CHRIST, OUR EXAMPLE

Romans 15:7

Morning Meditation 9/4/17

"Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God."

We are not saved by Jesus' example. We can no more follow His example to perfection than we can keep the law. The law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ (Gal. 3:24) that we might be justified by faith. We were permanently crippled by the fall and were so disabled that we cannot meet God's standards. Paul put it like this in Romans 8:2-4, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.."

While we are not saved by following Christ's example, He is our example in service. I am saved by faith in Christ. That is my permanent standing before God. But God has something for me to do after I am saved. He wants me to glorify Him by the way I live. And Christ's life, His teachings, and His walk, furnish me with the example that I am to follow. This can be done only by the power of His indwelling presence. What the Lord commands, He enables.

I have heard many an unsaved person over the years say, "I want to be saved but I just can't live it." And he is absolutely right. As a lost person you can hand him rules to keep and no matter how hard he tries, he will fail. The man may sincerely not want to be a hypocrite. So he delays salvation because he know himself well enough that he cannot meet God's standards. What he doesn't realize is that Christ kept God's standards for Him. God's plan is to give him salvation by grace without requiring him to do something he can't do. So God says in Romans 10:9-13, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." God put salvation within the reach of every person who wants to be saved. It is not a matter of doing but one of receiving. John 1:11-12, "He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:"

It is a matter of believing on His name. Then Christ becomes our example in how to live a God-glorifying life. God enables us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to follow Christ's example. And when we fail in our walk he tells us what to do to get back in line. 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." You cannot be more right with God than the blood of Christ makes you.

Christ is our example in receiving our brother's and sisters in Christ. This is what He says in our text: "Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God." Paul by inspiration of God makes Christ the example in receiving the brethren. You may have a hard time receiving a brother in Christ. Our personalities clash. There are some people you just don't like to be around. Paul tells the church in Rome to remember how Christ received them. Paul says to the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."

Look at the long list of sins that Paul names and then he adds, "And such were some of you." If we are not careful, we will receive His forgiveness for the awful sins we have committed, but then we want to reject those who have committed those same sins. What Paul is saying is that we need to follow Jesus in His forgiveness of those of us who have committed such sins, and forgive our brother's and sisters who have also committed these sins and have been forgiven by the Lord.

Let's take it a step farther. We need to be ready to forgive the most wicked sinner that we know and receive him with open arms when he opens his heart to Jesus and takes Him as his personal Saviour. That man has just been translated from Satan's world of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son (Col. 1:13-14). That forgiven sinner needs to have the fellowship of other's of us who have been saved. If Christ has received him, we need to receive him.

WE NEED TO FOLLOW GODLY PASTORS WHO FOLLOW CHRIST

1 Corinthians 11:1 says, "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ." I know of no one who had his eyes fixed more on Christ than the apostle Paul. He practiced what he preached. First of all, I would like to say that this statement of Paul was not an idle boast. It was not coming from a heart filled with pride. Paul certainly did not feel that he had arrived. But he knew he was following Christ and he constantly reached out further and pressed for the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:13-14).

Paul became an illustration of the practice of Christianity. He knew he was right in what he was doing. He felt the complete freedom of the Spirit to tell the Corinthian Christians to "follow me as I follow Christ." That does not mean that Paul had arrived. It does not mean that there were not other truths that he would discover that he would have to practice that he did not yet know. But what he knew, he knew that much was right. So up to the point of Paul's attainment, he could say, "follow me as I follow Christ."

This principle is taught in Scripture: Hebrews 13:7 says, "Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation." John Gill says, "Christ's church is a kingdom, and he is King in it; pastors of churches are subordinate governors; who rule well when they rule not in an arbitrary way, according to their own wills, but according to the laws of Christ, with all faithfulness, prudence, and diligence. The word may be rendered "guides" or "leaders"whose faith follow; or "imitate"; meaning either their faithfulness, by owning the truths and ordinances of the Gospel before men; by reproving fellow Christians in love; by discharging the several duties of their place in the church; and by performing the private duties of life: or the grace of faith, their strong exercise of it, together with its fruits and effects, love, and good works; also the profession of their faith, which they hold fast unto the end; and the doctrine of faith, by embracing the same, as it appears agreeably to the word; by abiding by it, standing fast in it, striving for it, and persevering in it to the end."

It is good to have a human leader who follows Christ to the extent that it would be true as it was with Paul that when you were following him you were following Christ. But this has its limitations. Even pastors are human and sometimes fail utterly and one should not follow them in those failures. That's the reason we have the Word of God and the Holy Spirit as perfect guides also. So we can follow the godly examples of godly pastors but we are responsible to check them out through prayer and the Word of God.

FOLLOW CHRIST'S EXAMPLE IN FORBEARANCE AND FORGIVENESS

Colossians 3:13 Says, "Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.."

The words "Forbearing one another." This means that we are to bear with one another's faults. Grace is to rule our thoughts toward one another. This means that we forgive without the forgiveness being merited. Now this does not mean that you walk up to a brother who has offended you and say, "I forgive you for what you just did!!!" The fact is the brother may not want your forgiveness. He may not believe he was wrong in what he did. What would Jesus do in such a case? He would forgive. Is it possible to forgive someone who does not ask? It is possible for one to forgive to the extent that he does not hold it against the brother. It is possible for one to act (not hypocritically) as though the brother had asked. This may not help him but it will help you. A grudge and an ugly attitude will do you much more damage than that attitude will do to the brother against whom you are at odds. The main thing is that you will be right with God. God never condones a bad attitude on our part toward someone who has offended us. Jesus is the example we should follow in this matter. Jesus prayed as He hung on the cross, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." What Jesus said on the cross Stephen understood clearly. When he was stoned in Acts 7:59-60, "And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep."

Jesus is our example in forgiving others. I have to admit I have had a struggle in this personally. But I was wrong, and the Word of God convicted me, and I have learned to make things right in my heart, and so far as possible with others.

CHRIST IS OUR EXAMPLE IN SUFFERING IN THE FLESH

Peter deals with this in 1 Peter 4:1, "Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;"

First, Peter says, "Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh. . ." Barnes notes says, "this chapter relates principally to the manner in which those to whom the apostle wrote ought to bear their trials, and to the encouragements to a holy life, notwithstanding their persecutions. He had commenced the subject in the preceding chapter, and had referred them particularly to the example of the Saviour. His great solicitude was, that if they suffered, it should not be for crime, and that their enemies should not be able to bring any well-founded accusation against them. He would have them pure and harmless, patient and submissive; faithful in the performance of their duties, and confidently looking forward to the time when they should be delivered."

There is no suffering in the flesh permanent for the Christian. The death of a Christian or the rapture of the saints ends all suffering for us. That is something to look forward to. Concerning death Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:6-8, "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." There is not a shred of dread concerning death as a Christian martyr in Paul's writings. Paul had said in Philippians 1:20-23, "According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:" Paul had been caught up to Paradise according to his own testimony in 2 Cor. 12. He wrote these words after he had had this experience. Death is far better for the believer according to Paul. These are encouraging words to believers as they face death. Whether it is a sudden death with little or no suffering in the process, or if it is a long drawn out illness, the Word of God says it is far better. God's promises for His children are very comforting.

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White