To Judge Ourselves Part 1 – Admonish: Hard Work

To Judge Ourselves

Part 1 – Admonish: Hard Work

Pastor Bruce A. Shields

House of Faith Church | www.PS127.org | www.TruthDigest.org

INTRODUCTION

We spent the last year looking at what the Book of Acts had to say about the founding, operation and behavior that the Lord expects from us as individuals, and as a church, or congregation of believers.

We then spent a few weeks looking at the letters that Jesus sent to the seven churches in Revelation, telling them where they were going right, and wrong, as well as what the punishments and rewards would be.

Last week, I took all of those letters, and compiled them into one letter from the Lord, to us.

Our new series will take a look at each of the points Jesus made in that letter, and we will not only examine our church as a whole, but ourselves as individuals.

2 Corinthians 13:5 "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!"

1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

2 Peter 2:4-10 "For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell^[a] and committed them to chains^[b] of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; ⁵ if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; ⁶ if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;^[c] 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked ⁸ (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); ⁹ then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, ¹⁰ and especially those who indulge^[e] in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority."

 SCRIPTURE REFERENCE

Revelation 2:2

"I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance."

I.       I KNOW YOUR DEEDS {Divine Knowledge}

a.      God knows the heart and mind of man

i.       Deuteronomy 11:18 "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads."

ii.    Psalm 7:9 "you, the righteous God who probes minds and hearts."

b.     No one else can know the heart of man

i.       Jeremiah 17:9-10 "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.
    Who can understand it?

¹⁰ “I the Lord search the heart  and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”

c.      The Lord judges us by our hearts

i.       Psalm 26:2 "Test me, Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind;"

ii.    Luke 6:45 "A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of."

d.     This is why the scriptures teach us

i.       Matthew 22:36-38 " ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment.

a.      Why the first and greatest commandment? Because salvation of your soul depends on it. This is where you will be judged.

ii.    Philippians 4:7 " And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

iii. Hebrews 10:16 " “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”

iv.   James 4:8 "Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded."

Revelation 2:23 "I will strike her children dead (Those who follow Jezebel, or false doctrines). Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.

II.   YOUR HARD WORK

a.      Not only sees our deeds or work (what we do), but knows the motivation

i.       Matthew 6:1-18  “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ..."

b.     Motive (reasoning in our hearts) is what the Lord judges

i.       Proverbs 21:2 "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart."

c.      What is the purpose for your actions?

i.       Galatians 1:10 "For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ."

III.   YOUR PATIENCE

a.      Patience is recognized by the Lord

i.       Galatians 6:9 "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."

ii.    Philippians 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."

b.     Ephesus showed patience in testing followers to weed out false apostles

i.       1 John 4:1 "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world."

c.      Patience is what we need to "win" the race

i.       Luke 8:15 "As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience."

ii.    Ecclesiastes 7:21-23 " Do not pay attention to every word people say,
    or you may hear your servant cursing you—
²² for you know in your heart
    that many times you yourself have cursed others."

CONCLUSION

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.²⁵ Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.²⁶ So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. ²⁷ But I discipline my body and keep it under control,^[b] lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

1 Corinthians 13:4

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant

Romans 5:1-5

5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we^[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ² Through him we have also obtained access by faith^[b] into this grace in which we stand, and we^[c] rejoice^[d] in hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵ and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

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