake? I'm going to die, and you can't even stay awake. Pray lest you enter into temptation." But he lost his battle in the courtyard before men because he would not bow in the closet before his master. If you're losing your battles in the culture, if you're losing your battle in the classroom, if you're losing your battle in the courtyard or the courtroom, maybe it's because you're not bowing in your closet before the master of the universe. Trusting in him to accomplish great and mighty deeds. So important. Wow.

There is the intimacy of my marriage. Oh, so important. Self-examination. Every summer I examine this with my wife. We go away for our anniversary. Every year, this will be our thirty-fifth anniversary. We go away. There's always the examination of the intimacy of my marriage. I'm not talking about sexual intimacy. I'm talking about intimacy as the meaning of marriage, what it really stands for.

Four times. Genesis 2:24 is quoted in the Bible. It's the only verse about marriage quoted in the Bible. Did you know that? But you didn't know that, did you? Maybe you need to examine your marriage because that's the only verse mentioned four times. "For this cause, a man shall leave his father and mother and cling to his wife. And they should become one flesh." Four times, it's quoted. Why? That's what marriage is all about. It's all about that. It's all about a pictorial union because you picture Christ's relationship to the church. It's all about a precious union because what God has joined together, let no man divorce. It's all about a permanent union. What God has joined together, let no man separate.

"For this cause, a man shall leave and he shall cleave." It's a permanent union. And it goes on to talk about how the union is a pleasurable union, how it's a protective union, how it is a provisional union. Everything about marriage is in Genesis 2:24. So the Lord just reiterates it one, two, three, four times. Make sure you get it. It's only one verse. But our marriages are in shambles because we can't follow one simple verse. Just one? Just one. Not 101, just one. If you examine the intimacy of your marriage, oh, my time is gone.

I wanted to talk to you about the priority of your family, the ministry in your church, the opportunity and responsibility to preach the word in the world. I want to talk to you about the casualty of leaning on your own understanding and the tranquility of trusting the Lord. There's a great casualty in leaning on your own understanding. A lot of people do that today. We think we can outsmart God. We think we're smarter than God. So I lean on my own understanding and I don't trust the Lord. Therefore, my paths are not smooth. My paths are in shambles. I struggle daily. Struggle financially. Struggle physically. Struggle maritally, relationally. List goes on and on. Why? I simply have leaned on my own understanding.

And then to wrap it all up, there was this last one. It was just so good. R for this? This is good. The tenacity and the urgency. In which I fulfill self-examination. I get to examine myself every year to see if I'm really tenacious enough and urgent enough in my soul. To make sure that my walk with the Lord is where it needs to be.

I stand before you every week. I've been standing here for 27 years. And the greatest thing I can give you is a pure and holy life. That's it. I have nothing else to give you. I can give you the scriptures and preach the word every day and give you a lot of knowledge, but if I don't live those things, that everything I say is tainted with a character that's soiled. It needs to be questioned at all costs. As a father, you live a pure life before your children, before your wife, a life of integrity. A life of purity, a life of authenticity, a life of veracity, truth. So that you might present to your wife and to your children the reality of who God is.

May I encourage you, challenge you. Spend time in solitude, in silence, asking the Lord to search you and to try you, to see if there be any wicked way in you. Because the product is that he might lead you in the way of everlasting life. The beauty, the beauty of his eternality. Permeate every aspect of your life. That's what we need.

Let's pray. Father, thank you for today. I wish I had another hour to go through all these things. Lord, there's so much here. Oh Lord, I thank you for these people. These people that you have allowed to be a part of this assembly. I am so grateful to be their pastor. It's always a joy to stand in front of them. It is the greatest joy of my life to be able to study your word, to preach your word.

But I know, Lord, that unless there's purity in the preaching, the preaching is done in vain. Keep me pure and holy before you. That I may honor you with my life. I pray for every man, woman, boy, and girl in this room. May they look at their lives in the light of your word. Not in light of what I've said today, but just simply in light of your word. Where do they stand with Jesus? That's all that matters. Where do they stand with me, their family? Doesn't matter that much. But where do they stand with you? That's all that matters.

Because when it's all said and done, it's all about eternity. In the destiny of my soul. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.