Brotherly Kindness

It feels good the warmth of the presence of the Lord today. This is a uh continuation of the lesson series that P uh brother um Spa has uh outlined for us. And uh continuing in second Peter the 1 chapter verses 5-7. And I I don't see brother Jeff and sister Nicole in here, but I I borrowed I borrowed their little phrase from celebrate recovery because everybody's dealing with something. Just look down the row. Everybody is Oh, there she is. Everybody's dealing with something. Everybody.

And so there there was an old song that says you've got to try a little kindness. Show a little kindness. Just let your just shine your light for everyone to see. And if you try a little kindness, you'll overlook the blindness of the narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded street. Our lesson today is about brotherly kindness. Now, um, as I don't do this purposely, it's just my my nature, uh, to take a ciruitous route to get where I'm going to go. Um, and from second Peter 1:es 5-7.

And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness, which what we heard about last week. Add to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, charity. So, we're going to talk about brotherly kindness today.

Uh Romans 12:10 says this, "Be kindly affectioned to one another, one to another, with brotherly love, in honor, preferring one another." I um I mentioned in in our prayer meeting lesson this week that um humility can be u characteristic of pride if it's taken to the extreme. Humility is not just um self-denigration. It's it's about preferring one another. It's about preferring somebody above ourselves. And this uh Pastor Brad has to do with connection.

Uh they they are really all those all those truth uh love, truth, connection, growth, mission, that that's all a monolith. It's like the five pillars of Calvinism. If you if you remove one, the building falls. you you've got to have all of them in order for them to work. They they are they they coalesce into one one ideology. And so uh this this brotherly kindness that we're going to talk about is about connecting. It's about connecting uh with with one another. U and it says add to godliness. I'm going to give you an a literal translation of this.

add to godliness love for the brethren. Love for the brethren. It is uh Philadelphia we know means brotherly love. Well, that's what it's used is used in this passage of scripture. It is not agape. It is not in the sense of that supreme divine love. It it is affection that comes from the love of God that is shed abroad in our hearts. And I use that scripture in this lesson today. Uh there's a poem that said to dwell above with saints we love. Oh, that will be grace and glory. To live below with saints we know. Well, that's another story.

We sing the songs, you know, when we all get to heaven. What a day of rejoicing that will be and to be reunited with the the people that we probably ignored here on earth. Right? Somebody well said, "I love mankind. It's people I can't stand." We can be humanitarian and we can we can look look have the far look and and forget the near look the and so it it's beautiful that God saves us. It would be wonderful if God would save us and at that point take us just take us to heaven. But he doesn't do that.

He leaves us here and and someone well said, "God help me. I'm trapped in a body." And we are. We're trapped in a body. We're all flesh. We're all human. We're subject to those human uh ills and ails. And so uh the psalmist in 133:1 said this, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." Amen. And from this verse, we know what the optimal condition should look like. Perfect togetherness. Togetherness. loving one another.

And and uh it says in Acts 2:42, "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, in breaking of bread and in prayers." Oh, what a time they must have had. That euphoric idllic condition. Everybody had it together. and they just fellowshipped one with another and they just loved one another. We have looked at the primitive church through the lens of history and we have created something of mythical proportions. But Luke when he picked up the pen he revealed to us that everything was not in perfect harmony.

It's easy to look back in retrospect and we we see the rosy glow of the past. What a wonderful time it must have been in that early church to dwell there. I want to bring us to a shocking reality today. In Acts chapter 1, Judas had died and now they were tasked with choosing another disciple. They should have known divisions would come. They have not one candidate but two candidates. And pastor and bishop, you've been in enough business meetings and you know what that goes like sometimes. One vote, two votes, three votes, four votes.

we still can't decide on who we want. So they they they come down to the point where they finally basically let's draw straws and see which one of you guys wins here. Spiritual activity in the early church. So there was a division. They had Joseph who is called Barabus and and they had Matias and of course the lot. It wasn't because It wasn't because they were so spiritual necessarily. It was because they drew the short straw. Hallelujah. In Acts chapter 6, the henistic Jews were complaining.

They said, "Our our widows aren't being taken care of like everybody else's widows are. We need to do something here." And so so they got together. I'm talking about a uh the apostles, these these guys who were mentored by Jesus Christ and and and they were having these issues going on in the church.

In Acts uh chapter 15, there was a controversy over the law and circumcision and and uh and so Paul goes down to Jerusalem to meet with some of the guys, you know, again, apostles and uh and there was a victory that was won in that Jerusalem council that was later threatened as Peter and and Barnabas were about to reneg on the deal. I'm talking about spiritual giants in the church that that was there in the book of acts.

And so so sharp was this ideological division that Paul said when Peter came to Antioch I withtood him to the face because he was to be blamed. I'm I'm laying a foundation here to let you know that, hey, we're okay. We're okay. Paul and Barnabas in Acts 15 had a falling out because they couldn't decide on taking John Mark on another missionary journey.

I'm talking about probably the third most respected man in religious history has a falling out of opinions with his partner upon whom both of them had had hands laid upon them and and sent as missionaries to the world. In Acts chapter 21, the Jews confronted Paul about teaching abandonment of the law of Moses. A and to appease them, Paul went through a purification ritual. In Acts 21:es 10-14, Agabus and other people filled with the Holy Ghost, they they tried to persuade Paul, don't go to Jerusalem. But Paul says, I'm going anyway.

If we wait for perfection, we're not going to do anything. It's in the pursuit of perfection that we achieve excellence. We get something done. Biblical love is not an emotion. It is a choice that we make, a decision, a cognizant decision. And biblical kindness is not a feeling. It is obedience to the word and the commandment of God. Brotherly love, which is the term that's used here in first uh second Peter, is not referencing gender. It it's it's it's re it's related to a relationship within a per particular uh group of people.

When you were born of the spirit of God, somebody asked me one one time and it was an honest question. Do do you automatically get the love of God when you get the Holy Ghost? And if so, why don't I see more of it? It was an honest question. Why don't I see more of it if if it's an automatic thing? It is not. It it is a choice and a cultivation. We have to uh again we we are left here in this situation, this human condition and we live among each other. We can have disagreements and yet not be disagreeable.

We don't have to like everything that everybody does. Not necessary. Because if we're waiting for that to take place, we will never get anything accomplished in the kingdom of God. So, brotherly love. Galatians 3:28 says this, "There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither bond nor free. There is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. Now we know that in the natural that is not a true statement because there is Jew and Greek. There is bond and free. There is male and female.

Even though the upper echelon of society cannot define what a woman is, it's simple. A woman is a mature female human being. That's not tough. A man is a mature male human being. That's not not hard. We know that these things are in the natural. But when we come into the kingdom of God, the only place that some of these things apply is within this kingdom theology. There is nothing God is not a respector of persons. He He doesn't care if you're male or female, white, black, or red. He doesn't care about any of that. all.

He said, "Whosoever will, let him come and drink of the waters of life freely. By one spirit, we're all baptized into one body." And so, so when we talk about, it would be foolish to apply this scripture to natural conditions, but there are people in religious circles who have applied this and said, "Well, look, there's no male or female, so you can be either or." That's not the truth. It only applies in a spiritual sense. It's a spiritual kingdom application where we lay down our identity and we take up the identity of Jesus Christ.

I have been baptized into him. And when I am baptized into him, I become a part of this body. Amen. One of the greatest revelations of God's kindness is stated in Luke the 6th chapter. But love ye your enemies. Man, I I'll tell you, God's got to take his chisel and knock some of the rough edges off of me. I stand before you as one of you, just a human person that needs some of the rough edges knocked off sometimes. And that's why God leaves us here because it's here that we prove that the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts.

How can you love God whom you have not seen if you can't love your brother who you have seen? So he says this and he he he upsets me sometimes. God does. He upsets me. But love ye your enemies. No. Give me a rocket launcher and I'll take care of some things. You know, I I wish I had one mounted on my car sometimes. God needs to He has to work on us. He works on us. But love ye your enemies and do good and lend hoping for nothing again. We talked about forgiveness. You know, we've had this theme for a while about forgiving.

He says, "Hoping for nothing again." Lynn, give to him. Hoping for nothing. And your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the highest. Watch this. For he is kind to the unthankful and the evil. He is kind to the unthankful and the evil. That word there is chas. It's it's worthy of attention. It's from a Greek word cryomi which means to furnish what is needed. Give not because you feel like it but because it is commanded. This this is a corollary principle to Philadelphia which is brotherly love.

Jesus stated this principle in Matthew chap 10 verses 40-42. Watch this. He that receiveth you receiveth me. This is why we need this connection. He that receiveth you receiveth me and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive watch a prophet's reward. And he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's everybody say reward.

Reward and whosoever shall give to drink unto one of th these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple. Verily I say unto you that he shall in no wise lose his say it reward. Reward. This is deeper than just a cursory glance would reveal. Rewards. Listen. Reward is based upon activity. Salvation. And and I wish I had time to go into all this, but salvation is a gift. It's a free gift. You don't work for it. You don't earn it. God extends salvation through grace. It is a free gift. The gift of God is eternal life.

But the wages of sin is death. But rewards both for the saint and the sinner sinner are based on works. God is going to reward you for the efforts that you have made for the kingdom of God. We used to sing a song, Brother Willilifford. It said, "I've been saved all day and I'm glad." I hope that's not your only testimony. It's a good one, but that's some people's only testimony. Woo! I made it through another day. I'm saved, sanctified, and on my way to heaven. You can be saved and you can still be without any reward for having lived.

Paul talked about this. He said, "So then every man's works will be tried as by fire, wood, hay, stubbles, gold, and silver." So, you're going to stand before God someday and he's going to look at your life and and see what have you done to get to reap a reward. You you can be saved. I I watched this and there's an island in the Mediterranean called Santorini. One of the Greek islands, one of the wealthiest islands in the Mediterranean. And uh we walked along the streets of Santorini. It amazed me.

There there are these beggars that have come from all over mostly the east from India. You would see these Indian beggars out there and and the thought struck my mind. Why in the world would you want to come to the richest island in the Mediterranean to be a beggar? You paid a great price to get here. And when you get here, you got nothing. There's going to be people like that in heaven. They've been saved, but they got nothing to show for a life. Everything has been burned up. Just that they've been saved. I I'll I'll just move on. Okay.

But we we do things. You are going to be rewarded for the activities that you have participated in that have furthered the kingdom of God. We need to be more than just pew sitters. We need to be more active in pursuing and promoting the kingdom of God because it's in that that we reap the rewards. There are going to pe be people that receive crowns of glory. I don't want to be without that. When I stand before the Lord, I don't want my life to just say, and I'm thankful for that. Don't get me wrong. That's the gift of God. Eternal life.

That's the gift of God. But I want to add to that. At least let me give something back to the kingdom of God for what you have done for me. So kindness, this brotherly kindness shown to imperfect people by imperfect people. Y'all remember a guy named David in the Old Testament, right? Man that we use the appellation after God's own heart. He was a bad father. He was a killer. He was an adulterer. He had all these things going to his uh negative side and yet he was called a man after God's own heart. He was God's choice to be king over Israel.

But David had he really had a this was a warrior man. This guy tear tears apart bears and lions with his hands and and uh he he fights Goliath on the battlefield. He was a warrior. He would fight. And yet there was such a heart in him of compassion at times. You saw this. He uh nothing nothing like David ever appeared on the scene before. I don't believe uh he he inquired one day, "Is there not yet any of the house of Saul?" Watch this. That I may show the kindness of God. This is not coming from just David. That I may show the kindness of God unto him.

And Zea said to the king, Jonathan hath yet a son which is lame on his feet. Nothing could erase the tragedies that that Mphibicheth had suffered. Nothing could erase the memories of what Mphibicheth had suffered. But but life was about to begin a new at David's table. Life was going to start for Mphibicheth at David's table. In in 2 Samuel chapter 9 in verse 7, Mphibicheth found restoration at David's table. David said, "I will restore unto you all the land of Saul thy father." At David's table, there was hope extended.

He said, "You're going to eat bread at my table continually." In verse 10, it helped him to overcome his infirmity. Thou, therefore, and thy sons and thy servants, he was speaking to Zeba. Now, you're going to till the land for him, and you're going to bring in the fruits. Here then, we have come to that place today. We were like Mphibicheth. We were nothing but a race of cripples. We were crippled by sin. We could not do for ourselves what we needed to do. And it wasn't even a condition that we brought on ourselves.

It was a condition that was extended to us through the sin of Adam. We were all sinners. We were all born in sin. We have all sinned and fallen short of the mercies of God. But thanks be to God, we have come to the table of David today. And here this house is a house of restoration. This househ is a house where hope is extended. At this table he gives you help and hope to overcome the infirmities of the flesh. Restoration is here. Hope is here. Help is here. Healing is here. New life can begin today here at this place.

Here we become the conduits for the kindness of God. Oh God, help us. Let our hearts be moved with compassion that whoever comes through those doors that they don't feel a spirit that repels them that cuts them off or or a spirit that that sends a message of superiority because I realize brother Willford where I came from. I realize that here I have found the mercy of God. I have been subject to that amazing grace of God. It was here in in the church that I found my restoration and my help and my hope. Amen. Conduits of the kindness of God. Why?

Romans 5 5 through8 says this. Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Ah, you didn't earn this. I didn't earn this. It's given to us. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely, watch this. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die. Yet per adventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God But God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were Mphibicheth, while we were that while we were that sinners, Christ died for us.

What kindness we saw exhibited at Calvary. What grace we saw there. Look at the kindness that was that was expressed to Jesus. The kindness shown by support in Luke chapter 8. It gives a list of women who gave of their substance to support the ministry of Jesus Christ. They just were being kind to him. There was a nameless woman in the house of Simon the Pharisee in Luke chapter 7. There's such a lesson in this. A woman who was in the city known to be a sinner. She had a reputation. Dear God, don't throw back the covers on my life.

But this woman had a reputation. She was known in the city, brother Everett, to be a sinner. They knew what she was. And she came to the house where Jesus was eating with Simon the Pharisee. She was an intruder, not an invited guest. She just stumbled into the situation. Oh God, let us be that church that people who wander through those doors find a place of welcome, a sanctuary, a haven that they can find safety. Hallelujah. Not condemnation. Jesus said, "I didn't come to condemn.

I came to seek and to save that which was lost." Give us that kind of heart of kindness, oh God. She was an intruder and not invited. But love was expressed by her and was rewarded by love experienced. Jesus rebuked Simon the Pharisee. He said, "Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins which are many are forgiven." Here's why. For she loved much. For she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. Huh? How big was the debt that you brought to the cross? How big was the sin that you brought to the cross?

Because if if it was little, you're going to love little. You're going to express that little. But brother, if you can say with Paul, when he saved me, he carved a door big enough so that anybody coming behind me can get in. I was the chiefest of sinners. But he saved me for this reason. And sometimes I feel that way as Paul felt that God saved me because he knew that if he saved me, anybody coming behind me can get in that door. You're not exempt today.

If you have sin that are bigger than a mountain, it's okay because the blood of Jesus Christ is able to take care of every sin no matter how big it is. He said, "But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little." And he says to her, "Thy sins be forgiven thee. Our worship is predicated upon that. When we look back with gratitude as to where God brought us from you will praise him. When we look back at the things that God has forgiven us, we will express that love to others.

In John chap 22 or 12 rather verses 2-8, in the middle of a room filled with self-absorbed people, Mary walks in. There's Lazarus sitting over there at the table. Pastor Brad Lazarus sitting over he's been raised from the dead. You would think of all the people sitting around this table that Lazarus would be close to Jesus and doing something. No, he's sitting over there chowing down as were the rest of the boys. They were they were all self-absorbed.

But in the middle of that room of self-absorbed people, Mary comes in, comes bursting in with this alabaster box of ointment and just begins to pour it out on Jesus. Judas, one of those guys that was mentored by Jesus, remember him? He he looks at what's going on and he said, "Uh, we could have done much better with this. Why don't we just write a check? And and Judas would have distanced himself from doing by just writing a check that would take care of the issue. We could have fed so many people with this. What a waste has been made here.

But Mary showed that a ministry of kindness means involvement. You can't just sit at the table all the time. You got to get up and you got to express the kindness that you feel in your heart. That's why that's why there are times when we just break out. When I think of the goodness of Jesus and all that he's done for me, there's a praise that has to be released and I have to minister to him. But Mary showed us that you can't just distance yourself by throwing money at a problem. You got to get up and get involved sometimes in this ministry of kindness.

My I have a peculiar viewpoint of the good Samaritan. Okay. My takeaway from the good Samaritan is this. There were justifiable reasons why the priest and the Levite excuse themselves. It was ceremonial uh ceremonial unclean uh uncleanness to for them to touch anything that was dead. And so the Bible says that the man was left for dead. To all appearances, he probably looked like a corpse laying on the side of that road. And the priest couldn't touch a dead body. And the Levites couldn't touch a dead body. So they just they just go on, right?

They they had responsibilities. There were people who were dependent on them. They could not take the time to help this guy even if he was alive because they had responsibilities. People depended on them uh being where they were supposed to be at any given time. A and so both of them determined that it was not their particular ministry to do this. And it's okay. I'm going to tell you something. I'm going to I'm going to alleviate the responsibility from some of us this morning. Not every minister pertains to every ministry pertains to you particularly.

You you you don't be you're not drawn into that particular ministry. I thank God for sister Amber and Sister Chrissy and grief share. We couldn't all handle that. Some of us would just say, "Suck it up." You know, straighten up and fly right. just get on with it. Not all of us could do what Jeff and Nicole do in in Celebrate Recovery. We we couldn't do that because it is not what's given to us as our ministry. Thank God that that they do those things. Not all of us have the energy to do children's ministry. Pastor Brad, God bless you.

That's why children are born to the young. We We don't have the energy for that. So, we excuse ourselves from that. And that's okay. That's what the priest and the Levite did. But here's what's said of them. They passed by on the other side. My takeaway from this is if you really can't help, don't stand around and criticize those who do. At least they didn't stand there on the side of the road when the Samaritan came by saying, "Hey, get away from him. You shouldn't be touching a dead body. You shouldn't be involved in in that man's life.

Just leave him alone and let him go." At least they passed by and didn't stand and criticize those who were doing something to help the man. Oh God, give us that heart of kindness. I think it was brother Charles Gisham that said, "If you can't deliver them, don't criticize them." If you can't deliver them, don't criticize them. And don't criticize those who can and do involve themselves in those kind of ministries. Amen. It may not be my cup of tea tea, but but somebody there is a ministry.

I I I tell you, if you're born into the kingdom of God, this is not true of the world at large. But when God saves you, you've got a new purpose with your life. And it becomes contingent upon us. It becomes our responsibility to find out what is it that you would require of me, oh God, what ministry would you like for me to do? Brotherly kindness. Paul was careful to note the brethren who cared for him. He also noted his enemies who didn't care for him. Amen. Consider that Paul was not the most popular man of the ancient world.

And he wasn't he wasn't the most popular man in religious circles, even in the church. But kindness was not always extended to Paul. He was somewhat of an outsider. He was considered a troublemaker, a rabble rouser. But he never stopped. It never stopped him from promoting this idea of brotherly kindness, this unity of the body of Jesus Christ. Even though he was suffering the repercussions from even his brethren, he said, "Be ye kind one to another." Be kind to one another.

1 Thessalonians 4:9 says, "But as touching brotherly love, ye have uh ye need not that I write unto you." As touching brotherly love, it was an assumption. Paul says, "I don't I don't really do I need to write to you about this stuff as touching brotherly love. For ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. I got to move to the end here. Psalmist said, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." The level of achieving this unity is in direct correlation to relating to one another. how we love one another.

I told this story in in our prayer meeting group, but it bears repeating here. I used to go the Ambassadors of Harmony are a uh a men's coral group, about 120 voices. They have two concerts a year and they they they sing. These guys are amazing. Professors and plumbers, teachers and tradesmen, elected officials and electricians. But when they come together as the ambassadors, nothing matters but the song. Just the song. Sing the same thing. Hit your note. Sing the same thing. I have sat there sometimes, and this doesn't happen very often.

Sometimes they achieve that perfect harmony. I have sat there, closed my eyes in amazement, and I've just listened. And with one voice, you've got four parts going on, but you're only hearing one thing. It was amazing. It's a transcendent experience when they all are in that perfect harmonious condition. And you're not able to separate the altos, the bass, the teners, the lead. You can't separate the and distinguish the individual voices. It's everything comes together in harmony and you just hear one beautiful sound.

Could it be that this is what God desires for his church? We don't always hit it, Brother Willilifford. We don't always achieve that perfection, Pastor Brad, but oh, there are times when we do get it right. There are times when we bring our voices together and we're all saying the same thing at the same time. And it's those times, I believe, that Paul wrote about in in Ephesians the 2 chapter when he raises up us together to sit together in heavenly places. When do we get there? Not every service is like that.

But brother, there are times when we all hit the notes and we're all singing the song and suddenly we are transcended and we are transported to a placeh in heavenly places in Christ Jesus that so pleases God that he transports us. Let's stand together. God bless you for your attentiveness and your faithfulness this morning. Let's just thank him before we take a break. Father, we thank you for the body of Jesus Christ. Help us to show the love of God to each other, the kindness to each other, oh God, that you have showed to us in Jesus name.

In Jesus name. Amen. God bless you. Take a break.