The Holy Kiss

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. The ordinance of the holy kiss is one that we teach in our instruction class. What is the outward thing that we see when we greet one another with the kiss? [00:00:30] That is the outward thing. It is the visible thing. What does it point to? Yes, it is a kiss of love. Turn with me to 1 Peter chapter 1. We looked at this in our Sunday school, in our adult Sunday school. And I thought that perhaps the, although Peter is not talking about the holy kiss as such, I thought 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 22 perhaps stated the, it puts in a nutshell that spiritual application or the spiritual part of the holy kiss. [00:01:09] Verse 22 says, Seeing ye have purified your soul in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently. That's the love that Brother Elmer was referring to. See that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently. Right there you have the two modifiers. Pure, the pure heart. Fervently is an adverb that says how we love. and unfeigned or sincere is another modifier in that verse. [00:01:42] I suppose you've heard me say before that the book of Peter, the books of Peter, the writings of Peter stand out to me as a use in modifiers, a use in adjectives, sometimes superlatives. but sometimes he just wants us to make sure that we grasp that it's to be pure like the unfeigned, the word unfeigned I suppose in the English language when this translation was made [00:02:13] there was one thing that happened, unfeigned well, it's easier, to me it sounds better if we make it the positive and say it's sincere But back then, that was quite common. You notice sometimes they say they brought together things, not a little. Well, it means it was a lot. But so we would, today we would more likely be to, we would say sincere. We would say they brought together a lot for the, for example, for the building of the tabernacle. [00:02:51] We were told that they had to refrain. They had to stop them because they brought so much. But those are just some, that was a little bit of a rabbit trail, I guess. As I think of the Holy Kiss, and I would like to say this, it is a command. And I'd like to look at a number of the scriptures where we are commanded this. But I would like to remind us that it is not just a command, it is a privilege. May I say it's a great privilege? [00:03:23] Because it is a right that we have as a part of the body to greet one another with a holy kiss. As I looked in scripture, I found examples of a kiss. Many times this was between family members. If you would look at Genesis chapter 27 verse 26, Jacob had come to Isaac, he had prepared the food. Well, maybe his mother had prepared the food for, did I say, Isaac. [00:03:55] Yes, Jacob came to Isaac with the food and Isaac said, come near my son and kiss me. And there was a reason why Isaac said that. If you notice the following verse, he said, it's the hands are the hands of Esau, but the voice is the voice of Jacob. And he wanted to be sure which son it was. So it was more than just a kiss of affection there. But you have other cases. [00:04:28] Laban chided Jacob when he left. He said, why did you take away my family so that I can't kiss my sons and my daughters? So you see that it is a show of affection as it is today for us. In Genesis chapter 29 verse 11, I'm not going to turn to these because they do not, they are merely a background, they are not the holy kiss. But when Jacob went on that long journey, his mother and father sent him to Laban's home. [00:05:05] And when he got there, he asked some questions and then he saw one of the people that he had come for, it was Rachel. Who came out with a sheep, and it says that he kissed her, and he wept. A show of affection here, and I suppose there was some emotion involved, the successful end of a journey, and a greeting of affection, as I said. That, I think, is perhaps indicative of the outward sign, but it is perhaps only a hint. [00:05:40] It's not really what we're referring to. But I would remind us that if we do not have what Peter talks about in 1 Peter 1, verse 22, we have something that is really just a shell without substance in it. The shell is okay. I'm not saying that is wrong. I am saying we need more than the shell. We need more than the outward. It needs to be backed up by the inward. [00:06:12] And I cannot overemphasize that, I don't believe. In Romans chapter 16, verse 16, and in some cases I am just quoting a part of the verse here. I am just quoting the one that tells us to greet one another with a holy kiss. Romans 16, 16 says this, salute one another with a holy kiss. And in 1 Corinthians 16, verse 20, it says, greet one another with an holy kiss. [00:06:47] These are the writings of Paul inspired by the Holy Spirit. And then in 2 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 12, greet one another with an holy kiss. Only one word different from the previous one. The previous one said, greet ye one another. Here it's just greet one another. And then in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 26, it says, greet all the brethren with an holy kiss. Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss. [00:07:19] And I think that is of importance. We'll look at that more in just a little bit. And in 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 14, it says, greet one another with a kiss of charity. And there we have again what Brother Elmer said, it is a kiss of love, it is to show that which we have in our hearts. We do see a practice, and perhaps we should just turn, if you would turn with me to Acts chapter 20. And this, we might say that this is a little bit of a special occasion. [00:07:55] Paul was on his way to Jerusalem as I recall and he asked the Ephesian elders to come and he had a time of fellowship there they had a time of sharing there I think at the ocean side there if I'm not mistaken at least it was close to the ocean he didn't have time to make the journey inland so he had them come out as I recall and in verse 37 Well, maybe we should begin reading at verse 36. [00:08:26] And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all, and they all wept sore and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship. We see here a parting that was especially painful for them because Paul told them, you're not going to see me anymore. And that's, I think, why they wept as they parted one from another. [00:09:00] There is something else that goes with the holy kiss, and I'd like for you to turn with me to Galatians chapter 2 and look at the ninth verse. Some of these are things that I gleaned from the doctrines of the Bible. Most of these I did not, but this is one that I gleaned from this. It does not talk about the holy kiss here, but it talks about something that we associate with the holy kiss, [00:09:34] and I just thought it was meaningful to read Galatians 2, verse 9. And when Peter, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, They gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship that we should go unto the heathen and they unto the circumcision. Peter, James, and John here, or James, Peter, and John, calls Peter Cephas here by his other name. But they gave Paul and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship. [00:10:08] And I'm going to suggest that it didn't stop with just a handshake. The right hand of fellowship, as I understand it, is the holy kiss along with the greeting, the handshake. And I always thought that the church leaders, Peter, James, and John, gave Paul and Barnabas their blessing. And I think they did. But it was just kind of a new thought that this was a part and parcel of what we are talking about here. [00:10:44] They gave them their blessing, their sanction, their permission, their encouragement to go to the Gentiles with the gospel message because they recognized that the Holy Spirit was involved in this. And so they said, we are one with you. You go ahead and you have our blessing to do that. I said the form I think is important I don't want to take away from the form but if we have only a form and we take away the spiritual part [00:11:17] we have but an empty shell and that is one thing that I would just like to encourage us to examine our hearts as we greet one another that we have, as Peter said the love of pure and fervent love for the brethren. I trust that that is our case. May we be examining ourselves [00:11:47] and may we be sure that we have the love of Christ for our brethren. There is one thing that you can understand by what I am saying This morning, I haven't said it in so many words, but I am going to say it. And I recognize that this is not a popular message, but we are to do, as Peter said, we are to love one another with pure heart, fervently. [00:12:20] But there is something else that we hear today, and because of that, I feel constrained to say something else. Sometimes our love for our brethren makes so that we speak the truth plainly in love as we hear in Ephesians. But sometimes people are not walking in the light, in the truth. And we need to be careful how we encourage people who are not living as they ought. [00:12:57] The thing that I am saying is that we need to encourage one another in doing what is right. What am I saying? I am saying that the holy kiss is also exclusive. It includes those of light precious faith. You notice that it says to greet all the brethren. and I don't think we're doing violence to God's word to say of light precious faith in there. [00:13:28] I think that Paul would say the same to us today. But it is exclusive. We greet all the brethren. There is none of the brethren that we shouldn't greet. But we also do not greet people from outside of our faith and practice. Now, that is exclusive, you may tell me. and I concede that it is. Marriage is also to be exclusive. Who are we to be married to? [00:14:02] Only to those who believe like we do. Is that not true? And we understand why that is true. Marriage is made to be a blessing. But if we are married to people who do not believe like we do, what does it become? Not a blessing. It becomes a trial. There are other things that are exclusive that we teach exclusiveness. And that one of those is communion. We don't serve communion to just anybody. [00:14:35] We have, do we have close communion? We have close communion. We don't serve communion to just anybody who comes to our church. Nor do we accept as members people in our congregation who don't profess the new birth. It's exclusive. It is only for a certain class of people, only for the people who have experienced the new birth, the regeneration of the new birth. So there are some things that are exclusive, [00:15:07] and I do not apologize for that. Jesus was also exclusive when he said in John chapter 14, verse 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Notice, it's not a way, it's not a truth, it's not a life. I am the way, the truth, and the life. And in case we didn't get that, he finishes with, No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Very exclusive. [00:15:38] And it is exclusive, but it's open to all. It's not exclusive in that we don't tell somebody, Now you cannot be a part of this. You can be, but there are conditions to meet. That is what we are saying when we say that it is exclusive. We believe it's a blessing for the brethren, for all the brethren to greet the brethren and for all the sisters to greet the sisters. And I don't meet all of you on any given Sunday. It's not that I wouldn't want to, but I don't move that fast. I guess I should move around more than I do. But it is important that we recognize that it doesn't say that you greet all the ministers. It doesn't say that, does it? All the brethren. So I think that we do well to teach that. [00:16:32] Out of the doctrines of the Bible, I take this statement. There is power in a warm handshake provided it is prompted by godless sincerity and goodwill. And may I just say in the holy kiss along with the warm handshake. I appreciate the second part of that. I suppose most of us know people that we just look forward to meeting them Because when we do, they have a way of lifting our spirits. [00:17:03] And some people have a way of asking us questions that make us look into our own lives. There is power in a warm handshake, but it should be more than that. There should be a love in our heart for these people. So we need the form. We need what's behind the form as well. We need the spiritual aspect of it. Without it, we have but a shell. Well, with it, we have something that strengthens our brotherhood. Another thing that I appreciated that was taught in the doctrines of the Bible, and I don't know, I know I've read this before because we have read through the doctrines of the Bible a number of times. [00:17:46] But what makes a kiss holy? It's a question they address there. and sometimes I think well now this brother does he meet the criteria or this sister does she meet the criteria and they suggest that's the wrong question to ask and I'm not saying that that question doesn't come into play I think it does but in the right way at the right time but they say that for me to have a kiss that is holy there must be holiness in my heart [00:18:19] It depends on me whether or not it is a holy kiss. Not on the brother that I am greeting. And there are things that we could say. There are people who make protests and we'll address some of those a little bit. But for the kiss to be holy depends upon me personally, not upon the brother or on this side, not upon the sister that I am greeting. There are some people who don't greet because they have a cold. [00:18:53] And sometimes I would like to ask them, Do you know that there are more germs contracted by shaking hands than there are through the holy kiss? Did you know that that's, I think, a fact proven scientifically? I understand it to be that way. You don't have to refrain from greeting me if you have a cold. If you really think that it's better, I respect that. But I understand that we pass more germs through the handshake than through the holy kiss. [00:19:27] Along with that, I would like to say that, I'm not sure where I read this, I don't have this in my notes, but I understand that the holy kiss is a dry touching of the lips. We need to be careful that it is sanitary. And if I understand Brother Daniel correctly, in Kenya they have a modified holy kiss. I don't think it's on the lips. And so I believe there are variations that, and it is for health reasons there, [00:20:02] because AIDS is rampant there, and I understand why they do that. but they have kind of tried to come to something that works for them that still has the meaning behind it. There is one thing that I think faces us. I suppose we, especially thinking of those in the instruction class, I suppose this kind of rests a little bit heavily upon them because it's new and they may feel fairly conspicuous. [00:20:35] And isn't that something that we have to deal with when we think about whether or not we should practice the holy kiss? Something that makes us stand out isn't really that welcome. If it should become an in thing to practice a kiss like this, do you think we would have as much opposition to it as we do? Or would there be an opposition from within? Maybe I should ask the question in that way. [00:21:10] I do not promote being different from the world just to be different. If I would do that, if the men's hairstyle should become short, I would say let's have long hair. And when they become long, I would say let's have short hair. I don't think we as God's people have to react. I think we can choose a way that we think is a godly way and I am going to just confess to you that we are influenced some by the things around us [00:21:42] but we do not have to let the world squeeze us into its mold and I would trust that we are willing to let God squeeze us into his mold rather than the world If we would try to be opposite from the world, like I said, it would be a rollercoaster ride. And I'm not interested in that. I would rather just simply be sure that we are following the Lord. Having the church as our support group is something that brings real blessing. [00:22:20] And I trust that you have found it that way. Okay, there is a real blessing being a part of a group that is dedicated to following the Lord, to doing what God wants us to do. It's a life that is, we have lives that are, as Chester Weaver said, interdependent on each other. You know, I depend on you, you depend on me, we depend on each other. And the blessing for us is when we live a life that seeks to give to others, to serve others [00:22:54] And if the occasion arises, be willing to receive from others as well Whether it's acts of service or admonition There are some things to be aware of and I just thought of some cases where kisses were practiced in the Bible and they were not the holy kiss but one may have come fairly close. How did Judas betray Jesus? I'm not sure if that was customary for them to kiss when they met. [00:23:31] Somehow it would just sound as though it may have been. Maybe it was just simply Judas' way of, well, it seems like it was Judas' way of inconspicuously giving away Jesus. Let us not kiss a kiss of betrayal. There are several other instances in the Bible, and you can jot down this reference. I'm not going to turn to it. But Joab was a great army general for David. [00:24:04] but he was also ruthless and he wasn't above using deceit. When David, see was it after Absalom, after Absalom rose up against David, David said okay I'm going to have Amasa as my army general. And so he told Amasa go and get the forces together because Sheba, I think son of Bichri had led a revolt against David. and Amasa didn't come back in the time allotted. [00:24:38] You can read this in 2 Samuel chapter 20 verses, well, 2 Samuel chapter 20. But Joab, finally David saw it, he had to go ahead and so he told Joab and Abishai, I think, Joab's brother, to go ahead. And then they met Amasa coming back. And you will recall how Joab killed Amasa by deceit. Took him by the beard, he kissed him. It was very similar to Judah's kiss. [00:25:13] With his dagger, I don't know, was Joab left-handed? I don't know. But with his dagger, he stabbed him into his stomach so that he died. Now, we don't read that Joab kissed Abner, but he killed him in much the same way. Deceit, ruthless. May God keep us from a kiss of deceit, a kiss of betrayal. May God keep us from being ashamed of something that he has instituted as well. [00:25:45] There are some other things that I think we should mention when we withhold the holy kiss from someone. We do not do this quickly, but occasionally there are instances when we do. This should be something that is decided on by the brotherhood and practiced or withheld uniformly, not on an individual basis. and that gives a great deal of security when we can depend on the brotherhood to do that [00:26:16] and I don't have to decide personally yes I do or no I don't that becomes rather disquieting but when we as a brotherhood if the need arises that we do withhold the holy kiss from somebody it should be something that the church decides to do not an individual thing And maybe the greatest thing to be aware of is a feeling of ill will toward brethren covered by a hearty handshake and a kiss. [00:26:54] You understand how I say a holy kiss in this case. That to me is, it is hypocrisy. And some of the enemies of the holy kiss would say it becomes a kiss of hypocrisy. But to me, the answer is to change the heart, or to let God change the heart. And then it is no longer that which is hypocritical, but it is that which can be meaningful, which can be a blessing. [00:27:25] I trust that we find this something that is meaningful, that is a blessing. It is exclusive, as I said, but it doesn't have to be. People can be a part of us. There is no one that we would not welcome into our group. If they are born again, if they are wanting to serve God faithfully, if they are willing to join us, we do not withhold it from anyone. May God help us to recognize this as a blessing that it is. [00:27:58] May we sense it, may we practice it, may we not allow our fear of men to keep us from practicing it.