Proper Pattern

1 Thes.1:5-7 For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, even as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became a pattern to all those who believe in Macedonia and in Achaia.

Note from the Holy Bible, Recovery VersionThe apostles not only preached the gospel; they lived it. Their ministering of the gospel was not only by word but also by a life that displayed the power of God, a life in the Holy Spirit and in the assurance of their faith. They were the pattern of the glad tidings that they spread.

1 Thes.2:8-9 Yearning in this way over you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own souls, because you became beloved to us. For you remember, brothers, our labor and travail: While working night and day so as not to be burdensome to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.

2 Thes.3:9 Not because we do not have the right, but in order that we might give ourselves to you as a pattern that you might imitate us.

The Holy Word for Morning Revival from "Cooperating with the Heavenly Ministry of the Ascended Christ" Week 3, The Pattern of the Apostle Paul in Cooperating with Christ's Heavenly Ministry to Shepherd people for the Building Up of the Body of Christ has left a deep imprint on me, of my need to be, if not yet, a proper pattern. Only the Lord knows if I have been a proper pattern or not. If to my own judgement, I may be far off, but I deeply long to be a proper pattern to the saints, seekers and sinners alike. With this longing I also have deep realisation that I cannot be a proper pattern by myself, for the only proper person is the Lord Jesus Himself, and without Him living in me and through me I have no way to be a proper pattern to any one, not even to myself. This message has been a classic message on being a proper person.

God cares for our person more than our work. In fact, our person is the Lord's work. Without our person being proper, the Lord's work we do can never be proper. The Lord Jesus Himself has set a perfect pattern, the apostles followed the pattern of the Lord, and now is our turn to be that pattern to the men of our generation at this time wherever the Lord has placed us.

A living testimony is the need of the day. The apostle could boldly say, "you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake" because they lived out Christ, the proper and perfect pattern. And with such living, the apostles, especially, Paul shepherded the saints with his very own life. The best way to shepherd people is by being a proper pattern to them, in words and in deeds. Paul did exactly that by living out Christ. And the same must be done by us, especially me, to live out Christ and be a proper pattern.

The best quotes are directly from the ministry books published by Living Stream Ministry from the title book mentioned above.

1. The apostles were struggling and speaking the gospel to the Thessalonians in the boldness of God (v. 2).
2. The apostles were free from deception, uncleanness, and guile (v. 3).
3. The apostles were first tested and approved by God and then were entrusted by Him with the gospel; hence, their speaking, the preaching of the gospel, was not of themselves to please men but of God to please Him; God proved, examined, and tested their hearts continually (v. 4; Psa. 26:2; 139:23-24; 2 Cor.1:12; 6:6; 7:3).
4. The apostles were never found with flattering speech or with a pretext for covetousness (1 Thes. 2:5):
5. The apostles did not seek glory from men (1 Thes. 2:6a):
6. The apostles did not stand on their authority or dignity as apostles of Christ (1 Thes. 2:6b):
7. The apostles cherished the believers and yearned over them as a nursing mother would cherish and yearn over her own children (1 Thes.2:7-8; cf. Gal. 4:19; Isa. 49:14-15;66:12-13):
8. The apostles not only imparted the gospel of God to the Thessalonians; they also imparted their own souls (1 Thes. 2:8):
9. The apostles considered themselves as fathers in exhorting the believers to walk worthily of God, to have a walk that will enable them to enter into the kingdom of God and usher them into the glory of God (1 Thes.2:11-12):

I am literally running out of words to add anything further. The truth is complete and the need of the hour is the experience of this truth. I have seen and witnessed people who serves the Lord and who are either a proper pattern or the opposite. The result itself, to the eye witnesses of the world, is obvious. Words cannot commend further than deeds. And such an exemplary living is the living expected and required of the believers today. 

Thank God, there are brothers and sisters who are still alive and are matching such a pattern as revealed in the Bible. I praise the Lord for them and pray that all the saints can be living out Christ to be proper patterns for the world to see. The world is yet to see the living out of Christ among Christians today. Only if Christians are serious about their Christian lives and desperately seeking the Lord to live out Christ, the world would watch in wonder, and many will be saved from world to bear the Lord's testimony.

It has been my prayer that all the Christians would be revived and renewed to take Christ as our lives and living, and live out Christ to be proper pattern to the people around us. Such living is the God-man living that every Christian should live out. It has been my prayer that I live out Christ as my life and be a proper pattern; not only me, but with all my family, and with all the saints in my locality, and even globally. This is what the world is waiting for.

Lord, grace me to live You and be a proper pattern.