February 2014 USPS Volume 53 Number 2. In This Issue: BROTHERLY LOVE: THE KEY TO UNITY

Transcription

1 February 2014 USPS Volume 53 Number 2 In This Issue: BROTHERLY LOVE: THE KEY TO UNITY

2 Have you ever heard a Christian say, I love God, but I don t love sister so-and-so? This is a contradiction in terms. To love the Body is to love Jesus, because the Body is Jesus: For no man ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord the church. For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. (Eph. 5:29 30) 1 John 3:10-14: In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother s righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. I know I m saved because I love the brethren. I know that I have passed from death to life. We can be sure that we are saved when we love our brethren. If we don t love our brother, then we are abiding in death: Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth (vv ) This is very important: We should be willing to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. We are to keep our bowels of compassion open to a brother or sister in need. We are not just to talk love, but to love by our deeds. If there were a descending scale of opposites of the fruit of the Spirit, the bottom would be hate (Ref.: Gal. 5:22 23). When you let hate come into you, you have hit the bot- 2

3 tom. You have let a murdering spirit come into you. Some may say that this is an extreme analogy, but take Cain as an example. Cain hated Abel, and what did he eventually do because of the hate he had inside him? He murdered Abel. Genesis 4:5 states that Cain became very angry and his anger drove him to kill his brother. Jesus equated hatred of the heart with murder: Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire (Matthew 5: 21-22). Failure to Love the Brethren John said that we are not to just love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. How do we know we are in the truth? This verse tells us that if we love, not just in words but in true actions, then we can be sure that we are in truth: And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things (vs. 19). If we have condemnation in our hearts, because we have offense against our brother, then surely God knows all about it, and we are not in truth! Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God (vs. 21). The only way we can pray the prayer of faith is to have a heart that does not condemn us, and the only way to be free from such condemnation as it relates to our brothers and sisters in Christ, is to love them in deed and truth. Then we have confidence that our prayers will be answered: And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment (vv ). He told us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, love our brother in deed and truth, so that there will be no condemnation in our heart, and whatever we ask God, He will hear, because we keep His commandments. Failure to love the brethren brings condemnation and results in unanswered prayers. I constantly receive letters from all types of people saying, I pray, I fast, and yet I can not get my prayers answered. Why? One of the reasons could be because they are not truly loving their brethren. If we do not love our brothers and sisters, then God will not respond to our prayers. 1 Peter 3:8-12 says, Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that 3

4 BROTHERLY LOVE: THE KEY TO UNITY ye are there unto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. As we love the brethren in unity and compassion, we will be piteous and courteous. We will not render evil for evil. The devil likes to get us in a shouting match with our brothers and sisters, so that we say evil against one another. This stops the flow of God s Spirit and love. Rather than do evil, we are to go against our human instinct and bless them in spite of the evil they may have committed toward us. In blessing them, we will receive a blessing in return. Jesus said, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you (Luke 6:28). When someone curses you and you pray that the Lord blesses them, you have just gotten the victory, and the devil will turn red in the face with anger, because he will know that you won that round. To eschew evil and do good means run away from. The eyes of the Lord only see those that are walking in truth and love. The Offended Brother Often people get angry at their brother or sister without a cause; which is wrong, but what do you do if 4 someone has done something to offend you? The Lord has given us commands concerning what to do when a brother has offended us. In Matthew 18:15, Jesus said, Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. What do most people do first when someone has offended them? They get on the phone and spread it though the whole church within a matter of hours. This reaction, however, is not following the procedure the Lord gave us. Those who open their mouths to the whole congregation have disobeyed the Lord and have become guilty of destroying the Lord s Body, and God will judge them for that. Eventhough your brother has offended you and he is in the wrong, you must remember that he is still the flesh and bone of Jesus. In other words, we must view it as a sickness that has entered Jesus Body, and we are to minister healing to it so that the infected area does not have to be amputated. If the Lord has to amputate somebody out of the Body of Christ, all the well members of the Body will suffer too. Therefore, our first response must be to try to heal that sickness and not to announce to the whole world our brother s weakness. The concept of a sick Christian stumps many Christians. For instance, people write me and ask, If healing

5 is in the atonement (if healing belongs to us through the covenant of atonement), and if healing is part of the benefits, then why are so many Christians sick? One of the reasons is because they do not discern the Lord s Body. Paul said about taking communion: For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep (1 Corinthians 11:29-30). They may not discern that the their brothers and sisters are part of the Lord s Body, and if we destroy our brethren, we are actually destroying the Lord s Body. Jesus teaches us that when a brother has done wrong against us, we are to go to him alone and try to minister healing to him. If he will not listen, Jesus instructs us in Matthew 18:16: But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. If he will not respond to you alone, than go and get one or two more witnesses to help you minister healing. If he continues to ignore you in front of your witnesses, you should go on to the next step explained in verse 17: And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Jesus is telling us to first do all that we can to minister healing to our brother or sister. 5 A Fallen Brother Just because a brother has fallen out of unity does not mean that we should never see or speak to him again. Galatians 6:1 provides what our next move should be in trying to restore a fallen brother: Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. The fault has overtaken the man, he is in sin, and he is outside the church. What are we to do then with this brother? We that are spiritual are to try to restore him. Paul said that only those that are spiritual are qualified for this task. In other words, the persons must be prayed up and in connection with God on the matter. Furthermore, they must go in the spirit of meekness and with an attitude of love, so that they will be able to minister to their fallen brother in kindness. They should not be a threat to their fallen brother. The intention should not be to beat him down for what he did. Some people act like an old chicken hawk waiting to swoop down on someone that s on the verge of death and finish him off once and for all. But God said No! Rather, we are to try and bring the lost back into the unity. We must get prayed up, get in the right attitude, and try to minister to their needs in grace and kindness. The emphasis is on restoration not amputation! The Greek word for restore, KATARTIZETE, denotes applying therapeutics to bring

6 BROTHERLY LOVE: THE KEY TO UNITY healing. It does not mean to amputate but to heal. It is used especially of setting a bone or a joint. Furthermore, we must be careful that pride does not get in the way; for we must remember that just as they were tempted, so can we also be tempted. The circumstances which made them stumble may not be known, and we could very easily follow in their footsteps. For it is the grace of God that any of us stand at all. If God let the devil attack us without any limitations and without any cessation, everyone of us would crack. Some might be able to go a little longer than others, but in the end we would all fall. Thank God for grace! God promises that He is faithful, and He won t allow more on us than we are able to handle (Ref. 1 Cor. 10:13). He uses the devil as a buffing tool to get the cracks and fissures out of us, because we are like diamonds in the rough. When we first come to the Lord we are big ugly rocks, but through cutting, polishing, and buffing, we become refined into beautiful diamonds. God said that He is one day going to come and get His jewels (Ref.: Mal. 3:17). Oh Lord, keep on buffing me! When we can t take the pressure anymore, God makes the devil lighten up. We all stand by God s grace, and when we see a brother who has fallen, then we are to take into consideration that we could fall the same way. The Bible says, Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall (1 6 Corinthians 10:12). Caution must be used so that we do not also become tempted or lifted up in pride. We don t know whether or not we could go through what our brother or sister has gone through. All we know is that the Body of Christ is in distress because a brother or sister has stumbled and fallen, and we are going to have to be spiritual to be able to minister healing to that person. Our motive must be to restore! Martin Luther addressed this topic saying something to this effect: When we see our brother that is fallen, we ought to run up to him, throw our arms around him, embrace him, kiss him, and love him, letting him know that we love him as a long lost brother. Do not push him down, condemn him, and destroy him. If someone has backslid and gotten away from the Lord, and a member of the Body somehow got him to come to church again, all the brothers and sisters of the church should go to him and put their arms around him and say, Bless God, it s good to see you in the house of the Lord. We ve really missed you. I ve been praying for you (if you have). Let him know that you are for him, because the devil lies to the fallen man saying, There s no use in going back there. They don t want you anymore. They know all about what you did. You have probably been a sermon topic. You have probably been in all the gossip on the phones lately. We need to let him know that we love him, and that only

7 by the grace of God we have not fallen also. The Fallen Disciple Peter, the fallen disciple, is a perfect illustration of a fallen brother. In Luke 22: 31-34, Jesus was soon to be crucified, and He told His disciples that they were going to flee and forsake Him, but of course, impetuous Peter spoke up saying that he would never leave the Lord s side! And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death. And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me (Luke 22: 31-34). Peter said that he wouldn t leave Jesus, and I believe Peter sincerely meant it. He knew the Lord could see right through him if he lied. But the Lord knew he would get a little weak, and that is why He called him Simon. The name Simon comes from the idea of a reed that can be bent with any wind. Conversely, the name Peter means a stone or a chip off the rock. Just like Jesus said, Peter denied Him: Then took they him, and led him, and brought him into the high priest s house. And Peter followed afar off. And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were set down together, Peter sat down among them (vv ). This was Peter s first problem: He was amongst the world and amongst the enemies of the Lord. When you sit down with the enemy, you might start denying the Lord. But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, This man was also with him. And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not. And after a little while another saw him, and said, Thou art also of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not (vv.56-58). Peter was now in a backslidden state, and he was about to deny Jesus again. And about the space of one hour after another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this fellow also was with him: for he is a Galilean. And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly (vv ). Peter had denied the Lord three times and even cursed, so what do you think the Lord should have done with him? What would we do in this situation? Would we be nice and kindhearted? After His resurrection, the angel gave Mary a message in the garden saying, But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth 7

8 BROTHERLY LOVE: THE KEY TO UNITY before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you (Mark 16:7). The only name Jesus specifically mentioned was Peter s, because Jesus wanted to let him know that all was forgotten. When he wept bitterly, God heard and answered his prayer. Lovest Thou Me? John 21 confirms that God did indeed restore Peter. The disciples were out fishing, and Jesus showed up on shore and asked them to come and dine with Him. While they were all there, Jesus asked Peter three times, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? (Notice that He called him Simon or reed). The word for love used by Jesus is the Greek word AGAPE, which means a sacrificial love. Jesus was asking Peter, Do you love me with a sacrificial love? Peter answered him saying, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. But when Peter answered, the Greek word he used for love was PHILEO, which means to show love, or to be friendly. Peter was really saying, Yes Lord I ll show you I love you. Jesus then said to Peter that the way to show Him is by feeding His lambs, saying Feed my sheep. In the 18th verse, the Lord told Peter that he would not fail: Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. 8 Tradition tells us that when the Romans were killing all the Christians in the coliseum, Peter ran from Rome. At the time, he was one of the only apostles left, and he ran because he was scared to face the same fate that had befallen his brethren. While he was running, the Lord met him and said, Where goest thou? My sheep are being slaughtered in Rome, and they need a shepherd. Peter knew what He meant. He must show the Lord his love by turning around and going back into the coliseum. The lions had been turned loose on the young Christians, and I m sure the devil was preaching lies to them. They had not seen the Lord like Peter had, and now their shepherd was gone. They might have started to think that this whole Jesus thing was just a fairy tale, that maybe He wasn t the Son of God, and that maybe He didn t rise from the dead, and that maybe their faith was in vain. But then Peter showed up and told them, Stand up! Stand up for Jesus!, and a new hope came in. Then they said, There must be a Savior for Peter came back. Peter was with the Lord, and he hasn t deserted us. If Jesus wasn t real, then he wouldn t be here. Then the soldiers grabbed Peter and told him that since he was one of the leaders, he would have the same fate as Jesus. They were going to crucify him as they did the Lord, but this broke Peter s heart; for he had denied the Lord in the past, and he did not feel he was worthy to die the same

9 way Jesus did. Therefore, he was crucified upside down, and they put him on the main hill that led to Rome for all to see. Up on that hill, Peter was showing the Lord that he loved Him. I can imagine the Lord saying, You are showing me. Well done, thou good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in the least. Your battle is over; your journey is done, and you can come home. I believe that Jesus is asking us, Lovest thou Me? And we need to answer Him by showing love to all people. The Principle of Forgiveness Be careful not to get caught in the trap the devil may have set for you regarding unforgiveness. When he has already caused your brother to stumble, he is going to try to get you to stumble as well, by telling you not to forgive him and to go tell every- one about the horrible thing he has done to you. As we all have heard it said, Two wrongs don t make a right. Jesus told His disciples in Luke 17:3-4 when they posed the question on forgiveness, Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. We find a similar teaching in Matthew 18: 21-22: Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, until seventy times seven. If we do the math, that is 490 times a day! And if you allow five minutes between each sequence of him offending you, asking for forgiveness, and your forgiving him, you would run out of time in a day. So what Jesus was saying here is that every time your brother asks for forgiveness, you should forgive him. Sometimes, however, someone will humble himself and go to the person he offended and ask for forgiveness, but the person won t forgive him. In this case, the offender would be off the hook, and the one who was offended now has a problem of sin to deal with. Likewise, we are to ask forgiveness from those against whom we have trespassed. I believe one of the hardest things to do, is to ask somebody to forgive us. It takes lowliness of mind. It kills our pride. A lot of married couples could patch up their marriages if one would go ask the other for forgiveness. I also believe it is harder for a man, because of his macho nature. Nevertheless, Jesus taught us that if we go to pray, and remember we have ought against our brother, that we should first ask forgiveness from him, because God will not hear us unless we are following this command: Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and 9

10 BROTHERLY LOVE: THE KEY TO UNITY then come and offer thy gift (Matt. 5: 23-24). Anger and unforgiveness hinder our worship, and make our gifts unacceptable. Before we bring our offering to God, we need to forgive or ask to be forgiven. Jesus taught in The Lord s Prayer in Matthew 6:12, And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. We need to forgive others so that God will forgive us. If we don t forgive, then Jesus said that neither will God forgive us! In Mark 11, Jesus told us to remember to forgive our brothers and sisters when we pray, because if we do not, we will not be able to be sure we will get what we prayed for. He gave us the illustration of moving a mountain with our faith: For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith (Mark 11:23). If you have trespasses in your heart, then you cannot have absolute faith to say to the mountain of things in your life, Be thou removed, and receive it. It is in the context and on the condition that you forgive your brother that you can do these things. Mark 11:25-26 continues, And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your 10 Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. You must forgive your brother or God will not be able to forgive you, and your prayers will not be heard. The Lord gave this parable about forgiveness in Matthew 18: Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshiped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. Now you would think that this man would be more compassionate, merciful, and forgiving to anyone who owed him, wouldn t you? But when someone who owed him the paltry amount of 100 pence asked for time to pay it, he refused and cast the poor man into prison! When this got back to his lord who had forgiven him his huge debt, which was equal to about one year s wages, he was furious: O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should

11 pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses (vv ). A Case in Point In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul addressed a case in the church where one of the members was having an affair with his father s wife. Even worse, they were boasting about their being the only church that had such a terrible case as this! Paul rebuked them that they should rather mourn and discipline that man (Ref. 1 Cor. 5:1-5). They then went from being proud of having this special type of fornicator to the other extreme of not letting him back into the church after he had repented. (The devil will try to get people with extremes; either to be so dogmatic that you re a tyrant, or so lenient that you will let everything get by.) They obeyed Paul, censured the man, and he repented. Then he wanted to come back, but they wouldn t let him. In the second letter to the Corinthians, Paul told them that their punishment was right, but now that he had repented and wanted to come back, they must let him: So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him (2 Corinthians 2:7-8). His sin was not an unpardonable sin. The only unpardonable sin is blaspheming the Holy Ghost. All other sins can be forgiven. When a brother has offended you, and you have censured him, and he didn t listen, so you brought one or two with you, and he still didn t hear you; then you brought him before the church, and he didn t listen, so he was excommunicated from the church. But then he finally saw his wrong, repented, and wants to come back.you should thank God that he saw the light. He is like the prodigal son who got lost and then was restored, and just as the elder brother did not like it, there are many saints who do not like it and hinder their brother from finding the way back. For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things. To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices (vv. 9-11). If we do not forgive, then we are in a bad condition as well. Sin is sin to God. There are no big or little sins as far as the Father is concerned. The Greek word for forgive is CHARISASTHAI, which means to be friendly, to be gracious, and to be kind. We are to comfort our brother. The Greek word for comfort, PARA- KALESAI, means to encourage, exhort, and urge on. It is used of leaders who send hesitant soldiers 11

12 BROTHERLY LOVE: THE KEY TO UNITY courageously into battle. We are to encourage our brother, give him a pep talk, build him up. He might be condemning himself unduly. Even though God has forgiven him, he might have a very difficult time forgiving himself. We should let our brother know that we all fail God, but because of His grace we can still be in a relationship with Him if we ask for forgiveness. Confirm your brother, Paul said. The Greek word for confirm is KUROOSAI, and means to legally confirm, to ratify. The church community, after it has openly excommunicated someone, and they have openly repented of their sin, is to reinstate the offender and assure him of their love. Christians Don t Sue Christians! In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul wrote to teach them how to handle legal problems when one brother defrauds another. In one instance, there was a brother who was going against another brother in court. This was an unheard of thing. A brother and sister do not have a Bible right to go to court against a believer, and especially, not in front of unbelievers: I speak to your shame... brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers... Why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? (vv. 5-7). It doesn t matter what the situation is, Paul said that in order to keep the unity of the faith, and to keep it from the eyes of the world, we should suffer the loss so that the cause of 12 Christ will not be hurt and the Gospel not suffer reproach. If the offender is going to respond, let it be because God convicted him. We are to pray that he sees his error, so that God can turn him around and restore him. Love Opens the Door to Evangelism Paul said that the Body is increased when it is edified in love (Ephesians 4:16). When every joint brings forth its measure of increase, ministers it to the rest of the Body, then the Body makes an increase of itself by adding souls, to the edifying of itself in love. The greatest church among the seven churches in Revelation was the church of Philadelphia, because it had an open door. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name (Rev. 3:7-8). They had an open door to Jesus and an open door to evangelize the world. The name Philadelphia is actually a combination of two Greek words. The first half, PHILEO, means affection, fondness, and kiss and is a synonym of PHILEMA, which means to kiss or to express love. Philadelphia was a church that expressed love to the ADELPHOS, the brethren. This is why it is also

13 called the church of brotherly love. It was built in a strategic location at the boundaries of Lydia, Mysia, and Phrygia, in order to be a missionary church aimed at spreading the Grecian philosophy, but God instead, used it to spread the Gospel. The great highways that were built became the main postal route on a circuit of the seven cities, and it linked them to all of Europe and Asia. Jesus challenged the church of Philadelphia saying, I have set before thee an open door (Revelation 3: 8). He was talking about the door of evangelism, a door that was wide open for them to spread the Gospel all over the Roman Empire. Even today, those churches which have brotherly love will be given an open door for evangelism. If there are back-biting, bickering, and devouring of one another, God will not bring new lambs into that atmosphere, lest they get caught up in it and be destroyed. God will place them into an atmosphere of brotherly love. I believe that even if the Lord Jesus Christ Himself would come, if there is no brotherly love, then there would still not be an open door to evangelism. This was demonstrated when He went to the town of Nazareth. They didn t love Him; they didn t accept Him; they resented Him, and the Bible tells us that Jesus could not do many wonderful works there. He did lay His hands on a few and they were healed, but there was no revival (Ref. Matt. 13:54-58). I know this at a personal level, because I have experienced going into different places with evangelistic messages, and where there is disunity in an area, or some kind of trouble in a church, it is impossible to have a revival. Instead, you have to try to minister healing to the church members before you can even think about saving the lost. The first love must be love for the Body, because if you don t love your brethren, then you don t love God, and surely will not love the sinner. John said that if you do not love your brothers whom you can see, you cannot love your God whom you have not seen (Ref. 1 John 4:20). Furthermore, the two greatest commandments are based on love: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself (Matt. 22:37-39). In the Old Testament, the neighbor was anyone that was an Israelite and in the family of God. Jesus went further and taught us to love our enemy as well, in hopes that we can make him our neighbor (Ref. Matt. 5: 43-44). And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: (1 Thessalonians. 3:12). Please Note This is Part 2 of this message. You can download Part 1 from www. rghardy.org 13