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When they finally got my heart where they wanted, the guy asked me a strange thing. Would you like to continue? I said, have you got the number you need?

And he said, yeah. And I said, well, then I'm good. I don't know why we would continue to sweat here in the doctor's office.

You know, I have a workout later today. I don't see the point of going. And then I said, which y'all love this, and every man in here will like this.

I said, is there a record I could break? Is there, can you put me in the 60-year-old category as greatest stress test ever? I said, but if there's nothing like that, I don't know what we're doing here. I'd really like for the doctor to talk to me and me go home. So anyway, but what were they doing? They wanted to see where I was. How's his heart? How's his health?

see where I was. How's his heart? How's his health? How's his numbers? It's an examination. So what Paul is saying to this church, I love that it took him a while to get there. You know, you can almost see his mind working going, why am I continuing to have all these problems with y'all? Wait a minute. 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. He finally says what we just said. Wait a minute.

Y'all are supposed to have Jesus. Well, if you have Jesus, then Jesus should be transforming you, as we've talked about and did a whole 31-day devotional about last year.

What do we say? If Jesus isn't transforming us, he's not the problem. So he's saying, your behavior really is not a stumble your behavior is a lifestyle this is who y'all appear to be we all make mistakes man we all have bad moments we have to go back and apologize to our wife for not doing what we're supposed to you go back and apologize to your friend or you whatever the case may be that's a stumble that's a hey i let that get away from me instead of going to the spirit i went to the flesh i's a stumble. That's a, hey, I let that get away from me. Instead of going to the spirit, I went to the flesh. I made a mistake. But that's not what Paul's seeing here.

I have been dealing with you people, and I have been dealing with unrepentant sin that seems to be never ending. Maybe y'all just aren't of the faith. Maybe you're not there. Maybe you don't have Jesus. And he says, examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. So how would we test ourselves?

Well, I'm going to throw one out there. Does sin bother you? I've heard many, many men make the horrible mistake, and some of you heard me reference this. This literally happened. I heard a conversation between two men that had made the claim that they were of the faith, and they were discussing, I forget when it came out, this movie Hangover or whatever it is. And from what I understand, that's a very nasty movie.

Okay. And so they were talking about it. And I heard one say to the other, well, I know I shouldn't be watching that, but it didn't really bother me.

Now, what he meant was he was so godly and he was so powerful that he can just be a sin daredevil and never be impacted by it that's what he meant but what came out is he's not feeling in conviction about it well see no matter how wonderful he thinks he is and how much of a sin daredevil he can be the power of the holy spirit should have made him nauseated looking at that garbage.

But it didn't. Does sin bother you? I mean, when it comes into your life, does it make you sick? Do you see it the way God said to see it?

Does it bother you so much it can't be there? Do you correct it? Do you turn it off and go, what am I doing? I'm not saying that we don't all get in a bind sometimes and let something go further than it should, but do you ever stop and go, oh man, what am I doing? Or does it really not bother you? I'll never forget the first time because I used to cuss a lot. And I remember the first time that as I was growing in my faith, that I was watching something and they said a really crude word. And I'll never forget. It was the very first time I went, oh, oh, man, I felt like I'd been punched in the gut. Oh, man, what is that? And I thought, that's weird. I used to talk just like that, and everybody around me talked like that.

It didn't bother me at all. But it bothered me now. Well, what was that? The Holy Spirit. Do you remember that? Has that happened for you? It bothers you now?

Well, so he's saying, test you, because one thing he's thinking, the way you are treating me is so obviously wrong.

Why haven't you realized that on your own? Why am I having to tell you? You haven't figured out that the things y'all are saying about me and you're gossiping and you're running me down and you're doubting that I'm an apostle. A lot of you have sexual sin you still haven't repented of. It hasn't dawned on you that that doesn't belong in the church? Why am I having to point it out?

You ever been through that with someone you're trying to help or disciple? Why do I have to keep telling you this is wrong? You don't know this is wrong.

Now, I will tell you, like the young man I mentioned earlier, I will honestly tell you, and I know people who've dealt with ministries before, that this is in this country right here, that godly men are so removed from the culture and from the community, they literally are having to tell young men that sex outside of marriage is a sin.

They didn't even know it. They had no idea. So sometimes people really don't know. But Paul's not talking to those kind of people.

He's talking to the church. This guy that's just come into my life, he told me, I never had a daddy.

All of my siblings are from different daddies. I've never had anybody teach me really right and wrong. I've just kind of tried to figure it out on my own because some of it to me seems obvious.

But the stuff that you're talking about and the other man that's in his life now that he works for, who's a powerful man of God, y'all are teaching me things right and wrong that I just didn't know.

So that does happen. But Paul's talking to the church. I don't ever want you to lose sight about our study of 1 Corinthians because I think a lot of times we look at Scripture and incorrectly interpret it that this is God talking to lost people. It's not. Now, they may be lost. If you looked at their claim of justification, I don't mean that. He's not talking to people outside the church, is a better way to put it. Most of the time in the New Testament, these letters are to churches.

it the the most of the time in the new testament these letters are they're to churches the lost is understood repent so i'm sharing our uh our family's reading through the new testament right now and and sherry's doing a great job as a mom holding the whole family accountable every day she sends out what we're supposed to be reading and you have to come back and say i've read it there's all of our adult kids everybody whatever and so we're supposed to be reading, and you have to come back and say, I've read it. There's all of our adult kids, everybody, whatever.

And so we're going through Matthew because we started the New Testament, and we're going to read through the whole New Testament. And Sherry and I were looking at it, going through Matthew, and it said, once Jesus hit the ground, John the Baptist is done, Jesus is here, and the scriptures say, and Jesus Christ.

You act like this didn't happen with the modern church a lot. It says Jesus Christ started his ministry preaching what? Repent.

That's his ministry. Repent. So that's the message to the lost. Repent of your sin and turn to me. All this Paul's talking about is the way the church is acting after claiming you've already repented how can you be living like this this doesn't say much about the holy spirit so paul is saying examine yourselves test yourself because and then now while we're testing listen this is big he tells us while you test to see if you're of the faith i want to remind you of what it means to be of the faith this means that jesus now is your lord this means god's presence is now in your life see that's important because if somebody came up to me and they said i said well so how are we doing are you ready for the test today?

Yes, I am. Okay, now before we start the test to see if you can run this in the time you said you could run it, let me tell you what you claim. You claim you've been training for the last six months. You claim you ran this amount to prepare. You claim you did this amount of weight work to get ready. You claim you had this kind of diet going. You claim you did this amount of weight work to get ready. You claim you had this kind of diet going.

You've claimed to me that you have the power in your life to complete this run in this amount of time. So if you don't complete it, I'm going to say what you told me wasn't right. Because if it was right, you would have made it. I just can't get victory over sin. Really?

I thought you said Jesus is in your life. I thought you said you have the Holy Spirit. So Jesus can't overcome the sin? Of course he can. But the problem is, what most of us, if we would just admit it, we don't know Jesus well enough to love him more than sin.

I was that guy. Early on, I still loved too much sin more than Jesus. You know why? I didn't really know Jesus yet. Now, I had repented, and I had left faith in myself, and I said, I want to put my faith in you. It just wasn't all the way there yet. Now, as I get to know Jesus, I love him. And as I get to love him, then I obey him.

And now, as I've told you many times, you kind of become the annoying person to a lot of people. Even people in the church. Because you know what people don't like? Don't get carried away. So you're going to live out your whole life the way the Bible says to. Don't get carried away. So you're going to do out your whole life the way the Bible says to. Don't get carried away.

So you're going to do a Bible study like in the middle of the week? Wait a minute. You have on your calendar a Bible study?

It's not just you'll go to the Bible study if nothing better happens? You're planning your week around a Bible study? I don't get carried away.

Do we have some legalists? No, no. I think it's just obedience. I think that's what he told us to do. He told me that I was supposed to be a disciple and make disciples and to teach people all he's commanded. I would find it difficult to teach people all he's commanded if I don't know what he commanded. I don't know what he commanded.

I don't know about y'all. I've fallen in love with the word of God. It was not instant for me. But it's there. I just, I mean, I can't. There's nothing better than that. And you know what Paul's already told us. If you don't love it and you're not where you need to be with God, God's willing to do whatever he needs to do to be sure you start depending on him.

He certainly has done it for me. So he says, are you in the faith? And you know what he's kind of doing? Don't miss this.

You remember one of the things I've taken away that probably I need to reassess on how much I love it of the study of 2 Corinthians is that sarcasm isn't a sin.

Because let me tell you something, Paul gets very sarcastic throughout this letter. And one of them is here. You do realize what he's doing, don't you? They want him to prove he's an apostle. He says, why don't you prove to me you're even in the faith? He's giving it back to them. I tell you what, if we all have to prove stuff, why don't y'all prove to me you even are a part of the faith?

Because I don't see it. Why don't you test? You want me to be tested? Test yourself. Test yourself to see if you should even be rebuking me.

What gives you the power of that? Look at your life. And so he is saying that he wants proof of their faith. And what he's really saying is, are you an apostle? Do you have Christ in your heart? Will you fail the test? You want to test me. Test yourself. So then he moves on and he says, it's possible that you might fail the test.

Look at verse six. I hope you find out that we have not failed the test.

Have you failed the test? Honestly, as you're thinking in your mind right now, and the test is before you, and you have to fill out the answers, and at the end of it, it will confirm or maybe cause concern about whether you're in the faith or not.

Let me just throw this one at you. Now we're getting up to the 400-level classes. confirm or maybe cause concern about whether you're in the faith or not. Have you, have you, let me just throw this one at you. Now we're getting up to the 400 level classes. Have you talked to anybody about Jesus? Anybody?

The most basic commandment that we were given. And I, speaking from experience, it's probably a lot of times it's the most difficult one that we ever do. When I saw the last time that Barna did the research, it was 93% of people who claim to be in the church have never shared the gospel with anyone.

93%. 7% of the church goes out and talks to people about Jesus in some way, shape, or form.

7%. We're not talking about 7% go on mission trips to the ends of the earth and sell everything.

We're not talking about that. They've never shared the gospel with a neighbor. They've never shared it at work.

They've never shared it at the ball field. They've never shared it at work. They've never shared it at the ball field. They've never shared it at all. See, when Jesus starts saying in Matthew 7, which was our reading assignment today, by the way, for the family, when he says that those who find me are few, see, when you hear 93% don't even share the gospel, never have, you understand this few thing he's talking about.

Because I don't know if y'all know this, if there was money in here and 93% of it was not available to you and you only got 7%, that's not a big number.

I mean, when I was in sales, if somebody told you that your commission was 7%, you'd be furious. But only 7%.

See, that's where that few comes from. Why don't they? See, the thing that always, you know why we say, well, I don't want to make people uncomfortable.

I've got news for you. I've had people sit down with me and tell me everything about their kids, and I don't even know them.

I didn't enjoy that. You ever been out to like a tournament or something, and some person sit down with you and tell you every accolade their kids ever got and what team they play for, and they're on the All-American.

I'm like, buddy, I just met you. I don't even know who you are. Where are you from? So they don't have a problem with that, and I'll be honest with you, I didn't care for that conversation.

I don't even know your kid. But you couldn't wait to tell me about it. So if you knew Jesus, wouldn't that be even a bigger deal than all the accolades your kid's ever gotten?

So I could be dying and going to hell, but you just can't muster up the courage for that. But if I happen to say, where's the best barbecue in town, you won't shut up.

So this is the kind of stuff that Paul's uncomfortably asking us to assess.

And then he goes into 7 and 8 and he says this, but we pray to God that you may not do wrong. Not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. So what's his prayer? He immediately goes to prayer and he says, I pray to God that you will not do evil.

I pray you don't choose the wrong path, which could lead to war with me when I get there.

7B, do what's right no matter how you see me. Because he takes that on. Whether you think I've met the test or not is irrelevant.

Because you're not going to answer to me. You should be living your lives the way Jesus told you to live, no matter what you think about me.

Right? This is the, and I know we've all had them in our lives, right? Got them? I got them in my life right now. I don't go to church because it's full of a bunch of hypocrites, and somebody was mean to me at church.

I didn't get treated right. See, that's an excuse from someone who doesn't know Christ. Rick, that's awful judgmental.

Let me tell you why I say this. This is not just some random comment I've made. They're letting you know that being in worship with Jesus isn't that important to them.

You're going to let somebody that you don't like in a congregation of who knows how many people keep you from coming to worship? You should be going to worship because you love Jesus so much. Not, I will not be part of God's organized church because there might be people there I don't like. There's people that go to church with me every Sunday that don't like me.

go to church with me every Sunday that don't like me. I'm sure. And some of them I don't like. I don't wish them. I have agape love for them. But when you start getting into the brotherly love and family love, not really. I don't desire to spend a tremendous amount of time with them.

However, they're my brother or sister in Christ. The agape love for them is always there. We all have different personalities. We don't all like the same things. Doesn't mean we all have to hang out together. But let me tell you though, if you're not going to the redeemed church over the way people act or because you don't like a certain person or you don't like the whatever, you got bigger problems than the people because you don't like a certain person, or you don't like the whatever, you've got bigger problems than the people.

Because you've let something pretty petty keep you from proper worship of the one and only living God, and also to keep you from being obedient to what he called us to do.

And by the way, where we live, there's a church on every corner. Find one. As long as they're preaching the word of God and they sing theologically sound songs to properly worship God, find somewhere.

And then what about these other people? I don't want to be part of the organized church. I go out. I don't have to. I got my own time with God. Wow, you're really something. So you are so holy and so in sync with God. You don't even need to go to the organized church. You've put together a Bible study, I'm sure, that you're rocking and rolling in, and you've got an organized plan for the year, which books of the Bible you're going to study and and uh you probably get up on the lord's day and get out a a word of god and expository teach yourself see here's the here's the problem even if you choose that way who are you discipling so you just talk to yourself about god nobody else well that's disobedience right there you're already not right with god so this is the kind of stuff that paul is calling and he's saying i i pray you don't choose the wrong path do what's right no matter how you see me do what's right why for your own good not be right with me, not to give in to me, but because that's what's right with you, you should be right with God no matter how you feel about me. Right? Now, how much different is Paul with the Corinthians than Jonah with Nineveh?

is Paul with the Corinthians than Jonah with Nineveh. Jonah wanted God to wipe out Nineveh. Here's what Jonah would be writing in a letter. I can't wait for God to kill y'all. I hope y'all don't listen to me. I hope you do choose the wrong path. I hope you do choose evil so God will finally smite y'all. Well, see, Paul's not like that.

Paul said, no, no, I want y'all to get it right. I want you to repent. I want you to be right with God. I want God to forgive you. I want you on the right path. It's quite different than Jonah, isn't it? Which one are we more like?

Jonah's still mad at the end of Jonah. He's so disappointed they repented. Paul would be overjoyed if they would repent. So, he says, I want repentance, not your destruction. Do you see that even about people you don't like?

We really shouldn't really desire that people choose the wrong path and die eternally. I don't really wish that on anybody. There's some people I've had to really get God to convince me I don't want that to happen to them. But when I think about what I deserve and that's just the deal you know what Jesus taught us how dare any of us deny repentance to people that God didn't deny to us none of us deserve to be forgiven by God and we should never hope that because at the end of it all whatever we don't like about those people or whatever they did to us, we did that and worse to God himself.

So now he's going to make a proposition and we'll be done in eight through 10. So in eight, we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. Here's what he says. Put your house in order. None of this. You know what he's saying? Have you ever done this? How many of you have kids in here? Get your hands up. Okay. How many times have you said, do what I say to do so we don't have to have a bad time today? Don't make me have to discipline you. Don't make me have to punish you. Don't make me go there.

I can't tell you how many times I've said that. I've even coached teams before going, don't make me go there. Let's do this drill right.

Don't make me act up. Don't make me launch. I don't want to do that. Let's do it right. And so what Paul is saying is, these warnings I'm giving you, guess how they wouldn't be necessary if y'all just get your act together.

Have you ever gotten so frustrated and thought to yourself, when did it become such a monumental feat just to get your act together?

He says, y'all know the truth, you're supposed to. Get your house in order, and then when I come on this third visit, how about this? It'll be a wonderful visit. These things I'm saying I'm going to do, I don't have to. I could get there and everybody's repented, everybody's got in line, everybody's treating each other the way you're supposed to, and everything that I say I'm going to say, I don't have to say.

You ever done that before? You ever told your kids when they were little to clean the room up in that terrible walk down the hall, please let it be clean.

Please let it be in order. Don't make me open this door and have to act up and have to call people and discipline people.

Don't make me do that. Just do what daddy told you to do. Right? I remember with one of mine one time, I literally laid out with them.

I went to pick them up after a ball game. You know how that is. And they're young, elementary school.

And I get there and everybody's like, oh, let them spend the night. Let them spend the night. And they came over and my kid came over, let me spend the night.

Let me just be clear with you. We don't spend the night. Your other siblings are at home. We're going to do a movie night with family we got popcorn popping and i said now you have one or two choices to make here and i'm gonna even tell you which one's right here's the right one you tell everybody thank you you go over and thank mr so-and-so for having a cookout for y'all after the win you get in the car with daddy we go home guess what happens we get popcorn we get a movie out after everybody's had a bath we all get in our pajamas and we sit down we have a wonderful night together at family as family by the way that's the correct choice i said now there's choice too and i'm going to tell you this it's the wrong choice i said you have some sort of temper tantrum out here you you act a fool, you're still not staying either way. There's no scenario you spend the night. And then you're going to get in the car with me and I'm going to be furious and I'm going to tear your honey up.