SELF-EXAMINATION
                                       PS 139:1-24

READ I COR 11:23-28

LAST MONTH GOD'S COVENANT; THIS MONTH, OUR COVENANT

I.   INTRODUCTION OF THE PSALM
     A.    PSALM IS A MEDITATION ON OMNISCIENCE OF GOD
     B.    NECESSARY CONSEQUENCE OF OMNISCIENCE
                1.God sees and knows all things done by the wicked
                2.God will slay the wicked
     C.    DAVID ASKS GOD FOR MERCY IN ASKING GOD TO SEARCH HIM
                1.Not for new information for God
                2.David asks for God to use a search light
     D.    DAVID ASKS TO BE LEAD IN THE WAY (Christ is the way)
II.  WE SHOULD BE CONCERNED WITH KNOWING IF WE ARE LIVING IN A SINFUL WAY
     A.    PAUL WRITES "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own
           selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye
           be reprobates?" II Cor 13:5
     B.    DO YOU LIVE IN A WAY OF SIN BY OMISSION
                1.Through wrong principles or mistaken notions of our duties
                2.God requires watchfulness and diligence
     C.    GOD IS WORTHY THAT WE SHOULD SERVE HIM
                1."Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget
                 the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heard
                 all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;"
                 Deut 4:9
                2."Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and His
                 testimonies, and His statutes, which he hath commanded thee." Deut 6:17
           D.    WE ARE OFTEN CAREFUL IN MAKING DEALS IN THE WORLD  (BUYING A CAR)
                1.Why not as careful when our souls are concerned
                2.We live in a world where we continually meet temptation
                                 a."But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through
                       his subtlity, so your minds should be corrupted from that simplicity
                       that is in Christ." II Cor 11:3
                                 b."Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a
                       roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:" I Pet 5:8
III. MANY OF US LIVE IN SIN AND DON'T KNOW IT
     A.    THE BLINDING DECEITFUL NATURE OF SIN
                1.Sin is of a deceitful nature
                2.You are not sensible of it
                3.Lust is blinding
                4.e.g. hating a neighbor  (homosexuals)
                                 a.you might think he deserves to be hated
                                 b.it's not your duty to love him
     B.    ALL LUSTS ARE DECEITFUL
                1."That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is
                 corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;" Eph 4:22
                2.Lusts tend to prejudice our hearts to believe that we may lawfully
                 practice the lust (racking our brains for excuses)
                3.Men don't love to condemn themselves
                                 a.homosexuality
                                 b.abortion
                                 c.modern psychology
                4."But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you
                 be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." Heb 3:13
           C.    WE ARE OFTEN BLINDED TO OUR OWN SIN
                1."There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the
                 ways of death." Prov 16:25
                2."The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can
                 know it?" Jer 17:9
     D.    SOMETIMES WE'RE BLINDED BY CUSTOM AND EXAMPLE OF OTHERS
IV.  SOME APPLICATIONS AND EXAMPLES FOR SELF-EXAMINATION
     A.    LISTEN TO YOUR FRIENDS
                1.We should try to listen and change when they see something in us
                2.As members, we have a covenant of unity.
                                 a."All persons that are in the church, and the children of the church,
                       are under the watch of the church; and it is one of those duties to
                       which we are bound by the covenant which we either actually or
                       virtually make, in uniting ourselves to a particular church, that we
                       will watch over our brethren, and do our part to uphold the
                       ordinances of God in their purity." (Vol 2, p.179)
                                 b.READ COVENANT OF UNITY (GBF)
     B.    RESPECT YOUR FAMILIES
                1.Husbands and wives
                                 a.If wrath, contention and unkind language are wrong among neighbors,
                       then how do you think God looks upon it between those whom He joined
                       as one flesh?
                                 b.God commanded the friendship in marriage (from the beginning)
                                 c.God knew all men would have faults, depraved, sinful
                                 d.Yet God made no exceptions
                2.Your Children
                                 a.Do you live in sin by neglecting to teach them?
                                        b.Are you as careful about their souls as you are their bodies?
                                 c.Do you live in the sin of Eli?
                                                        (1)He reproved his sons
                                                        (2)He failed to restrain his sons
                                                        (3)"For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for
                             the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made
                             themselves vile, and he restrained them not." I Sam 3:13
                                                        (4)If you say you can't restrain them, it's no excuse
                                                        (5)Means no family govt. and no respect for authority
                3.To the Children
                                 a.How do you act when your parents reprove you for misconduct?
                                                        (1)Do you take it lightly?
                                                        (2)Do you become impatient?
                                                        (3)Do you fail to honor your parents?
                                                        (4)Do you receive it with resentment and reject it?
                                 b."A fool despiseth his father's instruction: but he that regardeth
                       reproof is prudent." Prov 15:5
                                 c."The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his
                       mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young
                       eagles shall eat it." Prov 30:17
Gospel