Striking Likenesses of Jesus Christ
Text: Acts 4:13 And they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus
Scripture: Acts 4:1-20
Introduction:
Spurgeon once said, “A Christian should be a striking likeness of Jesus Christ.” We have read lives of Christ beautifully and eloquently written, but he best life of Christ is His living biography written in the words and actions of His people. If we were what we profess to be, and what we should be, we would be such striking likenesses of Jesus Christ that those about us would have no reason to be doubtful, but could exclaim, “He has been with Jesus. He has been taught of him. He is like Him in His everyday actions.” Missionaries once entered a Chinese village and told the story of Jesus. When they had finished, they said, “Wouldn’t you like to know Jesus?” The villagers replied, “We do know Him. He lives here!” A Christian who lived in their village was like Christ.
I. A Christian should be like Christ in his prayer life.
A. Jesus took time out of His busy schedule to pray to His father.
1. Lack of time is a common excuse for prayer neglect. A ta meeting of Methodist Ministers in Ohio, I heard the pastor of a large church confess that he found it difficult to find time for secret prayer. Every minister in that group could have said the same thing. They were too busy. Yet Jesus had but 3 years to accomplish His mission, but He took time to pray.
2. Mark 1:35 says that “in the morning, a great while before it was day, Jesus arose and went tout to a solitary place to pray.” Mark 6:36, “In the evening, after He had sent the multitudes away, He departed into a mountain to pray.” Luke 6:12, “An dit came to pass in those days that He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” Matt 6:6, Jesus said, “When you pray enter into a secret place, and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father in secret, and your Father which seeith in secret, shall reward you openly.” If you would be like Jesus you must find time to pray.
B. When Jesus prayed He had communion with the Father.
He sought His Father’s will. He prayed for courage, for strength, for wisdom, for direction and as a child would say, “Sometimes they just talked.” The small child of a minister opened the door to her father’s study, entered, and sat down. After a while he looked up from his work and gruffly asked, “Well, what do you want?” She answered, “I don’t want anything. I just want to be near you.”
C. When Jesus prayed, He prayed for others.
Intercessory prayer is sweet music to God’s ears. Jesus prayed for His disciples. In Luke 22:32, Jesus said, “Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not.” Satan had already been nipped in the bud by Jesus’ intercessory prayer for Simon Peter. How often Jesus prays for us as our intercessor! We little know what we owe to His prayers. Of course we are allowed to pray for ourselves, but those prayers having in them more love, more faith, more brotherly kindness for others, are sweet music in the ears of God. Scripture commands us to pray for one another.
D. Jesus’ prayers were filled with thanksgiving.
Before the raising of Lazarus, Jesus prayed and said, “Father, I thank thee that thou has heard me.” Thanksgiving is as important to prayer as petition, but it is often a missing note. If we will be like Jesus, we will take time to pray. We will have secret communion with the Father, we will pray for others, we will thank God for hearing us.
II. A Christian should be like Jesus in His holiness.
A. Was he zealous for His Father’s business? At 12 He said to His parents, “Did ye not know that I must be about my Father’s business?” After the cleansing of the temple disciples, according to prophecy, “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.” Jesus was completely absorbed for the moment in zeal for the purity of God’s house. As the selling of sheep and oxen and merchandise was offensive to our Lord, so our bringing into the house of God our houses, our cattle and a whole train of worldly affairs, worshiping with our lip while our hearts are far from Him: these tings are offensive to Christ. We need examine our hearts, these temples of ours.
B. His life is summed up in these words: “He went about doing good.” Let us not be content in just going about. He did not waste time. He redeemed the time that God might have the major portion of it. He denied self, instead of looking out for self. He was devout, patient. He loved His enemies. He did not retaliate when reviled, persecuted, spit upon. He was honest. He paid his taxes. He rendered unto Caesar the things which were Caesar’s. He rendered not unto Caesar the things which were God’s. He was truthful. He was different from the outside world. He walked worthy of His profession. Pattern your behavior after Jesus and others will say, “He has been with Jesus.”
III. A Christian should be like Jesus in His concern for others.
A. That Jesus was concerned about man’s physical needs is brought out forcibly in the history of the good Samaritan. The moral to Jesus’ story was that one should be a neighbor to anyone in need regardless of race or creed. Jesus was no respecter of persons.
Prior to the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, the disciples had suggested that Jesus send the multitudes away that they might buy bread. But Jesus was afraid that some might faint from hunger, so He performed the miracle.
He was concerned about the little children. Child murder was common in that day. Children were of little value. When the mothers brought the children to Jesus for His blessing the disciples said, “Trouble not the master.” But Jesus said, “Allow the little children to come unto me and forbid them not for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” To be like Jesus, we must be concerned about the physical and spiritual welfare of the children.
B. Jesus was concerned about man’s spiritual needs.
He took time for personal interviews. Living in a society of outcasts, He said, “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me and ye shall find rest for your souls. My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” “Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out. The son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Stories of God’s concern for lost humanity came from His lips in the parable of the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the lost son, and there was always great rejoicing when the lost was found.
The words of the accusation above his head on the cross might well have been “Concern for others.” Calvary is proof is His concern. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave is only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Simon Peter wrote, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sin, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.” Salvation from start to finish is a message of God’s concern through Christ, for us. Are we like Jesus in our concern for others or do we stand aloof?
IV. A Christian should be like Jesus in his boldness
A. Jesus never soft-pedaled the truth. He was quick to detect and expose hypocrisy.
Once sitting down to dinner in a Pharisee’s home, Jesus began to eat without first observing the Jewish ritual for washing his hands. The Pharisee was shocked that Jesus had not observed the ritual, and showed it. Jesus said, “You Pharisees are very careful to eat with cleansed hands and dishes according to Moses’ law, but you are unconcerned about the filth on the inside. Did not God create both the inside and out?”
Continuing, Jesus said, “You are very careful to pay the tithe, but you neglect judgement and love.”
Jesus pronounced woe upon hypocrisy. “Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye are as graves which appear not, and they that walk over them are not aware of them.”
B. Jesus never had any sympathy for pussy footers.
He wanted His disciples to go all the way or none. “He that putteth his hand to the plow and looketh back is not fit for the kingdom of God, won’t plow a straight furrow.”
In His message to the Laodician church (Rev 3:15) He said, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would that thou went cold or hot. (16) So then because thou art lukewarm, I will spew thee out of my mouth.” (Nauseating.)
C. The early church was infused with boldness
Acts 4 is a great chapter on boldness. Peter and John when asked to explain the miracle of the healing of the lame man at the beautiful gate said, “Be it known unto you all that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth was this man healed. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name given among men whereby we must be saved.” Though beaten and ordered not to each or preach in Jesus’ name, they went back to the other disciples and prayed for more boldness with which to speak the word, saying, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” and rejoiced because they were counted worthy to suffer for their faith.
Conclusion:
Someone has said that during the persecution of the early church Christians faced wild beasts in the arena while the Romans watched. The Romans were the spectators; the Christians were the actors. Today the Christians are in the galleries watching as spectators. Christians should leave the galleries to become actors again the prayer, holy behavior, concern for the physical and spiritual needs of others, and boldness in Christian testimony. Then others will see striking likenesses of Jesus Christ, and say, “They have been with Him and it made a difference.” It’s the difference that counts.
