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A Practical Example Jesus' Example, Our Character Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart
upon your bed, The effects Jesus’ example should have on our characters can scarcely be measured, for they can be both numerous and profound, subtle and internal, life changing and clear. To begin to understand the depth of these potential effects, it is proper for us to do as the psalmist instructs: to stand in awe, commune with our hearts, to be still. Selah. The meaning of “Selah” is important. Strong’s defines Selah as “suspension (of music), pause.” Some commentaries add: “It is held by some to mean a ‘pause, suspension, or holding back,’ either of the singing of the psalm for a musical interlude or of both singing and instrumental music for silent meditation. In either event, the pause was doubtless used to make the fact or sentiment just expressed more impressive, to allow the full import of the last utterance to sink in.” The import is simple: if we are to truly comprehend the impact of Jesus on our lives, we need to “consider [meditate on] him,” and pause. Stop the singing, stop the music, get quiet and reflect on the whole of Jesus: his words, actions, intentions and thoughts. “Wait for Jehovah: Be strong, and let thy heart take courage; Yea, wait thou for Jehovah” (Psalm 27:14, ASV). We are told to wait. To help our retention of the lesson at hand, let us use that word “wait” as an acronym for exploring Jesus’ example in the four major areas of our character: Words Actions Intentions Thoughts As we pursue this line of
reasoning, let us first observe that we are starting from outward
manifestations (Words and Actions) of the inward activities of heart and mind. WORDS There is no faster method of building up, or of tearing down, than our words: “His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity” (Psalm 10:7). “Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah. Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.” (Psalm 52:2-4). Words can be utterly destructive: “Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue” (Psalm 120:2). Here is what Jesus says about our words: “Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by its fruit. Ye offspring of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. The good man out of his good treasure bringeth forth good things: and the evil man out of his evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” (Matthew 12:33-37, ASV). How did Jesus use the power of his own words? In the account of Jesus’ experience with the centurion it is the great faith of that centurion that revealed the power of Jesus words: “And the centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed” (Matthew 8:8, ASV). He observed that no physical action was required of Jesus to heal, just his spoken word. In the account of Jesus and his disciples on the ship during a storm, it is again mere words that caused the tumult to cease: “But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, Peace! Be still! Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.” (Mark 4:38,39, NRSV). Jesus’ words were always powerful for good, for his words were always a reflection of the will of his Father. In this we can begin to understand how his example ought to be reflected in our lives. Our words also should reflect the heavenly Father’s will. This can only be accomplished—and fleetingly, at best—if we are immersed in his word and allow his spirit to guide our tongues. “But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to councils, and in their synagogues they will scourge you; yea and before governors and kings shall ye be brought for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, be not anxious how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you.”—Matthew 10:17-20, ASV The challenge here, as with the other three areas of our characters, is that we are not Jesus, we are not perfect, and our judgment can easily be skewed by our fallen condition. Words can make or break us. They can be weapons of mass destruction or a soothing balm of healing. As we go about our daily tasks, we bear the responsibility of being ambassadors for Christ and that ambassadorship is often interpreted by our words. What do our words say about our representation of Christ? Do they draw others to him? Issues such as controversy and righteous indignation are areas that require great care and will be discussed when we consider “intentions.” These areas are perhaps the most difficult for us to clearly filter our words, for emotion and ego are apt to influence what we say. We see that Jesus always
spoke words that were meant for good, to fulfill his Father’s will and to bring
those to whom he spoke as close to the truth as was possible. We also should
pattern our words in such a manner. Selah. ACTIONS The unmistakable evidences of our hearts are our actions. Jesus taught us that our actions reflect our allegiance: “Every one therefore that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them, shall be likened unto a wise man, who built his house upon the rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon the rock.” (Matthew 7:24-26, ASV). “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Luke 16:13). The strength of Jesus’ actions is reflected in:
Jesus’ example shows us how to use the power of our actions for good:
We see that Jesus’ actions
were perfectly congruent with the will of his Father. He did those things which
were necessary, those things which were kind and those things which were wise
in his Father’s eyes. His actions defined his mission and his allegiance. Our
actions, while “there is none righteous, no not one” (Romans 3:10), must be
trained to follow the same path. We must daily work to do with our might what
our hands find to do in his service, we must daily work to fight off the sloth
and selfishness of the old man and do those things that would clearly reflect
Christ in us. Selah. INTENTIONS Intentions are the bridge over which thoughts travel to become actions or words. It is of the utmost importance to firmly guard this bridge, for the things we let pass over it are the things that define our consecration. Jesus spoke clearly of intentions and their resulting actions and the resulting consequence or blessing: “Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before men, to be seen of them: else ye have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. When therefore thou doest alms, sound not a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have received their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: that thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret shall recompense thee. And when ye pray, ye shall not be as the hypocrites: for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have received their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret shall recompense thee.” (Matthew 6:1-6, ASV). Jesus’ own intentions were clear: his Father’s will, his Father’s will, his Father’s will! “Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, Rabbi, eat something. But he said to them, I have food to eat that you do not know about. So the disciples said to one another, Surely no one has brought him something to eat? Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work.” (John 4:31-34, NRSV). “And the devil said to him, To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours. Jesus answered him, It is written, Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” (Luke 4:6-8, NRSV). “From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you. But he turned and said to Peter, Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things. Then Jesus told his disciples, If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:21-25, NRSV). As for our intentions, they must be clearly understood, for their potential to wreak havoc is great. Not only must we focus on Jesus’ example of doing the right things, but we must also focus on doing those right things with the right intentions: “And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3, ASV). This can only be accomplished by allowing the holy spirit to guide us. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, and ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1,2, ASV). This brings us to matters of great difficulty: controversy and righteous indignation. How, according to Jesus’ example, are we to deal with such things? First of all, anger is not intrinsically bad; it is our use of it that gets us into trouble: “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath” (Ephesians 4:26, ASV). Let us examine an example of Jesus’ righteous anger, to see his intention, how he framed his actions and his anger to a righteous end: “And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: and when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; and said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise” (John 2:14-16). Jesus was angry at the misuse of the temple as a place of unrighteous profit. The scourge of small cords was not a weapon to do harm, it was an attention getter. Jesus drove out the animals; these could be recovered without much effort by their owners. He overturned the tables, again not displacing any goods, just causing them to clean up. Notice what he did with the doves: he did not loose them, he simply commanded they be removed. Why? Jesus was not interested in causing harm or loss; he was interested in stopping extortion. Had the doves been loosed, they would not have been easily recovered, causing loss to their owners and to the poor who would be purchasing them for their sacrifice. So we see Jesus’ anger framed in righteousness, wisdom, and kindness. We see that we must only act
out of godliness. The moment we allow our fallen intentions to influence our
words or actions is the moment we bring reproach upon the name of Christ. “For
it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure”
(Philippians 2:13, ASV).
Let us firmly will to do what is right so we may do that which is godly.
Intentions are a bridge: What do we allow to pass over it? Selah. THOUGHTS The seeds of all that will make us faithful or unfaithful are found in our thoughts. “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me cast out the mote out of thine eye; and lo, the beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:1-5, ASV). Jesus’ thoughts at the beginning of his ministry: It is Written! “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil … The tempter came and said to him, If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread. But he answered, It is written, One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, he will command his angels concerning you … Jesus said to him, Again it is written, Do not put the Lord your God to the test. Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me. Jesus said to him, Away with you, Satan! for it is written, Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” (Matthew 4:1-10, NRSV). Jesus’ thoughts at the end of his ministry were Thy Will Be Done! “And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want. Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Again he went away for the second time and prayed, My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done. Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words.” (Matthew 26:39-44, NRSV). As we have come to the last area of character to seek Jesus’ example it is evident that Jesus, in all four of these areas in his life, had a complete submission to the will of his Father. As we struggle to conform to his example, let us remember that we are not fighting this battle alone, but by God’s grace we fight through his power: “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). To bring our thoughts captive to Christ is our objective and this can only be accomplished through an attitude of rejoicing, study, faith and humility. Rejoicing leads to security, which leads to valuable thoughts, which lead to peace: “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 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 things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.” (Philippians 4:4-9). We see that as surely as thoughts are seeds, we are the sowers. This means we can by the grace of God make choices as to which seeds are sown, watered, cultivated, and brought to maturity so they can be allowed to cross over the bridge of intention and become actions and words. Let us W-A-I-T on the Lord for his wisdom and let us contemplate the example of our Lord and Master to the end of greater faithfulness. “Wait on the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Wait I say, on the LORD.” Selah! |