Test Yourselves

Test Yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-unless indeed you fail the test ? II Cor. 13: 5

The very first thing that we notice about this scripture is that is making a statement, a challenge to you, it demands that you do something that is different than what you normally do.

It requires that you look at yourself in a deeper more intimate way than you would do normally.

How do we really look at ourselves?

When we get out of bed in the morning the first thing that most people do is make their way to the bathroom to take care of business, and then while we stand at our sinks washing our hands don't most of us look into the mirror ?

We stand there trying to access the damage from our night of peaceful slumber, standing; staring into that mirror until we start to notice changes that occurred so rapidly in that one night of sleep. Some will find a spot, some will find a grey hair or two; some will find blemishes.

Some will say Praise God !! Some will say Oh my God !! But we all will say or see something one way or another.

The BBC did a small study as to why people looked at themselves in the mirror and here are just a few conclusions to their study:

People are often more worried about how they look than they like to admit.
But this is doesn't necessarily mean they are 'vain'. Vanity means having too much pride in how you look. Are there vain people ? I'm sure we've all seen someone who is too extreme about their appearance, they pass by mirrors or windows that reflect like mirrors and some stop to look, they pose, they flex their muscles, some even blow themselves kisses, but normal people just worry about how they look.
If we have jobs or responsibilities that put us in front of people we want to look like we're ready to take on the challenges of the day, to go out and win the world over, and do a good job at whatever it is we do that day.
Animals
Most animals who glance in a mirror think that they are face to face with another member of their species. But the great apes - chimps, gorillas and orangutans - can recognize themselves in the mirror. They use mirrors to groom themselves, pick food out of their teeth and pull faces - more or less the same as humans!

Why is looking good important to some people?

Some studies have shown that 'attractive' people often do better in society:

· Attractive children are more popular, both with classmates and teachers. Teachers give them better grades. Anyone ever hear a term “teachers pet” ?

· Attractive applicants have a better chance of getting jobs, and of getting paid more.

I saw a TV news show that did a piece on this very subject. What they did was they had two women and two men. They had them drop things on a sidewalk in New York to see who would get the most help from people passing by. They would drop papers and then fumbled around trying to pick the things they dropped. In every case people helped the attractive man and woman and didn't even look at the average woman or man. Even ugly people helped the attractive people and ignored the average people. I was really fascinated by what I was seeing. Unattractive people were treating the average man and woman like they were lepers, but they went way out of their way to help the attractive woman and man. I would have thought the results would have been different from the unattractive people but they weren't.

· In court, attractive people are found guilty less often. When found guilty, they receive less punishment.

Did you hear about the woman in Florida who was a very pretty teacher who slept with her student and got convicted of Child Molestation? When she went for sentencing the judge refused to send her to prison because she was too pretty? So it went to her head and she sent the boy she was sleeping with naked pictures over the internet…guess where she is now?

But attractive people often feel they are under a lot of pressure to maintain their appearance.
Is self examination a good thing ?
Just in our everyday lives self examination plays a part in our health, our business affairs, our every day living. Here are just a couple of examples why self examination is very important.
Doctors recommend that women examine their breast for abnormalities to try to detect lumps and growths to keep them from forming malignant cancerous tumors. They try to keep them diligent to avoid more costly circumstances from making their lives full of complications.
Diabetics poke themselves to check the blood sugar levels in their body to prevent themselves from going into diabetic shock. They have to watch what they eat and how often to avoid life threatening situations.
Businesses hire consultants to see if they are running efficiently and up to their potential to insure that they have the growth needed to sustain their own existence.
Our vehicles that get us around are examined every 3-7,000 miles to make sure they are running efficiently so we can do things like go to work, pick up our kids, go to the store, or take a much needed time away from the every day problems we face.
Is self examination a good thing ? Self examination is essential to our survival and to neglect it is to bring chaos and disorder into our lives. It is just that simple.
Now we look at what Paul the Apostle is saying to the Corinthians and what he is challenging them to do; and we then have to put ourselves under the same microscope that he is putting them under.
Do we as Christians who claim to serve our Lord Jesus Christ, examine our spiritual lives as much as we do our every day lives ? What was more important to you that day that you couldn't do that for yourself ?
Do we give ourselves a spiritual check up as often as we do our bodies, our cars, or our businesses ?
Or were we too busy to slow down for a couple of hours that week to do things like pray, read our bibles, tell someone about what God has done in our lives, the very things that fill up our spiritual gas tanks, that keep us oiled up and running smooth ?
How important do we regard our Christian walk ? Are we able to stand up and give an accounting for the things we do to show ourselves approved before God ?
II Timothy 2:15
Be eager to present yourself as acceptable to God, a workman who causes no disgrace, imparting the word of truth without deviation.

How do we see ourselves when we look into the mirror of our spiritual eyes ?

When we are out with our friends who are unsaved, are we as bad as they are or do they look at you and see the change that has come over your life ?

Is there anything you do around them that will disgrace the name of Jesus who you claim to serve so that they don't believe anything that you say to them, do they try to catch you doing something that they even know is wrong; that you shouldn't be doing and then call you on it ? Do they say to you Hey, are you supposed to do that when they catch you and then you try to justify it afterwards ?

Are you imparting the word of God without deviation or are you only trying to get it to say what you want it to say so you can further your own agenda and not Gods agenda ?

The fact is that there are many people sitting in church pews all over the country that are going to have a rude awakening when they have to give account of themselves as they stand before Jesus at the White Throne Judgment. There will be a lot of people that attended their churches religiously week after week who are going to hear those horrible words,” Depart from me I never knew you” Matt 7: 21-23.

Why is that going to happen ?

Because they believed that all they needed to do just profess they are Christians and that they would be saved without having to inconvenience their lives with looking like a fanatic, just treat people like you want to be treated. That is a catch fraise that is so popular into today's culture. If we are nice God will love us and if we aren't he won't.

There are a lot of misconceptions about what true Christianity is these days because Satan has diluted our perception of what is pleasing to God and what is pleasing to man. We feel in our population that we are obligated to accept everyone's theology, everyone's opinion, and everyone's causes so we don't cause strife among our neighbors, don't rock the boat. Sometimes we overlook things that happen around us, so we don't get involved, why ? It's none of our business.

But when something finally happens that is so appalling then people react and speak out. But why do we let it get to that point ?

After the fact is too late, you can't fix things after they happen, you can only prevent them from happening. We are in a time when morality is under a heavy attack from people who want you to accept their very liberal ideas. We have lost the ability to mention the name of God in our schools, in our legislative institutions, in some public places, yet we have to allow unproven theories as part of our school's curriculum, teach our kids to accept homosexuality as a legitimate way of life, and allow tolerance to those who would threaten our very existence. We need to examine ourselves and find where all this tolerance is going to lead us, and then decide if it's worth it to us.

In Rev 3:15-16 Jesus says to the church in Laodicea
"I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. “

What many Christians fail to realize is that we are called to action, to put on the full armor of God, to physically go out and gather his lost sheep no matter where they are, no matter how unpleasant it is, or even how dangerous it can be. We are called to be his mouth piece in this world until we are glorified with him and if we aren't doing that then we are falling short. It doesn't matter where you live, what your limitations are, or how educated you might be, we are all still called to serve in whatever way we can; even if it puts a strain on us. If we are comfortable and complacent then we are ineffective and totally useless to furthering Gods kingdom and are as he said to the church at Laodicea, lukewarm and we will be spit out of his mouth.

II Cor.13:8…For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.
Are we doing everything we can to be truthful to ourselves, truthful to our brothers and sisters, truthful to those we have to interact with on our daily lives, or are we just going through the motions, pretending to be what we really aren't ? Allowing sin to rule over our lives just so we don't stand out and look different to those who live unruly lives, who will make fun of us because we aren't like them ? The scripture says that we need to choose who we are to serve because we can't serve God and mammon. Matt. 6:24

What is mammon?
Merriam-Webster defines it as:
Material wealth or possessions especially having an evil power or debasing influence : WEALTH, MONEY *you cannot serve God and mammon Mt 6:24 (Revised Standard Version)* *materialism was in the saddle; Mammon ruled the hearts and minds of men C.I.Glicksberg*

Mammon is anything that you place in your life that is more valued than God. Again do we pray enough, witness enough, serve to further Gods work enough. What is of more value to us, the time we spend with God or the time we spend fulfilling the desires of our flesh. We need to examine ourselves. Test our motives, test the desires of our hearts then make the needed adjustments to find ourselves approved by God standing with assurance, knowing we fought the good fight and were found worthy.

When it comes down to it do we gather around what we know is right like the Israelites did when Moses asked those who still wanted to serve God to gather to his right so they weren't destroyed with those that sinned against God ?

Do we test ourselves ?

Can we feel confident as we stand up in front of our peers and feel satisfaction knowing we that we are partakers of the grace to come and not on the receiving end of God's Eternal Judgment ? Are we that city on a hill that people can be drawn to knowing that they will always get the true representation of what serving God really is all about just by the way we live and reach out to others ?

Just before Cain killed Able, God said to Cain : Gen. 4:5-7
But unto Cain and to his offering he had not regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry ? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up ? And if you do not well, sin is crouching at your door; And its desire is for you, but you must master it.”
Well we know how that turned out, instead of having dominion over the sin he gave into it and killed his brother and from there you can see all the historical consequences that followed. When sin is at our door do we choose to master it or do we give into it and separate ourselves from the miracles that God, from the great things he wants to accomplish in our lives. Sinning is easy, it is effortless, and it requires nothing from you to fulfill it. You heard the catch fraise Just Do It ! Sin is just that easy but living a Godly life requires obedience, sacrifice, and determination. It isn't easy at all but the rewards are great, especially the final reward. We get to see Jesus face to face…
Test yourselves…See if you're in the faith….DON'T FAIL THE TEST