I
Timothy 4:12, “Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of
the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith,
in purity.” In the margin it says “be a teaching example.” We teach by
our example, which is far more reaching than our words. People may
forget our words, but they will not forget our example. We want to be an
example of the believers. We are people who have their heart set, not
in Mormon, not in Jehovah’s Witness, but in the believing of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
I
want to follow Jesus. He is my great example. In His pure life I see
what God the Father has chosen for me to be. Jesus has the control, the
ownership of our life. We have been bought with a price. Human nature is
prone to look to others for example rather than being an example, and
none can do it without an indwelling power. Paul could write to the
Christians and say, “By the grace of God I am what I am.” As we sang in
that hymn, “And every virtue we possess, and every conquest won, And
every thought of holiness are His alone.”
Paul
wrote of those who were professing Godliness but denying the power
thereof. Jesus’ power was not having control, not having ownership. It
is His power that enables us to be different. Jesus said, “I do always
those things that please my Father.” He taught with authority because
His life backed it up.
Once
I was waiting at a bus stop and a man offered me a cigarette. I thanked
him and said, “I don’t smoke.” I could tell by his breath that he just
didn’t drink lemonade. He said, “I don’t want my young boy to smoke and
drink when he grows up.” He had had the example of his father before
him. A parent’s example is a child’s copy book.
One
day I was in a shop, waiting to be served, and a lady with a young girl
was at the counter. This lady had ordered a lot, and the man was
writing all the items in a docket book. This little girl leaned over the
counter and said to her mother, “Mummy, he’s not writing on the line.”
She had learned at school to write on the line. Parents, if you want
your children to write on the line, you do it first.
One
day our beloved Queen came to visit a popular tourist place,
Queenstown. She was invited to come to afternoon tea. Everyone was in a
circle, and the Queen came in and was introduced to a number of people.
She went to sign the visitors’ book. It is the privilege of royalty to
sign in the middle of the page, and a little boy saw her begin to write
in the middle and he blurted out, “You don’t write there, you’ll spoil
the page.” The Queen thought quickly that this little boy had been
taught to start at the top of the page so she graciously signed at the
top of the page. Children are watching. Most people are watching our
lives and we are an example in word.
In
my first meeting in W.A. on Sunday morning, there were twenty-four
people in the meeting and the meeting was over in an hour and the people
left time for me to have a word. It was a lovely, live meeting to be
in. It is not good to be long in word or in prayer, but it is good to be
an example. Sometimes people say that they do not have anything for the
meeting that day then go on to speak for ten minutes. This is not being
an example. “Let no corrupt communication come out of your mouth.” This
is not edifying to others.
One
time a man went along to a priest to confess and afterwards, for
penance, the priest said, “Go and bring me a bag of feathers.” The man
thought this was easy, so he came back and gave the feathers to the
priest. The priest opened the bag and let all the feathers go. It was a
very windy day and they went everywhere. “Now,” the priest said, “you
gather all the feathers again.” The man said, “This is impossible,” and
the priest said, “The words you have passed on, it is impossible to
bring them back again.” We can pass on words and they will go on and on.
Let us be an example in word.
A
soft answer will turn away wrath. It tells us of the virtuous woman,
“She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of
kindness.” During the year, a mother in our field told us about a phone
call she received from the principal of her son’s college. The teacher
of the class had been trying to get her boy to go on a camp, for a week
away. The boy had no interest in going away for a week with worldly
company so he declined. The teacher thought it would not be the parents’
wish for him to decline, so he went to the principal who said, “I’ll
ring the mother.”
He
had a lot to say about the benefits of going on a camp and he finished
by saying, “We don’t want him to miss out on anything that will be able
to help him.” The mother just said quietly, “Have you seen his school
report?” He said, “No.” This boy had the top report in the school, he
had top marks. The mother told the principal to send for his report and
to look at it, and after he had seen it to phone her again and tell her
what the boy was missing out on. She did not get into any arguments. She
opened her mouth with wisdom, and she never got that phone call.
Psalm
141:3 “Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.”
I have a member and I can’t control it. It is an unruly member and I
need the help of God to control this member. A father in our field this
year has a twelve year old son. At his school there was a big boy who
was a bully, and he would pick on this boy David, who did not want to go
to school because of this bullying. This man was the foreman of a bus
company, and one morning he said to the driver of the bus, “I’ll take
your bus out to try it out.” The big bully boy got on with a lot to say,
and when the bus stopped at the school, he was the last one out.
The
father asked him if he knew his boy David. He said he did. The father
said that there were some boys at the school who were knocking David
about and he would like a big strong boy to look after him. He said,
“Would you look after him?” He threw out his chest and said he would and
from that time on he shadowed David and looked after him. This man
opened his mouth with wisdom.
Those
who are an example in word are the best feeders in the meeting. They
are living what they speak. To be an example in conversation means our
daily manner of life. “May my daily walk and words and actions, Prove to
all that Jesus lives in me.” It means our living in the home life; it
means our modesty, our standard of dress. One of our young friends was
leaving school and there were forty-nine girls who applied for a job in
an office. They had to come before three bosses and our sister was
chosen. It was not because of her qualifications, but because she had a
standard, and they picked a winner. They were not disappointed.
We
do not lose in keeping a standard. We remember whose we are and whom we
serve. The standard of modesty is in the ministry. Keep as near to the
standard of the sister workers and as far away from the falling
standards of the world as you can. God loves modesty, and we all have a
responsibility in this respect.
We
depend on everyone to be consistent, to be the same on Monday morning
in your dress as you were on Sunday. One daughter of our friends went to
work with two other girls who belonged to a religious group. These
other girls kept a nice standard, a better standard than the girl who
was professing. She was missing out on her opportunity and privilege to
show a Godly standard.
Be
an example in charity. We cannot be an example if we do not have the
love of God in our hearts. Love moved Jesus to lay down His life as a
Lamb without spot. Colossians 3:14, “And above all these things put on
charity, which is the bond of perfectness.” There are things that we
must put off first, before we can put on. The love of God binds us
together. Sometimes people come to convention and they would like to
have the fellowship that we have, but they cannot have the fellowship
that we have because they do not have the salvation that we have.
God
has given us the spirit of God, not the spirit of fear, but of power.
It is not just a form of Godliness but a power to love one another.
There is a wall here on these grounds made of stones cemented together,
and if you tried to put your finger between the stones, you cannot do it
because there is mortar there holding the stones together, the bond of
perfectness. If I have the love of God in my heart it is the bond of
perfectness.
Proverbs
17:9, “He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that
repeateth a matter separateth very friends.” This means not spreading it
around, seeking to have more of His love. Be an example in spirit. It
is very important to have the right spirit to go with the right words.
Proverbs 11:13, “A talebearer revealeth secrets, but he that is of a
faithful spirit concealeth the matter.” A faithful spirit will keep
things hidden from other people. Paul wrote to Philemon about a servant
who had run away, and he ended the letter with these words, “The grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” It is good when we can
come together with the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Daniel
was an example in spirit. He had an excellent spirit. He did not let
himself get upset when he was accused wrongfully and was put into the
lions’ den. He did not blurt out that they had told a lie. Those men
went to the king and told a lie. They said that all the presidents and
princes had consulted together but that was all except Daniel.
We
need to be an example in purity. We need to look continually to the
life of our Master to feed on what is pure. We can be taken up with
trash and literature and we will never be pure. We need pure motives,
pure thoughts. The line of a hymn says, “Obedience to the mind of Christ
brings mental purity.” “Bid my carnal mind depart.” The grace and power
of Heaven can enable me to be a better example.
Jeroboam
set a wrong example and all the kings of Israel were affected after
him. Jehu said, “Come and see my zeal for the house of the LORD.” But
this was a zeal to destroy. It was not a zeal to follow the Lord, like
the standard David had set. We need to strive to be an example. ~ ~
L. HILL - 1985 - Being an example - Convention - Williams, W. Australia
No comments:
Post a Comment