Self-Examination

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2 Corinthians 13:5

Examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know you not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you…

The Corinthians were the critics of the apostle's age. They criticised Paul's style. "His letters are weighty, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible." Nay, not content with that, they denied his apostleship. So he wrote two letters to them in which, having wrested the sword of their criticism out of their hands, he pointed it at their own breasts, saying, "'Examine yourselves.' You have disputed my doctrine; examine whether ye be in the faith. You have made me prove my apostleship; 'prove your own selves.'" The fault of the Corinthians is the fault of the present age. Let not any one of you say "How did you like the preacher? What did you think of the sermon this morning? "Do you come here to judge God's servants? Ye should say, "Let me take unto myself that which I have heard, and I come up here to be judged of God's Word, and not to judge God's Word." I shall —

I. EXPOUND MY TEXT.

1. "Examine," that is —

(1) A scholastic idea. A boy has been to school a certain time, and his master questions him, to see whether he has made any progress. Christian, catechise your heart to see whether it has been growing in grace.

(2) A military idea. Just as the captain on review-day is not content with surveying the men from a distance, but looks at all their accoutrements, so do you examine yourselves with the most scrupulous care.

(3) A legal idea. You have seen the witness in the box, when the lawyer has been cross-examining him. Question your heart backward and forward, this way and that.

(4) A traveller's idea. In the original it is "Go right through yourselves." Stand not only on the mountains of your public character, but go into the deep valleys of your private life. Be not content to sail on the broad river of your outward actions, but go follow back the narrow rill till you discover your secret motive.

2. "Prove your own selves." That means more than self-examination. A man is about to buy a horse; he thinks that possibly he may find out some flaw, and therefore he examines it; but after he has examined it, he says, "Let me have it for a week, that I may prove the animal before I invest in him." A ship, both before and when launched, is carefully looked at; and yet before she is allowed to go to sea, she takes a trial trip; and then when proved she goes out on her long voyages. Now, many a man's religion will stand examination that will not stand proof. It is like some cotton prints that are warranted fast colours, and so they seem when you look at them, but they are not washable when you get them home. It is good enough to look at, and it has got the "warranted" stamped upon it; but when it comes out into actual daily life, the colours soon begin to run, and the man discovers that the thing was not what he took it to be.

3. "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith." Oh! says one, "You may examine me; I am an orthodox Christian." But the question now is not whether you believe the truth — but whether you are in the truth! Take an illustration. There is the ark; and a number of men around it. "Ah!" says one, "I believe that ark will swim." "Yes," says another, "it is strong from stem to stern." Ay, but when the flood came, it was not believing the ark as a matter of fact — it was being in the ark that saved men.

4. "Know ye not your own selves?" If you do not you have neglected your proper study. What avails all else that you do know if you know not yourself? You have been roaming abroad, while the richest treasure was lying at home. And especially know ye not this fact, that Jesus Christ must be in your heart, formed and living there, or else ye are reprobates? Now, what is it to have Jesus Christ in you? The true Christian carries the cross in his heart. Christ in the heart means Christ believed in, beloved, trusted, espoused, Christ as our daily food, and ourselves as the temple and palace wherein He daily walks.

II. ENFORCE THE TEXT. "Examine yourselves," because —

1. It is a matter of the very highest importance. Tradesmen may take coppers over the counter without much examination; but when it comes to gold, they will ring it well; and if it comes to a fivepound note, there is still more careful scrutiny. Ah! but if ye be deceived in the matter of your own souls, ye are deceived indeed. Look well to the title-deeds of your estate, to your life policies, to all your business; but, remember, all the gold and silver you have are but as the rack and scum of the furnace, compared with the matter now in hand. It is your soul. Will you risk that?

2. If ye make a mistake ye can never rectify it, except in this world. A bankrupt may have lost a fortune once, and yet may make another; but make spiritual bankruptcy in this life, and you will never have an opportunity to trade again for heaven. A great general may lose one battle, and yet win the campaign; but get defeated in the battle of this life, and you are defeated for ever.

3. Many have been mistaken, may not you be? Methinks I see the rocks of presumption on which many souls have been lost, and the siren song of self-confidence entices you on to those rocks. Stay, mariner, stay! Let yon bleached bones keep thee back. Do not tell me that you are an old Church member; for a man may be a professor of religion forty years, and yet there may come a trial-day when his religion shall snap after all.

4. God will examine you.

5. If you are in doubt now, the speediest way to get rid of your doubts and fears is by self-examination. Look at that captain. He says to the sailors, "You must sail very carefully, and be upon your watch, for I do not exactly know my latitude and longitude, and there may be rocks very close ahead." He goes down into the cabin, he searches the chart, he takes an inspection of the heavens, and then says, "Hoist every sail, and go along as merrily as you please; I have discovered where we are; the water is deep, and there is a wide sea room." And how happy will it be with you if, after having searched yourself, you can say, "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him." And what if it should have a bad result? Better that you should find it out now than find it out too late.

III. TRY AND HELP YOU TO CARRY THE TEXT INTO PRACTICE.

1. Begin with your public life. Are you dishonest? Can you swear? Are you given to drunkenness? etc. Make short work with yourself; there will be no need to go into any further tests. "He that doeth these things hath no inheritance in the kingdom of God." And yet, Christian, despite thy many sins, canst thou say, "By the grace of God I am what I am; but I seek to live a righteous, godly, and sober life, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation." Remember, by thy works thou shalt be judged at last. Thy works cannot save thee, but they can prove that thou art saved; or if they be evil works, they can prove that thou art not saved at all.

2. How about your private life? Do you live without prayer, without searching the Scriptures? If so, I make short work of the matter; you are "in the gall of bitterness, and in the bonds of iniquity." But if thou art right at heart, thou wilt be able to say, "I could not live without prayer; I do love God's Word; I love His people; I love His house." A good sign, Christian, a good sign for thee; if thou canst go through this test, thou mayest hope that all is well.

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