Introduction

By this we may know that we are in him: ⁶ whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

The New Commandment

⁷ Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. ⁸ At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. ⁹ Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. ¹⁰ Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. ¹¹ But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Life not philosophy

John was writing in a time when secular philosophy was very influential. Ancient Gnosticism drew it’s roots from Platonism and possibly from Zoroastrianism and Buddhism. All 3 of those philosophies are influential today right here in the Verde Valley. I’m not going to go into everything these philosophers believe – I’m going to get right to the bottom line…

(Summary of a 400 level college course) Philosophers believe that by thinking or reasoning they can discover the meaning of life apart from a relationship with Jesus. If they were totally honest about all their thinking and reasoning over the course of the last 5000 years or so, they would have to admit that all their efforts have not resulted in answers but in confusion.

Secular philosophy results in 2 natural ends: Plunge into Nihilism that leads to Mysticism or Rise to Christianity

1. Nihilism is the belief that we are here totally by chance and that life does not mean anything at all. Philosophers without Jesus always reach this natural conclusion and are forced to abandon a pursuit of truth & meaning and begin pursuing mystical experiences instead of reason.
   Entire religious systems have been built on illogical and unverifiable mystical experiences
   1. Gnostics in John’s time – “special knowledge”
   2. Jospeh Smith – golden tablets
   3. New Age Movement
2. Reality that leads to Christ. A few philosophers discover there is a creator that formed the world in His power for His glory. When they draw this conclusion, they are forced to submit their lives to the reality that they need Jesus. At that point, they begin a passionate pursuit of the Savior. They come to the Christian conclusion that the meaning of life is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

Christianity is a life, not just a philosophical argument. Christians are not just people who hold opinions on things. They are not just aware of the possibility of forgiveness and the possibility of being right with God.

• They are people who are right with God.
• They are people who are forgiven.
• They are people who are finding that God is all satisfying. The meaning they were looking for resides in the Savior.
• They are the people who are letting Jesus live through them.
• They are people who can say, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Gal 2:20 exerpt.

Christians are aware of a new quality of life that resides in their soul – a quality of life that is actively pursuing a relationship with the Savior. They are attempting to walk as Jesus walked.

Today we are going to unpack the major implications of that journey.

Vine Illustration

Those of us who have come to know Jesus have come to the realization that without Jesus, we would be living in a dark and scary world. I’ve often thought about who I would be without Jesus:

• What would I be like if I pursued my sin without abandon? (I’d be a despicable man!)
• What would I be like if I could no longer call upon the most powerful power in the universe during my time of need? (Anxious and worried – control freak – hermit)
• What kind of choices would I make if I really thought that life had no meaning at all?

It’s frightening for me to think about who I would be without Jesus and it helps me to have pity on those who are still lost without the savior!

Without Jesus, we would be left to face a world filled with immorality and crime and war and sickness and trials without the hope of the Savior. It’s like taking a knife to a tank battle. Without Jesus we would be facing overwhelming difficulties and doing so with none of the right weapons.

Christians realize that we need a power that is greater than ourselves and in that search, Jesus revealed Himself to us. When Christ revealed Himself to me, I reached out and said, “that is what I need….desperately.”

Jesus is everything to His disciples.

• He is our strength.
• He is our protection.
• He is our fortress, shield and stronghold.

Turn in your Bible to John 15. When I became a disciple of Jesus, I shifted positions.

• Before I became a disciple of Jesus, I was depending on myself for all the answers – now I look to Jesus and his Word for the answers.
• I was once calling all the shots – now I’m letting Jesus control my life.
• I was trying to live for myself – now I allow Jesus to live through me.

John often uses the term “abiding” to describe our new position in Christ. Let’s read this illustration from God’s Word:

⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. ⁹ As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

Pic of Vineyard On a grape vine, the stem draws up all the life giving sap and distributes it to the branches. When a branch is connected to the vine, to grows and blooms and eventually produces fruit. I’ve learned from some of the folks around here that sometimes good fruit can take years to produce – producing fruit on a vine is a long process, but it obviously won’t happen apart from the vine. If a branch is separated from the vine, it withers and eventually dies. What do you do with a dead branch? You burn it!

To the disciple, Jesus is the life-giving source of spiritual nourishment. When a disciple is connected to Christ – when he abides in Jesus – he grows and eventually produces spiritual fruit. If a person is separated from Jesus (is trying to live a God-glorifying life apart from obeying his commands), he withers and dies. Disciples allow Jesus to live through them.

If we claim that we are abiding with Christ, we walk like He walked. Turn back in your Bibles to 1 John 2. In verse 6, there is a powerful word there… The word “ought.” : ⁶ whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

Disciples ought to pay very careful attention to the “ought’s” of scripture. 

• Why is it there?
• What is it telling us to do?

Simply put, this “ought” is saying that if we abide in Christ, we ought to be very careful and intentional about who we conform to: Are we conforming to the World or are we conforming to Christ?

If our lives are conforming to the world, then we are making an empty boast if we claim to be followers of Jesus. This statement is true of every person who claims to be a disciple – regardless of his position or age or season of life. It doesn’t matter if that person is new to the church or if he’s been in the church for 30 years. John makes that very clear from this text if you skip down a few verses to verse 12:

¹² I am writing to you, little children,
because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.
¹³ I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, children,
because you know the Father.
¹⁴ I write to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God abides in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.

Whether a man is rich or poor – young or old – experienced or in training – educated or learning – preacher or hearer, God’s Word is saying the same thing: if you claim to be in Christ, then you ought to live like Jesus.

In Ephesians 5, Paul puts it this way “be imitators of God, as beloved children.” (Eph 5:1) It is the nature of a child to imitate their parents and it is the nature of a disciple to imitate the Savior.

It is remarkable that Jesus wants to be both our Savior and our example. If Jesus simply paid the penalty for our sins and offered us nothing else, then we would be eternally grateful for His precious blood and atoning sacrifice.

But, we needed both an example and a Savior. Both were provided for us perfectly in the person of Christ. In Christ we are saved from the death of sin and also guided in the life of holiness. John tells us to walk in the same way in which he walked. Let’s take a look at how Jesus walked.

I could probably list a dozen different ways of how Jesus was an example for us to emulate, but I’ll limit it to just 3 for today. First of all, Jesus was our example of leadership.

Jesus is our Example of Leadership

(In the notes) Matthew 16:24 Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Jesus is the perfect example of everything he asks us to do. Notice that he did not say “go” and take up your cross and die for me, but “come” take up your cross and follow my example.

The most compelling leader is not the one who says “go and do,” but who says “come and follow…I’ll lead the way.” Jesus is showing us here that the best way to lead is to lead by example. The most effective leader in the home or in the church or in the marketplace is the one who can wholeheartedly say, “follow me as I follow Christ.”

Turn to John 13. Jesus could have been a powerful political or military leader and many tried to force Him into those roles, but He was far more consumed with the Father’s glory than he was with fame or money or power. In fact, Jesus is perfectly humble.

Jesus is our Example of Humility

³ Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, ⁴ rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.

Did you see that God had given Him all things? He was is a perfectly exalted position before the Lord. Did Jesus revel in the glory of His own position? No…in the middle of His exaltation, He not thinking of himself at all. Look what he does next:

⁵ Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

Washing Pic. The ruler of heaven is washing smelly, dirty feet and kneeling before his own disciples wrapped in a towel. Is this the typical behavior of an exalted king? He explains his actions in verse 14: If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. Jesus’ actions scream out to us that we should never think to highly of ourselves, but instead we should always be looking for ways to love others.

Jesus is our perfect example of humility also knew how to love. He loved perfectly.

Jesus is our example of Love

Jesus was the love of God embodied in a person. Last week we looked at the passage that says that God is love. God is a spirit (Jn 4:24) so we have never seen the perfect embodiment of love before Jesus came in the flesh. If you want to see God’s love in the flesh, look at Jesus’ example.

Jesus showed love to little kids and to poor widows. Best of all, Jesus loves sinners like you and me and not only does Jesus draws sinner to Himself, but He personally pays the penalty for their sins. (in the notes) John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command you.”

Do you know that Jesus calls me a friend? It’s unbelievable! Jesus was the perfect embodiment of God’s love on display for us to see and to emulate. That fact makes 1 John 2:7 easier to understand:

⁷ Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard.

The commandment to walk as Jesus walked and to love as Jesus loved is on one hand very old. The Jews often quoted (in the notes) Deut 6:5, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

However, up to this point no one have ever done that perfectly here on earth. They never witnessed a perfect example of loving God until the Son of God came. The commandment was new in the sense that we have a new, fresh, living example of how to obey Duet 6:5 in the person of Jesus.

In John 13:35 (in the notes), Jesus added to that command by saying, “³⁴ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”

Jesus is our example of Love. He perfectly loved God and He perfectly loved others and he calls us to do the same.

In fact, when we choose not to love, it is like dissonance in the ears of Christ. It’s against the very nature of who Christ is and what He expects His disciples to do. Look at 1 John 2:9

⁹ Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. ¹⁰ Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.

Walking as Jesus walked is walking in the light. If the lights are on, we are not prone to bumping into things in the dark. If we are stumbling in the darkness, then it might be an indication that the lights are not turned on yet. Look at verse 11

¹¹ But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Loving others the way Jesus loved is consistent with our new nature. We used to be a part of the body of sin. Romans 6:6 says that we were enslaved to sin. Jesus broke those chains of bondage and gave us the ability (through the Holy Spirit) to love like He loved.

Life APPLICATION: Loving Others with a Christ-like Love Radically Impacts Your Culture

How does walking with Jesus impact your culture?

Let’s think about that question in the negative first. Let’s suppose that a new preacher came into town and he spoke clearly and Biblically, but he did not show love to the people who came to his meetings. In fact, he resented them. He couldn’t wait for them to leave. Will people be impacted by that man’s message?

Ken started off our service by reading part of 1 Corinthians 13. At the beginning of that chapter, Paul wrote, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” Truth without love is NOISE!

Spurgeon wrote about comments made about some Christian professors during his day. The critics asked, “What is this holiness that we’ve heard so much about?” They continued, “We heard these people that love their Christ and other men so much that they would even die for them. They despise the heathen but in reality many of them do not love each other as well as the heathen do.” Truth without love is noise to a world that is lost and dying without Christ!

Then let’s think about it in the positive: What if every professing Christian who lives in the Verde Valley really walked as Jesus walked? What if they were to intentionally live their lives as if Jesus was living through them?

That was the premise of a book that was written in the 1890’s titled, “In His Steps.” A few years ago, that book was widely distributed again and it went on to create the WWJD fad that was so popular in Christian circles. You remember the bracelets ‘What would Jesus Do.’  The marketing got out of control and I’m afraid that the significance of the movement got lost in all the hype. However the premise was really sound: What would Jesus do? If Jesus was living my life, what would He do differently?

What if tomorrow, we all woke up and decided we would walk through our day exactly the way Jesus would walk through our day?

If Jesus were living my life, what choices would He make? Are they differant than the choices I’m making? It wouldn’t take long for that kind of real testimony for Christ to result in God’s blessing, to bring about real joy our lives and to impact the masses for Christ.

Do you want to really impact this country for Jesus? You could run for office if you like, but I have something way more effective…The most effective thing you can do is live your life the way Jesus would live your life.

Let’s go beyond speaking gospel words and start living gospel lives. The most persuasive sermon is the example the leads the way. (and it loving and humble)

Let’s live lives to be emulated (follow me as I follow Christ) and then walk like Jesus would walk.

Teaching Outline

Living like Jesus radically impacts your culture

Abide or Burn

• Vine Illustration
• Wire Illustration

Not just Savior, But example

• Example of Leadership
• Example of Servanthood
• Example of Love

Biblical “oughts” are strong commands

Why Ought we to walk as Jesus Walked

1. It is God’s Design
2. It is the fruit of the Spirit
3. It is part of the Covenant

What is the result of our Walking as Jesus Walked?

• Application is the outcome of doctrine (MLJ)
• Moves discipleship beyond the realm of philosophy
• Living unlike Jesus make Christianity contemptible
• Living like Jesus radically impacts the culture