THE PATTERN OF LIFE

By Lahry Sibley

1 Cor 11: 1 PATTERN YOURSELVES after me [follow my example], as

I imitate and follow Christ (the Messiah).

Such a challenge to all who would hold a position of leadership in the church,
and such a guiding light to any and all who would follow them.

Wisdom would ask this question, does my pastor, prophet, deacon, etc.
follow Christ? Can I see Christ in His life? In what ways do I see Christ in His
life? In what ways do I NOT see Christ in His life?

No one is perfect. Paul certainly wasn’t. But so much of his life, how he lived
it, and what he lived through, so modeled Christ. Knowing full well that he
was God’s called Apostle, he accepted his responsibility to lead others, as a
very noble shepherd.

To lead as a shepherd, means that you live it and experience it before any of
the sheep do. You are out front in everything. You experience the same
things they do and you do it FIRST. You let them see Christ in you, the hope
of glory.

It makes me wonder, why people flock to men who say they are shepherds,
and yet provide little leadership by being a model of Christ before they ask
others too. They themselves live according to tradition, and compromise,
rather than according the dictates of the Scriptures.

Another thought is this. No true Christian is exempt from applying this to

their own personal life. We are all leaders to someone. Husbands lead their
wives and children. Mothers lead their children and other ladies. Somebody
is watching YOU, and ME, hoping to see Christ in your life and mine. You
may never know who they are, but I assure you, they are there and they are
watching. Is Christ what they see in you? In me?

I know of no other compliment that can be bestowed upon a man or woman,

than this. “I’ve been watching you, and I see Christ in your life”. Oh my.

If there be any “life” in dead people, it must be resurrected life. Resurrected

life is Christ. If folks see little of Christ in someone who calls themselves
Christian, how is it you claim to have resurrected life? If all they see most of
the time is “me, myself, and I”, where is Christ? How can you be living the
newness of the resurrected life, if the old sin life is what YOU model as
Christian? What’s wrong with this picture? Someone is deceived. If you say
you are a Christian, but the “old sin nature” is still prevalent in your life, you
are witnessing to others a lie. You are saying I’m following Christ when in
fact you are as selfish as can be. That, to me, borders on blasphemy. You
are either a sinner, or a Christian. You have either been crucified with Christ
and resurrected, or you are not a Christian. There is no middle ground. You
cannot be alive in Christ “part time” anymore than a dead person can be
resurrected part time. You cannot be resurrected, if you have not first died!!!
If you have not been to the cross for death (repentance) you cannot have
Holy Spirit life. (Acts 2:38, 5:32) If your life is not a model of obedience, it is
not a model of Christ!!

Phil 2: 8 And after He had appeared in human form, He abased and

humbled Himself [still further] and carried His obedience to the
extreme of death, even the death of the cross!

If your life is not a model of obedience, it is not a model of Christ. Willfully

transgressing God’s 10 commandments is not a model of obedience even
unto death. Therefore it is not a model of Christ. This conclusion is sure,
steadfast, and cannot be compromised. It is a Biblical reality. It’s time for
the so called “church” to stop being the great “pretenders”, and start
obeying God. It is impossible for others to see Christ in your life if they do
not see a model of obedience in your life. When you whine “I am still a
sinner”, that YOU ARE. But you are not a Christian sinner. You are just a
sinner. Sin is not a model of Christ life. You say you are walking in the
resurrected life when your old life has never been taken to the cross for
death. You are a liar and fool. Anyone with a half an ounce of brain knows it
would be better if you said NOTHING, that to claim you are a “Christian
sinner”. Oh my, what a detestable thought.

If you say your are born again, do others see Christ in you, the hope of
glory? Or do they see a “religious” person, but not Christ? You cannot “learn”
how to live like Christ. It’s either who you are, or who you are NOT. If Christ
lives in you, that means YOU have been CRUCIFIED. You have that newness
of life. But if you have never been to the cross for death to sin and self, no
amount of training and practice can make you a Christian, any more than a
goat can become a sheep by living with sheep.

You may ask, “Bro. Lahry, why do most of your messages end up in the
same place?” It is because as Paul was so obviously grieved continually over
the spiritual state of his beloved kinsmen, so am I over what is called church
today. God has called me to minister to the so called “Christian community”.
He has called me to keep bringing you to the Cross, for death to self, so He
can live His life in you. Why is it such a big deal? Well, apart from Him, you
have no life. And there are so few in what is called “churches” today, who
are actually walking in the newness of life. God in His mercy has raised up
men and women to cry out truth and light. REPENT!!! Your life does not
model Christ. If there is no fruit of the Spirit in your life, you are part of the
apostasy, the great falling away from truth and light. You cannot hang “fruit
of the Holy Spirit” on a dead tree like folks hang ornaments an X-mas tree,
and call yourself a Christian. Fruit grows naturally upon the branch, or the
branch is DEAD.

Is defending what you have been taught and what you believe that does not
line up with the Word of God more important than your eternal home? You
cannot escape, and furthermore, you are without excuse. You can’t say you
didn’t know, because I am here to state it clearly before you. If you do not
lose your life, you cannot keep it. That’s what Jesus said. How can you
explain that away? How can you excuse your lascivious lifestyle, and yet call
yourself a Christian. How can you boast of being a resurrected man, when
it’s obvious there has been no death to self at the Cross? REPENT!!! Or you
shall surely PERISH!!!! - Lahry