An offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city... (Prov. 18:19).

Transcription

1 INSECURE BROTHER: Here we are speaking primarily about a weaker brother. Not one who is weak physically, but rather one who is still weak and insecure in his faith. The older brethren must learn to be very sensitive and patient with these spiritually insecure brethren until they grow and mature in their faith. Therefore, let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother s way... If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ dies...let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall (Rom. 14:1 21). Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others...whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble...even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ (I Cor. 10:23 11:1). INJURED BROTHER: An offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city... (Prov. 18:19). Young and insecure brothers can be easily injured especially by the freedom and liberty in Christ demonstrated by an older brother. Their conscience is still weak and fragile. It is still mixed with the morality and immorality of the world. It will take time to program and instruct a young brother s conscience with the truths of the Bible. During that time, they can easily be hurt and injured by others in the Church. In Paul s day, the young converts from paganism would sometimes struggle over things like food and drink especially when it had first been offered to 176

2 idols. Others struggled over commemoration of certain holy days observed by others. So Paul wrote these instructions to the brethren:...food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak...this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against your brother in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall (I Cor. 8:8 13). Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand (Rom. 14:1 4). One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord...You then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother. For we will all stand before God s judgment seat...so then, each of us will give an account of himself to God (Rom. 14:5 12). INHOSPITABLE BROTHER: One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is extending hospitality to those in need. That s why Paul said: Practice hospitality (Rom. 12:13). Likewise, when the Apostle Peter was listing some of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, he too said: Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling (I Pet. 4:9). The writer 177

3 of Hebrews even suggested that in extending love and hospitality to the brethren, we were unknowingly entertaining angelic visitors: Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it (Heb. 13:1 2). As they traveled from city to city, the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and teachers of the First Century were totally dependent upon the Christian hospitality of their brethren. I find the same is true today among our Christian brethren in underdeveloped countries. They do not have the financial means to stay in hotels or guest houses, even when they are available which is seldom in remote regions. So they always enjoy the hospitality of their brethren as they travel and minister. Some of the greatest experiences of my life and ministry have been as I have slept on dirt floors in the simple thatched roofed homes of God s saints! Living as they live...eating what they eat...sleeping where they sleep, are special times of Christian fellowship! It was because of the necessity of Christian hospitality that one false brother was singled out for dishonorable mention in one of the letters of John. His name was Diotrephes. This is what John said of him: Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us...he is...gossiping maliciously abut us...he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church (III Jn. 9 10). Conversely, the Apostle Paul extols the hospitality of one of his dear friends and partners. In his postscript at the end of his letter to the Church at Rome, he says: Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings (Rom. 16:23). With similar words of appreciation, Paul wrote to thank his friend Philemon, for his hospitality in the past. He says:...you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints. But then Paul goes on to tell him to make preparations for his visit: And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers (Philm. 7, 22). After being under house arrest in Rome, Paul was really looking forward to being released and refreshed by the Christian hospitality of his dear friend, Philemon! 178

4 IMITATION BROTHER: We saw earlier in our study that the normative word in the New Testament for brother is the word, adelphos. Therefore, when the Apostle Paul wanted to describe the brothers who were impostors or imitations, he added the prefix pseudo, meaning false. Thus we find the word pseudadelphos, or false brethren. These men were not some theoretical group of religious people that Paul was only speculating about. Over and over again, he was harassed by people like the Judaizers the religious legalists who were always wanting to put the new Gentile converts under the yoke of the law. They sought to destroy his ministry just as he had sought to destroy the ministry of the Church before his conversion. He writes to warn the Christians in Galatia about them:...some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves (Gal. 2:4). In the eleventh chapter of Second Corinthians, Paul gives a long list of dangers he constantly confronts in ministry. In the midst of that list, he says that he is constantly...in danger from false brethren... (II Cor. 11:26). It is clear from the many Biblical warnings that we are not to associate or fellowship with imitation brethren. Note this further warning from Paul: I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people (Rom. 16:17 18). Perhaps the most difficult imitation brethren to discern are those who say all of the right things. They sound good...look good...preach good. Paul also dealt with these kind of false brethren. In speaking of them, he said: It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry... He goes on to say that they...preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerity... (Phil. 1:15 17). So if Paul and the early church had to deal often with false brethren, we will have to do so today. The church in every age has had a fresh batch of pseudobrothers who infiltrate the church and cause division. So be alert to false brethren! In doing so, we should heed the admonition of Paul to the Philippian Church: 179

5 Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their God is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body. Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown...stand firm in the Lord, dear friends! (Phil. 3:17 4:1). 180

6 CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, I want us to ask ourselves one of the oldest questions in recorded history. It was an evasive question that Cain asked of God, when he queried: Am I my brother s keeper? (Gen. 4:9). The obvious answer to this brotherly question is a resounding NO! We are not to be our brother s keeper, but rather our brother s brother! Too many within the Christian brotherhood are guilty of wanting to be their brother s keeper. They want to keep their brother in his place whether that is a place of failure...defeat...immaturity...unforgiveness...indebtedness...racial inferiority, etc. But the constant exhortation of the New Testament is to... LOVE THE BROTHERHOOD OF BELIEVERS... (I Peter 2:17) 181