Brotherly Kindness

Introduction

Good morning. It’s so good to see you this morning. It is a blessing for us to be together to worship God and consider his word. It is always a blessing when God’s people can come together to sing praises, to partake of the Lord’s Supper, to pray and to open up the scriptures and study what the scriptures have to say. In fact, as we begin our study this morning from God’s Word, I want to begin this study by asking you do you by any chance, and let me go ahead and get that slide, please. Do you by any chance know who this man is? Do you know the name of this man? This man’s name is Pat Tillman. Pat Tilman used to play professional football. He actually played strong safety for the Arizona Cardinals from 1998 to 2001, and he was pretty good.

He was very productive. He distinguished himself with his play on the field, so much so that after four seasons with the team, they offered him nearly four million dollars for three more years, and he turned it down. He walked away from it. He left their offer on the table. And he enlisted in the army. He enlisted in the United States Army eight months. After turning down nearly $4 million dollars, and after completing ranger training, he was deployed to the Middle East. He was first deployed to Iraq in the early part of 2003. And then about a year later, he was deployed to Afghanistan. In fact, in April of 2004, while on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan, he was killed. He was killed in action.

He was actually killed by friendly fire. Do you know what it means to be killed by friendly fire? Being killed by friendly fire means that a soldier is accidentally killed by someone on their side while in combat. It means that a soldier is accidentally killed by an ally. In Pat Tillman’s case, he was accidentally killed by a fellow ranger. His death is a tragic. Tragic story, but let me ask you this. Can the same thing happen to us? Can the same thing happen in the army that we are fighting in right now as we fight in the spiritual army of God? Can we be hit by friendly fire? I want to submit to you that we can.

During your time serving in the army of the Lord. For example, maybe you’ve experienced fellow soldiers in the army of God say the scourging and hurtful things to you before. Maybe you’ve experienced some give you unfair criticism, an unfair judgment, and they’re always trying to nitpick something that you’re doing. Maybe you’ve experienced fellow soldiers be rude to you, and they’re ugly and they’re snarky and negative, and maybe they’ve embarrassed you and excluded you from being part of their little circle in the church. Maybe you’ve experienced some look down on you because you’re not as educated as they are. Or you haven’t been a Christian as long as they’ve been Christians, or because you’re young, or because you’re old, or because you’re poor, or maybe because you come from a part of this country that they view as kind of backwoods and ignorant in their thinking.

There are all kinds of examples we could give this morning when it comes to this. But the point remains the same. The point is, many of us have gone through this. Many of us have experienced this before. Many of them in this elf in this room have been hit by friendly fire, and the fact of the matter is that’s nothing new. That’s nothing unique to our situation. That is not something that is foreign to what we find going on in the New Testament. In fact, that is exactly what was going on in Corinth, right? Remember, in Corinth, there were Christians in that church who were divided. And they were forming factions and showing partiality and mistreating each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. There were Christians in Corinth who were getting hit constantly by friendly fire, and the same thing was also going on with two sisters in Philippi.

Remember in Philippians chapter 4 and verse number 2, the Apostle Paul mentions two sisters in that text, Yeodia and Sentiche, who were acting up. They didn’t like each other. They were mistreating each other. They were not working in harmony and the Lord together. And the Apostle Paul told them to stop that nonsense. He told them to grow up. He told them to start working together for the greater good of the kingdom of God. And let’s not forget to mention Ananias and Sapphira. Let’s not forget to mention this Christian couple in Acts chapter 5 who lied to God and to the brethren about their giving. And then what about Diatrophys in 3 John? Remember in 3 John, the Apostle John tells us about this Christian named Diatrophes who wanted preeminence in the church.

He actually acted like the church belonged to him. He was personally kicking people out of the church. And then what about even the Apostle Peter? And how in Galatians chapter 2, the Apostle Paul tells us that there was a time when even the Apostle Peter was promoting prejudice and racism in the church. He was guilty of treating Gentile Christians one way in public when he was among the Jews and another way in private. What it’s want you to see is unfortunately for 2,000 years, many people in the army of God, many people in the family of God have struggled with this concept. They have struggled with treating other Christians right. They have struggled with treating fellow members of the spiritual family as a family instead of as enemies.

And the reason why I’m bringing up bringing this up to you this morning is because it relates to where we currently are in our monthly series of lessons from 2 Peter chapter 1. Remember, in connection to our goal this year of being transformed, we’ve been studying through 2 Peter chapter 1. Specifically, we’ve been considering Peter’s ingredients for spiritual transformation that’s found in verses 5 through 7. We have studied the importance of being transformed by virtue and by knowledge of the word of God and by self-control and perseverance and godliness. But the next question is what about that next part? Well, what about the next thing in Peter’s list? What about brotherly kindness? What in the world is that? What in the world is brotherly kindness?

This terminology, brotherly kindness, comes from a Greek word that you may already be very familiar with. It comes from the Greek word Philadelphia. Philadelphia.

You see, while we are to love and treat all people right, there’s a special relationship we have with other members of the spiritual family. There is a special kind of relationship we are to have with brothers and sisters in Christ beyond being people who gather together on Sunday to worship God, and we smile with each other and we wave and we shake hands and we give hugs and we know each other by our first names. Beyond that kind of stuff, the Bible says that God expects us to be a family. God expects us to be close. God expects us to truly care about each other and even be friends. This is repeated throughout the New Testament. For example, in 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 22.

In 1 Peter chapter 1 and in verse number 22, the apostle Peter says to Christians, Since you have an obedience to the truth, purified your souls, since you’ve been forgiven by God for sincere love of the brethren. That language, sincere love there, comes from the Greek word philadelphia. Sincere love for the brethren. He emphasizes this again in 1 Peter 3 and verse 8. When he says to sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kind hearted, and humble in spirit. That word brotherly that you find there in that verse is the Greek word philadelphia. It’s the Greek word that refers to the kind of love we are to have as brothers and sisters in Christ. The apostle Paul echoes this in Romans 12 and verse number 10, and in 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 9, when he tells us to be devoted to one another in brotherly love.

And then the Hebrew writer puts it this way in Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 1, when he says, Let brotherly love continue.

You see, in all those verses, in all those verses, the same Greek word is being used. In all those verses, the same Greek word is being used over and over again. It’s not the word agape. No, it’s Philadelphia. It is the word that speaks of brotherly kindness or brotherly love or the love of the brethren. What this shows us is this is a big deal. God repeats himself on this for a reason. God wants us to know this is a big deal. This matters. It matters how we treat each other. It matters how we talk to one another and how we conduct ourselves when interacting with each other. It even matters how we view each other as a spiritual family. God has high expectations for this.

1. Brotherly Kindness Does Not Look Like Hatred

God has high expectations for how we treat each other. God has high expectations for how we treat his children who’ve been adopted into his family. God expects us to treat each other right, to have Philadelphia, to treat each other with brotherly kindness. It’s all through the Bible. It’s all throughout the Bible. And for those who may wonder, okay, Sean, what exactly does that look like? Let me answer that question by doing two things. Let me submit to you that when it comes to describing brotherly kindness or brotherly love, brotherly love first doesn’t look like this. First, let me suggest to you that brotherly love does not, it does not look like hatred. It does not look like wallowing in hatred and anger and being angry with the brother because I’m jealous of that brother, or I have resentment towards that brother, or I have bitterness towards that brother.

That’s not brotherly kindness. Brotherly kindness doesn’t look like hatred. Doesn’t look like anger, doesn’t look like jealousy, bitterness. It doesn’t look like Cain, what Cain did to his brother. Do you remember what Cain did to his brother? Go on your Bible, please to 1 John chapter 3. In 1 John chapter 3. In 1 John chapter 3 and verse number 10. In 1 John chapter 3 and in verse number 10, the apostle John here is talking to Christians, the children of God. And he says, in 1 John chapter 3, verse number 10, by this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother.

And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brothers were righteous. Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we pass out of death into life because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. And you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. Notice how due to hatred and anger that was rooted in jealousy and bitterness and resentment over the fact that God was pleased with the worship of his brother, but he wasn’t pleased with his worship. Abel responded to that by murdering his brother. He did evil towards his brother. By his actions, he showed that his true father was not God.

Instead, it was the devil. Brotherly affection doesn’t look like that. Brotherly love doesn’t look like that. It doesn’t look like being hateful and angry towards my brother. It doesn’t look like wanting to harm my brother. It doesn’t look like having jealousy in my heart towards my brother because he has a nice expensive house. Or because he drives a nice expensive car, or because he has a beautiful family or a job with a great salary, or he takes great vacations with his family, or because he has a talent to serve in the kingdom of God that I don’t have. Brotherly love, brotherly affection does not look like hatred. It does not look like anger. It does not look like jealousy towards my brother, and it also doesn’t look like betrayal.

2. Doesn’t Look Like Betrayal or Forsaking My Brother

Brotherly love, brotherly kindness doesn’t look like betraying my brother. It doesn’t look like what you find in 2 Samuel 11. Do you remember what you find in 2 Samuel 11? Remember in 2 Samuel chapter 11, we find one of the stories that King David, unfortunately, is most known for and remembered for today. We find a tragic story. We find a disheartening story. We find a story that involves David, a man after God’s own heart, having an affair with another man’s wife. He takes another man’s wife to bed. In fact, this man whose wife he takes was one of his military brothers. It was one of his loyal friends, it was one of his mighty men who always stood by his side. It was Uriah the Hittite.

Uriah the Hittite was a loyal, trusted friend of David’s, but David was not loyal to him. David took his wife. And then he set him up to be killed in battle. He betrayed him. He stabbed him in the back. And brotherly love, brotherly kindness and affection does not look like that. It does not look like betraying my brother. It does not look like having an affair with another brother’s wife. And in the process hurting God and hurting my brother and destroying his family.

It doesn’t look like smiling and shaking my brother or my sister’s hand after church this morning. But as soon as I get in my car, I start, I start gossiping about them. I gossip about them all the way home. I’m seeking to destroy their name.

That’s not brotherly kindness. That’s not brotherly love. Brotherly love does not look like betraying and stabbing my brother in the back. And it also doesn’t look like forsaking my brother. Remember Paul says he went through that with demons? 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 10. And 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 10, Paul says that Demas has forsaken me. Why? Because he loved his present world. That’s not brotherly love. If I have brotherly kindness and affection and love towards you, I’m not going to do that. I’m not going to turn against you. I’m not going to leave you alone when you’re hurting. And you need somebody to talk to. I’m not going to fail to pray for you when you actively seek my prayers. I’m not going to fail to comfort you when you’re grieving, or serve you when you’re sick, or admonish you and encourage you to come back to God when you get caught up in sin.

3. Doesn’t Look Like Being Selfish

I’m not going to do those things if I have brotherly kindness and affection towards you. Brotherly kindness doesn’t involve hatred, betraying, forsaking my brother, and it also doesn’t look like being selfish. It also doesn’t look like what Judas did to Jesus. Remember, Judas, one of the apostles. He pretended to be Jesus’ friend.

He got close to Jesus. He even kissed him in the garden because there was something he wanted that he wanted to get.

Because there was something in it for him.

He wanted to get 30 pieces of silver out of that kiss. He used Jesus to go after something that he valued, and brotherly kindness, brotherly love doesn’t look like that. It doesn’t look like using my brother. It doesn’t look like me trying to get close to you and pretending to like you and respect you and be nice to you so I can get some out of you. So I can take advantage of you. So I can get some money from you. So I can get good seats to the ball game from you. So I can persuade you to give me a job at your company. Or let me borrow your car or give me a recommendation for this job I’m trying to get right now. That’s not brotherly kindness.

Brotherly kindness is not me being nice to you and being warm towards you because I’m trying to get some out of you. And it’s also not speaking to you any kind of way that I want to. Speaking to you selfishly and with no consideration for your feelings. Not valuing your thoughts, not valuing your opinions, always insisting that things be done my way, and if they’re not done my way, I’m gonna treat you bad until you finally bend to my will.

4. Demonstrated With Kindness and Sympathy

Jealousy, betrayal, forsaking my brother, being selfish towards my brother instead. This is what it involves. This is what it looks like. This is how brotherly kindness and love should be demonstrated. First, it should obviously be demonstrated with kindness. It’s in the language. Brotherly kindness should be demonstrated obviously, with kindness. Kindness. What a radical word that is in our society today, right? But it’s in the Bible. Look in your Bible, please. Let’s work these Bibles a little bit. Go on your Bible to Ephesians chapter 4. Please look in your Bible. In Ephesians chapter 4 and in verse number 32. Because here Paul is talking about the transformed life. How to live that transformed life in Jesus Christ, how to live as a new creature in Jesus Christ.

And this is what’s part of it. When he says in Ephesians 4 and in verse number 32, be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Notice the first part of that language. Be kind to one another. Do you see that? Be kind to one another. You know what that’s called? That’s called a commandment. That’s a commandment from God. God commands us to be kind. What does that involve? Well, I give you a few things that this involves. First, being kind involves considering other people’s feelings. It involves being benevolent. It involves, you ready for this? Being nice. And having a good attitude and rejoicing over the successes of my brethren and not being jealous. It involves rejoicing over their new home.

Enjoy rejoicing over their new car. Rejoicing over the fact that they just got married or had a baby with their spouse. Rejoicing over the fact that they just graduated from college. Or they got straight A’s in their report card. Or they got a promotion on their job. It involves following the golden rule. It involves doing to others, doing to my brother or my sister, as I would have done unto me. It involves not being snarky and condescending and rude and negative and always looking to tear down my brother or my sister. It involves embracing every member of this church and not just the people in my little group. Not just the people in my little circle of friends. I got to embrace every member of the spiritual family.

And I got to actively participate in kind acts. That could be holding the door open for an elderly sister or brother. That could be sitting next to a new convert in this church. That could be texting a college student some kind words of encouragement throughout the week. Or taking my family with me to visit a widow or shut in, or to visit a brother or sister that’s sick in the hospital, or to invite some lonely saint into my home for the holidays. Or thanking a song leader or a Bible class teacher or a deacon for wonderful work they’re doing in the kingdom or saying something encouraging to the men who sacrifice so much to lead this flock. That’s kindness. Brotherly kindness involves kindness.

Sympathetic. And you see that also if you go back with me, please, to Ephesians 4 and verse 32. Because notice again, the scripture says, be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ has also forgiven you. Do you see the second part of that tenderhearted? That’s another commandment. Be kind, be tenderhearted. What does that mean? What’s involved in me being tenderhearted? Well, being tenderhearted involves being gracious and compassionate and sympathetic and having a heart for the struggles and the problems that other people in the spiritual family have in their lives. It involves praying for people’s struggles and letting them know I’m praying for them. It involves taking notice of the names mentioned in the church bulletin and not just easily dismissing those things and brushing those names aside.

It involves being willing to help comfort those who are hurting. And rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep. Remember, Jesus did that in John 11 and verse 35. Remember in John 11 and verse 35, we find the shortest verse in all the Bible, but it’s a powerful verse. Two words, but so powerful. What does it say? Jesus wept. Jesus wept before raising Lazarus from the dead. Why would he do that? Why would Jesus weep on this occasion, even though he knows what he’s about to do? He knows he has power over the grave. He knows he’s about to reach into the rim of Hades and pull out his victim. He knows that. Why does he weep? Well, he wept because he cared.

5. It Also Involves Humility

He cared about the sadness and the grief of Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus. He had a heart for their plight. He had sympathy for their pain. That’s what brotherly kindness involves. It involves kindness. It involves sympathy, and it also involves humility. I got to be humble. Go in your Bible back to Ephesians again. Look at chapter 4 and verse number 2. In Ephesians chapter 4, verse 2. After Paul implores us in verse 1 to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which we’ve been called, he then tells us how to do that. In verse number 2, he says, with all humility and gentleness with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love. I want to focus for the purpose of this lesson on that word humility.

You see that word humility? The Bible says that I gotta be humble. I gotta be humble towards you. What does that involve? What does the humble person look like? What does the humble person do? Well, the humble person strips themselves of pride. The humble person strips themselves of selfishness and ego. The humble person is willing to sacrifice for his brother. He’s willing to sacrifice his time on a Saturday to listen to his brother if he needs some counsel. He’s willing to sacrifice his blessings to help his brother whenever he is destitute. He’s willing to consider the feelings of his brother. And how his words and his actions and even his posts on social media are going to impact his brother. He’s willing to consider how his brother needs him to bear with him.

His brother may need some patience with him, even though his personality may be a little bit different. And he thinks his brother acts kind of weird and he’s annoying and strange sometimes. And even though they have very little in common, humility involves I’m still going to bear with my brother despite our personality differences. And with my, when his brother messes up, the humble person is willing to forgive him when he repents. When his brother repents and wants to get things right, he’ll forgive him. He’ll bury the hatchet.

He will be reconciled unto his brother because he wants God to do that same thing for him when he repents.

6. Make an Effort to Be Connected

And we’re going to look at verse number 42. After 3,000 people respond to the gospel by having faith, repenting, and being baptized into Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. And Acts 2 and verse 42, it tells us about what these Christians did after they were converted. And it says in verse 42, they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching. That’s what we’re doing right now, studying scripture, as it was revealed to the apostles. And the fellowship to the breaking of bread. That’s the Lord’s Supper and the prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe. And many wonders and signs were taking place with the apostles. And all those who had believed were together had all things in common. And they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all.

As anyone might have need. Day by day, continuing with one mind in the temple and breaking bread from house to house. Now there, the breaking of bread is out of reference to the Lord’s Supper. That’s talking about a common meal. So there are times when the scriptures talk about breaking bread to partake of the Lord’s Supper or just eating lunch together. And that’s what it’s talking about there. They did that from house to house. They were taking their meals together, notice with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number, or the Lord was adding to the church day by day those who were being saved. These are critical verses. Critical verses. And they are critical verses because they show us how the early Christians felt about each other.

They show us that the early Christians didn’t just attend church together. They were not just kind of familiar with each other. They didn’t just know each other’s names and shake hands and give hugs and were nice to each other. No, the Bible’s telling us here that they were connected. The Bible’s telling us that they were a family. They spent time together in the worship assembly and outside of the worship assembly. They had genuine relationships. That’s what the Bible tells us, and that’s what we got to have today. Like the early Christians, if we’re going to display brotherly kindness, then we got to make an effort to be connected. Being connected involves opening our homes to brethren and accepting their invitation into our homes. It involves being willing to be open and vulnerable, being willing to share our struggles with our brethren and make them feel comfortable to share their struggles with us.

Being there to grieve for them, being there to listen to them, being there to support them and encourage them when they’re struggling, being there to admonish them in love when we notice they’re going astray. That’s what it means to be connected as a spiritual family. And that’s important because, as I told you earlier, we have a special relationship. We’re not just acquaintances, we’re not just people who see each other once or twice a week. We’re not just people who come together to sing songs and pray prayers and study the Bible. No, we are a family. We’re brothers and sisters in Christ. We’re supposed to be friends. We’re supposed to be bound by the blood of Jesus together and practice brotherly kindness. And so before we close, just very quickly, I want to take you to one more place in your Bible, and that’s 1 John chapter 4.

Conclusion

I want to read to you 1 John 4, starting with verse number 19, and then we’re going to get ready to go into the invitation. In 1 John chapter 4 and verse number 19, the Bible says this. It says in 1 John 4 and verse 19, we love because he first loved us. If someone says I love God and hates his brother, he’s a liar, for the one who does not love his brother, whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him that the one who loves God shall love his brother also. Do you see why this is so important? Notice how the reason why this is so important is because it is directly tied to our relationship with God.

Notice how the Bible says that we cannot honestly say we love God if we do not honestly love one another. And so may this lesson challenge us to do that. May it challenge us to treat our brethren right. May it challenge us to always be mindful of the special relationship and practice brotherly affection and value every member in the family. That’s what this lesson is about. And so I want to close by asking you: are you part of the family? We spent this morning talking about the family of God, but maybe you sit there and realize you’re not part of the family. If not, then you can become part of the family this morning. And you can become part of the family by responding to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

That may mean that you need for the first time to believe in Jesus and repent of your sins and confess Jesus as Lord and be baptized in water for the forgiveness of your sins. If you will do those things, the Lord will wash away your sins and add you into his family today. Or if you need to come back to the family because you’ve sinned and wandered away, we’ll be more than happy to embrace you and pray with you and pray for you because we love you. If there’s anyone here this morning who needs to respond to the Lord’s invitation, we’re going to sing this song. Brother Sean will lead us in, and we invite you to come to the front as we stand and we sing together.