Chip Off the Old Rock
They Had Been with Jesus
This Thursday night Dr. David Jeremiah will be in town to give a talk on his new book Living With Confidence in a Chaotic World: What on Earth Should We Do? Part of what he will be talking about is how to live in the times that we’re living in. Now I don’t know exactly what he’ll be speaking on, but this morning I came up with kind of my own solution to his question and that is just simply to be more like Jesus. That’s how we can live confidently in a chaotic world.
Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. (2) And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, and ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
We’re not called to be like this world. We’re called to be different, to be like Christ. Your lifestyle is your most powerful message. John MacArthur
When a boy grows up to be pretty much like his dad, it’s said that, “He’s a chip off the old block.” He’s so much like his father it’s like a piece of dad just fell right off and there’s junior. So how does one become a chip off the old block? It’s not just a physical thing. When someone is considered to be a chip off the old block their actions, mannerisms, and thoughts are just like the original. And it comes from spending time with dad to learn all these actions and such.
Have you ever been called a chip off the old block? Has anything about your life mirrored that of someone else’s? Well, when we become Christians we’re called to spend time with Christ, and to mirror His life. And in time hopefully we can be looked at as a chip off the old rock!
Acts 3:1-10 Now Peter and John were going up into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. (2) And a certain man that was lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the door of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; (3) who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked to receive an alms. (4) And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him, with John, said, Look on us. (5) And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something from them. (6) But Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but what I have, that give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. (7) And he took him by the right hand, and raised him up: and immediately his feet and his ankle-bones received strength. (8) And leaping up, he stood, and began to walk; and he entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. (9) And all the people saw him walking and praising God: (10) and they took knowledge of him, that it was he that sat for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.
Acts 4:5-14 And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem; (6) and Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest. (7) And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, By what power, or in what name, have ye done this? (8) Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders, (9) if we this day are examined concerning a good deed done to an impotent man, by what means this man is made whole; (10) be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even in him doth this man stand here before you whole. (11) He is the stone which was set at nought of you the builders, which was made the head of the corner. (12) And in none other is there salvation: for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved. (13) Now when they beheld the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. (14) And seeing the man that was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.
There are 3 things in our main story this morning that stick out to me that made these men different that set them apart as people that had been with Jesus. Appearance, Attitude, and Association.
Appearance
The first thing this morning I believe the Sanhedrin saw in Peter and John that made them say these men have been with Jesus was their appearance, they didn’t look like everyone else. Peter and John were fisherman by trade, and standing in the Temple before this board of elders and religious leaders, they didn’t look like anyone in that room. Now I’m not talking about the clothes they were wearing, although that was probably different too. But there was something physically different about these men who had been with Jesus.
Exodus 34:28-35 And he was there with Jehovah forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. (29) And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of the testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses knew not that the skin of his face shone by reason of his speaking with him. (30) And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him. (31) And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses spake to them. (32) And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that Jehovah had spoken with him in mount Sinai. (33) And when Moses had done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. (34) But when Moses went in before Jehovah to speak with him, he took the veil off, until he came out; and he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded. (35) And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the veil upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
Moses spoke with God on Mt. Sinai. As the scripture here tells us this morning, his face shown because he had been with God. The people couldn’t look at him without him veiling his face. They could tell from his physical appearance that he had been with God. I believe this could probably be brought into our scripture this morning also. Their faces might not have shown like Moses’ did, but these men that they stood before could tell that they had been with Jesus because of their faces.
So it is with us today, people can tell from our physical appearance whether or not we have been with Christ, and I’m not just talking about the way we dress or how we fix our hair, but our faces and demeanor show others whether or not we’ve been with Jesus.
A wealthy Oriental man took his little daughter to the local missionary school, willing to pay any expense. The father, however, didn’t want to enroll his daughter in the school as a student. He merely wanted her to remain with the missionaries long enough for them to put something on her face to make her as beautiful as the other girls who attended the school. The missionary in charge of the school explained to the man that nothing was put on the faces of the little girls to make them pretty.
“Then why are they better looking than the other girls in town? When girls start going here they are plain looking, like everyone else, but before long they become pretty. What do you put on their faces?”
The missionary replied, “It’s not something we put on their faces, it’s Someone they receive in their hearts!”
People can tell from our faces whether we have been with Jesus or not. You can tell from people’s expression whether their walk is truly where it should be. There’s joy in the journey that you pick up on. You can tell they have truly been with Jesus. Just like the Samaritan woman we looked at a couple weeks back, she came to that well down on life, probably looking like her dog just died or something, but after having been with Jesus her appearance was changed by the end of the story. She was running to the town to tell people about this Man that she met that changed her life, and changed her appearance.
Attitude
When you’ve been with Jesus, people can tell by your attitude. You don’t act like everyone else. And your attitude also contributes to the physical appearance we just talked about. Peter and John displayed the attitude in front of the Sanhedrin that they had been with Jesus. I don’t see Peter and John standing up to these men in a disrespectful manner, but they were simply confronting them with the truth, just as Jesus did. They used scripture to back themselves up. But through the whole ordeal they had the mind of Christ.
Philippians 2:3-8 doing nothing through faction or through vainglory, (meaning contentiousness or self conceit)but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself; (humility) (4) not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others. (Not being selfish, looking out for the needs of others) (5) Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:(Was Jesus prideful? Did he exalt Himself while He was here on earth?)who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself,(literally meaning He allowed Himself to be humiliated) taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.
When Jesus was on this earth He was God. Do we see in scripture anywhere where Jesus was prideful or boastful about this? No! In fact we see the opposite. He was humble. He had the heart of a servant. He told people He was here not to fulfill His own will, but the will of the Father that sent Him. Do we have the mind of Christ that shows others we’ve been with Jesus?
What happens when someone cuts us off in traffic? Has anyone ever took your space in the parking lot? Have you waited 25 minutes at Burger King just to get a couple Whoppers that take 2 minutes tops to make? Are we having the mind of Christ in those times? It’s easy to have a humble, Christ like attitude when everything’s going smooth in our lives, but it’s hard when things aren’t going our way. It’s hard to love someone that treats you badly. It’s even harder to return good for evil. It’s one thing to not get angry at the person that cut you off and almost caused an accident it’s another thing when they pull behind you in the drive-thru line and you tell the clerk you want to pay for their meal. That’s what Christ would’ve done.
The sins of the whole world, everything you and I would ever do wrong, were placed on Him, an innocent man, and what was His response? Did He get angry and cry that it wasn’t fair? Did He throw His hands in the air and say this isn’t what I signed up for? No! He let my sins and your sins be placed on Him, on His account, not mine. He let His hands be nailed to that cross, and with love for the people who’s sins He bore He simply said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. While He was dying in my place He wasn’t thinking of retaliation or vengeance, He was thinking of me and you.
Now what kind of attitude should we have when someone cuts us off again? Do we get mad? Do we roll our window down and bless them real good? Or have we truly been with Jesus, and we have the attitude Christ had on the cross?
Association
When we’ve truly been with Jesus, people can tell by our associations. People can tell what type of person we are by the associations we keep. And it’s just as true that they can tell what type of Christian we are by those same associations. Do the friends and people from work that you hang out with know that you’re different because you’ve been with Jesus?
One of the powerful figures in Wall Street fell in love with an actress. For many months he was always seen escorting her about in the fashionable circles of town. Deciding to marry her, he first put a private detective to the job of looking into her former dealings and friends in order to guard himself against any rash mistake. At last he received his agent’s report. “Miss Blank enjoys an excellent reputation. Her past is spotless. Her associates have been above reproach. The only breath of scandal is that, in recent months, she has been much seen in the company of a business man of doubtful reputation.”
It’s a familiar thought to us, but if you were to be put on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? But I’ll go even farther than that and ask this, if the prosecution and defense in that case were choosing witnesses to support their case, how many friends and co-workers and family members would your defense team be able to use as opposed to the prosecution? Would the people you consider closest to you be able to get on that witness stand and say without a shadow of a doubt that you’ve been with Jesus?
I think of Rick Harris who’ve we’ve been praying for who recently accepted Jesus into his life. We’ve been praying that he could find new friends and new associates to be around, because the ones he was known by before are from when he lived his life apart from Jesus. Sometimes there’s a need to separate yourself from associates because you have been with Jesus.
On a wall near the main entrance to the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, is a portrait of a man with this inscription underneath. James Butler Bonham-no picture of him exists. This portrait is of his nephew, Major James Bonham, deceased, who greatly resembled his uncle. It is placed here by the family that people may know the appearance of the man who died for freedom. No literal portrait of Jesus exists either. But the likeness of the One who died to set all men free can be seen in the lives of those who truly follow Him. If we are truly following Christ others will see it in our appearance, our attitudes, and our associations. They will see that we have truly been with Christ.
