Wednesday, February 22, 2012

JESUS FURNISHED A PATTERN

JESUS FURNISHED A PATTERN


INTRODUCTION: God's people follow Jesus because they know Him and love Him.  They are familiar with His voice and follow His lead. (Jn.10:4; Lk. 9:23) His life is the pattern for our lives. (Rom.8:29; 13:14) Paul used Jesus as his pattern to follow. (I Cor.11:1; II Cor.3:18)  We learn from Christ in the New Testament, and in so doing, we try to "measure" up to Him. (Eph.4:13; 1 Jn..4:17; Rev.14:4; Rom.15:7; 1 Pet. 2:21‑24; Jn.15:10; 1 Jn..2:6; 3:3) Yet, today more and more we hear brethren criticize the idea of trying to strictly follow the Biblical "patterns".  It appears that everything should be tolerated, except brethren who insist on patterns being followed. It seems there are some brethren who have the attitude that no one should be criticized except brethren who insist that we be particular and careful about what we do in God's service. Jesus is our pattern and all we can know about that pattern is found in the New Testament. 

  

I.      WE SHOULD STRIVE TO BE AS "LEGALISTIC" AS JESUS. (Matt. 4:4; Deut. 8:3; Heb. 10:7)



A.  Today, we hear people use the word "legalist" in an uncomplimentary way.  They assume a definition and idea of legalism and then apply it to every one who wants to be careful and particular with the Bible.  Thus, with prejudice they pressure people not to think of using the Bible to condemn anyone else's religious abuses or lack of scriptural authority.



1.    Three of Jesus' favorite words were "it is written".  Was He a legalist?  Would He be condemned by today's standards? (Matt.4:1f; 22:29‑32; 19:4; 21:16; 21:42)



2.    He was even particular about a single word in a passage. (Jn.10:33‑36) Even the tense of a word was important. (Matt.22:29‑31)



3.    If people try to follow Jesus' way today, they will be shamed with words like "Bible‑thumper", "Pharisee", "Legalist", "Cultic", etc.  We must follow Jesus even in accepting unjust criticisms and ridicule if need be.

B. Like Jesus, we should expect ourselves and all other people to know the scriptures, the meaning and application.



1.    God holds people responsible. (Matt.12:7; 9:13; 16:11; Jn.8:43)



2.    Jesus rebuked mental laziness and slowness to believe "all" that is written. (Mk.8:14‑17; Lk.24:25‑27)



3.    God's will had to be primary to Christ even if He had to stand alone and suffer to the death. (Matt.26:39) Do we have to stand for anything? If so, what?  Is it legalistic to teach people to stand for those things?  If not, why not?



4.    Was Jesus legalistic in making the statements He made in Matt.7:21‑23; 21:23‑27?  If so, then we must follow His pattern and be willing to be called legalistic, if that is what the use of the term means to our critics.

    

C. Like Jesus, we should insist on strict respect and obedience to God's word.



1.    READ Lk. 8:19‑21; 11:27‑28



2.    ALSO, READ Jn.8:31‑32; 14:15,21,24; 15:10



a.    To say we "love God" is empty if we do not believe we have to   do all He says.



b.    To pick something out of the law of God and act like we do not have to do that (assuming it is something applicable), is to set ourselves above the Law of God, and to make ourselves a judge of the law, rather than a doer of the word.    



3.    Jesus honored and respected God's word right down to the jot and   tittle of it. (Matt.5:17‑19)



II.    OBJECTIONS HEARD TODAY



A."Just follow Jesus and don't let anything, including the Bible, take His place".



1.    How does one know Jesus, much less how to follow Him, without the Bible?



2.    Have you ever heard someone say, "I follow the Bible, not Jesus"? No! Because the subtle distinction doesn't work as well in that direction.  Without the Bible, the above objection is really saying, "Just follow what is your "imagination" of Jesus, instead of the Bible".



3.    Further, did Jesus ever rebuke anyone for trying to follow the Law of Moses instead of Moses?  Can you imagine Jesus saying, "Just follow Moses and don't let anything, including the Law of Moses, take his place"? (Lk.16:29‑31; Mk.12:26; Lk.20:37; 24:44; Jn.5:46)



    B. "Jesus is Lord, not the Bible".



1.    How does one know that Jesus is Lord without the Bible?



2.    How can one determine what the Lord Jesus wants without the Bible?



    C. "Don't trust in self, trust in Jesus".



1.    The fact that one would study the scriptures is a confession that he/she does not trust his own wisdom. He is seeking for God's wisdom.( Acts 17:11; 1 Cor. 2)



2.    Are those who say "just trust in Jesus" sure they are not just trusting in their own opinion and imagination of Jesus?  In essence, they are doing the very thing (in principle) they tell us not to do. Shoud one trust his IMAGINATION of Jesus? How can he be sure his imagination of Jesus is correct? Want he still have to dig into the Bible and find out if his imagination of Jesus is correct?



3.    If depending on one's studies of the Bible is "trusting in self", then what is one doing when he imagines that he is trusting in Jesus? Does he trust in his imagination instead of the real Jesus?



D. "You are guilty of Bible‑olatry, which is, making an idol of the Bible".



1.    Did Jesus make an idol out of the Old Testament?



2.    How can we do like Jesus and still avoid this opinion of us?



3.    Are those who don't follow the Bible guilty of “personal-imagination‑olatry", i.e., making a god out of their own personal imaginations?





A.  “This strictness with the law is just modern Phariseeism".



1.    Actually, the Pharisees were not as strict as Jesus.  They were not as concerned about weightier matters of the law. (Matt.23:23)



2.    Jesus was concerned about the whole law.



3.    They were not concerned about their inward appearance before God, but only their external appearance before men. (Matt.23:3, 5; Lk.11:47‑48) Jesus was stricter in regard to the heart.



4.    The Pharisees added human traditions to the law and found ways to get around strict obedience. (Matt.15:1‑9) Jesus rebuked them for that.



5.    Jesus expects us to strictly do right. (Matt.5:19, 20)



F. "We should follow the spirit, not the letter of the law".



1.    This statement has a deceptive ring of scripture to it. It is a misuse of II Cor. 3.  "The letter" is made to mean the strict wording of scripture, and "the spirit" is made to mean "what you think they really mean"(or what each one desires for them to mean) -- "the letter"(what the words actually say) versus "the spirit" (how I feel inside or how I desire to interpret them). However, II Cor.3 is actually contrasting "the letter"(the already written Old Testament) with "the spirit"(the New Testament, being at that time, revealed through the Spirit to His apostles and prophets). See Eph.3:1-3. Read the context carefully and the Spirit of the New Testament will show that this is the case.



2.    How does one determine what the spirit of a law is? Doesn't this reasoning, in essence, wind up telling people to follow their own imaginations and desires above God's law?



3.    Was the question of circumcision settled by an appeal to "the spirit of the law"?( Acts 15)



4.    Instead of insisting upon taking literal unleavened bread (in observing the Lord's Supper) in harmony with the "letter of the law", can we just observe "the spirit of what it's about"? Can we treat everything else in this way? Baptism?   Confession? Assembling? Church organization?  Who determines what the spirit of the law actually is?  How is this determined?

5.    As we consider this approach, it appears that “the spirit of the law” becomes whatever each man desires to believe it is.  Thus, the only LAW becomes whatever each man wants to IMAGINE that it is.  This whole approach is not worthy of merit. It is an approach that encourages every man to do that which is right in his own eyes.  This only furthers religious confusion.  It does not help to solve anything toward real religious unity.



CONCLUSION:  In spite of modern theology and prejudice against the very attempt to be careful and strict and respectful toward God's word, we must follow the pattern set for us by Jesus.  Beware of brethren who use expressions like the above, or who moan that we need a "new hermeneutic". You can be sure that they are doing things without authority and they just do not have the conviction to give it up.  Jesus is our pattern, and patterns are given to be followed with great care and precision to the best of our ability.



QUESTIONS:



1.    Do we need to be careful to follow Jesus, or would knowledge of a few facts about Jesus be sufficient to guide us throughout life?





     Give a reason for your answer.





2.    What can we know about Jesus' life, principles, ideas, manners, plans, commands, or promises apart from the Bible?







3.    Was Jesus particular about specific tenses in words of the law?





Give an example:





4.    What is meant by the term "Bible‑thumper" today?  Is it designed to make people want to appeal to the scriptures more?  Or, is it designed to make people feel reluctant to appeal to the scriptures?







5.    Do people think they are paying us a compliment when they say we are "legalists"?





6.    Does the Bible give us a pattern of sound words?





7.    If we follow anything else, aren't we going outside the pattern?





8.    Are sound or unsound words used to criticize those who say we need to stay within the pattern?





9.    How can we determine the “pattern” of sound words concerning baptism? 







10. What does 2 Jn.. 9 say and mean?


Terry W. Benton