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• HAVING HONESTY WITH KNOWING OURSELVES
• 1 Corinthians 4:4 ...For I know nothing against myself, yet I am not
justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord.
• INTRODUCTION
• Nowhere is knowledge of ourselves more important than in relation to
the gospel of Christ...
• The gospel requires repentance...
• 2 Corinthians 7:10 ...For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to
salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
• — and repentance requires conscience!
• Conscience involves self-knowledge — “con-science”
is related to “conscious”, which literally means “to know
with (ourselves)”...
• So let’s think about the need for honesty in knowing ourselves...
• THE ADVANTAGE WE HAVE IN KNOWING OURSELVES...
• In one sense, we each know ourselves best.
• Others are limited in knowing us — they know our thoughts, our
motives, our values - only as we reveal them...
• 1 Corinthians 2:11 ...For what man knows the things of a man except
the spirit of the man which is in him?
• One lifetime is just too short to reveal ourselves entirely to anyone
else...
• Hence, the information upon which others judge us is at best incomplete
— and often it is inaccurate...
• THE DISADVANTAGE WE HAVE IN KNOWING OURSELVES...
• Despite our self-knowledge, we are sometimes the very poorest judges
of ourselves...
• We may have all the “raw materials” out of which we could
make an accurate self-evaluation...
• But rarely are we sufficiently candid and objective about our own situation...
• This is why, for example, doctors don’t diagnose their own ailments
— they understand the need to consult another doctor who will look at
the facts more without prejudice...
• THE DISADVANTAGE WE HAVE IN KNOWING OURSELVES...
• In the spiritual realm, there is an even greater need for us to be helped
in understanding ourselves...
• (Robert Burns, “To a Louse”)...The last verse translates
as:
• "Oh, that God
would give us the very smallest of gifts
To be able to see ourselves as others see us
It would save us from many mistakes
and foolish thoughts..."
• We tend to make exceptions of ourselves and “euphemize”
the nature of our own conduct...
• When it comes to seeing our own faults, most of us have blind spots
— which, while as plain as day to others, can be invisible to us...
• THE DISADVANTAGE WE HAVE IN KNOWING OURSELVES...
• But God’s way of helping us is often to send friends to show us
that what we are pleased to call our “mistakes” are just as much
sins as if someone else had committed them.
• Consider David’s adultery & murder and Peter’s hypocrisy...
• 2 Samuel 12:5 ...So David's anger was greatly aroused against the man,
and he said to Nathan, "As the LORD lives, the man who has done this shall
surely die! 6 "And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did
this thing and because he had no pity." 7 Then Nathan said to David, "You
are the man!..."
• Galatians 2:11 ...Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him
to his face, because he was to be blamed; 12 for before certain men came from
James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated
himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.
• LOVE OF THE TRUTH AND KNOWING OURSELVES...
• Salvation depends on our response to truth...
• 2 Thessalonians 2:9 ...The coming of the lawless one is according to
the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with
all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive
the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God
will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they
all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
• Luke 8:15 ...But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who,
having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with
patience.
• LOVE OF THE TRUTH AND KNOWING OURSELVES...
• But the truth which must be loved is not merely doctrinal truth...
• It involves the whole truth, including the truth about ourselves, the
truth about the sins that we need to repent of, etc.
• 1 John 1:8 ...If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and
the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
• Life never makes a greater demand on our courage than when we are faced
with accepting some despicable fact about what we have really done — e.g.
Cain...
• Genesis 4:3 ...And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain
brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. 4 Abel also brought
of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel
and his offering, 5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was
very angry, and his countenance fell. 6 So the LORD said to Cain, "Why
are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 "If you do well,
will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And
its desire is for you, but you should rule over it."
• LOVE OF THE TRUTH AND KNOWING OURSELVES...
• There is a great contrast between the attitudes reflected by those who
accepted the Truth on Pentecost and those Jews who stoned Stephen...
• Acts 2:36 ...Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that
God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." 37
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and
the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" 38
Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized
in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit.... 41 Then those who gladly received his word were
baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
• Acts 7:54 ...When they heard these things they were cut to the heart,
and they gnashed at him with their teeth.... 57 Then they cried out with a loud
voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58 and they cast
him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes
at the feet of a young man named Saul.
• LOVE OF THE TRUTH AND KNOWING OURSELVES...
• In order to be honest with ourselves we must want to know the truth
more than we want anything else...
• The person who loves his preferred self-image more than the truth is
not fit for the kingdom of God...
• Matthew 3:7 ...But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming
to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee
from the wrath to come? 8 "Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,
• Jesus’ story of the Pharisee praying in the temple shows how out
of touch with reality we can be when it comes to ourselves...
• Luke 18:10 ...Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee
and the other a tax collector. 11 "The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with
himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men--extortioners, unjust,
adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 'I fast twice a week; I give tithes
of all that I possess.'
• A TEST OF OUR HONESTY AND LOVE OF THE TRUTH...
• Here are some questions that can help us judge how honest we’re
willing to be about ourselves:
• Do we pray for help in seeing ourselves as God sees us?
• Psalms 19:12 ...Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret
faults.
• Do we pray for friends who love our souls more than they love our friendship,
friends who will not let us excuse or ignore our sins?
• Galatians 4:16 ...Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell
you the truth?
• A TEST OF OUR HONESTY AND LOVE OF THE TRUTH...
• Do we pray to be set in the midst of circumstances that will make us
see our true character?
• Do we pray for faults which we have hidden from ourselves to be brought
out into the open light of truth?
• John 3:19 ...And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into
the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were
evil. 20 "For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come
to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 "But he who does the
truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have
been done in God."
• Questions like these tend to make us uncomfortable — but truth
very often has that effect!
• CONCLUSION:
• God knows us perfectly – BUT do we love all of the truth that
He knows about us?
• Hebrews 4:12 ...For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper
than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit,
and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things
are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
• Do we love God’s truth enough to accept the help of others in
seeing the sins we need to repent of?
• May we never “turn away” from the truth about ourselves...
• 2 Timothy 4:3 ...For the time will come when they will not endure sound
doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears,
they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away
from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
• May God give us people who will help us “come to our senses”
about what is going on in our lives...
• 2 Timothy 2:24 ...And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be
gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are
in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know
the truth, 26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of
the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.
• May we be truly honest with ourselves — and therefore truly honest
with God — before it is too late.
By Carey Scott from an outline by Ron Lehde
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