The Jesus We Know Not

Introduction

As we continue our theme series, Rooted and Built Up in Jesus, we are moving on to the next part of the person and ministry of Jesus Christ. Prior to this we examined Christ before Bethlehem in a several message series.

Christ Before Bethlehem - pt.1-6

I. Christ, the Founder

II. Christ Foreordained

I. Salvation Through Faith in Christ

The Constant Throughout the Bible (Heb. 11)

III. Christ Foreshadowed

Explicit Connections: (i.e. Jacob’s Ladder, Bread from Heaven, The Rock in the Wilderness, The Passover Lamb, Brazen Serpent, Tabernacle)

Implicit Connections: (i.e. the Ark of Naoh, the Ram for Isaac, Boaz)

IV. Christ Foretold

Prophesies concerning Christ are Logistically & Statistically Impossible

V. Christ Foreseen

Pre-Incarnate Appearances of Christ (Christophanies- i.e. Jesus in the Burning Bush, Fiery Furnace, the Wilderness - Hagar, Wrestling Jacob, Jesus with Abraham)

The Incarnate Christ - pt.1-2

I. The Mother: Was Sanctified, but not Sinless; was an Instrument, not an Intercessor; was to Be Respected, not Revered

II. The Method: Christ Regains His Divinity; but Gains Humanity

III. The Motivation: To be Qualified, to be Crucified, to Cleanse Our Sins, Driven by Compassion

Learning from a 12 Year Old

I. His Foundation: They were Faithful (v41-43); They had Faults (v48)

II. His Formation: His Immaturity; His Impulses; His Inquisitiveness (v46)

III. His Focus: On His Father’s House (v46); About His Father’s Business (v49)

Today we are going to look at this one verse that describes a significant period in the life of Christ.

I. The Person of Character

What we Don’t Know

The title of the message is "The Jesus We Know Not" and so we're going to address things that we don't know about Jesus, namely the life of Jesus from ages 12 to about 30 as the Bible tells us.

The Life of Jesus from 12-30

The Bible says there in John 2 that Jesus was twelve when we see the encounter at the temple and then we see: Luke 3:23 “And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,” when he was baptized of John and began His ministry.

In actuality from probably about the age of 2 to 30 we know very little about Jesus other than the episode at the temple recorded in Luke 2.

This is what we don't know about the life of Jesus. Let's look at what we do know.

What we Do Know

Jesus was Sinless

2 Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

1 Peter 2:22 “Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:”

Hebrews 4:15 “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

Jesus was sinless throughout his entire ministry and what that tells us is that in these silent years Jesus was sinless as well.

And this is the root of what I want to discuss today and that is character. If ever a man had godly character, it was, of course, our Lord Jesus Christ.

The way men have spoken of what character is:

“Character is what you are in the dark.” — Dwight L. Moody

“The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.” — John Wooden

“Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.” — C. S. Lewis

“Reputation is what men think you are; character is what God knows you are.” — J. C. Ryle

On the importance of Character, God said:

Proverbs 22:1a “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches…”

Proverbs 19:1 “Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, Than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.”

So we know not what Christ did during these years of silence, we know that He lived a life of integrity. He demonstrated Godly character, though not a Word of it was recorded.

Church let me just pause right here and say this. We would see better character throughout man, if they made their decisions as if every one of them were being recorded. But guess what? Every one of them is.

We see the Person of Character

The Person of Character - Jesus Christ

II. Precepts that Determine Character

In this portion I want to address some things that will determine what our character ends up being.

Not one of us lives on an island so therefore our surroundings, our circumstance, and our focus will in large part determine what type of character we have.

Our Influence

You’ve heard me say before “show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.” There’s so much truth to that and it speaks to the influences that you have around you.

Charlie Kirk often quoted Jim Rohn who said “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

The Bible says it like this: Proverbs 13:20 “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: But a companion of fools shall be destroyed.”

If you want good character, you must associate yourself with those who have good character. You might THINK that you can hang out with poor influences and it not effect you, THAT’S JUST NOT TRUE.

Remember: We are to Win the Lost and BE AN EXAMPLE - not YOKE UP WITH, or BECOME LIKE the ungodly.

NOW THESE ARE THE ASSOCIATIONS WE HAVE BY CHOICE. I WANT TO SPEAK ALSO TO THOSE WHICH WE DON’T… NAMELY THAT OF OUR PARENTS.

Parents: if you want to raise children with good character - you’d better be practicing good character around them ALL THE TIME.

Your Influence will determine your Character

Our Instruction

This is what we let into our minds.

The type of character you have is in part determined by what you are taught (or what you’re NOT taught.

In 1962 our country took prayer out of schools.

In 1963 we took mandated Bible devotions out of schools.

Since then we’ve seen a radical decline in the character of the average American.

Beginning around the same time, our churches strayed from preaching the truth of the Word of God to a ‘Seeker Sensitive’ message. In other words, preachers stopped saying ‘Thus Saith the LORD…’ to ‘What would you like to hear - and HOW would you like to hear it?’

In both the classrooms and the pulpits we removed the baseline - THE STANDARD.

What we are left with is what they call ‘situational ethics’.

Is lying really wrong? Who says?

What about stealing? Is it wrong to steal if you’re hungry?

Adultery - that’s not wrong if you feel neglected, or if you’re bored, or if marriage isn’t exactly what you thought it would be.

You see, when you remove the standard, then what is wrong is just depending on your point of view.

And all of this has come about because our pulpits & our schools have failed to teach & preach truth!

You see, our character is shaped by what we’re taught.

That being said: What are you letting into your mind?

I believe every day is a day of education. We are either filling our mind with the:

Honest, just, pure, lovely, good report, virtue or praise? Or just what’s on the TV or social media?

If you want good character, we need to guard what we’re letting into our minds. AND ALSO THE MINDS OF OUR CHILDREN.

Our instruction determines our character

Our Idleness

There’s a saying that is quite true: “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop”.

Our activity - or lack thereof will determine our character as well.

Proverbs 19:15 “Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; And an idle soul shall suffer hunger.”

Now I think it's important to make a distinction here because I have been known to speak about the dangers of being too busy but I'm not talking about simply being busy. I'm talking about being busy about things that matter.

I'm talking about being idle and slothful in your Christian duties.

I'm talking about being spiritually stagnant.

If you are not growing in your spiritual walk, then you are regressing.

(lll.) I don't know about you but it's far more taxing for me to be standing still than it is to be moving.

Idleness in your Christian walk will wear you out and wear you down and it will show itself in the character in which you demonstrate.

Our Idleness will determine our Character

Our Impulse Control

Your character will largely be shaped by whether or not you will control your impulses.

Those of us that have been born again have a new nature but it resides within the old nature and that old nature has influence upon us and it desires things of this world. And unless we can control those impulses, we will not develop the godly character we are seeking.

The Biblical Word describing this is ‘temperance’.

It is Fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:23)

1 Corinthians 9:25–27 “And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”

Our character is shaped by the ability for us to control our decisions when faced with temptation.

Proverbs 25:28 “He that hath no rule over his own spirit Is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.”

Our Character is shaped by our Impulse Control

Our Integrity

Integrity (def) Wholeness, entireness, purity, unadulterated, unimpaired state

Integrity is the complete picture.

Our character is known not by part of who we are but by the whole.

(Ill.) A husband who works hard, provides a home and food for his family, mows the lawn and takes the kids to their sports practice, yet cheats on his wife is a man of low character.

(Ill.) A student who studies diligently and does all their homework, yet cheats on their exam has an integrity problem.

Again Character isn’t who you are MOST of the time, but ALL of the time whether someone sees you or not.

Our character is shaped by our Integrity

The Person of Character - Jesus Christ; the Precepts that Determine Character, lastly the Principle we must learn if we’re to have Godly Character

III. The Principle

Guard your Influences

You must take a good look at those who you allow in your life.

Parents - you must take a good look at those you allow in your children’s lives

You must have the wherewithal to make changes if you have people in your life that are compromising your character.

Guard your Influences

Gain Instruction

Pour things into your life that matter.

(Ill.) We live in a day and age where you have answers to just about whatever question you would hope to ask at your fingertips… Yet instead of gaining the wisdom and knowledge by using the tools we have, we doom scroll on social media or watch meaningless videos.

We have more tools to gain wisdom and knowledge by today, yet as a society we are far dumber than we were when they were learning by candlelight.

Use your time to gain instruction on things that matter, which leads me to the next point. Be immersed in the things of God.

Be Immersed in the Things of God

How many of you feel comfortable having a conversation about:

Baptismal Regeneration?

The errors of the Catholicism?

Eternal Security?

Calvinism / Reformed Theology?

Simply Leading a Soul to Christ?

Witnessing?

Taking someone through the ‘Romans Road’?

If not, tell me - what is your excuse? What is the reason?

If you want Godly character, you must immerse yourself in the things of God

Control your Impulses

Everyone has them. Learn to control them.

You don’t control them by ignoring them, or pretending they’re not there. You control them by acknowledging your weakness and looking to Christ for strength to escape.

1 Corinthians 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

We’re promised a way out - learn to control your impulses

You will Live a Life of Integrity

If you do these things… you WILL live a life of integrity. You WILL have good, Godly, moral Character.

You do not have to live in constant disappointment with yourself for your character flaws - set your mind and heart on the things of God and live in victory, for we are ‘more than Conquerors’ through Christ Jesus our LORD!

Conclusion