Text:
1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1
October 28, 2012
INTRODUCTION:
1) An example in a seminary: David was a seminary
student in Hong Kong. He was a good student in more than making good grades but
also in good manner with faculty and fellow students all the time. Particularly
he learned from the examples of life a teacher: Prof. Hsu.
David imitated the way Hsu walked, talked and the
briefcase and umbrella Hsu brought with him rain or
shine. Prof. Hsu was good more than his knowledge in
the subject he taught, Comparative Theology, he was also very good in almost
everything in life: humble, easy going, kind and nice to everyone, patient and
had good relationship with people. Many of us loved to be like him after we
graduated and enter the real world to serve God and His people.
2) An example to the
Corinthians:
While the Corinthians had been endowed with many great gifts and resources,
(1:5) the church was divided in many ways. They were also being worldly than
being spiritual. (3:1-3) The church also was corrupted with sins like the
unbelievers. (5:1-13) The church was also involved in lawsuits against each
other in the court of the world. (6:1-8) All they need is to follow the good
example of the greatest apostle Paul. In writing to the people in this church,
Paul told the people at the Corinthian church to learn from his example as he
learned from the example of Christ. (11:1)
BAD EXAMPLES NOT TO FOLLOW:
1) Don¡¯t follow idol
worshippers:
¡°My angels will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hevites and Jebusites and I will wipe them out. Do not bow down to their gods or worship
them ...You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces.¡±
(Exodus 23:23-24) Idol worship was not only true in ancient Israel but also in
modern-day society. We may not worship idols like the pagans do but many
people, including Christians, still worship idols of fame, wealth, power, and
popular culture. Many people still idolize famous schools, jobs like doctors,
lawyers and moneymaking business. We also idolize high positions and big
salaries. We teach our children to look up to these people, the modern day
idols God forbid us to. When we have idols in our hearts, there is no room for
God.
2) Don¡¯t follow evil practices: ¡°You must not follow what
they do in Egypt where you used to live, and you must not follow what they do
in Canaan where I am bringing you. Do not follow their (evil) practices.¡±
(Leviticus 18:3) Following the examples and practices of people around us is a
serious problem for Christians because we live among them. God warned the
Israelis NOT to follow the evil practices of the Egyptians and Canaanites. But we still follow the evil practices of
people today. We follow the goal of life of the ungodly. We follow their
corrupted immoral ways of life. We follow secular culture on our values. We
ignore the call of God to be separated from the evil practices. Do not follow
evil practices of our classmates, coworkers or our neighbors and friends. We
are God¡¯s children. We are different.
3) Don¡¯t follow evil examples: ¡°Jehoahaz,
son of Jehu became king of Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years. He did evil in the
eyes of the Lord by following the sins Jeroboan, son
of Nebat, which he had cause Israel to commit, and he
did not turn away from them.¡± (2 Kings 13:1-2) When Jeroboan
became king of Israel, the north kingdom, he set up idol worship in Samaria to counter Judah¡¯s temple in Jerusalem. This is the
sin mentioned here and was the cause of God¡¯s anger. Jeroboan
did this to protect his power over the people but he disregarded the call of
God to destroy idol worship. When Jehoahas became
king later, he follow the evil example of Jeroboan,
the former king. We live in a world full of evil examples. It is easy to fall
into the pattern and practices of evil examples in our everyday life: in
school, at work and in the society.
4) Don¡¯t follow greedy intent: ¡°They have left the
straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam,
son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.¡± (2
Peter 2:15, Num 22:4-20) Among all the prophets in
the Old Testament, Balaam is the only one who had
betrayed the sacred call of God for wicked wages. This is the cause of the most
widely spread of sin, crime and wicked thing many people do today: bribery,
corruption, cheating and many other schemes for money. Many have been put in
prisons, others got disgraced ending of their career, future even ministry for
the Lord because of greed for money.
FOLLOW THE GOOD EXAMPLES:
1) Abraham, father of faith: ¡°By faith, Abraham, when
called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and
went, even though he did not know where he was going.¡± (Hebrews 11:8) For this
reason, Abraham was honored with the title ¡°Father of Faith¡± by Christian
theologians. Among all the Christian characters, faith is the most important,
most difficult and most rewarding to our Christian walk each and everyday.
There are over 500 listings of the word ¡°faith¡± (noun) and its verb form such
as ¡°believe¡± in the Bible. Most of the problems we face as God¡¯s children stem
from lack of faith.
2) Moses, faithful servant: ¡°But this is not true of
my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house.¡± (Num. 12:7) In a dispute
between Moses and his siblings Aaron and Miriam, God was on the side of Moses.
He gave his endorsement on Moses because he was faithful in all things of God¡¯s
house (business). Moses was consistent in his faithful service to God in God¡¯s household
and he received from God his rewards. Being faithful to God is never easy.
Being faithful in all things at all times is beyond our human endeavor. But
that is what God is looking for in our life. In the parable of the ¡°Talents¡± in
Matt 25, the Master called his servant, ¡°good and faithful.¡± (25:21, 23) Good
servants must be faithful in service in all God has delegated.
3) David, man after God¡¯s heart: ¡°But now your kingdom will
not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him
leader of his people.¡± (1 Samuel 13:14) ¡°After God¡¯s heart¡± means ¡°follow God¡¯s
heart.¡± How often we live our life or serve God follow God¡¯s heart or our own
heart? To follow God¡¯s heart means we place God¡¯s will over our will; God¡¯s way
above our way, and God¡¯s purpose not our purpose. David was not a perfect man,
but he sought God¡¯s heart and will in most of his life. He is a great example
for us to follow.
4) Paul, example of new life: ¡°We were therefore buried
with him through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised
from the dead through the glory of the Father we too may live a new life.¡±
(Romans 6:4) This single verse of the Bible can be developed into a full
sermon. This is the mindset of Paul as he lived his life for the Lord and the
call he received. For those who are called believers of Christ, we all need to
be crucified and buried our old nature with Christ, so our new life would be
manifested through our everyday words and deeds. And the purpose of our life is
to bring glory to our heavenly Father.
THE BEST EXAMPLE AT ALL TIME: (Phil 2:5-8)
1) The attitude of Christ: ¡°Your attitude should be
the same as that of Christ Jesus.¡± (2:5) ¡°Phroneite¡± in Greek is the ¡°mind¡±
or ¡°to think.¡± In encouraging the Philippian
Christians to be in unity in 2:1-4, Paul asked them to have the same attitude
or to think the way Jesus Christ would think when they deal with each other or
in making their decisions. How often do you think the way Jesus thinks in our
life situation? How often we make decisions on our attitude and mindset? When
Jesus described himself as ¡°humble and meek¡± (Matt 11:29), he intended for his
followers to imitate his attitude in dealing with others.
2) The self-giving of Christ: ¡°Who, in being the very
nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.¡± (2:6)
Jesus ¡°being,¡± huparchon
in Greek means ¡°exist¡± or ¡°is¡±. Jesus is God in nature, but he took on the
nature less than God, human, in order to live, to work and to set examples
among men. This is a picture of self-giving, sacrificing his deity to be a man
to save mankind. Too many in the world fight to become someone or something
they are not and wage wars to smear or beat down others. But Jesus gives up
what he had so others may have what they don¡¯t have, salvation through faith.
3) The humility of Christ: ¡°But emptied himself,
taking the nature of a servant in the form of a human.¡± (2;7) Christ decent
from the majestic glory of God in heaven into this evil world, taking on the
form of a human being (he is God always), and lived like a servant. What a
drastic difference between these comparison in his life. ¡°Empty¡±, ekenosen, means
become nothing like your empty pocket without any money. Jesus did not keep
anything of his glory to this world. When he came, he came completely empty,
nothing. Compare to many in this world, fight to get what belongs to others as
theirs, putting honorary degrees as some real thing, and faking their resume
with fake qualification.
4) The obedience of Christ: ¡°Being found in appearance
of a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a
cross.¡± (2:8) Christ¡¯ obedience is to his Father. His death is the will of God.
No one is able to take his life but his obedience to God made it happened. How
many of us are obedient to God to the point of giving up our life? Jesus didn¡¯t
die in honorable way but in the most humiliating way, on the cross. How much
are we willing to pay to obey God¡¯s will in our life?
CONCLUSION:
1) How much we imitate Christ? How much have we followed the
examples of Christ and the great men in the Bible? How often do we follow bad
examples of men in this world? Paul wanted the Philippians to imitate him as he
had imitated Christ. We need to imitate Christ before anyone may imitate us.
2) Can anyone imitate you? Is there anything in your
life you are proud of that you want others to imitate you? Make a list and try to add some more to
make you a worthy example for others.