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Three Tests for the New Year Scripture:
Read all of 2 Examine (test) me, O LORD, and prove me; Try (test) my mind and my heart.
Introduction: A.
Tests
- Examinations 1. A very sad boy said to his dad one afternoon, “Dad, I think I failed that math test today.” a) The father replied, “Son, be positive.” b) The boy answered, “O.K., Dad, I’m positive I failed that math test today!” 2. Daily quizzes - pop quizzes a) Dr. Shelley story - pop quiz and transom. b) When I was in college, one of my chemistry professors gave a “pop” quizzes almost every class. (1) Each quiz was worth ten points, and the number the student answered correctly each day was added to a cumulative score. (2) Half of the semester’s grade was determined by this cumulative score, and the other half came from the student’s score on the final exam. (3) Every Christian faces the same two kinds of exams -- a daily “pop” quiz, and a major final exam. (4) But get this: the way he faces and passes the daily exam will largely determine the grade or reward (not whether you pass or fail, but your reward) that he will receive at the Big Final Exam (the Judgment Seat of Christ). 3. The Bible is full of God’s testing of His people: a) The Bible says that God tests the mind and the heart. (1) God tested the Israelites in the wilderness to see if they would obey His commands. (2) God fed them manna to test them. (3) God tested the Israelites in the wilderness to see if they loved Him (Deuteronomy 13:3). b) God tested Abraham, God tested Gideon’s soldiers, The Word of the Lord tested Joseph (Psalm 105:19). c) God left Hezekiah alone to test him so that He might know all that was in his heart (2 Chronicles 32:31) d) Job says that God tests man continually (Job 7:17-18) (1) Job says that when God has tested him he will come forth like gold (Job 23:10) e) Isaiah says that God tests His people in a furnace of affliction like silver. (Isaiah 48:10) f) Paul says that it is God Who tests our hearts (1 Thessalonians 2:4) 4. So God’s tests for us are something very special. a) One of the main purposes of God’s tests is to manifest a person’s real character. b) So
B. A Three Part Test 1. So
today, we need to follow Jeremiah’s
advice in a) b) 2. Let me encourage you to find a quiet desk and honestly take the following test. 3. The test has three parts, all of which have their roots in the Sermon on the Mount. We could call them a) the Attitude test, b) the Affirmation test, and c) the Action test. I.
The
Attitude Test (Matthew 5:3-11) A.
“As
a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7) 1. Someone said that “the beatitudes are good attitudes to be in.” 2. Each beatitude in Matthew five is based on an inward attitude which is intended to stimulate an outward lifestyle. 3. 3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.
4. Which characteristics in the following list would best describe your present attitude? a) Thanksgiving, praise, celebration, positive reaction, b) or is it: indifference, apathy, tension, frustration, bitterness, anger? c) (1) What an
incredibly wide range of possibilities in that list -- and any one of them
can capture the (2) Indeed, a whole hoard of invaders can hold Mansoul hostage at any time. (3) On the other hand, Mansoul may be in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3), not because he is passive and indifferent, but because his inner character is controlled and consolidated around the blessed Lord Jesus Christ. B. Peace of Heart? (John 14:27; 1. Eugenia Price said, “There is no cement in sin.” a) In other words, if you are fragmented and frustrated if you have no peace in your life, it is because you have allowed sin (Self-Ish-Ness) to pulverize you at the Central Control Point in your life - your heart! b) Sin will exercise its “centrifugal force” within you, driving all the broken pieces into competitive forces within. 2. Read
Jesus in a) This peace is not the absence of conflict; it is rather the presence of confidence because of the control of a Champion! b) 3. Take a few moments and remain still. a) Check your attitude. b) Then be sure that all your potential “flying parts” are yielded up to Jesus. 4. That is the Attitude Test II.
The
Affirmation Test (Matthew 7:12; (1 Thessalonians 5:11) Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing. A.
How
free are you? 1. How free are you to positively affirm others -- and to receive affirmation from others? a) How skilled are you in affirming others? b) How bold are you in affirming others? 2. Take a fresh look at Jesus at this point. a) Even His harshest judgments seem to be laced with affirmation. b) Even His commands amounted to affirmations. “This is your responsibility--and you can fulfill it if you appropriate My grace and power!” c) Affirmation is a crucial form of encouragement. 3. Mark Twain said, “I can run three months on just one tiny compliment.” a) Everyone likes to be affirmed or complimented b) (Matthew 7:12) "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. 4. The sports page of a daily newspaper recently quoted a star football player as saying, “One positive statement from my coach is worth a hundred compliments from sportswriters.” a) Think carefully about that -Every disciple-maker is a coach. Indeed, he is a player-coach. b) And every member of his team needs affirmation from him! c) God forgive me for not affirming people more, especially those of you who have given me the privilege of discipling you! d) Anis Shorrosh - “Lovely Loretta” - she glowed! B. Affirmation or Rebuke? 1. A little boy said to his father, “Let’s play darts! I’ll throw, and you say, ‘Wonderful!’” a) You see, all of us work best in the sunshine of approval. 2. Someone said of Jesus, “In the company of sinners, He dreamed of saints--and spoke and acted to positively emerge a saint right out of the sinner.” 3. Anne Morrow Lindbergh, wife of flyer Charles Lindbergh, was loved out of her extreme shyness by the affirming affections of her husband. She said, “He believed in me and what I could do, and consequently I found that I could be and do more than I realized.” 4. Adam Clarke’s father warned Adam’s teacher about his son. “He won’t do well,” he said. The teacher replied, “He looks perfectly bright to me.” Adam later testified that that one brief sentence spoken by his teacher in a casual moment changed his life forever. 5. 6. Rebuke has its necessary place, but “honey draws more flies than vinegar.” a) TV today - always tearing people down - car commercial - father talking to little boy - then rude noise from the little boy to his father - teaching us to tear one another down, not build one another up! b) Many people have opened their affirmations with, “Now I don’t want to give you the big-head,” or “I don’t want to inflate your ego.” c) Well, give me a chance, anyway! d) God has a Giant Pin with which He bursts the balloon of inflated ego! 7. Meanwhile, be secure enough in Christ Jesus to give honest affirmations freely. III.
The
Action Test (Matthew 7:21, 24) A.
Jesus’
Example (Matthew 11:2-11) 1. Let’s drop in on Jesus again and learn from Him. a) Take
your Bible and read b) As you read, feel the crisis of doubt and uncertainty which grips the noble heart of John the Baptist. c) Two things are attacking John the Baptist in this passage: He is hurt by (1) inactivity (a potential killer) and (2) isolation (a sure detriment, if prolonged). d) He doubts in the dark what God has clearly shown him in the daylight. e) He is in prison, and the situation is “graveyard serious.” f) He sends a (sad) note to Jesus, asking, “Are you really the Messiah, or should we continue shopping? Should we look for another?” 2. It is very significant to me that Jesus didn’t give a direct answer to John’s question. a) Instead, He said, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them” (Matthew 11:4). b) In other words, “Hurry back to John--he needs immediate attention; but don’t tell him what I am saying; tell him what I am doing.” 3. For Jesus, the “mid-term exam” (next in demand and intensity to the Final) was the test of action. a) “Whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them” (Matthew 7:24). b) Jesus didn’t seem to be very impressed with what people said. He was more impressed with what they did. (1) Believers are known by their fruits, He said (John 15:1-11). (2) True prophets can be distinguished from false prophets by the Pragmatic Test -- what true prophets say actually happens. (3) He said. “Not every one who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). (4) So when Simon Peter professed that he loved Jesus, Jesus told him, “Feed my sheep” (John 21:15-23). 4. Notice that Jesus “took His own medicine.” a) He applied the same test to Himself. “Go and tell John what is happening as a result of my ministry. Tell him what the Father is doing for others through me, and what is being done for others can be done for you.” B. Action or Guilt 1. God
is still “doing” these things that Jesus was telling John about in a) Do your actions line you up with God’s doings? b) So many times our own sin keeps us from thinking in our hearts and minds that God can use us to do the work of His kingdom. 2. The May, 1982, issue of “Guideposts” magazine told the true story of a distinguished British violinist named Peter Cropper. a) Cropper’s
work was so outstanding that the b) It is the dream of every violinist to be able to play such an instrument. c) But
a terrible thing happened while Cropper was performing in d) He tripped and fell on top of the Stradivarius and broke it. e) Cropper’s pleasant dream was instantly turned into a horrible nightmare. He was inconsolable. f) Then
a g) To make a long story short, the repairs were so perfect they could not even be seen, and the soaring notes of the instrument were more beautiful than they had been before -- all because the broken parts were placed in the hands of a master craftsman who then applied his master touch. 3. Don’t you see, people!? Something terrible has happened! a) A fall has taken place, and all of our human lives have been shattered. b) But when they are placed into the hands of Jesus Christ, Heaven’s Master Craftsman, He takes the smashed pieces and puts them back together again -- and we are BETTER THAN NEW! 4. How is your attitude? Jesus wants to make it pure and righteous. 5. How well are you doing in the art of affirmation? Jesus wants you to affirm others and build them up. 6. Do your daily actions place you in the mainstream of God’s Kingdom work? 7. A father took his young son to church one Sunday, as usual. a) The boy entered enthusiastically into the singing, as usual. b) The congregation sang together, “Rise up, O men of God, Be done with lesser things, Give heart and mind and soul and strength, To serve the King of kings.” c) The father thought he detected a mistake in his son’s singing. d) He leaned over and listened carefully and discovered that the boy was saying, “Wise up, O men of God!” (1) Who can fault his interpretation? (2) Who can say that he was wrong? |
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