Please turn to the Gospel according to John.
John’s Gospel, Chapter 1. Begin with verse 35 through verse 41.
Again on the morrow John was standing, and two of his disciples;
and he looked upon Jesus as He walked, and saith, Behold, the Lamb of God!
And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
And Jesus turned, and beheld them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye?
And they said unto Him, Rabbi, which is to say, being interpreted, Teacher, where abidest Thou?
He saith unto them, Come, and ye shall see.
They came therefore and saw where He abode; and they abode with Him that day: it was about the tenth hour.
One of the two that heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
He findeth first his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, Christ.
The same chapter, verse 14:
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us
(and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father),
full of grace and truth.
Dear heavenly Father, we do want to thank Thee for sending Thy beloved Son into this world. We thank Thee that He has come not only to declare Thee, the Father, but He has come to demonstrate to us that kind of Man.
So, Lord, we just ask that this morning, through Thy precious Word, Thou wilt again reveal Thyself to us, that we may see Thee in a way that we have never seen before; that we may be drawn to Thyself and be changed, to the glory of God. In the name of our Lord Jesus, amen.
Last time, we shared together on the temptation of our Lord Jesus. We saw that He was tempted for us, and His victory becomes our victory.
Brothers and sisters, God has not promised us that we shall have no temptation. But He has given us the victory of Christ over all temptations. If we trust in Him, we are able to endure all temptations and will come forth to the glory of God.
Now, this morning, we would like to continue on with the life of our Lord Jesus, and we will call it The Walk of Jesus.
If our Lord was tempted and overcame the enemy, He came back from the wilderness. In John 1:29, John the Baptist sees Jesus coming unto him and says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world.”
That happened after our Lord Jesus came back from the wilderness, and it is natural that He should come back to John again. So when John saw Him again, John testified that He is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
Then, in the verses that we read this morning, again on the morrow—that is, the next day—John and his two disciples were standing there.
Jesus walked by. John looked at Him, and the look was not just a casual glance. It was an intense looking upon the Lord. John, in a sense, saw the glory of God in Jesus. So once again he cried out, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
When he said this, the two disciples who were standing with him left him and followed Jesus. What a tremendous testimony John must have given, that these two disciples of his would leave him and follow Jesus.
Jesus turned back and asked them, “What seek ye?” The answer of these two disciples was most unusual. They said, “Where do You live?” And Jesus said, “Come, and see.”
So they went with Jesus. They abode with Him. The next day, one of the two—that is, Andrew—went to find his brother Simon and said, “We have found the Messiah.”
Now, brothers and sisters, here we see first Jesus our Lord. Then we find these two disciples: they followed Him, and they desired to be with Him.
When we read the four Gospels, we know that the Gospels give us the story of our Lord Jesus. Now, when we read the Gospels, brothers and sisters, what are the things that really impress us? What do we really see?
Do we see the teaching of our Lord Jesus? Do we see the doings of our Lord Jesus? The four Gospels record many of His teachings—how He taught—and they show us many of His works, wonders, and miracles.
But, brothers and sisters, is that all we are concerned with? What do we really see in the four Gospels?
You know, the Jewish people, at the time when Christ was on earth, heard Him teach. After He taught, they declared that His teaching was different from that of the scribes and the Pharisees, because He taught with authority. They were impressed by His teaching.
Also, we find that when our Lord Jesus was on earth, He healed the sick, and He did wonders and miracles. The people at that time were amazed at all these wonders and miracles.
But very soon they found that His teaching was too hard. It was hard on their flesh. They could not take it anymore.
You remember John 6. They said, “This is a hard saying; who can hear it?” So many of His disciples went away.
They saw His wonders and miracles, but when they discovered that He would not do what they expected Him to do, they got tired of Him. Eventually, you find that these very people who heard His teaching and were impressed, who saw His works and were amazed, eventually rejected Him. They crucified Him.
Why? Because they did not see how He was—how He lived. They did not follow Him. They did not dwell with Him.
In other words, they did not have a real knowledge of who He is: what kind of Person He is, and what His life is. They were impressed by His teachings and doings, but they were not impressed by His life, by Himself.
Brothers and sisters, if all we know about our Lord Jesus is His teaching or His doing, we do not know Him. We have to know His life—how He lived, how He walked on this earth, what kind of Person He is, and why He is so different from everybody else.
Unless we know this, soon we will be tired of His teachings and weary of His history.
The four Gospels actually present to us a picture of a Man.
If I may follow the words of J. G. Bellett—he wrote a book called The Moral Glory of Our Lord Jesus Christ—he said something like this: “What a picture! Who can conceive such an original? It was a perfect thing: how He walked here on this earth in the fullness of moral glory, and whose reflections have been left by the Holy Spirit on the pages of the evangelists.”
So, brothers and sisters, the four Gospels do give us the teaching of our Lord Jesus. They do show us the works of our Lord Jesus. But most of all, first of all, they present to us a Man—a very special Person, a God-man, a Man that God has been looking for since the creation.
In the beginning, brothers and sisters, when God created man, He created man in His own image, after His likeness. He had in His heart a man that would satisfy His every desire.
But unfortunately, countless numbers of men and women have come and gone through all these centuries, yet there was not the man that God had in His heart when He created man.
But one day, the four Gospels record the life of such a Man.
So, brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus is the perfect Man. Of course, He is God, but our emphasis this morning is on His life, His walk upon this earth.
He is a Man after God’s own heart. Maybe that will remind you of David, because in 1 Samuel 13:14, and again in Acts 13:22, God said of David, “I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after Mine own heart, who shall do all My will.”
Now David is a man after God’s own heart, but, brothers and sisters, he serves only as a type of Christ. Why? He may be perfect in heart, but certainly he is not perfect in walk.
But our Lord Jesus is not only perfect in heart; He is perfect in walk.
He lived on this earth for thirty-three years. During the first thirty years, He was hidden from the public. Then, for three and a half years, He was in public life.
As a matter of fact, those thirty hidden years prepared Him for the three and a half years of public life. Or, to put it another way, His public life was simply a demonstration, or the outcome, of His private life.
There was no difference. Whether He was in public or whether He was alone, He was the same. He is not like us. We live a double life, most of us, most of the time: before men, one way; behind men, perhaps another way. But not our Lord Jesus.
You will find that His thirty-three years on earth were just the same kind of life. Why? Because He lived before God.
When He was in public, in the eyes of the multitude, He lived before God. When He was in private, all by Himself, unseen by other people, He lived before God. Therefore, you find His life was just one. What a beautiful, wonderful life!
You remember, He Himself said in John 8:29:
He that sent Me is with Me;
He hath not left Me alone;
for I do always the things that are pleasing to Him.
At His baptism, heaven opened, and there was a voice coming from heaven: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
This is the life of our Lord Jesus. This is how He lived. This is the way He walked on this earth.
In the Old Testament, when you look in the book of Leviticus, you find that there are five different kinds of sacrifices.
In Leviticus 2, you find an offering called the meal offering. If it is a meal offering, you offer fine flour—the finest part of wheat flour. Then you pour oil on it and put frankincense upon it.
You know, all these sacrifices and offerings are types of Christ. This meal offering is a type of the earthly life of our Lord Jesus. His earthly life of thirty-three years is like a meal offering, a food offering, unto God.
It is fine flour. You remember, the Lord said in John 12:24:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone;
but if it die, it beareth much fruit.
And this He spoke of His death. In other words, in this world all you can find is tares. There is no wheat on earth. The sons of the devil are tares. Our Lord Jesus is the first grain of wheat to fall upon the ground. He came to this earth, and He died.
That flour comes from the grinding of the wheat. The wheat has to be ground in order to become fine. In other words, you find our Lord Jesus, throughout His life, was being tested and tried, pressed and ground. Yet in every part of His life, He came out pure and fine.
Oil represents the Holy Spirit. You find His whole life was mingled with oil. He was born of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit overshadowed the womb of a virgin.
When He was baptized, the Holy Spirit came upon Him and took up His abode in Him. He was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. After He overcame, He came back in the power of the Holy Spirit.
When He began to preach, He opened the book of Isaiah and said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me.” He did everything in the power of the Holy Spirit. When He offered Himself as a sacrifice, He did so by the eternal Spirit.
So, brothers and sisters, you find that the whole life of our Lord Jesus was mingled with oil.
And put frankincense there. Frankincense means open fragrance. In other words, you find that the whole life of our Lord Jesus was just an open fragrance. Wherever He went, there was the sweet savor of Christ.
It means life unto life, but it may also mean death unto death. Now, this is the life of our Lord Jesus.
Again, it is Bellett who says something like this: aside from that personal love that our Lord Jesus has for us, the one thing that really draws us to Himself is the discovering of Himself.
If we discover what a Man He is, what a Person He is, what a life He lived, brothers and sisters, we will be drawn to Him. We will desire Him with all our heart. We will know Him, and we will be transformed according to Him, because as He is, so shall we be.
Now, what kind of life did He live? First of all, He lived a holy life.
Sometimes, when we mention the word holy, people are fearful. They are afraid of that word. That is because the holiness that we see today is often not the true holiness.
Holiness is to be set apart. We are separated from everything that we may be fully devoted to God. Now, that is true.
But unfortunately, we find in this world a false holiness—a holiness that the Pharisees practiced, and unfortunately many others are practicing.
The Pharisees, in the days of our Lord Jesus, in order to show that they were holy, broadened their phylacteries and widened the borders of their garments. They stood on the street corners and prayed long prayers. They offered tithes of mint, anise, and cummin.
They presented themselves to people as though they were holy. But our Lord Jesus said that within them were dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.
Do you know what their holiness was? It was external. Their holiness was man-made. Their holiness was to appear holy before people. It was not real.
In order to show that they were so holy, they separated themselves from sinners. They would not eat with sinners because they felt, “We are holier than thou.” That was their attitude.
Now, that kind of holiness is frightening. No wonder, when we mention the word holiness, we are afraid.
But, brothers and sisters, look at the life of our Lord Jesus. It was a normal life. He ate and drank. He was not a hermit, nor an anchorite. He lived among the people. He was a friend of sinners and publicans.
And yet, there was a difference. He was tempted in all things, without sin. Outwardly He was among men, but inwardly His heart was set apart. He was in the world, but not of the world.
His holiness was His very character. He was separated from sin. No matter how the devil tempted Him, He was completely separated from the world. The world could find nothing in Him.
He made no compromise, even though He loved the lost people. He was even separated from His sinless self.
Now, brothers and sisters, our self is contaminated by sin. Whatever comes from ourselves has sin in it. But the self of our Lord Jesus was sinless. If He wanted to do something on His own, there was no sin there.
It is hard for us to understand, because if we do anything at all, sin is always there. But our Lord Jesus, even with His sinless self, was separated from it. He denied Himself.
“Not My will, but Thy will be done.” He was a Person completely set apart for one purpose: unto the Father.
When He was twelve years old, He said, “I must be about My Father’s business.” His whole life was devoted to God. Now, that is holiness.
Holiness is not merely holy acts. You may do some so-called holy acts, but that is not holiness. Holiness is a life—a life that is completely separated and fully devoted to God.
You may eat and still be holy. You may drink and still be holy. You may be a friend of sinners and publicans and still be holy.
True holiness does not drive people away. No wonder the children loved to come to our Lord Jesus. True holiness draws people to God, not to ourselves.
False holiness tries to draw people to itself: “Look how holy I am.” But, brothers and sisters, the whole life of our Lord Jesus demonstrates to us a holy life. That is what holiness really is.
And do you know the Lord says, “Be ye holy; for I am holy.” We are all supposed to be holy. We are all supposed to live a holy life. We need to be separated and devoted.
Now, how can we live such a life? If we try it ourselves, all we can probably accomplish is as much as the Pharisees accomplished. That is all we can do: false holiness.
But if we can see that our holiness is a Person—another Person, other than myself—it is the Lord Jesus. God has made Him our holiness. First Corinthians 1:30.
Here we can see that this life our Lord Jesus lived on this earth was for us. He lived His life that He might give that life to us. By His life in us, we may be holy as Jesus is holy.
What kind of life did our Lord Jesus live? He lived a heavenly life.
“No one hath ascended into heaven, but He that descended out of heaven, even the Son of man, who is in heaven.” John 3:13.
When our Lord Jesus was on earth, He lived in heaven. Wherever He went, He brought with Him a heavenly atmosphere.
He came not only to teach us heavenly things. You remember He told Nicodemus, “If I told you earthly things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you heavenly things?”
Our Lord Jesus taught us heavenly things, but more than that, He brought heaven to us. He brought heaven to you and me.
We do not need to wait until we go to heaven to live a heavenly life. We need to live a heavenly life on earth in order to be ready for heaven. If you do not live a heavenly life on earth, when you go to heaven you may find yourself very uncomfortable.
I remember a story. An eagle said to a chicken, “How good it is that you can fly in the sky and see the wide horizon and all the wonderful ways. Why do you always stay and crawl upon this earth?”
And the chicken said, “I do not go to the sky. There is no earth there.”
You know, brothers and sisters, if you do not live a heavenly life on earth, when you go to heaven and try to find all these earthly things that you desire, they are not there. Then you will want to get out.
The life of our Lord Jesus on earth was as in heaven. He lived under a heavenly jurisdiction.
He did not live according to the opinion of this world. He did not try to please the world. He lived under the rule of heaven.
His life was the kingdom of heaven, and this is what our Lord Jesus is calling us into.
Do you know, brothers and sisters, that we have a heavenly calling? Hebrews 3. We have a heavenly calling. We are called to live on earth a heavenly life.
Seek not the things that are below, but seek the things that are above. What are the things that attract us? What are the things upon which we set our minds and hearts?
What kind of life do we live on this earth? Thank God, the life of Christ that has been given to us is a heavenly life.
You know, brothers and sisters, in a sense, when you are seeking earthly things, when you set your mind upon things of this world, do you find pleasure, joy, peace, and satisfaction within you? No.
Because that heavenly life within you cries out. It is wounded. It is hurt.
We need to learn to hear the voice within us. If we listen to the teaching of the anointing within us, then we will abide in Christ. By abiding in Christ, we live in the heavenly realm.
We are above the earth. We are able to overcome our enemies in the heavenlies.
Certainly, when our Lord Jesus was on earth, He lived a spiritual life.
You know, He is not merely a spirit. He is a perfect Man: spirit, soul, and body. Do not think that our Lord Jesus, while He was on earth, was just a spirit, and therefore could live a spiritual life. Not so.
The Word became flesh and dwelt among men. He had a body just like we have, and that body had its needs and its desires.
He had a soul just like we have. He had His will, His thinking, and His feeling, just like we have. Even though His was sinless, ours are contaminated. But He had a soul, and He had soulish needs.
He also had a spirit—a human spirit. But His human spirit was so anointed by the Holy Spirit that they became one.
In other words, you find that His human spirit was never divorced from the Holy Spirit. Or, to put it another way, His human spirit was always in subjection, in obedience, and in cooperation with the Holy Spirit.
You know, according to the will of God in creation, God desired that our spirit should lead. Because God’s Spirit is able to dwell in our spirit, with our spirit we are able to commune with God, know God’s will, and love God.
So God’s divine order for man is that our spirit should be in leadership. Then, after our spirit communes with God and the Holy Spirit reveals God’s mind to us, our spirit orders our soul to carry out and execute God’s will.
That is to say, our will will will the will of God, our mind will think the will of God, and our feelings will go for the will of God. Then our soul will command our body to work it out and live it out. That is the divine order for the walk.
But unfortunately, with us, the passions and lusts of the flesh are so strong. Oftentimes we are swayed by the lust and passion of the flesh. Oftentimes we are dominated by the sentiment of the soul, by our own will, or by our emotion, instead of learning to walk in the Spirit.
Now, brothers and sisters, what is spiritual life? Spiritual life is a life lived in the Spirit—that is, a life lived by the Holy Spirit of God. That is spiritual life.
With our Lord Jesus, you find that His life was a spiritual life. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and naturally He was hungry. He needed food.
But when He was tempted to turn the stones into loaves of bread, He said:
Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
In other words, He put His physical body under His spirit. He did not allow His body to dictate to Him.
Like the Apostle Paul said, “I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage, lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.”
Brothers and sisters, there you find the tempter came and tried to stir up His pride. You know, that is our soul. “You jump down. Let everybody see You, and they will accept You as the Messiah.”
But the Lord said, “No. Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” He was willing to go by way of the cross because this was the Father’s will. He lived by the Spirit. He lived in His spirit.
And because He lived in the Spirit, a spiritual man discerns all things. He can see through everything. He can see through every doubt and every motive. People can come to Him and pretend, but He can see through them.
Why? Because He was spiritual. Oftentimes we are deceived; we cannot see. We are deceived by what people say and by what people appear to be, because that is the way we live.
But if we are really spiritual, brothers and sisters, anyone can come to us and try to say something or pretend to be something, and we will know. Our Lord Jesus knew.
He lived a spiritual life, always in communion with the Spirit of God and always in subjection. This is the kind of life that He demonstrated to us. This is the kind of life that God desires of man.
Number four: He lived a beautiful life. You know, what is beauty?
One definition of beauty is harmony. When you see things that are so harmonized—like a picture or a painting—everything in color, design, and form is harmonized. There is beauty there.
What is a beautiful life? A beautiful life is one in which there are no jarring notes. There is unity, there is oneness, and there is harmony.
If you read the life of our Lord Jesus, you find that He was in harmony with God. There was no controversy between Him and God. It was perfect.
Because He was always in subjection to the Father. He never questioned His Father. He always thanked His Father for whatever happened to Him. There was such harmony between Him and God. That is beautiful.
He was in harmony with Himself. You find there was no conflict within Himself. You know, all our lives we are in civil war all the time.
But with our Lord Jesus, spirit, soul, and body were united in one. There was harmony. Therefore, you see such peace and such rest in Him.
He was in harmony with all the creation God created. He could see God in all things. He could see the loving care of God in the birds and in the lilies.
He was not afraid of the storm. He could sleep soundly when the storm was raging. The disciples, some of whom were fishermen and were used to storms, were so afraid because the storm was so severe that they thought they were going to be drowned. But our Lord was sleeping there.
He was in harmony. Then He could stand up and calm the storm. He had power over all God’s creation. Beauty, beauty, beauty.
Another definition of beauty is balance. If everything is well balanced, there is beauty there.
You know, the Greeks in the old days were very careful about their bodies. The Greek gymnasium was famous because it was for the purpose of developing a perfect body, a well-balanced body. When you see a body that is well balanced, there is beauty there.
Now, brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus lived a beautiful life because His life was so balanced.
Love and righteousness were perfectly balanced. With us, if we love, we may not be just. But with our Lord Jesus, you find love and righteousness balancing each other.
He was compassionate with sinners and publicans, and yet how severe He was in His judgment of the scribes, the Pharisees, and the hypocrites.
He was soft and tender with people, yet He was not weak at all. He cleansed the temple, drove out the oxen and sheep, and overturned the tables of the money changers.
You cannot find a more balanced life than our Lord Jesus. He was holy, and yet He was accessible and approachable.
You know, when we pretend to be holy, we become unapproachable. But not with our Lord Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, if you read the four Gospels, you find a perfectly balanced life. There is beauty there.
He knew exactly what to say, when to say it, and when not to say it. A beautiful life.
May the beauty of the Lord become ours.
Then again, you find that He lived a glorious life. His life was glorious.
Now, what is glory? How can we see glory? Glory is God appearing because He is satisfied.
In the life of our Lord Jesus, you find the glory of the Lord manifested in the face of Jesus Christ. You see the glory of God in that life. Why? Because He did not seek man’s glory, but He sought only the glory of God.
Brothers and sisters, if we seek only the glory of God, then the glory of God will be upon us.
We can go on and on and on, because His beauty is beyond description—too marvelous. But, brothers and sisters, this is the life we have before us.
When you come to be in touch with that life, what will happen?
First, it stirs within you a desire. You want to follow Him and to be with Him.
“Oh, that I may know Him.” That will be the cry of your heart.
You know, brothers and sisters, these two disciples, when they saw our Lord Jesus, followed Him. They wanted to be with Him.
Do you have such a desire? Are we just attracted by His teaching, or just by His doings? Are we attracted by Him?
Meditate on Him. When you read the four Gospels, try to see through His teaching and His doing. Try to see Him.
Then you will desire Him. You will long to be with Him. You will want to know Him. You will want to be like Him.
Number two: then you see that this life presented to you on the pages of the evangelists is for you.
It is not just to demonstrate a beautiful life, and that is all. God has that Man, but only one Man? No. Because He came not only to demonstrate a Man that God desires, but He came to give that Man to you and me, or to make you and me that man.
He gives you and me His life. Brothers and sisters, do you know that the life we have in us today is this life?
A holy life, a heavenly life, a spiritual life, a beautiful life, a glorious life. Do you know that is the life that is in you?
If you want to live that life, just let Him live.
So the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ.” Brothers and sisters, that is it.
You will find that everything about the Lord is for us. His incarnation is for you. His baptism is for you. His temptation is for you. His temptation is for you. His earthly walk on this earth is for you, that you may live as He is.
So may we open our hearts and let the Lord live in us and through us, to the glory of God. Shall we pray?
Dear Lord Jesus, we do praise and thank Thee that everything about Thee is for us. Thou dost love us so much. Thou lovest us to the uttermost.
Thou wouldst have us to be like Thee, and therefore Thou dost give Thy life to us. Lord, open our hearts to see what a life we have in us, and teach us how to let that life live in and through us.
That we may declare with our brother Paul, “For to me to live is Christ,” to the praise of Thy glory. In the name of our Lord Jesus, amen.