One of the most familiar truths to all is that Christ, in His pathway through this world, is our example. There are several scriptures which distinctly state and enforce it; and the truth itself is implied in almost every book of the New Testament. Peter, when treating of the duties of domestics, points them to Christ, who, he says, has left us an example that we should follow His steps (1 Peter 2:2121For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: (1 Peter 2:21)). In like manner, the Apostle John says, “He that saith he abideth in Him, ought himself so to walk, even as He walked” (1 John 2:66He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. (1 John 2:6)). In the Epistle to the Hebrews also, after detailing the long catalog of the men of faith in the past dispensation, the writer proceeds, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of faith; who, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Heb. 12:1-31Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. (Hebrews 12:1‑3)). The force of this scripture is often unperceived by the superficial reader, because of the insertion of the word “our”—making the Lord Jesus to be the Author and Finisher of our faith. This is altogether to miss the teaching of the Spirit of God. The truth brought before us is, that the Lord Jesus is a complete example of faith; that as man, He is our example in the life of faith. This would be more readily seen if, instead of Author and Finisher, the words were translated, as they sometimes are, Leader (ἀρχηγὸν) and Completer (τελειωτὴν) of faith—i.e. that He is the Leader in the pathway of faith—and He is the Completer of it; that all the way through, from beginning to end, He is the perfect example of it, as the obedient and dependent Man. Hence our eyes are ever to be fixed upon Him; we are to be looking unto Jesus, to mark His example, that we may be sustained in following in the same steps. Our Lord Himself often presented the same truth. It is involved in all the passages wherein He speaks of discipleship. For instance, “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matt. 16:2424Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (Matthew 16:24)). It is true that the prominent thought here is the condition of discipleship; but “following” is nothing less than being in obedience to His word, owning Him as Lord, and walking in His steps.
It is, then, abundantly clear that our blessed Lord, in His life down here as man, is our example; and we desire to consider this subject—not only to press its importance, but also to show the ground of it, and the means of carrying it into practice.
The ground of it lies in what He was as man in the world. Before His incarnation He had presented Himself to God, saying, “Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God” (Heb. 10:77Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. (Hebrews 10:7)). And this is the keynote of His whole life, coming as He did, not to do His own will, but the will of Him that sent Him (John 6:3838For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. (John 6:38)). And this He did perfectly and uninterruptedly, from Bethlehem to Calvary. Every thought, feeling, and act was in obedience to God’s will. For the first time since the fall, God found truth in the inward parts of a man—of that One who answered all His requirements, so that God could rest in Him in perfect complacency and love. And what joy it must have been to the heart of God to be able to look down upon this scene, where all had failed and gone out of the way, where there was none good, no not one, and to see Christ in the midst of unparalleled difficulties, exposed to all the malice of men and Satan, ever responding, and that perfectly, to His own desires—to behold Him glorifying God on the earth in every circumstance in which He was placed, and all through His life!
“Faithful amidst unfaithfulness,
‘Mid darkness only light,
Thou didst Thy Father’s name confess
And in His will delight.”
In Him, then, at last, God found the Man who was, without exception, after His own heart—the One who embodied the perfection of His own thoughts, and answered to the ideal of His own mind—THE PERFECT MAN. In every circumstance, therefore, what He was toward God, and what He was toward man; what He was in the presence of friend or enemy, whether in sorrow, persecutions, or temptations; in all possible scenes, whether in retirement or in public—in all things, in every manifestation of His life down here, He was our example. For all His manifold experiences were but occasions for the unfolding of what He was as the obedient and dependent man; and hence the revelation of God’s standard for all that are His. If, therefore, I would know what God desires that I should be, I must look at Christ, and trace out His steps in His pathway through this world.
Accepting, then, the truth that Christ is our example, we must be very careful to define the class for whom it is intended. Mistake here would be of the most fatal kind, and has indeed been the cause of shipwreck to many a soul. The Unitarians, for example, make the whole duty of man to lie in the imitation of the life of Christ; and, moreover, they contend that its attainment is the passport to a happy immortality. Books like Thomas á Kempis’ Imitatio Christi, proceed more or less on the same principle, that it is possible for the natural man to walk in the steps of the Lord Jesus. We need hardly point out that such teaching ignores the whole subject of man’s relationships with God, the question of sin, and man’s depravity through Adam’s fall. “They that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:88So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:8)) is a statement which some men either ignore or disbelieve, to their own destruction. What presumption for a sinner under condemnation—a sinner alienated from God, whose very nature is enmity with Him (Rom. 8:77Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (Romans 8:7))—to claim the power to follow the steps of Holy One of God! It only shows us the power of Satan to deceive, and allure to ruin, when such a delusion is cherished in the minds of men. Just as he enticed Pharaoh and his host to think they could follow Israel through the Red Sea, and all alike “sank as lead in the mighty waters,” so now he leads men to imagine that by their own efforts they can imitate Christ, and thereby produce a righteousness fit for God’s presence; and thus deluded, they perish forever. It behooves us, therefore, very carefully to indicate the qualifications which are necessary in order to follow the example of Christ.
(1). The essential one of all is that we must have the same nature. It is quite true—indeed, a fundamental dogma of Christianity—that Christ became Man. “When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman,” &c. (Gal. 4:44But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, (Galatians 4:4)). He was as truly born into this world as we are; but the words the angel spoke to Mary must never be forgotten, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son, of God” (Luke 1:3535And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35); see also Matt. 1:18-2018Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. 19Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. 20But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. (Matthew 1:18‑20)). While, therefore, Christ really “took part” of flesh and blood (Heb. 2:1414Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; (Hebrews 2:14)), and was consequently “very man,” as well as “very God,” it could not be said that He took our nature, that He became bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. That were indeed to declare that He had a sinful nature; to disqualify Him from being the Lamb of God—the Lamb without spot or blemish—and to undermine the very foundations of the atonement, and consequently of Christianity. No; He was ever holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners; while we were by nature the children of wrath.
How then could it be possible for us (in whose flesh there is no good thing) to imitate the life of Him who was absolutely holy? The leopard cannot change His spots, nor the Ethiopian his skin, neither can the natural man alter the character of the flesh in which he is born. Hence the first necessity is to be born again; as the Lord Himself said to Nicodemus, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again” (John 3:5-75Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. (John 3:5‑7)). Until, then, we are born again through faith in the Lord Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and have received in consequence a new nature, we cannot follow Christ. Let us be very clear upon this point; for to speak otherwise is only to delude and to imperil souls. If there be not the same nature, there cannot be likeness in the life. There may be outward resemblances between an action of a natural man, and an action of Christ; but this does not constitute, in God’s sight, imitation of His example. The nature of the two actions—in their motive, character, and end—must be the same. We may tie roses on a gooseberry bush, but they have not been produced by the tree. So actions—to be like Christ’s—must be produced, and they can only be produced in those who have the new nature, a nature like His. In other words, we must be like Christ (as to nature) before we can imitate Him.
(2). Having even the nature is not enough, because the power is still wanting. The characteristic of the new nature is feebleness—weakness itself; and hence I may be really born again, a child of God, yet utterly unable to take a single step after Christ. We have an example of this in Romans 7. The one whose case is there put says, “That which I do, I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I” (Rom. 7:1515For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. (Romans 7:15)). What a confession! And yet he tells us that he delighted in the law of God after the inward man (Rom. 7:2222For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: (Romans 7:22)), showing that he had a new nature, had been born again. What he therefore needed was power. And where was this to be obtained? The pre-requisite of it was deliverance, the knowledge that sin had been judged, as well as the guilt of sins cleared away; that through the death and resurrection of Christ he had been brought out of his Adam-condition into a new place in Christ. So having the Spirit of God dwelling in Him, he was no longer in the flesh, but in the Spirit (Rom. 8:99But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. (Romans 8:9)). The indwelling Spirit is our only power for the imitation of Christ. Indeed this was Christ’s own power. We thus read that “Jesus, being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness;” and again, that “He returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee” (Luke 4:1-141And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. 3And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. 4And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. 5And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. 8And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 9And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 10For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: 11And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 12And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 13And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. 14And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. (Luke 4:1‑14)). He Himself says, “If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God “ (Matt. 12:2828But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. (Matthew 12:28)); and Peter, speaking of Him, says, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power; who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil: for God was with Him” (Acts 10:3838How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. (Acts 10:38)). Unless, therefore, we have the Holy Spirit, we are still without power to walk as Christ walked; for nature, as we have seen, and even the new nature of itself cannot tread in His footsteps.
(3). There is another important condition. I may be born again, and have the Spirit of God, and yet be not imitating Christ. I am qualified to do so; but the Spirit of God does not of necessity act because He dwells in me. Indeed every believer carries about with him a great hindrance, and that is the flesh, the old nature; for though it has been judged in the death of Christ, and is therefore judicially gone from God’s sight, it is still in us, and is always in opposition to the desires and aims of the new man. Satan knows this, and finds in it the means, if we are not watchful, of hindering our progress, and even of compassing our fall. Paul, writing on this subject, says, “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot” (rather, “in order that ye should not”—ἵνα μὴ ἅ ἄν θέλητε ταῦτα ποιῆτε) “do the things that ye would” (Gal. 5:1717For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. (Galatians 5:17)). The flesh and the Spirit are, therefore, in everlasting contrariety, and the object of each is to hinder the other. When the flesh desires to act, the Spirit leads in opposition; and when the Spirit would act, the flesh obstructs—both seeking to nullify the will of the other, that neither the one nor the other should obtain its desires. It may be, therefore, that though I am, as already said, qualified to imitate the example of the Lord Jesus, I shall be effectually hindered—must be so if I allow the flesh to have its own way.
The next condition, therefore, is, that the flesh be not allowed to act, but that it be kept in the place where God has put it—under judgment in the death of the cross. Hence Paul says, “If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:13-1413For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (Romans 8:13‑14)). And if we add to this Scripture another, the whole subject will be explained. “Always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body” (2 Cor. 4:1010Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. (2 Corinthians 4:10)). The flesh, therefore—all indeed that is of the evil nature—has to be kept under the power of death, under the constant application of the cross, the putting to death of Jesus—the Spirit of God being our enabling power for this; that nothing of self, the evil nature, or the flesh, may ever be expressed, but only the life of Jesus. For it is only when self is judged that we can present the life of Jesus; and if the slightest thing of the flesh is manifested, the presentation is at once marred. Death must then be accepted if we would imitate Christ. This is what He Himself said: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matt. 16:2424Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (Matthew 16:24)). Self must be refused, the cross—death—accepted, before we can follow. May we learn the lesson.
(4). The eye must also be upon Christ and upon Christ where He is. We might have indeed every qualification of which we have yet spoken, and still, if the eye were not on Christ, there would be most certain failure. Take the familiar illustration of Peter walking on the sea as an explanation. When he saw Jesus walking on the sea he said, “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And He said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me” (Matt. 14:25-3125And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. 26And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. 27But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. 28And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 31And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? (Matthew 14:25‑31)). At the outset Peter walked, even as the Lord Himself walked, on the sea; but the moment his eye was off Christ and on his own circumstances—the difficulties that surrounded him—he began to sink.
So it is ever with us. We can never walk after His example unless our eye is upon Him. But we have said it must be on Him where He now is, not where He once was. Peter, of course, looked on the living Christ before his eyes; but we must look upon a living Christ where He now is—in the glory, at the right hand of God. Let us explain. Paul says, “We all with open (that is. unveiled) face beholding as in a glass (the words, “as in a glass,” are better omitted) the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 18). Here we are taught, as we saw in the last chapter, that our growth, our gradual transformation into the likeness of Christ, is dependent upon our eyes being fixed upon Him—upon the glory of the Lord. We gaze by faith, and the rays of that glory, falling upon our souls, are used by the Holy Spirit to change us morally into the likeness of Him on whom we thus look. Herewith is connected another thing. It is only as we are thus occupied, that we receive power to bear about in the body the dying of Jesus (2 Cor. 4:1010Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. (2 Corinthians 4:10)). Two things are thereby gained—growing likeness to Christ, and the flesh kept under the power of death. The consequence is, that Christ must be expressed; or, in other words, that we imitate His example. For imitation of Christ must come from within, and not from without. According to the principle before stated, we must be like Christ before we can imitate Him; and hence the closeness of our walk to His will depend upon the degree of our likeness to Him.
It would save much disappointment, and many mistakes, were this remembered. For it would then be seen that to walk as Christ walked is not the result of any effort we can make—we can never imitate Him by any efforts of our own—but that it must be the outcome of what we are. See how beautifully this was exemplified in the case of Stephen when he was martyred. “He, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55-5655But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. (Acts 7:55‑56)). Such was his attitude; but his testimony did but enrage his persecutors; “for they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him ... and they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep” (vss. 57-60). Now if we compare this scene with the death of the Lord Jesus, as recorded by Luke, we shall find a remarkable correspondence. He also uttered two prayers. When on the cross, He cried, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do;” and also, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:34,4634Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. (Luke 23:34)
46And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. (Luke 23:46)). Even on the surface one cannot fail to be struck with the similarity of the two cases. Why was it, then, that Stephen followed so exactly in the footsteps of his Lord? Was it because that he had heard that the Lord had uttered such prayers, and he thought therefore that he would copy His example? This would have been a valueless imitation, if not altogether a counterfeit. No; he was occupied in beholding the glory of the Lord, and the effect was that he was changed into the same image, and therefore of necessity he expressed himself in the same way. And this is the secret of all likeness to Christ in our walk. If the eye is upon Christ as He was down here, and we say, “He did this,” or “He did that,” and we therefore will do the same, we shall most certainly and repeatedly fail. But when the eye is upwards, fixed on Him where He now is, the dying of Jesus will be always born about in our body, and the Spirit of God, not grieved and unhindered, will work mightily within us in transforming power, and then of necessity lead us in the footsteps of our Great Example, because His pathway was that of the Perfect Man.
It is the same even in the natural domain. Suppose, now, an artist desires to reproduce one of the great masterpieces, how does he begin? Does he at once go and copy the picture? Not at all; but his first task will be to study it, to get the impression of it in his mind; and then, when he is imbued with the spirit and color of his model, he can reproduce it. So Milton once wrote, “He who would write an heroic poem must first live a hero’s life.” This is the true principle for the imitation of Christ; and hence the more we are occupied with Him in glory, the more faithfully we shall reproduce His life in our walk and ways.
Does anyone say, “Are we, then, not to trace out the life of the Lord Jesus here below?” Certainly; for what greater enjoyment can the believer have than to follow Him in His wondrous path, to study every detail recorded, to hear His every word, to watch Him in every possible circumstance, to note how He comported Himself before both friends and enemies, to mark His ways in His secret retirement, His communing with His disciples, especially with those whom He was able to admit to greater intimacy, to follow Him in that blessed home of Bethany. All these things we shall ever delight to trace, and to retrace, and perhaps even in the glory. But it is not thus that we receive power to walk in the same steps; this can only come from beholding Him—looking by faith to Him where He now is, at the right hand of God. We shall feed upon Him (as explained in another chapter) as He was down here; for the manna is a humbled Christ—Christ in the unfolding of His life in His sojourn in this scene. And very blessed it is to have Christ in our circumstances—to have His grace, His tenderness, His sympathy as we follow His example. Blessed, however, as all this is, we reiterate that if we would walk as He walked; it can only be by occupation with Him in the glory.
There are, however, uses in the consideration of Christ’s example which must not be overlooked. His example is our standard; and hence nothing can be more profitable than to measure ourselves by it, that we may discover our defects, and learn our failures. It is on this account that Peter, when exhorting servants to take it patiently, even when they might suffer for well-doing, adds, “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth: who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously: who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed” (1 Peter 2:21-2421For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: 24Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (1 Peter 2:21‑24)). The apostle thus held up the example of Christ as their model, that they might see in its light their failure, and be encouraged to walk in the same steps.
The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews adduces it, in like manner, as an encouragement and stimulus to those who might be suffering from persecution. For after urging them, in the race set before them, to look off from themselves unto “Jesus, the Author and Finisher of faith; who, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God,” he says, “For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin” (Heb. 12:2-42Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. 4Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. (Hebrews 12:2‑4)). The word “consider” in this Scripture is a most striking one; it means, to draw an analogy, or to make a comparison, between Christ and yourselves. You may be pressed, almost beyond measure, by your sufferings and persecutions; but compare your circumstances with His; follow Him in His course, and behold Him at last dying as a martyr (for this is the aspect of His death here presented) for righteousness’ sake. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood (as He did); you have not yet been made martyrs, striving against sin. Be encouraged, strengthened, therefore, by His example: learn from Him to endure, and to be faithful even unto death.
The Lord Himself gave the same kind of instruction to His disciples. He reminded them, that if the world hated them, it had first hated Him; that “if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my sayings, they will keep yours also” (John 15:18-2018If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 20Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. (John 15:18‑20)). The path of the disciple must correspond with his Lord’s; and hence it is that His example must ever be our model and standard. But let it be once more added, that while we cannot too often, or too lovingly, trace out the course of our blessed Lord through this world, to learn what our conduct should be, to detect our failings, and to gather encouragement and consolation, it is only by having our eyes fixed upon Him where He now is, that we shall be enabled to tread in His steps. May He ever fill our gaze, that we may reflect His likeness in our walk and ways!
“Master! we would no longer be
Loved by the world that hated Thee,
But patient in Thy footsteps go,
Thy sorrow as Thy joy to know;
We would—and oh, confirm the power—
With meekness meet the darkest hour,
By shame, contempt, however tried,
For Thou wast scorned and crucified!”