The Names Christians Wear

A Survey of Rocks in the Bible

•Acts 17:29 --"Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man's design and skill.

•2 Corinthians 3:3

•You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

•Matthew 4:3

•The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."

•1 Corinthians 3:12

•If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw….

God as the Rock

Psalm 18:2 -- The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;        my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.        He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Jesus as the Rock

Romans 9:33 -- As it is written:    "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble       and a rock that makes them fall,    and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

•The Concept of Living Stones

•Luke 19:40 -- "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."

Isaiah 51:1-2 -- "Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness        and who seek the LORD :        Look to the rock from which you were cut        and to the quarry from which you were hewn; look to Abraham, your father,        and to Sarah, who gave you birth.        When I called him he was but one,        and I blessed him and made him many.

Comparison and Contrast

Rocks are:

RigidUnmovingUnyieldingSolidDependableLasting

Rocks are not:

FlexibleMoldableAliveGrowingVitalSpiritual

A Tale of Two Temples

Did God ask for Solomon’s/Herod’s temples?

2 Samuel 7“I have not dwelt in a

house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day.”

God’s vision of a temple:

2 Samuel 7:12-13 -- When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

Jesus AGAINST the temple

Matthew 21:13 -- "It is written," he said to them, " 'My house will be called a house of prayer,‘ but you are making it a 'den of robbers."

Matthew 16:18 -- And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

The Rock is JesusOr, the rock is Peter’s confession of Jesus

The church is built upon that rock.A new vision for “temple” – the people of God!

Matthew 24:1-2Jesus left the temple

and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. "Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."

A Spiritual House Worthy of God

1 Peter 2:5 -- …you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:22

And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

1 Corinthians 3:16

Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?

Hebrews 3:6 -- But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.