An Introspective Spiritual Review of A.D. 2020
Please stand with me as we go over our current memory Scripture:
Psalm 1:1-2
“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His Law he meditates day and night.”
And our memory Scripture “refresher” verse is:
1 Timothy 2:5-6
“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all people - this has now been witnessed to at the proper time.”
Today we will be reading from John 3:1-21
Way back in the 1980’s I was working in a factory as a quality control technician, an inspector.
As an inspector I needed four things. First I needed to be hired as an inspector. This gave me the authority to perform inspections. Then, I needed a blueprint to tell me the necessary specifications for the part, the necessary measuring equipment, and, a part to compare to the blueprint.
Without any one of these things inspections would be possible.
Not hired? - no authority
No blueprint? - no understanding of what would make up a good part
No measuring equipment? - inability to determine the dimensions of the actual part
No part? - nothing to measure
Today we will all be inspectors. Today we will be inspecting our lives as we lived them out in the year A. D. 2020.
(Anno Domini - Latin for “The Year of the Lord” or “The Year of Our Lord.”)
With that in mind let’s take a look at John 3:1-21 and see if we meet the first criteria for the introspective inspection.
(Prayer for help)
This sermon is called an “Introspective Spiritual Review of A. D. 2020”.
Introspective = examining my own life
Spiritual Review = how did my walk with the Lord go?
A. D. 2020 = this past year
Examining my own life to determine how my walk with the Lord went in 2020. This is the “part” that we will be inspecting.
We are going to take a look at some questions that nearly all spring from the list of memory Scriptures we have memorized over the past 10 years.
Are you ready? Here we go!
1) Are you saved? Are you born again?
John 3:5b, “You MUST be Born again!”
John 3:16-18 / Ephesians 2:8-9 / Titus 3:3-5
Do you remember that the first requirement of becoming a quality control inspector was getting hired? Not hired? No inspector!
This is the first area to be examined in 2020.
Are you saved? Are you born again?
If you are not saved, if you are not born again, the rest of the inspection of your life in 2020 is irrelevant.
Whenever an inspection failed we would “Red Tag” the lot of parts for scrap or rework.
If you failed the inspection and you are NOT born again, the Lord does NOT want to “scrap” you.
The Lord is always up for “rework”. If you failed this inspection turn to Jesus. He is willing to “rework” you just like He did for everyone of us who have come to Jesus for salvation. He did this for all of us who are born again!
So, if you are born again, give yourself a “pass”. You are now “hired” and can begin an inspection of your life as it passed by in 2020.
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2) OK. So, the second thing an inspector needs to do his job is a blueprint.
We need something to compare our life to as we lived it in the year 2020.
What is the born again Christian’s blueprint? The Bible.
2 Timothy 2:15 / 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Jesus reprimanded the Saducees when He told them,
“You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.” Matthew 22:29
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.
“Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
Why do the inspectors at the DMV give you a written exam before you get your learner’s permit or driver’s license? It is so you cannot say, “I didn’t know that!”
By the same token, why did the Lord graciously give us His Holy Word? So, we can know Him and we can know His will and so that we will never have to say, “I didn’t know that?”
So, inspector (I’m talking to you), how did you do in 2020. Do you know more of God’s Word at the end of the year than you did at the beginning?
Do you have more information from God’s Word, the Bible, the Spiritual Blueprint, so that you can accurately inspect your life?
Did you pass or fail on this part of the inspection of your life as it was lived in 2020?
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OK. So, if you have passed the first two parts of the inspection of your life as it was lived in 2020 let’s look at couple of the “dimensions” of your life as compared to the blueprint of God’s Word!
3) What about trusting God?
Proverbs 3:5-8 / Philippians 4:6-7 / Matthew 6:31-33 (Do not worry)
Psalm 62:8
“Trust in (Yahweh, the LORD) at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is our refuge.”
Have you trusted the Lord in 2020 or have you tried to work everything out in your own strength?
Have there been times when you felt the Lord was telling to go one way in a decision but it did not seem to make sense?
If so, what did you do? Did you follow the leading of the Lord or did you trust your own “gut instinct?”
Think about it.
Did you trust the Lord in 2020 or did you trust yourself?
Do you trust the Lord more at the end of 2020 than you did when it started?
Did you pass or did you fail?
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What other “dimensions” of your life in the year 2020 can we test based on Scripture?
4) How about bondage to sin?
Romans 6:22-23 / 1 John 1:5-7 (This is the message we have …)
1 John 3:4-6 AMP
“Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness [ignoring God’s law by action or neglect or by tolerating wrongdoing - being unrestrained by (God’s) commands and His will].
“You know that He appeared [in visible form as a man] in order to take away sins; and in Him there is [absolutely] no sin [for He has neither the sin nature nor has He committed sin or acts worthy of blame].
“No one who abides in Him [who remains united in fellowship with Him - deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin. No one who habitually sins has seen Him or known Him.”
OK, inspector. We see what the Bible says about sin in a Christian’s life. As you look back over the year 2020 do you see an active habit of sin in your life?
Or, have you seen a lessening of the grip of sin on your life over the past year?
The Lord does not want us to sin at all. We know that is only possible if we are in constant fellowship with the Lord.
As you think over this past year is this a pass or fail for you?
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5) The final spiritual dimension we will look at is this; what about Christ-likeness in your life? Do you have within you the character of Jesus?
Galatians 5:22-23 / 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a
Which of these best describes your walk through 2020?
Patient - Kind - Contented - Speaks and acts humbly - Gracious -Self giving - Even tempered - Forgiving - Saddened by evil - Rejoices in hearing the truth - Always protecting others - Always trusting others - Always hoping for the best for others - Always persevering in faithfulness to others - Continually loving others
Impatient - Mean - Envious - Boastful - Prideful - Rude -
Self-serving - Easily angered - Holding grudges - Loves to dig up dirt - Saddened when truth comes out - Destructive - Suspicious - Wishing ill on others - Constant self-centeredness - Filled with self love
Do you pass or fail this test?
Out of the five, how did you do?
When you read the Bible do you allow the Lord to “prick” your heart when He points out something that needs to be changed in your life?
Final thoughts and prayer
