2 Corinthians 13:5 - Homilies By D. Fraser

I. POINTS ON WHICH SELF - EXAMINATION IS REQUIRED . They relate to your connection with Jesus Christ—whether he is in you and you are in the faith. It is assumed that the word of faith has been preached; then follows the question—How does this Word affect or influence you? It is easy to hear it and give it a formal assent—but this is not enough. Are you really in the faith? Does the truth compass you about and impress itself on all your views, motives, and principles of action? If so, Christ is certainly in you. He dwells in your heart by faith, and by his Spirit vitalizes and purifies your spirit.

II. THE KIND OF EVIDENCE NEEDED . The thing is not to be assumed, but proved. There is a mode of proof which onlookers may read and estimate. It is that which appears in your temper, demeanour, and actions. If men see good fruit in you, they infer that you are a good tree. But self-scrutiny must go into the matter more deeply; Onlookers see actions, but not the motives from which they spring. Some of your words and deeds they know, but not all of them, and not your actuating dispositions. Examine yourselves by the double test of the inward and the outward life. Review your motives and secret desires, as well as the current of your tempers and the tenor of your lives.

III. THE DIFFICULTY OF CONDUCTING THIS EXAMINATION .

1 . In the nature of the case. Genuine self-knowledge is perhaps a rare attainment. The moment we go beneath the surface and try to probe the hidden things of the heart, we find ourselves among intricacies hard to unravel—a review of motives, the detection of half motives, and the analysis of transient thoughts and feelings as respects their moral complexion and significance. We are in a labyrinth of plans, wishes, imaginations, passions, caprices, and principles. One motive lurks behind another, one current of desire flows beneath another. And feeling, when subjected to analysis, ceases to be feeling, and it is only the recollection or the shadow of it which you can examine.

2 . Through the delusions of self-esteem. Men shrink from a severe self-examination, lest the result should be mortifying, if not alarming. And even so far as they go, they are influenced by a desire to think hopefully of their own state, and to apply to themselves easy and partial tests. Like a teacher who is partial to a particular scholar and asks him only those questions which he is sure to answer, or an unjust judge who gives ear only to the side that he favours, every man is apt in self-examination to be biased in his own favour and to dwell on his best points as though they formed the whole staple of his character.

3 . From exaggerated self-distrust. Some minds are morbidly sensitive, and do not so much examine as torment themselves. They cannot own what Christ has done for them, through fear of presumption. And their self-judgment is hindered by over caution and a dejection mistaken for humility.

IV. THE WAY TO REACH THE TRUTH ABOUT YOURSELVES . The Lord must be asked to preside over and direct the examination. It is he who looks upon the heart, and so it is he who can give you an insight into your real selves. Begin with the prayer in Psalms 139:23 , Psalms 139:24 . The Spirit of the Lord then shows you what you are by means of the lamp of the Word. And with such guidance you ought to know whether you are the Lord's or no. But you must yourselves watch as well as read and pray. It is a good rule to note the significance of little things, in which the mind is less on its guard and so more freely reveals its bent. A physician watches slight symptoms in order to detect and cure disease. A judge takes note of small incidents in a case, and shows the jury how, on the combination of these, the verdict of guilt or innocence must turn. So also should he act who would diagnose or judge himself; though, on the other hand, one must not lay all the stress on minor points, but should rest the main conclusion on broad and comprehensive grounds.

V. THE CONDITION OF THOSE WHO CANNOT BEAR THE TRIAL , "Disapproved." There is no verdict of "not proven." Those who name the Name of Christ are approved or disapproved. Leave not your relation to Jesus Christ in doubt. Repair to him who can solve your doubt and give you the good part that shall not be taken away.—F.

2 Corinthians 13:11 - "The God of love and peace."

Love is the nature, and peace the very element, of God. Whatever the detached indications of severity under his sway, whatever the calamities permitted or the penalties inflicted by God, there is love in, over, and under all. Whatever the trouble or turmoil in parts of creation, at the centre of the universe there is a perfect peace. It is the conviction of this which makes our Christian faith so powerful both to calm and to satisfy the soul. We can endure much if we have for our Friend and our eternal Portion the God of love and peace.

I. THE INITIAL KNOWLEDGE OF GOD . You become in your heart acquainted with God through the faith of the gospel. You hear and believe that he loves, and is so far from desirous that any should perish, that he has made provision in Jesus Christ for eternal life to all who confide in his Name. So you repent of your enmity to him and turn to the God of love. Not only so. The gospel, while a revelation of love, is also a message of peace. "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself." Hearing this, you perceive that God is not pursuing you with an angry countenance and a terrible dart, but regards you with a face of sublime compassion and good will, and bids you fight against him no more, but become his friend. So you repent of your alienation and turn to the God of peace. And all is changed in you. You also love. You also are in peace.

II. PROGRESSIVE FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD . In order to abide with God, you must grow in those moral qualities which in their perfection make up his character. Thus you are to dwell in love, and to make peace.

1 . Dwell in love. What notion can a hard-hearted, uncharitable man form of God? Faith needs love in order to the higher attainments of holy knowledge and holy fellowship. Only be who dwells in love dwells in God. The Divine Word is sweet to him. The Divine purposes are all good in his eyes; for love enters into the secret of love, and by a touch of sympathy recognizes its presence and strength.

2 . Cherish and make peace. A quarrelsome Christian, a former of party, a fomenter of strife,—how can he know the God of peace? St. Paul by no means shrank from controversy, and made no truce with error or evil; but what a peacemaker he was in the Church! How impressive his appeals to the Corinthians to be of the same mind and at peace among themselves! It brings God into the heart to arrange disputes, to forgive offences, to bury prejudices, and to exhibit and foster brotherly kindness in the Church. It is the dove that was made a symbol of the Spirit of God; and that is a bird which flees away from noise and tempest. So it is in the quiet heart, and in those Churches where the brethren are at peace with one another, that the Spirit of the God of peace, the Comforter, will dwell.

III. DEFEAT OF THE FLESH AND THE DEVIL .

1 . Hatred is a work of the flesh. Love is part of the fruit of the Spirit; and he who is born of the Spirit ought to smile at provocation and forgive injury and even love his enemies, because the God whom he serves is love, the Father of whom he is begotten is merciful.

2 . Discord is a work of the devil. And in breathing a spirit of mutual consideration and concord over his people, the God of peace bruises Satan under their feet ( Romans 16:20 ). He brings order out of confusion, and crushes the hissing serpents of dissension and malignity under the feet of his saints.—F.