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WEEKLY
Volume 2 Number 19
07 October 2007
Jesus Is Our Perfect Example
(Message delivered by Rev Hien Nguyen at the Sunday Worship Service, 2 pm, Sep 30, 07)
Text:
John 13:15
Many just blindly follow their “leaders” who do not believe in or submit to the Lord and God’s Word! God’s purpose is that “Christ is All, and in All” ( Col 3:11) and that His children are “to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom 8:29). Then, we are to look unto our Lord Jesus Christ as our perfect Example and just follow Him although the majority or many others do not. Our Lord Jesus says, “For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you” (John 13:15).
How can we see Jesus Christ as our perfect Example? It is through God’s perfectly inspired and perfectly preserved Word and through the Holy Spirit. Our Lord Jesus says, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39), and “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me…He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you” (John 15:26; 16:14). Our part is to read and study God’s Word, the Scriptures, with prayer, faith, humility and submission, and the Holy Spirit will help us see and know more about the Lord Jesus Christ, our perfect Example, so that we may look unto Him and follow Him by His grace and strength.
Jesus Has Clear Purposes
in His Life and Ministry
Many are living without any purposes. Others are living with selfish motives and worldly mindsets or values. Our Lord Jesus has clear purposes in His life and ministry:
To Glorify God the Father: Jesus says, “How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?” (John 5:44), and “I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me. And I seek not mine own glory” (John 8:49-50), and He prays to His Father, “I have glorified thee on the earth” (John 17:4). Jesus is determined to glorify His Father alone in His life and ministry. How about you and me? This is a command, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do (keep on doing) all to the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31). Shall we not follow Jesus’ example and glorify God alone in whatever we think, say and do even though many others do not?
To Finish the Father’s Work: Jesus says, “My meat is to do the will of
him that sent me, and to finish his work” (John 4:34) and prays to His Father, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4). Many are so busy doing their own work. The truth is that only when we do the Lord’s work will our labour not be in vain, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor 15:58). God has given you and me life and talents to serve Him and do His Work, which is to believe in and submit to the Lord Jesus Christ, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him (Jesus) whom he hath sent” (John 6:29). True faith always has fruit of obedience and submission to the Lord and His Word, “By faith Abraham…obeyed” (Heb 11:8). Many claim that they are serving the Lord but according to their own will and worldly ways or methods regardless of the Lord’s guidance or God’s Word. They are not doing God’s Work as they do not believe in nor submit to the Lord Jesus and His Word. How about you and me? Shall we not follow our Lord Jesus’ example and do our Father’s Work according to His will, His way and His timing although many others do not?
To Do the Father’s Will: Jesus says, “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me” (John 6:38). Our Lord Jesus is determined to do God’s will alone. When Satan tempted our Lord to do his will, the Lord Jesus Christ used God’s Word to resist Satan until he fled away (Matt 4:4-10). When Mary expected Jesus to turn water into wine, He said, “Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come” (John 2:4). When Jesus’ brothers suggested Him going to Jerusalem to perform miracles and show Himself to the world, He said, “My time is not yet come” (John 7:5), and so forth. How about you and me? Shall we not follow our Lord Jesus’ example and do God’s will and Word alone although many others, even our loved ones, do not? Let us remember that “the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:17).
To Bear Witness of the Truth: Jesus says, “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice” (John 18:37). To bear witness of the truth is to bear witness of the Lord Jesus and God’s Word as Jesus is the truth (John 14:6) and God’s Word is truth (John 17:17). How can we bear witness of the truth if we still doubt, question, or criticize God’s Word? Shall we not follow our Lord Jesus’ example and bear witness of the truth no matter what others may say or do?
To Preach the Gospel: When Jesus’ disciples found Him, they said unto Him, “All men seek for thee.” And Jesus said unto them, “Let us go into the next towns that I may preach there also: for therefore (because of this) came I forth” (Mark 1:37-38). Paul followed Jesus’ example, saying, “woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!” (1 Cor 9:16) Jesus has given us His Great Commission, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matt 28:19-20). Shall we not follow our Lord Jesus’ example and go, sow the seed, and teach His Word no matter what others may say or do?
To Minister: Jesus says, “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28). Paul had the same mind, saying, “And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved” (2 Cor 12: 15). If we have a purpose to serve, we shall not be sad or offended when our labour is ignored or not appreciated. Shall we not follow our Lord Jesus’ example and serve no matter what others may say or do?
To Save Sinners: Jesus says, “I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matt 9:13). Paul gave his testimony, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief” (1 Tim
1:15 ). Jesus’ purpose is to save sinners, even to die for them. Shall we not follow our Lord Jesus’ example and pray for the lost and share God’s salvation to them, hoping that God will save some souls by His grace in His good timing?
Jesus Honours God’s Word and
Lives by God’s Word
Jesus believed in God’s perfectly preserved Word without any questions or doubts even though there were no original manuscripts of the Old Testament in Hebrew (autographs) but only copies (apographs) in His days. Our Lord, the all-knowing God, did not see any mistakes nor any discrepancies like many modern “scholars” do nowadays. Jesus says, “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matt 5:18) and “the scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35). Moreover, Jesus knows all the scriptures thoroughly, and expounded God’s Word to His disciples “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). Jesus lives by God’s Word, saying, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4). Jesus speaks exactly God’s Word without any addition or subtraction, “For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak” (John 12:49). How about you and me? Shall we not follow our Lord Jesus’ example and believe, know and live by God’s perfectly preserved Word no matter what others, even “scholars,” may say or criticize?
Jesus Humbly Depends on His Father
Jesus says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise…I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” (John 5:19, 30). Although our Lord Jesus is the very God, He does not do
anything independently of His Father. Shall we not follow our Lord Jesus’ example and depend on Him with our full submission even though many others do not?
Jesus Prays
The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, always keeps in touch with His Father through prayers. The Bible says, “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed” (Mark 1:35). “And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed” (Luke 5:16), and “he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God” (6:12), even His prayer as a High Priest (John 17), His fully submissive prayer in the garden of Gethsemane (Matt 26:36), His forgiving prayer on the cross (Luke 23:34), His intercession for us in heaven (Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25), and so forth. Jesus teaches that “ men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1). How about you and me? Shall we not follow our Lord Jesus’ example and keep in touch with God in prayers in order to obtain His grace, strength, guidance, protection and blessings even though many others, even our loved ones, may fail?
Jesus Trusts in His Father’s Sovereignty
Jesus says,“Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father” (Matt 10:29), and “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him” (John 6:44). When Pilate said that he had power to crucify Jesus and had power to release Him, Jesus answered, “Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above” (John 19:10-11). Let us look unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith; “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2). Trusting in His Father’s sovereignty, Jesus set before Him the joy of His victory over Satan and death, the joy of the saved, and the joy of His glorious Kingdom, and thus, He endured the cross and despised the shame. Shall we not follow our Lord Jesus’example, trust in God’s sovereignty, set the joy before us, endure the cross and despise the shame no matter what others, even the enemies, may say or do?
Jesus Obeys His Father unto Death
Jesus obeyed His Father unto death, “even the death of the cross” (Phil 2:8). In the garden of Gethsemane, He prayed, “O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done” (Matt 26:42). How about you and me? Shall we not follow our Lord Jesus’ example and obey our God and His Word unto death even though many others may fail?
Jesus Trains His Disciples
Jesus did not focus on the number of followers like many “leaders” nowadays boast of, but on faithful men who could continue His work after His ascension, “he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach” (Mark 3:14). Paul followed Jesus’ example and exhorted Timothy, “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Tim 2:2). It is better to train one sincere Christian who is submissive to the Lord and His Word and serves Him faithfully than to have hundreds or thousands of professing Christians who are not faithful or submissive to the Lord and His Word. We thank God for the sound teaching and faithful training of the Far Eastern Bible College in these last days of compromise and apostasy. Shall we not follow our Lord Jesus’ example and train faithful men no matter what others may say or do?
Conclusion
Dear friends, looking unto men, even godly men like Abraham and Moses, can encourage us but cannot transform us unto our Lord’s image. Our Lord Jesus Christ not only sets His perfect example for us to follow but is also able to transform us unto His image by His life and grace in us. Let us turn our eyes unto Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of our faith, and then follow His example in godly purposes, in submission to God’s Word, in humble dependence on God, in prayer, in trust in God’s sovereignty, in obedience to God even unto death, and in training faithful men until His return. Amen.
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