The Power of Personal Example

Well, thank you, Mark. Bach never sounded so good. That was very beautiful. Thank you for that very wonderful addition to our Sabbath services today. And happy Sabbath to all of you once again. Well, as we continue to think about the spring holy day season, I would like to discuss something else, another step we're taking towards preparing for the spring holy days on this Sabbath day, I would like to discuss the power behind a personal example.

What kind of example are we? Why is setting a good example important at all? What example should we follow or should we emulate in our lives? So, what is the power behind our personal examples? If you were looking at a dictionary, the American Heritage Dictionary defines the word example this way. Quote, one that is representative of a group as a whole. Another meaning is one serving as a pattern of a specific kind, a similar case that constitutes a model. So we are supposed to be examples. We understand that.

I think we know that. And we are to be lights to the world. We've covered that in a lot of detail in the past few sermons. But what kind of examples should we be? Who should we emulate? And why is our personal example so very important? Let's begin by going to John 13, verse 12. John 13, verse 12, a scripture that we read on every Passover evening because it's yet another example of how the entire life of Jesus Christ was about setting an example.

He set an example by His doctrines. He set an example for us to follow by the way He treated people. He set an example for us to follow by the way He loved His Father. And here's an example that He set for the disciples. John 13, verse 12, so when He had washed their feet and taken His garments and sat down again, He said to them, do you know what I have done to you? And they had to be kind of stunned because in Jewish households at this time, only the most menial, the lowest level servant, was the one who was stuck with washing someone's feet when they came into a house.

The lowest of the low was the one who would wash someone's feet when they came into the house. And here was their Lord and Master Jesus Christ who just washed their feet. He said, do you know what I've done to you? You call me teacher and Lord and you say, well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I, He says, have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you.

So again, much like His entire life, Jesus was very aware of the fact that everything He did, someone was watching. Everything that He did could possibly be inspired by God's Spirit to be recorded someday by Matthew or Mark or Luke or John. He was very aware of that fact. Continuing, He says, most assuredly, I say to you that a servant is not greater than his master, nor is he who sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

He's telling them, look, I'm your master, and if I am meek and humble enough to wash your feet, don't any of you ever think that you are so superior, that you are so special, that you are so above everyone else, that you refuse to serve them. That's the lesson that Jesus is giving them. Verse 18, I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen, but that the scripture may be fulfilled. He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me.

He even washed the feet of Judas Iscariot, the one who would shortly, so to speak, stab him in the back and betray him and have him arrested and killed. So we see here in this example that Jesus washed the feet of His disciples, as He did His entire ministry. It was an example of what they should do. They should reflect what He did. He accepted His responsibility to be an example to other people every day of His life.

He did this in the doctrines He taught, the way He treated others, and the way He respected and loved His Father. And He reminded them of, servant is not above His master. If the master models humility and meekness, the servants should do the same thing as well. And indeed, on the very Passover evening itself, we will follow this example of Jesus Christ and those of us who have been baptized and received God's Spirit, we will follow this example and wash one another's feet. So let's take a look at another scripture about an example. Let's now go to Peter, 1 Peter 2, verse 21.

We saw John recalling something that Jesus had done on the Passover. Now we'll take a look at a comment made by the Apostle Peter, 1 Peter, chapter 2, and verse 21. And it shouldn't surprise us to see that Peter is also using Jesus Christ as a model of someone whom we should emulate as an example. 1 Peter, chapter 2, verse 21, he says, For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow in his steps.

So whose example should we always follow? The example of Jesus Christ. Even in the way that he responded to suffering. Verse 22, who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, that means abusive language, when he was cursed, when he was spat upon, when he was mocked, when he was insulted to his face, he did not revile in return.

He didn't respond like most of us as human beings respond. He didn't lash out. He did not revile in return when he suffered. He did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously. He said, God, Father, I'm leaving this into your hands.

I'm not going to take retribution. I'm not going to strike out or lash back. I know that you are in charge. You're allowing this to happen and I'm just going to leave it in your hands. Verse 24, who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness. Remember we talked about Last Sabbath, how the reason we continue to draw breath after we have been baptized, the reason we continue to live in this world is to grow and to develop fruits and begin living righteously because Christ is in us.

By whose stripes you were healed, for you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your soul. So once we were lost, we were part of this world, we were slaves to sin, Satan owned us, lock, stock, and barrel, but we have returned to the overseer of our souls. God has called us. So again, Christ was a living example in everything that he did so that we could have a model to imitate. He lived for righteousness and so should we.

He wants us, he wants you, and he wants me to emulate his life. He even modeled the correct way to suffer. He did it patiently. He did it without whining or complaining, and he did it without lashing out and taking it out on other people. What a remarkable example, even in the way that he suffered. Now let's go to another scripture and see Paul's take on the importance of being an example. Philippians chapter 3 and verse 13.

Scripture we've read many times, and it is such a beautiful, inspiring scripture.

It should be read often. Philippians chapter 3 and verse 13, he says, brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended. In other words, apprehended, that's just another word for grasp. He says, I'm not there yet. I'm not there yet. I'm not there yet. I'm not there yet. In other words, apprehended, that's just another word for grasp. He says, I'm not there yet. I'm not in the kingdom of God. I have not completely received salvation yet. That hasn't happened. He says, I don't count myself as if that's already happened. But one thing I do, he says, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things that are ahead.

He says, verse 14, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ. Therefore, let us, as many as are mature, have this mind. And if anything you think otherwise, or if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal this even to you. Here's what verse 15, the New Century version says, because I know it can get a little muddled there in the New King James. But here's a better translation. Verse 15, all of us who are spiritually mature should think this way too. And if there are things you do not agree with, God will make them clear to you. Just be patient. If there's something that you don't quite grasp or understand on why it's important to have the mind of Christ, why it's important to follow his example, he said, just be patient, because in time, God will make even that clear to you. The mind that Paul is encouraging the brethren to have is the ideal mind for you and I to have entering the Passover season. And here it is. Here's what it is. Stop reliving the sins and the guilt and the shame of the past and start looking forward. Start living forward. You know, we cannot change the past one little bit. We just can't do it. But the decisions that we make today are going to affect all of our tomorrows.

The attitudes and the thoughts and the decisions we make from this moment forward are going to affect all of our tomorrows. But what happens to us when we relive in the past? What happens to us if our minds are frozen in the past? Well, what happens to us and the reason that occurs is we become fearful. We become fearful because we're still living in shame. We're still living in guilt. We're still living in the I can't do it. I'm not good enough self-talk that we were talking about last Sabbath. We become afraid and being afraid paralyzes us from reaching out into the future. Do you remember which of the servants last Sabbath was afraid? It was the one who hid his talent.

It was not the ones who doubled their talents. The one who was afraid, the one who was in fear, who was still living in the past, was the one who unfortunately continued through shame and guilt and resentment refused to move forward in their life. And that is so important for us. Paul says that this is the mind that we should have. If we are mature, we should have this mind pressing towards the goal, living for the future and not reliving the past. Verse 16, he says, nevertheless to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule. Let us be of the same mind. Now whose mind is this? This is the mind of Jesus Christ. Let us have the same mind that Christ has. Verse 17, brethren, join in following my example, Paul says. He just told us what his example was. And note those who walk as you have for a pattern. He's saying there are other leaders in the church or others in the church who have this same mind. And then he says something that's kind of sad because he says, continuing, he says, for many walk of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their mind on earthly things. There were some within the church at that time who had rejected the faith. And they went back out into the world. They were more interested in food and sex and money and all of those things that the world tempts us with. And Paul says he even wanted to weep. Just thinking about some of those people, it made him want to cry because Christ will not sacrifice himself twice for our sins. When we are called and we're given God's Spirit and we understand the truth, that's it. That is our one and only opportunity for salvation when we've gotten to that point. We cannot turn and go backward because Christ refuses to be crucified anew, to be crucified a second time for our sins. So Paul is saddened when he talks about that. Read verses 17 through 19 in the new century version. Brothers and sisters, he said, all of you should try to follow my example and copy those who lived the way we showed you. And he continues, many people live like enemies of the cross of Christ. I have often told you about them and it makes me cry to tell you about them now.

In the end, they will be destroyed. They do whatever their bodies want. They are proud of their shameful acts and they think only about earthly things. So Paul encourages the brethren to follow his personal example and that is an example that's also shared by other godly members, those that he said who were mature. And Paul says, let us live by the same rule and live by the same mind. And again, what is that rule? What is that mind? That is stop living in the past and look forward to a bright future that God has planned for each and every one of us. So brethren, I think that's important for us to understand. I think it's important for us to realize that our examples have an impact. They not only have an impact on us, they have an impact on our families, on our communities, on our church. And let's take a look at, sadly, a very negative example of a couple who were in the church. If you'll turn with me to Acts chapter 4 and verse 32, we'll see a sad story of a couple who violated the law of God by a very poor example that they demonstrated and it cost them their lives. This is serious. The topic I'm talking about today is very serious. They paid a terrible price because of the example that they were setting. Acts chapter 4 and verse 32.

Luke wrote, Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul. These are the earliest days of the church. Soon after the day of Pentecost, to give a little context, the church is in its infancy, the earliest days of the church. Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul. Neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace, meaning favor, God gave them favor, was upon them all, nor was there anyone among them who lacked. For all who were in possessions or were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and they brought the proceeds of the things they sold, and they laid them at the apostles feet, and they distributed to everyone who had need.

And verse 36, And Joseph, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles, which is translated son of encouragement, a Levite of the country of Cyprus, having land sold it, and he brought the money and laid it before the apostles feet. So we read these scriptures here, and in context, we need to understand that this was not some early form of socialism or communism that we should imitate in the church today. This was a one-time historical event that occurred only here in Jerusalem. Paul never had a system like this in the Greek cities or in the Gentile world where he was a pastor. So why at this period in history did they do this only in the Jerusalem congregation? Well, remember, as I said, this is the earliest stages of the church. It's in its infancy, immediately after it was founded, and many of the converts were shunned by their family, their Jewish families. They were ostracized by the Jewish community because they had accepted Jesus Christ as the expected Messiah. They had accepted Him as Savior, and now their families and the community, you can be sure, the Pharisees did everything they could to ostracize them.

So the end result is, is many lost their family connections. They lost their networks. They lost their ability to make a living. They lost the opportunity to provide for themselves, at least for a while. And so to provide for those who had lost everything because they had accepted a faith, they in the church who were well off and who owned lands were inspired, motivated by God to sell their possessions to help others if they could do so. This was not a command. This was a voluntary response by those who were in the church who said, I can do that. I have some land I can sell. I don't need that land. I'll sell the land and I'll give all the money to the church. And those who have need can check with the apostles and they'll make sure that they have something to eat, and they have a roof over their heads, and they're taken care of during this time of temporary crisis here in the church in Jerusalem. So that's the background of what's going on. Now, chapter 5 and verse 1. Couple in the church, a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira, his wife, sold a possession and he kept back part of the proceeds. His wife also being aware of it and brought a certain part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. So they sold this land.

They gave the apostles and the whole church the impression that they were taking all the money from the land that they had sold and that they were offering it to the churches and offering. Realize these were beyond tithes and offerings. Again, this was voluntary. The need to do this was not a command. So we see that this occurred. Ananias is not doing this because he's moved by God's Spirit, sadly, but because he wants to appear to be generous and righteous. He leads everyone to believe that he's selling some land and giving everything that he received from the sale to the church when he's not doing that. Because he wants to be praised. He wants to feel important. He wants to appear to be righteous to the church. He may also be seeking high status in the church. We just read about Barnabas and later he became a very important leader in the church. He was the mentor of young Saul who became Paul. So people were recognized by the church for these acts of generosity. He may have been lobbying for a political position. Remember that this was a voluntary act. This was not a command. He gave the church the impression he was giving everything he received from the sale of this land to the church. And he said to himself, he said, this is pretty good because who else is going to know that I did this except my wife. Who's going to know? No one else is going to know.

Someone else did know, called God. Let's read it in verse 3. But Peter said, so he comes up to give his money, Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own?

This was voluntary. You didn't even have to do this. You could have kept the land forever. No one commanded you to do this. So why the deceit? Continuing, he says, and after it was sold, was it not in your own control? You had every right to sell your land and keep all the money yourself.

The problem is, as you came giving us the impression and trying to deceive the church, that you were giving, you wanted to be a big man, that you were giving all of the proceeds of your land, like everyone else had done, and you kept some of it for yourself. He says, why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God. Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. And the young men arose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. Now, about three hours later, when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened, Peter said to her, he's going to give her an opportunity. Tell me whether you sold the land for this much.

And of course, she sold the land for a lot more. The figure he uses is what Ananias had claimed.

Tell me if you sold the land for this much. She said, yes, for so much. Then Peter said to her, how is it that you have agreed together to test the spirit of the Lord? Look at the feet of those who have buried your husband. They're at the door and they will carry you out. Then immediately, she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her out, buried her by her husband. Verse 11, so great fear, came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things. This is an example. It's not a very good example, and it ended up pretty badly, didn't it? It shows us, though, why example is important, because not only are other people watching what we do or don't do, but perhaps even more important than our example to our families and community and friends and brethren, is that God is watching us.

We, as Christians, are to live by the highest standards of integrity and not to think that it's okay to either deceive other people or to deceive God. Here is a couple in the church, who set shameful examples of lying in deceit just so that they could receive praise from others, and they could impress the apostles, and it backfired. It blew up on them pretty big, didn't it?

Brethren, the reason our examples are important, again, is that God is watching. He knows what we're doing privately. We may be able to hide things from men, but we cannot hide things from God. Here is a spiritual truth. It's this. The things we do privately will in time be rewarded openly.

If you do evil things privately, in time, those will be exposed publicly for the whole world to see. Ultimately, it may be the Judgment Day, but the things that we do evil privately will someday be rewarded openly, and the reward won't be one that we want. On the other hand, though, the coin, the flip side. The good things that we do privately, the way that we serve people, we cook food for them, or we take them to the store, and we call them, and we encourage them. The little quiet things we do privately will also someday be rewarded openly when Jesus Christ gives us our rewards and gives us the glory of eternal life. So again, I want you to always remember this spiritual truth. The things we do privately, one way or another, will someday be rewarded openly. And we want the good rewards, don't we? We want the right kind of rewards. So this is something that we need to consider. Let's take a look at another negative, personal example from a man who had a lot of positive traits and qualities. He's looked upon as a hero of the Old Testament, but he was a human being, and he also did a number of things in his life that he wasn't proud of. It's the example of King David. So turn with me to 2 Samuel 12, verse 1.

This is another negative example we're seeing from King David.

We're going to see here that God takes very seriously our responsibility to be a good example to other believers and to our community and even to our critics, even to those who are not Christians. Now in context, before I get to this verse, David had sinned greatly. He committed adultery with Bathsheba. He got her pregnant. Then to try to hide the fact that he got her pregnant, he deceives her husband Uriah to come and try to spend the night with her so that they could claim that Uriah, her husband, was the actual father of this child. When all of that blew up in his face, he eventually had innocent, loyal Uriah who was very loyal to the king killed. So as much occurs in our lives, one sin leads to another and then to hide that, it leads to another. To hide that sin leads to another and life can get very complicated. So God sends the prophet Nathan to harshly chastise David and tell him the consequences of these series of sins that he had committed. So let's pick it up now. 2 Samuel 12, verse 1. It says, And the Lord sent Nathan to David, and he came to him and said to him, He's going to give him a parable. We like parables. Jesus spoke in parables a lot. It says, There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb which he brought and nourished. And it grew up together with him, and with his children it ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and laying his bosom. It was like a daughter to him. And a traveler came to the rich man who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare for the wayfaring man who had come to him. But he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him. So again Nathan tells David this parable, and he masks it well enough that you can hear the trap snap shut because David doesn't grasp where he's going with this. You see, David's the rich man. Uriah the Hittite, he's the poor man. David has many beautiful wives to choose from. He's got one wife for Monday, another little cutie for Tuesday, another beautiful little brunette for Wednesday, a blonde for Thursday. He's got many beautiful little wives, but Uriah the Hittite has just one beautiful wife that he loves and that he treasures dearly. But David isn't content with the many beautiful wives that he has, so he takes Uriah's one beloved wife from him and he has Uriah eliminated, if you don't mind my mob term. He has him sponged out. So he tells this parable to David, verse five, so David's anger was greatly aroused against the man and he said to Nathan, as the Lord lives the man who is done, this shall surely die. What he really means here is he deserves death. We're going to see that he tells him something else should be done, but he says that is so low, so slimy, so perverse that the man who would do something like this deserves to die.

And verse six, and he shall restore fourfold for the lamb because he did this thing and because he had no pity, just like David had no pity on loyal Uriah the Hittite. Verse seven and Nathan said to David, you are the man. Thus says the Lord God of Israel. God says, you know what, David? I anointed you king over Israel. You were a nobody, a shepherd, peon. I made you king. I delivered you from the hand of Saul. You were as good as dead if I hadn't intervened.

I, God says, gave you your master's house and your his wives and your keeping, gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that hadn't been enough, all you had to do was ask, and I would have given you more. God said that's it's that simple. So in spite of all of that, all that you've been given on a silver platter, why have you despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight?

You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword. You have taken his wife to be your wife, and you have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house. This is a series of prophecies. Every one of these, by the way, came true. The sword shall never depart from your house because you have despised me. How did he despise God by his example? As we'll see very profoundly in a minute. And if taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife, thus says the Lord, behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house, and I'll take your wives before your eyes, and I will give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of the sun. Your wives are going to be raped openly in front of all Israel, not like you secretly, clandestinely, had relationships with Bathsheba, and it occurred. This is exactly what happened. Verse 12, for you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel before the sun. So this is a series of prophecies, and again, if you continue to read the story, every one of them came true, and many of these perversities were committed by David's very own sons, his own family. So verse 13, so David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. Now this is a deep expression of repentance. We don't have more detail, but we see by the response that it was a true repentance. It doesn't sound like much. It sounds like a short sentence, doesn't it? We can't read David's heart, but it obviously, by God's response, it was a sincere, bitter repentance because God accepts it. He says, I have sinned before the Lord. And Nathan said to David, the Lord has also put away your sin, and you shall not die. You know what, he says, David, you're not going to die. You deserve to die, just like you said the man in the parable deserved to die. He said, but I'm going to put away your sin. I'm going to forgive you of adultery with Bathsheba. I'm going to forgive you for the deceitfulness of trying to set up your right of the Hittite to appear to be the father of that child. I am going to forgive you for being a murderer and killing an innocent man who loved you and was loyal to your kingdom and fought for you.

I'm going to forgive you of all of those things. Verse 14, but there's one thing I will not forgive you of. Verse 14, however, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord, the blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die. Then Nathan departed to his house and the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife bore to David and it became ill. We won't go there a few verses. The child died. I'd like to read verse 14 from the New Century version. He says, but what you did caused the Lord's enemies to lose all respect for him. For this reason, the son who was born to you will die. So God gave David everything he had, just like he has given you and I. Everything that we have in this life. And because David represented God as a king, and we, by the way, spiritually, have been called to be kings and priests, because David represented God as king, he was responsible to set a powerful, positive example for other people to see. You and I, as the ambassadors for Jesus Christ, are also to be positive examples, because other people are watching us to see if we are the true disciples of Jesus Christ or just deceivers talking about Jesus Christ. They're watching us. They're watching what we do, what we say, how we act. I want you to never forget that God said that he would forgive David of his sins immediately when he repented. He said, it's done. Those sins gone, done, forgiven, except for the fact he said that your shameful example gave license for others to mock my name. That will not be forgiven, God said.

So, our examples, especially those of us who are in the church and have God's Spirit, and spiritually, again, are kings and priests, preparing to be kings and priests in the kingdom of God. Our examples are very important. 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse 5. Let's see what Paul says about his own personal example in a congregation that he founded. 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse 5.

Paul writes, he says, Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.

But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly. That's a New English word, and it basically means someone who walks in idleness, someone who is undisciplined in their lives or is lazy or idle. He says that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us. Then Paul says in verse 7, For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us. Notice Paul says, You should follow the example that I personally set for you, Paul says. For we were not disorderly among you, nor did we eat any one's bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you, not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us. So he reminds the congregation in Thessalonica that he personally worked hard to set a good example for them. He lived by the law of God. He did not live disorderly. He worked hard. He financially supported himself. He would not even accept tithes from the church for his own support because he wanted to set the example to them that hard work taking care of yourself is important. It's very important. So he worked hard, he financially supported himself because his desire was to give. It wasn't to get.

He worked night and day to take care of the needs of the church and to provide for his own needs. No one could even say that he ate a free meal the time that he was in that congregation.

He knew that he had a responsibility to set a powerful example because other people were watching him, including his critics. Now let's go to 1st Timothy and see some words of wisdom that he gives to the young evangelist Timothy. 1st Timothy chapter 4 verse 11. 1st Timothy chapter 4 verse 11. Paul writes to the young evangelist, these things command and teach. Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, by your attitude, your demeanor, in your faith, in purity. In all of those ways, he says, be an example to the believers.

Verse 13. Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Then he says in verse 15, meditate on these things. Give yourself entirely to them that your progress may be evident to all. That's just a nice way of saying be a good example. Your growth should be an example that other people see. That's what he means by that phrase, your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them. For doing this, you will save both yourself and those who hear you. Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger sisters, all with purity. So don't come down on the hammer on people. Treat them like they're your own family members. When you need to correct someone, do it with patience and kindness and dignity, like you're going to a little father or mother, your own father or mother, or your own brother or sister. So Paul's advice to Timothy was to be an example to the believers in every way, in the doctrine that he taught, in his behavior, in his attitude, in the way that he reflected his faith, and in just good, clean, wholesome living. And brethren, when people see us, they should see a reflection of Jesus Christ in us. Scientists have studied the moon's soil material that was brought back by all the Apollo rockets, and they have discovered that up to 50 percent of the moon's soil and moon rock is made up of glass. You know, the moon itself does not shine. It has no radiant energy that comes out of the moon. Basically, what the moon is, is it is a reflector. The light that we see coming from the moon is being reflected from the sun back at us. The moon itself is actually very dark, but because of the properties of the rock and the soil, it acts like a huge mirror.

And at night, we look up and we see that glowing object in the sky, and we call that the moon.

And in a similar way, we are limited carnal human beings, and we are darkened. But the righteousness of Christ inside of us should be reflected from us like a powerful mirror to everyone who comes in contact with us in our neighborhoods while we're shopping, while we're walking down the street, while we're in services, and our jobs everywhere, like a big reflection of the love and the righteousness of Christ. It should come out of us and radiate from us to have a powerful influence on other people. We are a new creation formed from the Spirit of Christ within us, and like the moon, we should be reflecting back light as an example, as a good example to everyone that we meet and everyone that we come in contact with in any way.

While I've been talking about the power of example, for the end of the sermon today, I would like to now take us to the graduate level, the graduate level regarding the importance of our examples, and that is not offending others and not even giving the appearance of evil in our lives.

Remember what it says about the church in the book of Revelation is that the bride has made herself ready, and I've been talking about the need for personal example, class 101, up to this point in time. Now we're going to get to the graduate level. So let's begin by going to 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 23. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 23.

In Paul's day, there was a controversy because the Walmart of the day was that you could go and buy meat cheap. You'd buy clean meat cheap by being meat that was offered to an idol. Discount! Really a great price because it had already been used in a worship service for a pagan idol and and it was left over and you could buy it real cheap. Some of the brethren said, I don't have a problem with that. It's just a piece of meat. Others, the brethren said, well, I think it's unclean because it's been offered to a pagan idol. I wouldn't eat that meat. So it was kind of a controversy. Paul is discussing it here in chapter 10 and verse 23. He says, all things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. He says, there are things that I can do because I have a right to do it, but they are things that aren't helpful to help other people grow. All things are lawful to me, he says, but not all things edifies. There are things that I could do and I have every right to do it, Paul says, but it wouldn't build up other people. It would offend them. It would tear it down.

Verse 24, let no one seek his own but each the other's well-being. Then he gets into this subject.

Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no question for your conscience sake, for the earth is the Lord's and its fullness. He says, my personal take on this, Paul says, is it means nothing to me if it were offered to an idol. My conscience doesn't bother me one bit that it was offered to an idol. Verse 27, if any of you who do not believe, invites you to dinner and you desire to go and eat whatever is set before you, asking no questions for conscience sake. So he says, if someone who's not in the church invites you over and they provide meat that was offered to idols, and your conscience doesn't bother, that's not a problem, just go ahead and eat it. Verse 28, but if anyone says to you, if you're in a meal setting, one of the brethren says to you, this was offered, this was offered to idols. He says, do not eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for consciousness sake, for the earth is the Lord's and all its fullness. Conscience, I say, not your own, because it's lawful for you to do it. It's not bothering you. He says, it's for their sake. Conscience, verse 29, I say, not your own, but for that of the other. For why is my liberty judged by another man's conscience? Why am I allowing myself to discipline myself because someone else may be offended? He says, but if I partake with thanks, why am I evil spoken of for the food in which I give thanks? Why am I allowing myself to be judged? He gives the answer. He says, because whatever you eat or drink, or whatever you do in life, anything you do, do it all to the glory of God. Give no offense either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the Church of God, just as I also please all men and all things, not seeking my own prophet, but the prophet of many, that they may be saved, imitate me just as I also imitate Christ. So he's saying, I am sensitive. If one of the brethren are offended by meat being offered to idols, I'm not going to eat it. I am not going to do it. I'm not going to violate their conscience. If they're in my presence, I'm just not going to do that. So again, Paul is discussing his own example regarding, at the time, what was a very sensitive issue. He's saying that meat offered to an idol was not a problem for him personally, but he understood that doing so could offend others. That is why things were lawful, he says, for him to do as he starts out, but it wasn't helpful. If he were to do those things, it wouldn't edify and build the Church. Some things he had a right to do, but if he did them, he knew it wouldn't build up, it wouldn't help others. He was sensitive to not offending believers and others by his lifestyle. He didn't want to offend others. He didn't want to seek his own will, but instead he wanted to be helpful to others. I'd like to give you just a few examples of how we can apply this.

We have a brethren in our congregation who don't eat out at restaurants in the Sabbath. And if you discover that someone won't eat out at a restaurant on the Sabbath, then don't invite them to eat out on the Sabbath. It's rude. If you know that that's their belief, don't offend them.

If they're standing next to someone, don't publicly invite someone standing next to them out on the Sabbath to eat. If you know they're standing there and they're bothered by it, you see, for conscience's sake, their conscience have the sensitivity not to do those kinds of things. Another example, I think, is drinking alcohol. If you're in a restaurant or a church activity with a friend who's recovering from an alcohol addiction, don't order a double. You know, don't hold that glass in front of that person and slurp down the alcohol. And, you know, it's just it's not a classy thing to do. It's not a sensitive thing to do if you know that they're overcoming an alcohol addiction. Don't drink or consume alcohol in front of them. I have kind of another example that I've been struggling whether to even tell this story or not, but I'll go ahead and do it and repent of it later.

Mr. Housen earlier talked about people going into bankruptcy, and one of the reasons they had was they spent so much money in cars. Well, I had a job for many years in which I was a sales manager at an executive level, and I received a very, very, very large monthly car allowance to buy a car.

It's why not even buy money. It was given to me as a perk. And on top of that, my gas and maintenance and insurance was paid. It was a phenomenal amount of money. Most of my contemporaries, who had my title in other parts of the country and made the kind of money that I did, they drove high-end BMWs, high-end Lexus. They drove the best cars because it was free money. You see, as long as you use it and claim it all for travel, for business expenses, you don't even have to pay taxes on that money. It was pretty cool. So I instead, I drove a Dodge Dynasty. Not exactly considered one of the great classics. An Oldsmobile Intrigue. A minivan. Dodge and Chrysler minivan. You can imagine the comments I would get when we would have sales meetings, and I'd pull up in my minivan. They're pulling up in their $50,000 BMW, and I'm driving up with an Oldsmobile. Now, one time I really stretched myself, and I got a Grand Marquis. And a Grand Marquis is a very nice car, but trust me, it's not expensive. It's like a very poor man's Lincoln. Matter of fact, I paid more for my Chrysler Town & Country van than I did for the Grand Marquis. And when I got the Grand Marquis, I was so sensitive. This, my wife doesn't even know this. I'm probably going to ask her to leave the room.

I was so sensitive about owning a Grand Marquis that when I used my remote key to unlock it or lock it, it would go beep beep beep beep beep beep beep, real loud. I was so sensitive, it was like saying, look everybody, here's a new Grand Marquis. Give me attention. I took the car to a dealer and had them recode it so it no longer made any noises when I opened the locks or closed the locks.

Now, brethren, I guess I would have had the absolute right as a minister. And again, if you can afford a $50,000 luxury car, God bless you. I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about me and how I respond to things. Okay? As a minister of Jesus Christ, I would have felt uncomfortable driving a luxury car to church. I have brothers and sisters in Christ who struggle financially. I have brothers and sisters in Christ who in their lifetimes have never owned a brand new car.

I always felt that it would be like me flaunting the blessings that I've been given to drive a huge luxury car to church. That it could possibly be offensive to other people if I did something like that. So what I'm asking you to do is look at your lifestyle, look at your life, look at the example we are living, to look at the way that we say things, the way that we do things, the way that we act, to be very careful in not offending other people. Now, as we continue our discussion of the graduate level example, let's go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 14. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 14. 1 Paul gives some very spiritual instruction here. He says, Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainhearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all, see that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. Verse 16, Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Verse 19, do not quench the spirit.

Verse 20, do not despise prophecies. Verse 21, test all things, hold fast the which that is good. And now verse 22 is what I want to focus on here. He says, Abstain from every form of evil. The word form is a Greek word, is the Greek word, ados, which means appearance. As a matter of fact, this is translated in the original King James Version, abstain from all appearance of evil. You see, what Paul is saying here again is being a powerful example to others means even avoiding the appearance that we are doing something evil. If there's something in our lifestyle, if there's something in our habits or actions that appear to be evil to other people, then we need to stop it. Because as a believer, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, we don't even want to give the appearance that we're doing something sinful or something evil. I'll give you some examples. One of the rules of the United Church of God is that ministers should not visit women alone.

I am not to visit with a woman alone 15 minutes, 20 minutes of counseling session, whatever. Why? Is there a law that says that you can't visit a woman alone? No. Is there a commandment in the Bible, per se, that says you can't spend time with a woman alone? No, not at all. The reason that rule exists is to avoid even the appearance of evil. If a minister is in a room alone with a woman for 35-40 minutes, it may give the appearance that there's some evil going on there. So again, in this case, even though it may be lawful, even though there's not a command against it, we need to abstain even from the appearance of evil in our lifestyles, in the way that we live.

Another example is not frequenting bars in the evenings, as an example. You know, if we go out and we spend all our evenings in bars, it's going to give the impression that we are drinking a lot, isn't it? It's going to give the impression that we're spending a lot of time away from home in bars. That is not a good thing. If we're choosing the movies that we're going to watch, not by their title, but whether there is a capital letter R in the rating, then we are certainly giving the appearance of evil. If our whole lifestyle is filled by watching racy R-rated movies, then we certainly are giving the appearance of evil. We don't want to be like the fellow who told me once that he went to a movie and it was so dirty and so sickening that he walked out five times.

Right? We don't want to be like that. We don't want to give the appearance of evil. You know, I've had some campouts at my house over the years, and sometimes the teenagers think that they are so clever. Well, they would stay over, and the following day I would discover in a garbage can behind the shed, not the usual garbage area, that there might be three or four cases of empty beer cans from like six teens who stayed over that night. Well, Mr. Thomas isn't that stupid. I mean, you had to be using a funnel to go guzzle all that stuff out. So again, we want to avoid even the appearance of evil. Many years ago in the church, sometimes we acquired bad reputations in some websites because the maids would come in after to clean a room after a night in a hotel, and they'd see, you know, 14 empty six-packs and an empty bottle of Jim Beam sitting in a room that had three people in it. What were they to think? Someone could say, well, I have a right to buy alcohol. Well, that's very true, but you're giving people the impression that you're living a life of sin and of evil. To give you another example, church funds. When I was a young minister, I traveled with a pastor at that time in another association, and the pastor controlled the checkbook. I was with him for a lot of visits where people needed help, and he'd pull out his checkbook proudly, pull his pen out, wiggle his arm. Like, everybody take note. He'd write in an amount. He'd signed the check, pulled a check off, and handed to them proudly. Like, look what I am giving to you. Well, in the United Church of God, we don't do that. You say, we have a church treasure. I have no authority to sign checks. I have no right, no authority to sign a check.

Any expenses we have for the hall that I happen to purchase, I have to document on an Excel spreadsheet and attach receipts to it to be paid back for any expenses that I have for this local hall. Why? Because we want to abstain from the appearance of all evil. So again, brethren, if there's something in our lifestyles, if there's something that we're doing that other people are uncomfortable with because we're giving the appearance that there's evil going on, we need to stop it. We need to change. Let's go to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 18. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 18. Example is so important. This is our final scripture today. Example is so important because never forget that we are ambassadors for Jesus Christ. There's what an ambassador is. I quote. This is from the dictionary. An ambassador is a diplomatic official of the highest rank appointed and accredited as a representative in residence by one government or sovereign to another. So we're ambassadors for Christ. We are the appointed, accredited representatives of the kingdom of God in this world. That's what Paul means when he uses that phrase. Ambassador. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 18. Now all things are of God who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. It's all about healing. It begins with us healing our relationship with God and that's where it has to start. And once we heal that breach, that relationship with God, and we're reconciled to him, then we are able to reconcile with our fellow man, reconcile with one another. Verse 19. That is that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. That's where it starts again.

Not imputing their trespasses to them and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. We are to be peacemakers. Our whole lives should be centered around the good news as the coming of kingdom of God. It is kingdom of peace. It is a kingdom of healing. It is a kingdom of taking that which is wounded and making it whole. Verse 20. He says, now then we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were pleading through us. You see, through our example, and it should be a good example, it should be a wholesome example. It should be one that not only obeys the law of God, but is sensitive to not offending others. It should be one that also abstains even from the appearance that we have a lifestyle of sin or a lifestyle of evil. He says it's though God is pleading to everyone through our example, saying this is the kingdom of God and this person. This is what reconciliation is all about. It began with this person reconciling with Jesus Christ.

So God is pleading to the world through our examples. As though God were pleading through us, we implore you in Christ's behalf be reconciled to God, for he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Remember that light, like a big mirror our life, should be reflecting the righteousness of Jesus Christ, who now lives in us, out to everyone that we meet and come in contact with. So, brethren, God is using spiritual ambassadors to preach the good news of his kingdom to this world. Ambassadors represent their nations in a positive way. Have you ever seen an ambassador represented on TV and he says, yeah, my nation, it really stinks. My nation, it just has all kinds of problems. Frankly, I just like to get out of there. I've seen lots of ambassadors interviewed on TV, but I've never seen one who said his nation stinks. Usually, they're there representing their kingdom in a positive way. They're defending their nation against all detractors. They are appointed in credential to represent their kingdom and their nation. And we, too, have been appointed by Jesus Christ to be special envoys and to represent his laws and his kingdom by our example. As we think about the spring holy days and we prepare for the Passover, let us seriously accept this responsibility. Let's do it seriously and let's do it with spiritual dignity. Because not only the world is watching us, watching our example, and watching what we do in private, more importantly, our Father sees and knows everything that we do. So let's do it all in his glory and to give him honor. Have a wonderful Sabbath.