The morning message was entitled "Jesus, No Greater Brother." From Hebrews 2:5-18, we looked at the implications of being related (by faith) to Jesus.
1. Everything in the world to come has been subjected to Jesus, even though he was temporarily made a little lower than the angels, because he has tasted death for all of God's children (5-9). This truth implies that allegiance to Jesus here and now will bring future reward in the "world to come."
2. He was made in our likeness so we could share his (10-11a). Jesus, the eternal Son of God, took on humanity, lived a sinless life, died in our place, was buried and rose again in order to remove the sin debt from us. However, Jesus didn't just remove our sin, he gave us his righteousness.
3. He is not ashamed to call us brothers in the presence of the Father (11b-13). Jesus warned, "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven' (Matt. 10:32-33,NIV). The Apostle John states, "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have on who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ the Righteous One" (1 John 2:1, NIV).
4. As our high priest Jesus has: destroyed the devil's power, freed us from slavery to fear, demonstrated the mercy and faithfulness of God, and put away the wrath of God. Jesus stripped Satan of his kingdom, took his power--the power of sin and death, and killed it. Satan is a defeated enemy. All who sin are slaves to sin and most of us are kept in slavery because of fear. But Jesus removes all cause of fear. We are not slaves, but brothers. The mercy and faithfulness of God are seen in the cross. Paul states, "For God demonstrated his own love toward us in this while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom 5:8, NIV). By dying in our place on the cross, Jesus put away the wrath of God. Christ received the full wrath of God while on the cross. God's righteous anger against sin was satisfied in Jesus' death. We may now approach God as our Father through a faith relationship with Jesus the Son.
5. Jesus is able to help us. He is not distant and aloof. He has walked miles in our flesh. He knows the full burden of temptation. He has been tempted like us in all ways, yet is sinless. He understands the human condition, and thus, is able to provide exactly what we need.
Sunday Evening we looked at "The Purposes of Our Church." Monticello's constitution lists five.
1. To maintain regular services, both devotional and for public worship.
2. To proclaim earnestly the Gospel message and urge its personal acceptance.
3. To cooperate heartily in prayer, tithe, gifts and services in the Kingdom of God throughout the world.
4. To promote systematic Bible Study and Training for Christian Service and to encourage in every possible way life enlistment in some form of religious activity.
5. To secure as far as possible the practice of true religion as taught in the sacred Scriptures: Matt. 16: 15-19; John 3:16-17; Rev. 2.
Most of these purposes are self-explanatory and need very little elaboration. True religion, as taught from the Scriptures, can be summarized as: A faith that seeks salvation in Christ alone, that is doctrinally true, and endures in obedience even amid` persecution, tribulation, and hardship. One of our goals as members should be to help the church live out its purposes.
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