“How Should We Then Live?”

What do dead men do? Nothing. They cannot do anything.  They are dead. “And you?”

What does the Word of God say? Listen! Let it speak.

“And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses…” (That’s taken from Colossians 2:13: please study it in its full context later.)

Such a simple statement which very simply highlights two very great concerns: either you’re dead or you’re not. Either all you have is the gloom of “being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh”, or you have the joy of being “quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.”

Yes, “with him.” “Quickened together with him.” He is the one we wish to see; the one we wish to follow. He is the one who we seek to be our true example, and the one to tell us how to truly live.

Jesus!

There he was, the Lord Jesus Christ! Before being crucified, he had been publicly abused, horrifyingly tortured, heartlessly and yes bloodily executed. The fact that he remained alive so long was, well, shocking. Finally, yes: he died! Nailed by brutal savage soldiers to a wooden cross, and then lifted up before the world, before demons, before angels, before God. 

Yes, but all that was now forty days ago, and now there he stood in a mountain where he “had appointed” to meet with his followers before ascending up into Heaven. Capture the moment, if you can. 

He is alive! He has visible holes in his hands, in his feet, and beneath his robe, in his side. Ah, yes but he is alive, and more so than ever any man could be. He has turned water into wine. He has walked upon the water. He has stilled the storm, healed the sick, raised the dead, conquered sin and more. He is the Son of God, the Son of Man, the Savior of the World. He is Lord. He is, and as only God could say he has said,

“I am.” (Exodus 6:14; Mark 14:62)

Yet, before ascending into Heaven, before going back to sit on his throne at the right hand of God the Father, he now provides us with our mission; with what business to be about until his, Our Lord’s return.

“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ Amen.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

Amen. Amen! 

“Go!” And yet you may ask, “How should I go?” After all, as is commonly known, it is written,

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

Jesus has told us how to “go”, how to live as we “go” for him. Jesus has given us answers, from his lips and through that God breathed Book: the Word of God: the Bible. No other answers are valid if they contradict what we find there! As it is written,

“God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, ‘That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.” (Romans 3:4)

Let us then silence the voice of tradition. Your denomination cannot compare. We shall ignore your opinions if we find them unvalidated by God. What shall we then do instead? We, by the grace of God given through our Lord Jesus Christ shall be

“Avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called.” (I Timothy 6:20)

So then, let us hear from Him. Let us hear from God! 

“Sir, we would see Jesus.” (John 12:21)

“Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.” (John 2:5)

What does he tell us to do?

I. He commands us to love one another

John 13:34: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”

John: 13:12-17: “So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.”

I Corinthians 13:1-3: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.”

II. He commands us to be kind to one another

Ephesians 4:30-32: “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”

III. He commands us to be meek

I Peter 3:3-5: “Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.”

IV. He commands us to be gentle

Psalm 18:35: “Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.”

II Corinthians 10:1: “Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you:”

Galatians 5:22: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,”

1 Thessalonians 2:7: “But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children:”

2 Timothy 2:24: “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,”

Titus 3:2: “To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.”

James 3:17: “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.”

1 Peter 2:18: “Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.”

V. He commands us to be equal

¹ Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,

² Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:

³ All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.

⁴ For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

⁵ But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,

⁶ And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,

⁷ And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

⁸ But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.

⁹ And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.

¹⁰ Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.

¹¹ But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

¹² And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

¹³ But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! 

(Matthew 23:1-13)

Conclusion:

“Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?“ (Ezekiel 33:10)

OUTLINE:

“How Should We Then Live?”

1. He commands us to love one another
2. He commands us to be kind to one another
3. He commands us to be meek
4. He commands us to be gentle
5. He commands us to be equal