Let Love Of The Brethren Continue

Introduction

I appreciate so much, Scott leading those last two songs as they are songs that I thought of in relation to my lesson tonight. We don’t sing those a lot. Others is a song I think we don’t sing because it’s hard to get that cadence of that song, and we just struggle with that for some reason, but it’s a beautiful song. And oh, the things we may do. You talk about a practical hymn that talks about the importance of our focus on our brothers and sisters in Christ. And that’s what this lesson is about tonight. And I preach this because I think I can do something with the Decker Prairie Church that I have struggled to do with other churches at other times in other places. And I say that because I believe you have the spiritual depth and the maturity to grasp the importance of what I’m saying and to cultivate the love of Christ in your relationships with all others.

For some reason, you would think something so basic and fundamental as that would be easy or easier than some of the other things that we’ve been called to do. But I want to tell you, in my experience, it is not.

Our relationships, but that we can sharpen our consistency in doing that. And excel where others struggle and fail. Remember scene five this morning in the whole story that part of Christianity is that God cares not just about our actions, but our attitudes. And we are to be developing, as we see in Philippians 2 and verse 5, the mind of Christ. And some of those qualities that we looked at briefly this morning are sobriety, godliness, purity, and love. Molding attitudes requires significant time, significant time and significant attention to get it done. Here’s the significance of what I’m talking to you about tonight. I remember years ago listening to one of my favorite preachers at the Florida College lectures, Robert Jackson from Nashville, Tennessee. And he was talking about brotherly love, and I can’t even remember the context of the entire sermon, but he said this, and I’ll never forget it.

He said, The Lord’s army is the only one that I’ve ever known of that will shoot its own wounded. And when he said that, this brother yelled very loudly, Amen, that sort of shook Con Gymnasium. And so there was a sort of a comical moment followed for the rest of the audience because that amen was a little overbearing. But I remember Robert Jackson saying, I appreciate that, Amen, brother. That adds a little kerosene to the fire. And so we went on from that somewhat memorable moment. But the thought is what I want to share with you. What a tragedy that is that his statement is true. So much focus and attention is given on various attributes of what it means to be the Lord’s people. As we talked about this morning, many of those things.

And the errors in corporate worship, what true worship collectively is supposed to look like, the kind of work that the local church as a group ought to be doing, the kinds of things that are believed in the religious world that are erroneous and false. And I want to tell you, if you wanted to make that your hobby, I could preach on that two times a week, every week, for the rest of my life. The number of religious errors that affect people religiously and even the body of Christ. I can spend all of my time doing that. But I don’t believe that’s going to help you and me get to heaven as much as sermons like this will. Not that the others should be left undone.

But we really need, as a group, this kind of message. Now, before I go any further, let me say the things I’m talking about tonight will not necessarily be painless. And they will not be easy. But the time to do the work is now.

Not when you’re in the middle of a crisis in a local church. Oh, it’s got to be done then too. But preparation for the crisis is necessary in regard to the development of the proper attitude. You can’t wait till the time of crisis and then, okay, now how am I going to treat my brother? It is not. The time is not when some brother or sister has said or done something that you perceive to be unkind and insensitive. The time is not when said brother or sister or an additional brother or sister have done some irritating or annoying thing that has disturbed you. Yes, you must do it in those instances, but you must be prepared for those before they ever occur. And the reason why I say that, I have noticed this.

That when those things happen, crisis in a local church, somebody’s done the annoying and disturbing act, or they have treated me in a way that I perceive to be insensitive and unkind. Oh that’s all.

The very next statement, chapter 13 and verse 1. Let love of the brethren continue. And then a statement about hospitality and entertaining strangers. And by doing so, you have perhaps entertained angels unawares. And you’re going, where’s the connection in all of these statements? And to be sure, these standalone comments are at the end of Hebrews as various admonitions to these Christians as things they needed to work on and concentrate on, some of which go together and some of them don’t. Let your character be free from the love of money, he’ll go on to say in the context of Hebrews 13. But one of these admonitions, these standalone admonitions, I will call them, is Hebrews 13 and verse 1. Because of what you are in Christ and in your perseverance in faith, which he’s been talking about.

He says, now, this is what you need to concentrate on. Love of the brethren. Let it continue. Do not discontinue. Don’t begin. Let it go on. It is already present in your practice. Let love of the brethren continue. And certainly not be discontinued. Thomas Scott observes in his commentary on this verse, but many things would naturally occur to interrupt that entire harmony. And to stop the current of that liberality which they at first showed. Now he’s taking us back to 1034, where he talks about their acts at the beginning. It was therefore peculiarly proper for the apostle to exhort them to let brotherly love continue and to avoid everything which interfered with their persevering attention to peace, kindness, and reciprocal affection. That is returning affection for affection.

1. Scriptures Emphasize the Importance of Brotherly Attitudes

As become children of one family and heirs of the same inheritance. And he probably meant to excite them to brotherly love towards the Gentile converts against whom they were generally prejudiced. And so he writes to these Hebrews Hebrew believers and say, stay firm and committed in your love for the brethren, especially those Gentile believers that you might have a little bit of a problem with because they are Gentiles. More on the application of that for us in a minute. Okay, where do I want to start tonight? The scriptures over and over again emphasize the importance of brotherly attitudes. Again, not just the right religious acts, but possessing the right attitudes toward each other. And I want to go over these contexts with you without reading every verse.

In Galatians 5, after he has identified the problem in the churches of Galatia that we talked about this morning, and he has warned them about the influence of these troubling teachers, he then gives them various admonitions as he closes the letter to the Galatian churches. And one of those is regarding their freedom in Christ, and that we were called to freedom, and do not use that freedom as a covering for evil, but through love he says, serve one another. So in his wrapping up admonitions, he’s reminding them, I want you to love one another and beware lest you do what? Bite and devour one another. That would be the opposite of love. And he talks about the opposing desires of the flesh versus the desires of the spirit, the mind that we’re supposed to have in Christ.

And so let me tell you, let’s go back to those conflicts I talked about and those disappointments with brethren. That’s when that flesh wants to kick in. And when he talks about and enumerates the lusts of the flesh or the deeds of the flesh in that context in Galatians 5 and verse 20, that whole middle verse 20, those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. That’s pretty serious. What is that middle verse about? Attitudes toward brethren. We might tend to concentrate on the immoralities of verse 19 and 21. But verse 20, strife, outbursts of anger, all those kinds of things that are involved in brotherly relations, divisions, lusts of the flesh. Let us not walk after those, but walk after the Spirit and the kinds of qualities that are the fruit of the Spirit that actually follow that in verses 22 and 23.

I want you to look. Again, the emphasis of scripture here it is, Ephesians 4. Various admonitions here about your speech, for example, in verse 29, then this, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. More on that in a moment. Apparently he thought these Christians in Ephesus still needed some instruction in this thing. Whatever remains of wickedness, James would say in James 1 and verse 21, you need to remove it, remove all filthiness. And he says, look, if you have bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander, that’s got to be put away. That’s some work he’s calling Christians to do, along with all malice.

And in the context of, look, you need to be kind to one another and tenderhearted, forgiving each other. Colossians 3. Companion epistle. Colossians 3 and verse 12, similar idea. We’re chosen of God, holy and beloved, and thus we are to put on, and that involves activity, doesn’t it? Put on a heart, he says, of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. There’s your mind of Christ. Put on those qualities, and then this, bearing with one another. Forgiving each other, that would suggest some kind of unfolding of difficulty. Forgiving each other. Whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. And finally, in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, we are admonished to appreciate brethren who diligently labor among us, esteem them highly.

And then in verse 14, we urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly. Encourage the faint hearted. Help the weak. Be patient with all men. That’s the scripture heavy part of this, although I’ve got some other texts I want to share with you tonight. How many of you, your first album was one of those black round discs, known as LPs. Our younger generation is going, oh boy, aren’t they old? I remember my first one. Yes, I am. I remember my first one. That round 33. Journey Infinite. I listened to that over and over. And young people are still listening to that. And if you wanted just a single song, you bought the little 45. Well, we’ve come a long way because I’ll tell you what happened to those albums.

The needles that we use to play in those grooves to make those sounds come alive. If you weren’t real careful, you’d scratch the record. And you knew what happened when you scratched the record. Your song would be playing along, and whoop, it’d go right back to where it was before. Right back to where it was before. And you hear the same thing over and over again. And that’s where the phrase comes from a broken record. You sound like a broken record. You’re just playing the same refrain over and over again. Well, I want to tell you when I start talking about this kind of stuff, people think, Tony, you’re going back to the broken record. We’ve heard all of this before. Well, you’re going to keep hearing it from time to time because I continue to need work in this area, and I have seen that in many places, and probably even here, that is needed as well.

I remember a brother in Auburn being somewhat agitated with my work and suggested that I’m preaching too much on brotherly love and not enough on the subject of modesty. And I listened to what that brother had to say, as I would if any brother had criticism of my work. And I had not, I had mentioned modesty in many lessons, just like I do here, but I had not preached an entire lesson on the subject of modesty like I did here on March 5th of last year, 2011. I had to research it. And I realized I got another whole sermon on modesty that I haven’t preached here yet. We’ll break that out at some point in the future, Lord willing. You allow me to stay that long.

And yes, there are sermons needed on those kinds of subjects, but I want to tell you the subject of modesty is mentioned in just a couple of passages specifically. I think the tentacles of passages reach and cover that issue in a lot of other places. But two passages mention it directly when we have a lot of passages that talk about brotherly love. And while I know that there are problems sometimes in the area of modesty, and that’s a significant spiritual and moral issue, I believe there’s more likely a pervasive lack of compliance with the will of God in these areas, more so than in the area of modesty with most people. And again, that’s not to say that stone doesn’t need to be turned and that issue doesn’t need to be addressed.

2. Everyone Who Hates His Brother Is a Murderer

But I think brethren overall struggle more with this than they do with the subject of modesty, and all of the modesty in this world is no substitute for the right attitudes. And it’s right attitudes that leads you to make right choices in the area of modesty. And let me tell you how important this instruction is, as I’m about to get to the nuts and bolts here in 1 John chapter 3. By this the children of God are obvious, John says.

Because you love the brethren, and thus life abides in you because he who does not love abides in death. And then this, verse 15. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. Yeah, like Cain. Everyone who hates his brother. Now you don’t have to shoot him with a gun or slay him with a knife. You can just assassinate his character. You can gossip about him. You can slander him. You can think evil of him when you should not. You can be jealous and envious of his success and praise. Or her popularity. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. I want to tell you a passage like that says we need to give some attention to this subject.

We need to think about our attitudes toward others. I don’t want to be a murderer, do you? We know love by this. Okay. Now, what is love? In contrast to the murdering. He laid down his life for us. Jesus, the mind of Christ, Jesus is our model. He laid down his life for us. And we ought to be like it. We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. And then he talks about an attitude towards someone who doesn’t have in this world’s goods, a brother in need. And if you close your heart against him, how does the love of God abide in you? And then that’s the familiar verse, little children. Let us not just say, I love you. Let us not love with word or in tongue, but in deed in truth.

3. That Difficult Brother or Sister in Christ

So the emphasis of scripture is clear. This is a serious matter. Now I said we’re getting to the nuts and bolts. But what are you going to do about that difficult? Brother or sister in Christ. And notice I put difficult because that’s just our assessment of them. The difficult. Who in this number would you look around? And don’t do this really. And you’re mine. Oh boy, I about created a problem there. Okay, look around in your mind. Who is the brother or sister that you would put in the difficult or annoying category? See, Christina’s trying to hide from me right now. Okay, me and Christina. It’s us. The fact is, you look at some people in the body of Christ, and they’re just different. Aren’t they?

They’re different. And some people, and some people connect better with other people, some people connect with more people, but there’s some people that really struggle to connect with other people. I just have absolutely nothing in common with them. And so I’m not an elder and not a preacher, so I don’t have to work on it. You know what one thing elders and preachers particularly have to do is we have to try to relate to everybody. But we all should do that. And so what are we going to do with this difficult? And I’m using difficult when I really mean annoying. Yeah, there’s some annoying folks in that. Perhaps.

You’re different. You. I’m different than other people here. You’re different and I’m different. Somebody thinks we’re different. Somebody thinks you’re annoying. So whoever that is for you, and you know, maybe the way I preach annoys you. And if that’s the case, then I’m going to help you here to have the right attitude toward me. It may not make my preaching better. What are you going to do to somebody you’re different? And no matter how hard you try to make it not so, you’re still going to be annoyed. But we want you to remember something about Christianity. Bringing unlikely people together is what Christianity is all about. The passage that says you are all the children of Abraham and the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ or have clothed yourself with Christ. We’re championing those verses all day long. The necessity of baptism for the remission of sins. Baptism into Christ, put on Christ. But in the context of Galatians 3, that’s not the main point. The main point that all of you that have been baptized into Christ are now one in Christ. Jew and Gentile. Remember those Gentile converts that Thomas was talking about in that introductory quote. One man in Christ, not Jew nor Greek, he says in verse 28. Male nor female. Boy, there’s some differences there. Right? Bon or free. Upper echelon of society, lower echelon of society. He’s thinking of the extreme relationships that are in Christ.

And he says, you’re all one in Christ. And that’s what those passages in Isaiah that we were looking at. That’s what Isaiah was anticipating in those passages where he talks about the lion and the lamb laying down together and the wolves and the sheep grazing together. That doesn’t happen. That’s extremely unusual and odd. And sometimes this collection of people in the body of Christ is a wide array of different people. And that’s why 1 Corinthians 12, the Corinthians are all over each other. They’re biting and devouring one another and full of envy and pride. Man, I’m a tongue speaker. I’m really something special. And Paul is saying, look, these spiritual gifts were not designed so that you could be divided with one another and think you’re better than the other guy because your gift is better than his.

These gifts are all designed to work together. Just like the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are one, these gifts are designed to make you one. And whether you’re the tongue speaker or the prophet, or you’re not gifted at all. And even if you’re a weaker member in the church, he goes on to say, the weaker members are necessary, and God gives more abundant honor to the member that lacks. Let me tell you about this annoying brother or sister. They may have some issues. But if they stay at it spiritually and are persevering in faith, God loves them. God gives more abundant honor to the member that lacks. And here I am, very nauseated by this brother or sister because of the things they do and what they are.

Wouldn’t it be something if they got to go to heaven and I didn’t because of my awful attitude? Yes, that’d be bad, wouldn’t it? This person that I have trouble stomaching goes to heaven while I go to hell because I got a bad attitude. And don’t think it doesn’t happen. You add to all this the varying levels of spiritual maturity in a group. I mean, we look at the behavior of some people. Don’t they know better than that? Well, they should, but they don’t. To whom much is given, much is required. If you have a great understanding and a spiritual level of maturity that is generally higher than other people in the body of Christ, that simply means you’re more responsible. There are some people among us who haven’t reached the level of spiritual maturity that perhaps you have, and we get disappointed by that, and think that they ought to be doing better than that by now.

But I don’t know their circumstances. And I’m not the judge of that. The Lord will take care of that. But what about me? What does God have to put up with me? Well, he commended his love toward me, and that while I was yet a sinner, Christ died for me. He died for the ungodly. Scarcely for a righteous man would one dare to die. But Jesus died for the unrighteous. And so if we’re to lay down our lives for our brethren, even the annoying ones, oh, the ones that we like will pat yourself on the back. You’ll you’ll you’ll lay your life down for one of the elders. Pat yourself on the back. Well, what about a brother you don’t esteem? Or a sister you don’t esteem as highly as them.

God still loves me when I am annoyed. And I didn’t say if I am annoyed. Because every time I transgress, I am annoying to him.

4. When the Upset, Hurt, or Disappointment Occurs

So what are we going to do when the upset, hurt, or disappointment occurs? And again, that’s not if. But when? I think sometimes we think as if everything’s going to continue to rock along smoothly. We’re never going to hit a bump in the road. There’s never going to be any kind of controversy that rears its ugly head. There’s never going to be some awkward conversation that takes place that now brings me at odds or brings me to disappointment in a brother or sister in Christ. Look, it’s like the marriage relationship. Things happen in marriage that you never expected five minutes ago. You had no idea that was going to happen. And then it explodes. Then it happens. And now you’ve got an issue that’s got to be dealt with and worked through.

The same thing happens in the brother to brother relationship. Conflict happens. Somebody inflicts me with pain. Now I want your attention here. Has any brother or sister ever done something that inflicted you with pain? Now, I’m not talking about the most intense pain you’ve ever experienced. I’m just talking about they’ve hurt you and disappointed you in some way. You’re troubled by what they did.

This part of the lesson is what I want you to think about very carefully. Even if, even if, and I talk about this a lot, even if it’s just mistaken perception. Sometimes people get hurt and disappointed, and what happened was not even wrong conduct. It was not even sinful conduct. It just didn’t set right with me. It didn’t set well with me what this brother or sister did. And I’m a little upset about it. I’m a little annoyed by it. I’m disappointed or hurt by it. They didn’t mean to slight me. They didn’t mean to hurt me. Perhaps it was a moment they just didn’t calculate how their words or conduct would be perceived. And so here I am, all hurt and disappointed. And their intention was not to hurt me at all.

How many times have I seen that? And let me just say, no one is beyond causing you to feel this way. I don’t care how good they are, how quality they are as people. Nobody is beyond causing you to feel this way. Sometimes we get all distraught spiritually because somebody who we really respected and revered has acted in a way that has caused me to be really disappointed. Listen, people, read Galatians chapter 2. Peter. Peter had to be withstood to the face by the apostle Paul. We’re talking about an apostle of Jesus Christ, one who personally knew the Lord. You would think he would have gotten it right after the threefold denial, but like us, he has moments of failure and moments of missteps, and Peter made a huge mistake.

Another apostle had to call him on the carpet, and Peter influenced Barnabas as well. How could Barnabas be carried away with all of that? Oh, I’ve given up my faith. That’s it. I’m mad, I’m leaving. I’m never coming back. Barnabas disappointed me. Peter disappointed me. That’s how people act. Peter or Barnabas should never ever have disappointed me. You think you’ve ever disappointed somebody? You know. Brother or sister so-and-so just isn’t giving me the attention I want. Please. You talk about spiritual immaturity. Really? You mean you sit around thinking, brother or sister so-and-so hasn’t given me the kind of attention I would want him or her to give me, or spend the kind of time with me that I would want her. That is really spiritually immature.

Who are you giving time to? What kind of overtures are you making to other people? Some people just sit around, they’re waiting for somebody to upset them. I want to tell you that is not the mind of Christ. That’s not it. So let me tell you, when you’re hurt or disappointed, what you do? You remember love is kind. Love is patience. Love does not seek its own. See, that’s not how love operates. Love’s not all focused on me. Love is focused on others. Okay.

I’m going back to my little man I’ve talked to you about before. This is the same sermon, same kind of sermon in that vein of this guy, whoever he is, or this woman. How do you got to look at that person? How do I need to respond to this person? What is best for them? And sometimes that involves rebuke. Sometimes that’s an exhortation. But I’ll tell you what it always is. As you would have others treat you, so treat them. If you were in their circumstance, what do they need? What does this person need? How can I best help them and give them what they need? As you would have others treat you, so treat them. Someone who is in opposition in gentleness. Correct such an one that they may be able to escape the snare of the devil.

I’m done with this point, but I want you to get this. Are you sitting around being sensitive to the way others are reacting to you? Or things that other people have done, and there’s a wedge in this relationship with a brother and sister in Christ. How can you live with that? How can you stay there? Don’t stay there. Do something. Write a letter. Write an email. Maybe there’s been a miscommunication or a misunderstanding. We live in the age of communication. Don’t sit there and stew in your juices. Do something. That this brother or sister may not even know that you feel that way. So what are they supposed to do? Guess. Figure it out. Well, I’m getting a cold shoulder. Don’t know why. Perhaps they will realize it.

5. It's Going to Require Effort and Work

Maybe they’ll make the overture. Oh, yeah, we’re going to make them make the overture. They’ve got to figure it out first, but then they’re going to make the overture. What about you? Do you have any responsibilities in regard to this brotherly affection business? Now, I don’t know how you perceive this so far. I’m talking to you about a great work that we’re called to do. And I’ll tell you, it’s not just, boy, Tony preached a sermon about brotherly love. We walk out these doors and we have got it. I’ve got it. Every relationship, every circumstance, man, I’ve got it. Love of the brethren. Folk has got it. It’s going to require effort and work. You’ve got to mold and cultivate these qualities. It’s going to take time.

This great work, the greatest work of Christianity is done right here. When we sing those songs, to the work, to the work, toiling on. Work for the night is coming when no man can work. We sing those old hymns about work. What goes through your mind? I think sometimes because we’re singing the same thing over and over, nothing’s going through our mind. Attend assembly, I guess. What are we thinking? I’ll tell you something to think about, make that real practical. The mind work that we’re called to do, to think like Christ does and to relate to others the way he did. That’s some work now. Some mind work, may I suggest. If we’re going to be excelling in these qualities, we need to have frequent and lofty thoughts of God.

Conclusion

Because that’ll help us to have lowly thoughts of ourselves. As we think of ourselves in relation to God and the example of Christ and how I fall short of that, particularly in this area of possessing his mind toward others. And so to have this lowly mind, esteeming others better than ourselves. And then having saving, serving, and helping thoughts of others. The only way we’re going to get this work done is we must constantly be evaluating the attitudes of our heart. Not just right acts, we said tonight, but right attitudes. It’s going to require constant examination and maintenance to get it done. I want to conclude tonight in Proverbs 4 and 3. Proverbs 4. You’ve listened well. This is a passage where the wise writer is telling this young man to listen to wisdom, to listen to the voice of the aged.

And he says, you know, you need to watch your lips and what you say. You need to watch your feet and where you go. We tell our kids, oh, be careful. Sing that little song with them, watch your feet, watch your hands, watch your lips. My son, give attention to my sayings. Okay, but let me tell you something about your hands and your feet and your lips. All of those things do what they do because of what’s in here. And that’s why verse 23 is what it is. Keep your heart with all diligence. For out of it flows the issues of life. If you listen to these words, he says, they are life to those who find them, and health to your whole body. In chapter 3, verses 5 through 8, trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Do not lean on your own understanding. He says, Don’t be wise in your own eyes in verse 7. He said, It will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones. Listen, we’ll we’ll go to the ends of the earth to find the doctor that’s going to help us with our physical condition. We’ll spend bucks of money to get our fix for our physical bodies. And that’s important. We want to live a quality life while we’re here. But listen, at the end of the day, this is all very temporary. We’re going to get old, we’re going to get sick, we’re going to die, and we’re not going to be here forever. And so life and health to the body is very transient and short-lived. But this kind of life and this kind of spiritual health will get you to eternity and the presence of God.

I don’t know how well we’ll remember these sermons. I don’t know. Martha told me this morning, you know, you don’t remember every single meal that you eat, but you got that nutrition along the way. And so she was trying to help me when I get discouraged, we don’t remember the sermons. But if you’ll remember one thing, this preacher always emphasized. We got to have the right heart to go to heaven. It’s not just about the right doctrines and the right worship. We got to have the right heart to go to heaven, to be like Jesus. And it’s going to take some work. It’s not going to just happen. We’re going to attend enough Bible classes, and I’m going to develop these attitudes. Let me just conclude with this.

I just got a thought here. I believe there have been people sitting in pews for decades after decades who have never gotten this right. And have done very little change. That’s how serious this topic is. We’ve got work to do. Let’s do it to the glory of God. There’s someone in this audience who needs to get busy in his service. The invitation song is designed to encourage a response. Won’t you come now as we stand and sing?