M A Y RADIO MESSAGE BRETHREN OF CHRIST
by D. Stuart Briscoe
O NE OF THE GREAT PROBLEMS we Christians face is making our There are many people who have no difficulty in getting saved, however, as far as living victorious lives, this is an altogether different matter. The Christian life is like a marriage and our bridegroom is the Lord Jesus Christ, according to Scripture. Actu ally, the entire secret of effective Christianity is the relationship which is to exist between the Christian and the Lord Jesus Christ. In Hebrews 2:11 we read, “For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.” What a beautiful picture of the lovely union which is to exist between us and the Saviour. He sees us as being His brothers and His sis ters. Personally, I have one brother. We have this relationship simply because we have the same parents. The reason Christ calls us His brethren is because we all come from the same common source in God. The Saviour made it abundantly clear that the whole secret of His effectiveness as a Man on this earth was simply that the Father dwelt in Him. Over and over again, particularly in John’s Gospel, Christ said that He wasn’t humanly responsi ble for what was going on in His life. It was God who mightily worked within Him. As an example we read in John 14:10, “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” Again, in John 5:19 we hear Him say (from the human stand point), “The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.”
One other passage for our considera tion is John 8 :28 and 29 where we find Him saying, “I do nothing of my self; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.” On the human plain the Lord Jesus Christ was the recipient of the life of the Father, through the indwelling Holy Spirit who filled and flooded Him. He faced worldliness and temptations from His human standpoint. He was led of the Spirit in the wilderness through the three-fold phase of temp tations. Then He came triumphant again out of the wilderness, full of the Spirit. He came out unchanged simply because of all that the Father was in Him, and because He was God’s own Son, Man and yet Divine. This same life is made available to us through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Have you ever looked upon the Lord Jesus Christ not only as your Saviour, Lord and Master, but also as your Brother? Thereby you will, underline something that thrills the Saviour. He is not ashamed to call you His breth ren. He knows that within you dwells the same life that resided within Him, coming straight from the Father above. You know, there are some people who say that my brother and I look alike. It doesn’t seem so to me, how ever, I suppose others see things in our mannerisms and facial character istics which may appear very similar.. We have even been told that we have very similar voices. There is evi dently a family likeness. Now, Chris tianity is simply the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ being reproduced in a very ordinary person like you or me. There are many well-meaning peo ple who long to be like the Lord Jesus 7
daily lives effective for the Lord.
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