2 Corinthians, kind of toward the back of your
Bible. Chapter 13, we have, over the last year
or so, we've worked our way through 2 Corinthians.
We're going to finish it up tonight, Lord willing.
We're going to read the whole chapter. It's relatively
short. A lot of kind of the same ideas in these
last few chapters of 2 Corinthians. Kind of the
same ideas we kind of see repeating itself. We
kind of get what's going on. by this point in
the book. And Paul is closing this letter to
the Corinthians here in chapter 13. So let's
pray, and then we'll read through the whole chapter,
and then we'll talk about it. God, we come to
you. We thank you for being good to us. We thank
you for your word, dear Lord, and I pray that
your Holy Spirit would be with us tonight, that
you would free us from whatever distractions
and worries and thoughts and just... stresses
that we may have brought into this place, dear
Lord. Life is pretty tough. And so probably there's
some in here, dear Lord, that had a hard day
today, or maybe they got a hard day before them
tomorrow. But I pray that for a few minutes here
that maybe your word would speak to us, that
we would grow in you in some way through what
your word says tonight. So I pray that you would
help me to preach and teach in a way that brings
glory and honor to you. And let your Holy Spirit
be among us tonight. In Jesus' name I ask it.
Amen. All right, 2 Corinthians chapter 13, verse
1. We'll read all 13 verses. This is the third
time I am coming to you. Every fact must be established
by the testimony of two or three witnesses. I
gave a warning when I was present the second
time. And now I give a warning while I am absent
to those who sinned before and to all the rest.
If I come again, I will not be lenient, since
you seek proof of Christ speaking in me. He is
not weak toward you, but powerful among you.
In fact, he was crucified in weakness, but he
lives by God's power. For we also are weak in
him, yet toward you... We will live with him
by God's power. Test yourselves to see if you
are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do you
yourselves not recognize that Jesus Christ is
in you? Unless you fail the test. And I hope
you will recognize that we do not fail the test.
Now we pray to God that you do nothing wrong.
Not that we may appear to pass the test. but
that you may do what is right, even though we
may appear to fail. For we are not able to do
anything against the truth, but only for the
truth. In fact, we rejoice when we are weak and
you are strong. We also pray that you become
fully mature. This is why I am writing these
things while absent, that when I am there, I
will not use severity. In keeping with the authority
the Lord gave me for building up and not for
tearing down. Finally, brothers, rejoice. Become
mature. Be encouraged. Be of the same mind. Be
at peace. And the God of love and peace will
be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
All the saints greet you. The grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship
of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. Now, we've
already seen throughout the book that Paul's
main concern is really the people of Corinth.
He really loves them. He does not want to see
them succumb to sin. trusting in Jesus Christ
and continuing to walk in faith in Jesus Christ
and not being led astray by false teaching and
by sin. And he so desperately wants to be able
to come and to see that they are doing well.
He wants to come and he wants to get a good report.
that he sees brothers and sisters in Christ loving
one another, helping one another, serving the
Lord. That's what he wants, and that's why he's
writing this letter. That's why he's kind of
harsh toward them. He's kind of strong toward
some of his words. He says, look, I'm coming,
and what I want is to see you doing good, but
if you're not doing good, it's going to have
to be addressed. And he quotes an Old Testament
passage, you know, based on the testimony of
two or three witnesses. If a charge is brought
against you, if brothers in Christ say, look,
here's a brother, here's a sister, here's some
sin that's taking place in our community, in
our church group, among the Christians who are
here, Paul says, I'm going to have to address
that because that's not good and that's not healthy.
And so he gives them a very simple instruction.
And it's a good instruction. For us to consider
from time to time in our life. He tells them
in verse 5. He says test yourselves to see if
you are in the faith. Examine yourselves he says.
Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith.
Now he's not saying doubt whether or not you're
a Christian. He's not calling into question whether
they doubt they're really a Christian or not.
What he's saying is. Do you really trust Jesus?
I'm not causing you to doubt. Maybe you are really
a Christian. I'm not trying to bring extra doubt
into your life. But maybe you really never really
did trust Jesus. Maybe you know about Jesus.
Maybe you heard me preach to you Paul saying
before. Maybe you know about the scripture. And
maybe you had an emotional response when you
heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. But you really
didn't trust him. You really didn't submit your
life to him. You really haven't been living for
him. And maybe that's a good thing for us to
consider. Maybe according to the world, we are
pretty good people. And maybe we do come to church.
And maybe we are involved. And maybe we do really
love people. And maybe we do know about Jesus.
Maybe we've even been baptized before. And there's
a lot of people that may fall into some of those
categories or all of those categories, but they
really never have trusted Jesus Christ. They've
been living for themselves, and maybe it's obvious
to them in their heart. Maybe they know that
there's a void there. Maybe it's obvious through
their own actions, through the things that they
do every day, through the sins that they continue
to commit, through the heart that they have.
Maybe there's already some evidence that's there.
Or maybe it's there and you don't even realize
it. And maybe we read through the Scripture,
through 2 Corinthians or through other Scriptures,
and we see the words that Jesus speaks, and we
see the words that the Bible speaks, and we say,
wait a minute. I've gone to church for a long
time, but maybe I'm not living for Jesus. Maybe
I've not really ever followed Jesus. And so Paul
says, look, you need to examine yourselves because
there are some things that are going on in your
life that shouldn't be going on in your life.
There are some things that you're doing. There's
a way that you're acting and this is not how
Christians act. So don't be fooled. Don't be
fooled just because you walked an aisle or just
because you got baptized. Don't be fooled to
think that that's God. that that's all God wants
from you, because God, what He really wants from
you is a heart that is repentant. And maybe you're
not, you know, you don't have any animosity toward
God. Maybe you haven't rejected Jesus Christ.
You're not just outright rejecting Him. You just,
you never really knew what it was like to follow.
And maybe somebody told you one day, if you say
this prayer, if you just walk up front, if you'll
just get baptized, then you'll be saved. And
maybe you did those things, but maybe your heart
did not change. And maybe your actions show that.
Maybe the way you're living now show that your
heart really hasn't changed. And Paul looks at
these Corinthians and he says, look, you were
doing good at one point. I saw you. You listened
to what I said. You were glad to hear it. And
even now it doesn't appear that they're rejecting
Jesus. It just appears that they've been taught
some other stuff that's kind of pulling them
away and they're kind of getting caught up in
the weeds and they're beginning to fall back
into some of the same sinfulness that he addressed
in 1 Corinthians. And he says, look, what I want
more than anything is for you to know that Jesus
is real and I want you to trust him and to follow
him and to be obedient to him. And he says, I'm
coming, and there's going to be a judgment, and
I don't know exactly what Paul's talking about.
He talks about two or three witnesses, so they're
going to be on trial of sorts. I don't know that
he's going to set up a bench for them to sit
in and say, here you are, you're on trial. But
he said there's going to be some judgment passed.
There's going to be some discipline that's going
to take place. And yeah, that was going to happen
when Paul arrived, but that's going to happen
one day for us in a much grander sense when we
stand before the Lord. And one day we're going
to stand in that judgment. And what's going to
be the witness against us? Who's going to be
the one to speak up for us? Because the one to
speak up for us is Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ
alone. And if we don't follow Jesus Christ, who
will we have to cover our sins on that day? We'll
have a lifetime of sins that are before us. And
maybe there will be many that day that will say,
Jesus, I was pretty good. Jesus, I did some good
stuff. I did go to church a lot. But I'm asking
you tonight, do you trust him? Do you really
know him? Sometimes there's people that go their
whole life and they realize when they're 60,
70, 80 years old, they say, you know what? I
never really trusted Jesus. I was still living
for myself. I didn't hate Jesus. Push Jesus away.
I didn't realize that I really wasn't serving
Jesus. That I was serving myself. And Paul says,
test yourself to see if you're in the face. Examine
yourself. Or do you yourself not recognize that
Jesus Christ is in you? Okay, we test ourselves.
And maybe you test yourself tonight. And maybe
you realize that Jesus Christ is in you. Praise
the Lord. Now, that's not to say that Christians
don't sin. I'm not saying that if you examine
your life and you see some sin in your life,
that that just means, man, I must have not ever
trusted Jesus. Even Christians sin. I believe
that to be the case for sure. I'm not saying
that if you sin, that doesn't mean that you're
really a Christian. But Paul says examine yourself
and make sure. Make sure that you are following
Jesus. Make sure that the Holy Spirit is within
you. Make sure that you're trusting in him. Make
sure that you're living for him and not for yourself.
And maybe you test yourself and you say, God,
I really do trust you. But there is some stuff
in my life that is not right. God, maybe I've
been saying the right things and I've been preaching
the right things and I know your word. But God,
maybe there's some conviction in our heart tonight
that we need to say, God, I am yours and I know
I'm yours. But I cannot live this way because
I'm not living for you. And Paul says, do you
yourselves not recognize that Jesus is in you?
Maybe he is. Unless you fail the test. Unless
you fail the test. It is a bummer to fail a test.
Everybody in here took tests in your life. And
man. Sometimes you study and you study and you
study and you think you're prepared and you think
you're ready and you think you're going to do
so good and you just bomb the test. That is a
bummer to fail a test. But when we fail a test,
it helps us to know that maybe we didn't know
as much as we thought we did. When we fail at
anything, There are things that sometimes we
think we got it figured out and we just fail
miserably. Even when we're trying our best and
we think we're doing right, we realize that we
just fail miserably. And maybe if we begin to
read God's Word, we begin to pray and we begin
to seek, and we begin to read the words of Jesus
Christ, and we begin to examine His life, and
we begin to look at our life. We begin to ask
God to reveal to us things maybe that are hidden,
that we don't see, to open our eyes, to open
our ears, that we may hear. We begin to test
ourselves against what Scripture says and against
how we live. And maybe we find that we fail,
and we fail, and we fail, and we fail, and we
fail, until when the test is done, we realize
that Perhaps we don't have faith in Jesus Christ
at all. And Paul says, I want you to know that
you know that you know that you trust in Jesus
Christ. I want you to know that you're not living
in sin. I want you not to be led astray by false
teachings. I want you not to give in to sin.
I want you to know Jesus. I want you to experience
Jesus. I want you to mature in Jesus. What about
us? Are we growing? Are we maturing in any way
whatsoever in the word of God? We should be some
a little bit. We should be. And Paul goes on
to say, he says, look. You say we're weak. You
say we fail. So be it. If that's how you view
us, if we fail, if you think we fail, then so
be it. Paul says, I'm not worried about what
you think of me and how weak I am or how poor
I speak or if I'm a failure. He says, what I
care about is you. And so many times, so many
times people reject Jesus Christ because of what
they see. from those who profess to be Christians
and maybe genuinely are. And so many times people
reject Jesus Christ because they see those of
us who are Christ's children living like the
world. Now we need to think about that because
people are looking to us. If we're going to profess
the goodness of God, if we're going to profess
to be Christian, if we're going to confess to
live by the commands of God, then we need to
live by the commands of God. Now that's no excuse.
Ultimately, people have to make the decision
for themselves. But if there's somebody here
tonight or there's somebody that's listening
online, do not reject Jesus because Jesus' followers
fail. Because Jesus' followers do fail. Don't
reject Jesus because of others. Read the words
of Jesus for yourself. See the life of Jesus.
And that's what we should all strive to do. And
that's what Paul wants the Corinthians to do.
So he says, I'm coming. I'm coming to see you
and I want to see that you're doing well. But
before I come, I want you to test yourself. To
make sure that you know that you're following
Jesus. To make sure that you have faith in Jesus.
And that's a good command for us. That's a good
instruction for us. You read the scriptures,
you seek the Lord. And maybe you say, God, I
know I'm yours. But maybe there's some areas
we need to clean up. Praise the Lord, we repent
of those things. But maybe you test yourself
tonight. And maybe you're 12 years old. Or maybe
you're 102 years old. And maybe you've been to
church a lot. And maybe you can quote more scripture
than anybody you know. But maybe the Holy Spirit's
been convicting you. Maybe the Holy Spirit's
convicting you now. And maybe you've already
taken that test in your heart tonight. Or maybe
you're going to begin to test yourself in the
days to come. And if you fail the test, I've
got good news for you. You can take it again
in Jesus Christ. I'm going to give you the answer
to the test beforehand. I'm not cheating. The
answer is Jesus. The answer to the test is Jesus.
That's the only answer. If you don't know that
answer and you don't live by that answer, if
you don't trust in that answer, Then you fail
the test. But if you trust in Jesus tonight,
if you'd call out to him tonight, if you'd repent
of your sins, he'll wash you as white as snow
and you'll get an A+. Not because you have done
anything right, but because Jesus died on a cross
so that you could be forgiven. Let's pray. God,
we thank you for these good words. We thank you
for people like Paul for showing his love and
his care for these people, dear Lord. For his
desire for them to just seek you and to live
right and to mature in you, dear Lord. And maybe
we need to listen to the things that he said,
God. Because maybe we're spiritually immature.
Maybe we're led astray sometimes. Maybe we find
ourselves giving back into sin. We've got no
business, no business getting involved back in,
dear Lord. And we know it and we feel it and
we're convicted of it and we're just weak, dear
Lord. And sometimes we just, we fall into it
again and again. And I pray that you help us
tonight, dear Lord, for those that just struggle
with sin, that you would give them strength and
comfort. Just help them to know that there is
power to overcome that through Jesus Christ.
I pray, God, that we would seek to be a people
who, would mature, that we would seek your word,
that we'd seek to live by it. And maybe we know
it, but maybe we just, maybe we hadn't been living
by it. Maybe parts of it we have and parts of
it we haven't. God, I pray that you just open
our eyes to see where maybe we say the right
words, but our actions don't match up with what
we say. God, maybe there are some tonight that...
They're testing themselves even in this moment,
God, through this word. Maybe they just heard
these words of Paul. And maybe they're just testing
themselves. And maybe there's some even in this
room, dear Lord, or some listening online. And
maybe they've been to church a lot even, dear
Lord. But maybe they just realized that they
know about Jesus, but they've never really trusted
Him. God, if there are any who fail the test,
Help them to realize that tonight or in the days
to come, dear Lord, that they would repent and
trust in Jesus Christ, that they would know without
a shadow of a doubt, dear Lord, that they have
been forgiven. I pray, God, that you would help
us to mature in you, to grow in you, and to know
your words, God, and to know Jesus Christ. And
it's in Jesus' name I pray it. Amen.