We are a forgetful people in a land of distractions. Our minds are easily captivated by trivial and temporary inducements. New things quickly become old. In our mind’s eye even glory tends to fade and warnings tend to wane. It is no wonder that we who are invisibly united to Christ and visibly in and not of this world live in constant need of renewal. And what is true for the Christian is true for the church. This is a series that seeks to renew the mind of the church. Not so much by reviewing what she is called to do as much as what she is called. As with the Christian so with church, her God-given identity defines her. We who are the church are a people for God and none other.
Before we return to the book of Romans, we will be looking at the what scripture says about the Church, in its nature, how she expresses herself in song, and how the church cares and equips for its members.
The messages from this series can be found here:
Manny Pereira - April 11, 2021
Fatal Rejection
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. … He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him” (John 1:1, 11). The Father said, “They will respect my Son” (Matthew 21:37). Yet they despised and rejected Him. The Son of God has come in divine authority to claim what is rightly His. Yet His tenants are contemptibly robbing Him. When they challenged His authority, He pointed to their pre-committed unbelief. Now He paints another word picture to illustrate their failure and future judgment. It is a painfully pointblank parable. The main tragedy it stages is almost too awful to contemplate. The story is directly against Israel’s official representatives and boldly prefigures their murder of the Messiah. They will increasingly treat Jesus with scorn, rejecting Him as contemptible and unworthy, because of the evil in their hearts. This passage presents both indictment and prediction. Christ’s words ring with a piercing resonance of poetic justice. Rejection of Jesus is unspeakably fatal.
Scripture References: Matthew 21:33-46
