CHRIST, OUR EXAMPLE
1Thes. 1:5 & 1Pet. 2:21-23
Christ IS Our Example In Word And In Deed.
As we can walk as Christ walked, we can talk as Christ talked. This is not a condition of one’s feet or lips, it is a condition of the heart.
Before we can walk as Christ walked, and talk as He talked, we must first think as Christ thought. All action is the result of thought. Your actions are produced by what you think. “Every thought must be brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” 2Cor. 10:5.
This requires an act of determined consecration, requiring purpose and continual application for the mind loves to wonder.
It also requires a willing exchange, giving up former ways of thinking and accepting “the mind of Christ” as our own. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5).
When you are birthed of God and filled with the Holy Ghost, you have two minds. In the new creation, you have the mind of God, in the old you have the carnal mind. “To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Rom. 8:6). So we, by a determined act of our will, must let His mind be our mind. Then we will have a controlled, sane mind and remember that your actions are a product of your thoughts.
It is possible to lead a victorious thought life. This does not mean that Satan cannot come with evil suggestions, but we can refuse to dwell on that which is evil.
A sane mind is a controlled mind - filling the mind with right thoughts can drive out evil thoughts.
Phil. 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these on these things.
Evil thoughts will come, thoughts of lust, thoughts of violence. These mostly are spirits. They come uninvited into our mind. You have not sinned when they come. But if you entertain them and obey them, you sin. You drive them out by filling the mind with these things that are good, right and honest.
Jesus thought right, and the result was He walked right and talked right. “Christ Suffered For Us, Leaving Us An Example That Ye Should Follow His Steps,” “Who Did No Sin...” (1Pet. 2:21-22).
Christ did not live in habitual sin and He did not make excuses for sin.
He resisted the devil, the temptation, “He knew no sin...”, even though He was “tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15).
“Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not…” (1Jn 3:6). This is opposite to most church’s teaching. Because of this, most religion is powerless. This is why there is no deliverance.
You must hear, know, believe, and live in this truth if you are to have power with God. We are not called to follow religious tradition. We must look into the Bible as if we have never seen it before. We must see the path that we are to walk, if we are to have this power and preach this Gospel in the way that is acceptable to God.
The church Jesus is coming after is not going to be some broken down religious traditional machine. He is coming after a glorious church, without spot, and without wrinkle, that is doing the works of God. To be a part of such a body we have to resist the religious bologna that says we cannot live above sin.
To abide in Christ is to walk in the Spirit of God.
To abide in Christ is “to resist the devil” – it is “to give no place to the devil” (Js. 4:7). The flesh is Satan’s place. It is his body, just as surely as the church is the spiritual body of Christ.
God’s work depends on human vessels. Clendennin says: “God the Father, through God the Holy Ghost, displaying God the Son, through a human vehicle called the church.” This has always been God’s plan. You and I are to be that vessel.
What does God say about sin, about living above sin? What does God say about our being in a life of holiness at all times? There is a reason why some have power and others do not, and it is not that God is a respecter of persons. Power is a direct result of faith, and faith comes by obedience.
1Jn. 3:21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then we have confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
You see the position, and the place? This is a place of faith; a place of power. Hope is available to people without holiness but faith is not.
If faith were available without holiness, then people who can never see God could have power to ask and receive anything they desire. God’s promise to those who have faith is, “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive“
God also said “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14).
Religion Teaches Man That He Must Sin Everyday - God Says, “…Be Ye Holy; For I Am Holy” (1Pet. 1:6).
Who are we going to believe? God, or a religious system that misrepresents God.
Real Bible Holiness is the Holy Spirit living the life of Jesus through us who believe God. If He lives the life of Jesus through me, then He will work the works of Jesus through me.
Paul writing to the Corinthians said, “Awake to righteousness and sin not, for some have not the knowledge of God, I speak this to your shame” (1Cor. 15:34). Christ is our righteousness (1Cor. 1:30).
You cannot have power with God when you are asleep. So God is saying to us, “Wake Up!” Quit making excuses for sin! Begin to walk in the Spirit! To abide in Christ, is to walk in the Spirit. If you walk in the Spirit, you will not fulfill the lusts and desires of the flesh.
Spiritually asleep Christians are not led by the word of God, or by the Spirit of God. David said in Psalms 119:11, Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
The work of the Spirit is to reprove of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement to come (Jn. 16:8). We must walk in Jesus’ steps. For the Spirit to reprove of sin, the world, and of judgement, the word has to be in the heart. If we don’t know what is sin, then there is no way the Holy Ghost can judge it and reveal it.
If the word is in our heart, and we are full of the Holy Ghost, before we ever sin, the Holy Spirit will make us aware. We can make the choice.
We Must Walk In Jesus’ Steps. Look at our text again. “…Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps (1Pet. 2:21). Those who teach that we cannot live above sin will have to tear this out of the Bible. Jesus knew no sin, and God says to me, “follow in His steps.”
We Must Not Only Talk As Jesus Talked, We Must Walk In His Steps.
Gal. 5:16, 17 ‘This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.’
The opposite of that has to be true. If you do not walk in the Spirit, you will fulfil the lust of the flesh. In verses 19-21, He tells us what the flesh is.
Gal. 5:19 ‘Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.’
The works of the flesh listed here are not present in the lives of those who walk in the Spirit. There are those who harbor some of these works of the flesh in their lives, making very little effort if any to overcome. These are the people who are continually asking why the power isn’t there when they pray. Verse 21 says, “…they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.”
If you are not fit for the kingdom of God, then you certainly cannot work the works of the kingdom. “Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh” (Gal. 5:17).
God Commands Us To Put Off The Old Man, (Works Of The Flesh) With His Deeds (Col. 3:9-10).
We know from the word of God that the sick are to be healed, the demon possessed are to be set free, and the lost are to be saved. We know that power is sadly lacking in the church. We want to know why this is not happening.
Certain things in the life will prevent God’s power from flowing through the vessel, whether it is the vessel of the first century or the vessel of the now. It is all the same.
First, there is PRIDE – That important, independent spirit. Inordinate self-esteem, disdainful, and haughtiness. There is none good but God, only Jesus. It is only as I submit myself to God can the Holy Ghost manifest Christ through me. PRIDE.
LOVE OF PRAISE – That desire to be noticed, love to be first, drawing attention to one’s self. Is that you? Do you prefer your brother, or do you want to be first? That spirit in the vessel will stop the power of God. In the very beginning we said man’s tongue was his worst enemy.
Nothing will stop this power from functioning in your life quicker than an ARGUING - TALKATIVE SPIRIT - Stubborn, unteachable spirit. It is self-will, unyeilding, commanding, criticizing, and fearful. This person loves to be coaxed and humored. The river will not flow where such a spirit is. There is so much of that in the church today. If you don’t notice them then they will find somebody who will. You have no love unless you notice them and everything they do. God’s power can never flow through such childishness.
FAULT FINDING
LUST - Familiarity with the opposite sex, unholy actions.
DISHONESTY - Deceitful, evading, covering the truth, always trying to leave a better impression of yourself than is true, exaggeration.
SELFISHNESS - Love of money, love of ease, laziness.
FORMALITY - Spiritual deadness, lack of compassion, for souls for the church, dryness, indifference.
ALL OF THESE RESULT IN A LACK OF THE POWER OF GOD.
The Answer To It All Is A Simple One - “Put On The New Man Which After God Is Created In Righteousness, And True Holiness” (Eph. 4:24)
The characteristics of that “new man” are the very nature of Christ, the only true holiness of God.
LOVE – You have a whole chapter in 1Corinthians 13 on this attribute.
JOY - Cheerfulness, calm delight.
PEACE - Quietness, rest, content.
MEEKNESS - Mild, controlled, humble.
LONGSUFFERING - Forbearance, put up with.
GENTLENESS, GOODNESS, FAITH and TEMPERANCE. Real Holiness. This life is God’s plan and purpose for every believer.
Without these there can be no power from on high. Without holiness you cannot even see God, much less be used of God.
When we get to the gates of that city, they wont ask for your I.D. - they will look for a resemblance of Christ in your life - that is your pass into heaven.
