Who Is My Brother

[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. We also greet you this morning in that precious name of the Lord Jesus. I'd like to read from the book of Matthew, the twelfth chapter, beginning at verse 46. This was just an account of one time experience, one of the experiences Jesus had in his earthly ministry. [00:00:36] There's not a whole lot of doctrine in this passage, but there is doctrine or teaching. Verse 46 While he had talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without desiring to speak with you. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples and said, Behold, my mother and my brethren. [00:01:12] For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and mother. There's the doctrinal part in that last verse. The first was experience. The question or the thing that Jesus often did was teach by asking questions. He asked a lot of questions. And here's another one of these. And we're choosing to take part of that phrase or rewording it a bit to give us a title for our message this morning [00:01:49] And that is, who is my brother? Another man asked one time, who is my neighbor? This is a little bit different This is a question Jesus asked It seems to me that we can learn two things from answering this question Maybe you think of more But the first is it's a question whereby we can know our own standing before God. Who is my brother? Now it's an important thing that we know where we're at. [00:02:23] The other day I was over at Granger looking for a place and I guess it's easier to blame it on other things than on your own ignorance. So, the circumstances were that the signs didn't confirm what the instructions had said. And so there I was trying to find this place that I didn't know where it was. And one thing I can assure you of very clearly is that I didn't make a whole lot of progress during that experience. I would stop and I would call and I would look and I would inquire and finally we got things straightened out. [00:03:02] But we need to have some kind of sense of direction where we're at and where we're going if we're going to make progress. So when Jesus asked the question, who is my brother? Am I one of his brothers? I can't really make much progress on this long view, this vision, unless I know where I'm at and where I'm going. A second benefit that I see in answering this question is That it's an aid, it's a help in determining where we should find fellowship, with who we should find fellowship, who should we fellowship with? [00:03:45] Now the question is not only who should we interact with, but who should we fellowship with? In my mind, at least, there is a difference between interacting and fellowshipping. Fellowship is two fellows in the same ship, somebody said. Interacting is rubbing, no, how should we say, just having contact with people We do have contact with people that are not necessarily in our realm of fellowship [00:04:15] When it comes to that last question, it seems to be a big question with a lot of answers And the first question, perhaps, am I one of his brethren, has a variety of bases for the answers too. But the second question is, who really should I fellowship with? For some people, it's anybody that names the name of Christ. For other people, it's a very exclusive group of people. [00:04:52] Who is right? It seems like it must be confusing in the world that we live in today for a lot of people to hear the people talk about being God's people and then finding on the one hand embracing anything and on the other hand being so exclusive. How would you determine if you had no Christian background and you would hear that there are literally hundreds if not a thousand different denominations [00:05:23] Where would you go to have a relationship with the people of God? Have we not muddied the waters for the world? That's why this question is a very valid question and a very important question that Jesus asked. Who are my brethren? Where are those people that deserve to be included and that in reality are included in the family of God? [00:05:57] Now, I'm not going to pose this morning as a person that can say distinctly, right here is the line. I don't know. And I'm glad it's not my call to make. However, there are some things that we learn in scripture And I don't think we are responsible to make the determinations for what we don't know But we are responsible to live up to what we do know And we are responsible to know what God wants us to know [00:06:31] That we need to study his word, look into his word to find a direction So we are responsible for knowing the truth Now, some people say all roads lead to the same destination when it comes to Christianity. The important thing is that we are sincere about what we believe. Do you ascribe to that? I've been at the west coast and I've been at the east coast [00:07:07] and I found the same route US 20 that goes by here at both coasts or nearly so and the same route US 6 so now I know I can go to the west coast on route 6 or route 20 but I also know that if I would get on route 13 I'd never get to the west coast Not all roads lead to the same destination. That's an earthly, literal illustration. It's just as true in the scripture. [00:07:40] Jesus said in Matthew, the seventh chapter, there is a broad gate, there's a broad road, a wide gate and a broad road. Where does it lead to? Nobody knows. Yes. Oh, thank you. Destruction. And there's another road that's called the narrow and the straight. Where does it lead to? Life. Do all roads lead to the same destination? Obviously, very clearly, that's not a good statement. [00:08:13] It's not a true statement. The scripture says, Further, there is a way which seemeth right unto man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. not always does the road that we think leads to a certain destination lead to where we have in mind or where we think it does so there is a way which seemeth right unto a man but the ender of are the ways of death is what it says in the book of Proverbs and as well Jesus said not everyone that saith unto me Lord, Lord [00:08:45] shall enter into the kingdom of heaven who then is going to heaven? that's the question And Jesus answers that question in a very general way and everybody seems to agree on that statement. He that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven is going to heaven. The question then becomes more specific. Who is doing the will of my Father which is in heaven? And that's where I cannot tell us in all aspects. I do know that the Bible says that if we do something that's not of faith, [00:09:20] What is it? Sin. That's what the Bible says. So we have some direction there. We need to be living a life that is based on a personal conviction, something that has grounded itself in our hearts as truth. Truth. Now we've been hammering truth. We've been studying truth. When I say hammering, I don't mean opposing it. I mean digesting it, rolling it around. And I would venture to say we still don't know it all. We still have more to learn. But our hearts need to be open to truth. [00:09:59] Now, I'd like to go for the rest of the morning to the first epistle of John. First John was written by John, the disciple of Jesus. And it's interesting to notice that in that book we read the term know, knoweth, knew 36 times. There's something in here that tells us how to know something. And here is where we find a basis to further consider this question [00:10:34] Who is then a brother of Jesus? When you know something, when it becomes reality to us When I go somewhere on that road that I've traveled before that's clearly marked I go with confidence And it is a real blessing that all of us have this promise and it is God's will that we can know that we are the sons of God. [00:11:08] These things, it says in 1 John, I think the 5th chapter, these things have I written unto you that you may know that you have eternal life, that you may know that it may be a subtle issue, that it does not leave you in doubt, but that you have assurance in your heart. So, that is really God's plan. Let's look then at different ones of these passages that talk about knowing where we're at in God's economy. [00:11:39] Chapter 1, verse 5. This then is the message which we have heard of Him and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. Now, we know that when there is light, one of the purposes of light is to reveal, to show. You can walk through a dark room some night and you can stub your toe on something and you should say, Oh, I hit the edge of the door with my toe. But if you turn the light on, you may see that you were in a little different location. It was really a chair that you stubbed your toe on. [00:12:12] Light tells you the truth. Now you know. And that's what he says here. That God is light. God shows the truth about things. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. Here we have this principle of light as a way of knowing where we're at. [00:12:44] He that walks in darkness does not have fellowship with God. He that walks in light has fellowship with God because it is God that shows the truth about things. And how do we get that light is the first, is the question that goes with this in my mind. The Bible says in Corinthians that the carnal mind cannot receive the things of God, but he has declared them unto us. [00:13:14] How does it say there? Because things are spiritually discerned. We heard already this morning about the revelation of the spirit as being one of the characteristics of the spirit. The things of God are spiritually discerned. We cannot really know where we're at. We cannot really understand the things of God do not really make sense. As many paradoxes as there are in scripture, how can we ever understand that the way up is down? How can we ever understand that the way to greatness is humility? [00:13:50] How can we ever understand that the way to freedom is being a servant? But those are all true teachings of the scripture. Once our mind is enlightened by the spirit of God, all those things and many more just make a lot of sense, as it were. So it must begin with a transformed mind. If we're ever going to know where we're at with God, we must have a new mind. Be not conformed to this world, the Bible says, but be transformed. [00:14:24] Transformed. Think in a different way by the renewing of your mind. A mind that's made alive and quickened by the Spirit of God. Let's go to our next one. In chapter 2, verse 3, John writes like this, And hereby we do know that we know him. We know we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. [00:14:55] Now, we do well to be aware that we don't have a priority. We do not own the truth. God owns the truth. And so when we look at this scripture, we cannot necessarily say because I think this way that everybody else has to do this very same thing or he doesn't know God. You see how this road needs some balance. [00:15:26] Just because somebody doesn't comb his hair in the middle doesn't necessarily mean he's lost. That's one side. But if somebody starts taking scripture and taking liberties to serve himself in disobedience to God, that's a different story. We know that we know God. We have assurance in our hearts if we keep His commandments. [00:15:58] We really have no liberty to take the Word of God and adjust it to my thinking. None whatsoever. When I do that, there is something basically, inherently wrong with my relationship with God. So when I want to check where am I at? Am I a brother of Christ? Then we can look at ourselves and say Do I like the psalmist was it that said How I love thy law of God [00:16:29] How I love thy law The psalmist said The righteous man's delight is in the law of God It's not a burden It's not a weight upon us that restricts us It's the way to liberty and a relationship with God that is pleasing to Him and a blessing in our own hearts is the obedience. That talks about a renewed lifestyle. We live differently. There's one I missed. I didn't think about it when I was preparing for this. [00:17:04] But if you get over to chapter 2 verse 15 it says, Because here love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. So, how do I know where I stand before God as a brother of Jesus Christ? Look at your attitude toward the world. The heart that longs after this world is a heart that is not inspired by the relationship with God. [00:17:44] But a heart that loves the kingdom of the Lord Jesus. If your heart is loving the Lord, if your heart loves the kingdom of our Lord, if your heart loves the church, if you give yourself for the church, you know that Jesus loved the church because he says in Ephesians the fifth chapter, talking about the husband and wife relationship and the church and Christ relationship, that who loved the church and gave himself for it. [00:18:16] That's where the evidence is that a person loves the church. A person with a critical heart toward his brethren, how do you ever begin to describe and to say that a critical heart and love for the brethren fit in the same heart? There's no heart big enough to have a wrong attitude toward a brother and love for the brother at the same time. The Bible is very distinct that there are two ways and they're not all going to the same destination. [00:18:51] If our heart still yearns after the world, something needs change if we want to get to heaven, if we want to belong to that family of God. I don't know how else to conclude this morning except to say that if somebody's life is ordered by his attraction to the world, Whatever its form, we don't have time this morning to talk about that But whatever its form, if our hearts are drawn to the world If that's our love, I don't know how else to conclude [00:19:23] But to say there is no basis for assurance in that kind of a situation But if our heart instead has come to realize that this world is the enemy of God The two are opposing forces, kingdoms and that my heart today is attracted to the kingdom of Christ and that which I once loved I no longer love. There is some real evidence to know that I'm belonging to the right family. There is a basis for assurance. [00:19:55] And all these things go much deeper than what is commonly known as the basis for assurance. Or too often. Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments. James he says that we a man said show me your faith how did he say I will show you my show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works [00:20:27] that would make a message in itself show me your faith without your works try it sometime he just got done saying there was a man that was poor He had food, no food to eat. Somebody said, God bless you, but didn't give him any food. How are you going to show your faith in that kind of a circumstance? But if that man would have said, God bless you, and here is something God has provided to me, take it, use it. [00:21:00] I'd believe he had faith. What would you believe? And so it is with our Christian life throughout. Now, show me your faith without your works. I'll show you my faith by my works. I think the second man is going to have by far the easier time. The first can talk. The first can get very excited about it. But there have been meetings where people have talked. And maybe we've had meetings. We have talked about evangelism. We have talked about reaching out. [00:21:31] And then we have another meeting to talk about reaching out. We talk about how it might be, what would be some good ways to do it. But it's a little like the shoe factory I read about years ago out in Pennsylvania where they had a shoe factory and they would have board meetings about shoe factories, about making shoes, what kind of shoes, how many shoes, and all kinds of things. Maybe the cause, I don't know what they talked about in those board meetings, [00:22:02] but they had meetings annually, year after year. But the problem was they just didn't get around to making shoes. Now, did those people believe in making shoes? Well, the story is clear. The thing that I think about in a similar vein is We hear a lot of talk today about harmony and diversity. So everybody that talks about the Lord Jesus and says, Lord, Lord, and says, why in thy name we have even cast out demons, sick have been healed, many wonderful things have been done. [00:22:46] But Jesus said in that case that the time is coming when he'll say, I don't know who you are. Who are you? Was it one of his family that he knew? Reminds me of this harmony and diversity statement. Now there is truth that there is harmony and diversity. We hear it every Sunday. Every time we meet, I see some harmony and diversity. We get together and we sing and we don't all sing the melody. [00:23:18] And I think it's the better because of it. But that expression also has some very serious limitations. Harmony and diversity. We could describe it in different ways. Tell me this morning, is there harmony and diversity if we look at life like this? Let's say we have rules to play a ball game. And you know which way you go around the bases, you know where the pitcher stands and everything. But if we would decide that we're going to have diversity [00:23:52] So somebody's going to say, I'll go around the other way Two runners would meet on the way Or somebody would say, I'm going directly from home to second What's the point of going to first base first and then to second and third? Let's take some shortcuts Is there any harmony in diversity? Not of that nature And it reminds me of the way that scripture is often interpreted There's an animal that intrigues me [00:24:24] I don't know if I should apologize to the walrus or not Because he is a creation of God But when I watch a walrus swimming Maybe in a zoo or somewhere You see that walrus floating around that big mass under the water And sometimes they come up and they deposit themselves on the rock And they just pile themselves on there I wonder if somebody could describe to me this morning what a walrus is like [00:24:57] How would you describe a walrus? There are a few descriptions One is he's brown usually I guess Has some whiskers if I remember right Or whatever they call them But how does a walrus look? Maybe the children want to tell me. How many of the children have ever seen a walrus? My, we need to go to the zoo. This illustration doesn't help. [00:25:32] About the best term that I have found to describe a walrus is just a glob. He doesn't have much of a neck. I don't know where his neck begins or his torso ends. His feet. How do you describe a walrus? Well, I'm sure you could do better than what I just did. But there are some very serious limitations in describing a walrus. Now, if it came to a giraffe, the children, I think, could tell us very distinctly some characteristics of a giraffe. [00:26:06] He has a long neck. He has long legs. If you see them run, they can run so gracefully. And etc. Sometimes I wonder if we don't ride this statement, principles versus application, to that extreme. Everybody believes in principles. But what is a principle if it doesn't have an application? [00:26:38] What does principle mean if it doesn't have an application? So we all believe in principles, but the application is so vague nobody knows what the principle is. That's an overstatement. But it seems to me this enters into this thing of obedience. Where John wrote that this is how we know if we keep his commandments. If we find a way to put them into practice, we show our faith by our works. [00:27:14] Do our works save us? Not in the least. At least as far as meriting salvation. They may have some other saving effects. Chapter 2, verse 23. He says here, Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father. The Bible says, if we confess the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved. [00:27:46] And hereby, confession is made unto salvation with the mouth. And in other words, it's an acknowledgement that we take Jesus as Lord. And He can then tell us whatever He wants to. You know, I'm struggling right now with making some decisions about what is God's purpose planned for me in the immediate future. How do I know? I don't always know. But I'm so glad that I have one that I can go to and I have brethren that can help me to make those decisions. [00:28:20] But it is simply true that not everybody, we cannot respond to all the good things that there are to do. We have to make some choices sometimes. But the important thing to me is that we do not answer before we consider the invitation or the request or the will of God. The person that has a basis for assurance to know where he's at with God must come to the consideration, must give evaluation. [00:28:55] Can God tell me anything he wants to and I'm open to hearing? Can God say that he wants me to do this and I don't say Lord no, that doesn't fit into my plan? Can God ask me to give up something and I'll say amen, even if it doesn't fit in my plan. [00:29:26] If I am not open to having God say anything He wants to me, is He my Lord? I don't think so. So he's saying here that we need to acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God, the final absolute authority. When the scriptures were written, when it was spoken there about God being Lord, I think the people understood very well because Nero was the emperor that ruled the world, as it were. [00:29:59] And when Nero spoke, the world trembled. They had no choice other than to experience dire consequences. So when those people were called to acknowledge Jesus as Lord, they knew something about the cost. And yet they said, Yes, Lord. Many of them, over and over, and their testimony and the life that they lived proved to the world that they had acknowledged Jesus as the Son of God. [00:30:30] They had a basis for their assurance in their hearts. If the call is mine and not God's, I don't have any solid position to make this decision, to answer this question that I am a son of God, a child of God. Chapter 2, verse 29, he says further, If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born of God. It's the kind of life that we live. [00:31:02] If we go down into the next chapter, in verse 7, Little children, let no man deceive you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that commiteth sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. What I think he is saying, what I understand he is saying, according to other scriptures and some of the original words in the scripture, [00:31:42] Bontrager, he is saying here that when there is a relationship with God, when I have a basis to be at peace and rest with God, I will also have a changed life. Not only a changed profession, but I will have changed from doing the things of the flesh to the things of God. He says further in John that these things he wrote so that we wouldn't sin. But if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father. [00:32:14] We're not understanding him to say here that there is sinless perfection before there can be assurance in our hearts. But there must be a change in life so that, not that we now practice less sin, that's not what he's saying. He's not classifying sin or that we do lesser sins, but he's saying we no longer live according to the course of this world or the Satan of this world, the God of this world. We no longer practice sin. [00:32:44] That's what it says in Spanish. No practico el pecado. He doesn't live that way. Sometimes in the weakness of our flesh, we fall. But we do not make excuses. Too many times people say, well, that's just the way I am. Well, then we better change. We better have a new heart, is what he is saying. He that lives a righteous life, he that lives God's way, he that leaves the sinful life, all the sinful life, that man has a witness in himself that is very comforting and gives peace that passeth understanding. [00:33:30] Chapter 3, verse 14 We know that we have passed from death unto life. How do we know we've passed from death to life? Because we really felt good that Sunday night when we made a commitment. Well, that may enter in. But what he says here is because we love the brethren. Before we had our friends in the world. We had our friends among people that didn't love God, that didn't live for God. [00:34:04] But when our heart was committed to the Lord Jesus and He transformed us, those brethren that we tried to avoid before, those brethren that talked to us sometimes about our needs, and we kind of zigzagged around them all at once. They're our brothers. I know that's the way it went in my own experience. People that I just assumed not have interacted with, [00:34:39] all at once there was a connection. Thank God. God never just asked us to give up friends. He just asked us to exchange brothers. And when our heart, when we love the brethren, we have a change of fellowship and we have a different outlook toward those people let's go yet to chapter 3 verse 24 he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him and he in him [00:35:10] and hereby we know that he abideth in us by the spirit which he has given us now there's another one of those scriptures that are very true very highly esteemed and it seems like all of Christendom today is led by the Spirit. The Spirit tells me this. The Spirit tells me I'm going to heaven. People die that didn't live for the Lord at all. [00:35:43] But evidently the Spirit is telling some people that they're going to heaven. But the question is, what Spirit? I found something interesting in my study of this passage It is true that the Bible says also in Romans the 8th chapter The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God The Spirit bears witness Let us not minimize this morning that the Spirit does bear witness The Spirit speaks to people [00:36:14] And it could well be that part of that speaking is through the peace in our hearts. But what I discovered is, and what I am discovering is, that the Spirit doesn't only speak to people based on how peaceful they feel. This word witness, the Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. When there's an accident, or whenever there's a court issue, often there are people call in to be witnesses. [00:36:56] How do you think it would work if people would come in and they would say, I just feel so at peace that this individual is not guilty. Or I'm just so assured in my heart that he is guilty. Would that hold up in court? Does it hold up in God's court? Neither there. Does it hold up in God's court if I say I feel so at peace? Witnessing to be a witness requires evidence. [00:37:32] What I'm finding that the scripture is saying about this is that when the Spirit bears witness with our spirit, it is like we look into our life by the Word of God and the witness of the Spirit, do you care to say what it is? I don't think you know what I've been thinking, so that's not a fair question perhaps. [00:38:02] But the evidence of the relationship with God as far as the Spirit goes is as it says in Galatians the 5th chapter. One place it says in James or in Peter, by their fruit you shall know them. In Galatians 5 it says, the fruit of the Spirit is love, is joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. [00:38:35] And when you want to evaluate where you're at with God, look into your life. And if that Spirit fruit is coming in your life and you see your heart filled with love for God, The Word of God, the things of God, the people of God, that's not natural to the old man. And if your heart is filled with joy, even in the midst of sorrow, when there are hardships in life, but deep down in your heart you are rejoicing in the provisions of God, [00:39:09] fruit of the Spirit, peace, nothing comes to our conscience to condemn us. And if it does, it can be dealt with, and God is greater than our heart, John says. This witness of the Spirit, and again, I want to be careful that I don't minimize the way God speaks to us. Sometimes God just plants a thought in our mind. Sometimes God plants an awareness of something we've done wrong. [00:39:41] But God can also take the Spirit. No, that's not a good way to say it. The Spirit can also reveal to us that there's fruit in our life that comes from somewhere other than ourselves. From God Himself. And when you find this fruit of the Spirit in your life, the Spirit is witnessing. We are the sons of God. It is interesting that so many times when people say the Spirit told me something, [00:40:15] He told them to do the exact same thing that they wanted to do in the beginning. Now that could be alright if they wanted to do the will of God. But so often the Spirit tells people to do things contrary to the Spirit's word, the revealed, the inspired word. When the Spirit bears witness, it will be about something that is coming from Him, confirmed by His Word, or maybe even more than confirmed, established by His Word. It's the basis. [00:40:52] Then we have a witness, something, I was there, I experienced it, something is different, goes beyond me. How do you convince a man he's not a believer if his life has been changed by a work of God and it conforms to this book? That person has a basis for assurance. We have everything here this morning we need to know whether we're a brother. We have everything as well that we need to guide us in our fellowship. [00:41:24] We need to be careful that we're not judgmental and get our opinions and our ideas and all that mixed up with truth. But equally, we need to be very careful that we do not mix what God does not mix. That's our challenge. If somebody said, if a man has the fruit of the Spirit, he has evidence of the witnessing of the Spirit with his Spirit. If not, he has no such evidence. [00:41:58] Another, Matthew Henry, I think, said this one time, The Spirit witness always is agreeable to the Word. That word witness means to corroborate. Somebody help me. How do you define corroborate? Verify? Clarifies it. Makes it true. Makes it, it agrees with. Witness means to corroborate by evidence. [00:42:31] That's what we were trying to say. I'd like to read just a little poem here, just a little rhyme. I know not when I go, or from, or where. Pardon me. I know not when I go or where from this familiar scene, but he is here and he is there and all the way between. And when I leave this life, I know for that dim vast unknown, though late I stay or soon I go, I shall not go alone. [00:43:03] That little poem blessed my heart in this matter of assurance. So we can say with the psalmist, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.