0:05 [Music]
0:07 welcome to back to the Bible radio
0:09 featuring best-selling author and
0:11 internationally known Bible teacher
0:14 Warren where's being Father in Heaven we
0:17 give thanks for our great Savior and for
0:20 the great salvation we have through him
0:24 we're thankful for the Word of God open
0:27 our eyes to understand your word open
0:29 our hearts to love and receive your word
0:33 and may we be nourished and encouraged
0:37 and helped today I pray father for our
0:40 worldwide listening audience that your
0:43 grace will be upon each listener may
0:45 each one hear the word of God and
0:48 respond to it and bless and meet the
0:51 needs that are in each life I pray in
0:56 the name of our Lord Jesus Christ amen
0:59 when I was a university student I had
1:01 some professors who were constantly
1:04 extolling the virtues of the ancient
1:07 world they kept talking about the glory
1:11 of Greece and the grandeur of Rome and
1:14 so on but you know when you really look
1:17 at the lives of the common people in the
1:20 great days of Greece in Rome you find
1:22 very little glory and very little
1:25 grandeur oh I know we have the
1:28 philosophy books and the history books
1:30 on our shelves and we talk about these
1:34 great men and women but when you look at
1:37 everyday life in the ancient world it
1:40 breaks your heart what kind of a society
1:42 was it well it was a very immoral
1:45 society because it was an idolatrous
1:49 society religious prostitution was one
1:52 of the end things and it was expected of
1:54 a wife that she would allow her husband
1:58 to have mistresses and so forth
2:01 homosexuality was prevalent it was an
2:03 immoral Society and this is why when
2:05 Paul wrote first Thessalonians in
2:08 chapter 4 he spent the first eight
2:11 verses talking about sexual morality
2:16 keeping your life clean also the ancient
2:19 world was a fragmented Society
2:21 there wasn't much love brotherly love
2:24 there wasn't much love for people just
2:26 because they were people you were a hand
2:29 you were a worker you might have been a
2:31 royal person you might have been a slave
2:35 but the society was just fragmented
2:37 there was no unity there was no equality
2:43 before the law a broken society racially
2:45 and nationally and culturally and
2:48 economically and perhaps every other way
2:50 this is why when Paul wrote 1st
2:52 Thessalonians 4 he talked about
2:55 brotherly love first Thessalonians
2:58 chapter 4 verse 9 but concerning
3:01 brotherly love you have no need that I
3:03 should write to you for you yourselves
3:05 are taught by God to love one another
3:09 and indeed you do so toward all the
3:13 brethren who are in all Macedonia but we
3:16 urge you brethren that you increase more
3:21 and more that you also aspire to lead a
3:25 quiet life to mind your own business and
3:27 to work with your own hands as we
3:30 commanded you that you may walk properly
3:34 toward those who are outside and that
3:38 you may lack nothing Philadelphia is the
3:41 city of brotherly love William Penn
3:45 chose that name from the Bible it's the
3:47 combination of two Greek words filio
3:50 which means love and Ethel Foss which
3:51 means brother
3:54 in fact brother is one of the key names
3:56 for Christians in the Word of God you'll
3:58 find it about 30 times in the book of
4:01 Acts Paul uses it a hundred and thirty
4:06 times in his letters brother and here in
4:09 1st Thessalonians you find brethren 17
4:13 times and so every church ought to be a
4:18 community of brotherly love we today
4:20 take this for granted but if you and I
4:22 had lived back in the day when Paul
4:24 lived brotherly love would have been an
4:28 altogether new thing the gospel brought
4:31 two very special wonders
4:34 to the world of that day one was the
4:37 hope of immortality Paul talks about
4:40 that in chapter 4 verses 13 through 18
4:43 there was no hope people just simply had
4:45 no hope let me read you some of the
4:47 statements that the great philosophers
4:51 made about life and death here's one
4:55 sons may set and rise again but we when
4:58 once our brief light goes down must
5:00 sleep an endless night that's encouraging
5:02 encouraging
5:05 no one awakes and arises who has once
5:08 been overtaken by the chilling end of
5:13 life of a man once dead there is no
5:17 resurrection hopes are among the living
5:22 the dead are without hope in fact here's
5:24 an inscription that was actually dug up
5:28 at Thessalonica here it is after death
5:33 there is no revival after the grave no
5:35 meeting of those who have loved each
5:39 other on earth well so much for the
5:42 great Roman and Greek philosophers when
5:44 you read the inscriptions it would have
5:46 been discovered on the gravestones they
5:49 just break your heart because they had
5:52 no hope for the future secondly there
5:55 was no such thing as brotherly love a
6:00 love for Humanity the world of that day
6:02 was a fragmented world the rich and the
6:05 poor the free and the slaves the Jews
6:08 and the Gentiles the conquerors and the
6:12 conquered the rich and the poor it was
6:14 just a fragmented world and along came
6:17 the church and tied everyone together
6:21 who believed in Jesus Christ there is
6:24 neither Jew nor Gentile bond nor free
6:27 male nor female we might go on and say
6:32 rich or poor ignorant or educated the
6:34 the Word of God makes it clear that
6:37 we're brothers were all one in Jesus
6:39 Christ brotherly love this was a brand
6:43 new thing and it was a miracle people
6:44 couldn't understand
6:46 why would these people love each other
6:50 why would this wealthy man love poor
6:53 people why would these people be
6:56 accepted in his home that's the
6:59 difference it made when the gospel came
7:01 Paul prayed for them that they might
7:04 abound in love chapter 3 verse 12 and
7:07 may the Lord make you increase and
7:11 abound in love to one another and to all
7:14 just as we do to you that word abound is
7:19 the picture of a river overflowing its
7:23 banks Paul is telling us don't confine
7:27 your love don't have a little stream and
7:30 you love your family and you love a few
7:32 people in your church and your
7:35 denomination he said I want that river
7:38 of love in your heart to overflow and
7:41 just keep on reaching out wider and
7:44 wider in fact did you notice that when I
7:48 read 1st Thessalonians 4 9 through 12
7:53 Paul describes a growing influence of
7:56 love if we are really practicing
7:58 brotherly love if love is the
8:01 controlling motive of our lives then
8:04 that love is going to reach out and
8:07 reach out and touch more people in verse
8:12 9 we have our love for God in verse 10
8:16 we have our love for the Brethren see
8:19 it's getting wider now verses 11 and 12
8:22 our love for those outside the
8:26 fellowship where we work and where we
8:29 walk did you notice that Paul is telling
8:32 me it's not enough just to love God or
8:35 even to love the Brethren that love
8:38 ought to overflow the banks and reach
8:42 out and touch people where I work that's
8:46 verse 11 and where I walk that's verse
8:49 12 we have a series of concentric
8:52 circles here the small circle in the in
8:54 the very center is my relationship to
8:57 God I'm taught of God to love God
9:00 that miracle in my life then there's a
9:02 little wider circle the Fellowship of
9:03 God's people
9:06 then there's the widest circle of all my
9:09 love overflowing to touch those who are
9:12 outside of the fellowship let's look at
9:14 verse 9 and remind ourselves that all
9:18 love begins with God's love for us and
9:20 our love for God but concerning
9:22 brotherly love you have no need that I
9:25 should write to you for you yourselves
9:28 are taught by God to love one another
9:33 first John 4:8 God is love
9:35 that's a simple statement but oh how
9:41 profound it is beloved let us love one
9:45 another since first John 4:7 for love is
9:49 of God and everyone who loves is born of
9:52 God and knows God he who does not love
9:57 does not know God for god is love so God
10:00 is love verse 8 tells me that in verse
10:05 16 tells me that first John 4:16 God is
10:08 love and he who abides in love abides in
10:13 God and God in him now this love that
10:15 the Bible is talking about is not a
10:18 feeling many people have the idea that
10:20 Christian loves a certain kind of
10:22 feeling and they're always trying to
10:25 manufacture some emotional Cataclysm
10:28 some great emotional earthquake and
10:32 that's not the way it is the word that
10:36 is used for God's love for us means a
10:41 sacrificing self giving act of the will
10:44 Christian love means I treat you the way
10:49 God treats me it's as simple as that God
10:52 wants to reproduce his love in me so
10:54 that the way he treats me
10:57 I treat you that means before I can love
11:00 you I have to learn to love God I have
11:02 to experience the love of God in my own
11:04 heart now Paul says you're taught of God
11:05 to love one another
11:08 Paul did not have to give them a lecture
11:10 about love he said you're taught of God too
11:10 too
11:13 one another God the Father teaches us to
11:16 love one another how by sending Jesus
11:20 first John 4:9 in this the love of God
11:23 was manifested toward us that God has
11:26 sent His only begotten Son into the
11:28 world that we might live through him in
11:31 this is love not that we loved God but
11:34 that he loved us and sent his son to be
11:39 the propitiation for our sins beloved if
11:42 God so loved us we also ought to love
11:45 one another so God the Father teaches us
11:47 to love one another by sending his son
11:52 Romans 5:8 God proved his love toward us
11:54 in that while we were yet sinners Christ
11:58 died for us God the Son teaches us to
12:00 love one another you know these words so
12:07 well John chapter 13 verses 34 and 35
12:09 our Lord is talking to his disciples
12:13 John 13:34 a new commandment I give to
12:16 you that you love one another as I have
12:19 loved you that you also love one another
12:21 by this all will know that you are my
12:24 disciples if you have love for one
12:27 another so God the Son teaches us to
12:30 love one another and God the Holy Spirit
12:31 teaches us to love one another
12:35 Romans chapter five and verse five the
12:39 love of God has been poured out in our
12:42 hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given
12:46 to us now this love is poured out in our
12:48 hearts and Paul says I wanted to
12:53 overflow to other people so we have the
12:55 inner circle of our love our love for
12:59 God now it gets wider and we have to
13:02 love one another though the circle of
13:05 love gets wider the river of love gets
13:08 wider and deeper you're taught of God to
13:11 love one another and indeed says verse
13:14 10 you do so toward all the brethren who
13:17 are in Macedonia but we urge you
13:20 brethren that you increase more and more
13:24 you can never love too much now
13:27 expects brothers to love each other
13:29 brotherly love means that we belong to
13:31 the same family we share the same father
13:35 we have the same nature we enjoy the
13:37 same blessings we're heading for the
13:40 same heavenly home it's so unfortunate
13:43 in the Bible to see instances where
13:45 brothers did not love one another the
13:48 first murder in the Bible Cain kills
13:52 Abel his brother Abraham and lot had a
13:54 disagreement neighbor Ham said let's not
13:58 argue we're brothers the Brothers of
14:00 Joseph hated him
14:02 there was even rivalry among the
14:05 Apostles when our Lord was ministering
14:07 on earth and today we have divisions in
14:10 churches oh my people show up for
14:11 business meetings who haven't been in
14:14 church for a long time so they have the
14:16 privilege of voting against something
14:20 brotherly love oh he says I want your
14:22 brotherly love to continue and to grow
14:25 and to get deeper now let's be practical
14:28 how do we show brotherly love he tells
14:31 us here one way we show brotherly love
14:34 is by working that you aspire to lead a
14:37 quiet life to mind your own business
14:39 to work with your own hands as we
14:43 commanded you if you read second
14:45 Thessalonians chapter 3 you discover
14:47 that some of the Saints in the church
14:49 had the idea that because Jesus was
14:51 coming back they didn't have to work and
14:54 so they became freeloaders they just
14:58 sponged off of other people and the Paul
14:59 said you don't do that if you love your
15:02 brother you'll pay your bills if you
15:04 love your brother you'll work if you
15:06 love your brother you won't meddle if
15:08 you love your brother you'll mind your
15:10 own business
15:13 that's brotherly love no people get on
15:15 the telephone to share prayer requests
15:17 they're really just gossiping over the
15:21 Lord's shoulder well we work to show our
15:25 brotherly love Romans chapter 12 verse
15:29 10 talks about brotherly love Romans 12
15:31 can be kindly affectionate to one
15:34 another with brotherly love in honor
15:36 giving preference to one on
15:39 there Paul wrote and said let everybody
15:42 esteem others more important than
15:43 themselves if you have brotherly love
15:45 you don't push yourself in front of
15:47 other people have you ever been in a
15:49 line some place you've been waiting for
15:51 a long time and somebody comes and
15:53 pushes in ahead of you this has happened
15:56 to us often well it's not good is it
15:58 it's not loving and in the local church
16:01 we've got to be very careful to love one
16:03 another in brotherly love and not to
16:06 push ourselves before other people
16:10 Hebrews chapter 13 talks about this
16:14 Hebrews 13:1 let brotherly love continue
16:16 how do you do this do not forget to
16:20 entertain strangers for by so doing some
16:23 have unwittingly entertained angels in
16:25 other words just opening your home
16:28 hospitality shows brotherly love don't
16:30 forget in the early church there were no
16:32 hotels and motels where they could stay
16:34 some people were chased out of their
16:37 homes in persecution where would they go
16:38 they'd go to the homes of other
16:41 believers and there they'd find
16:44 hospitality remember the prisoners as if
16:47 chained with them in those who are
16:50 mistreated since you yourselves are in
16:52 the body also are you praying for
16:54 prisoners are you praying for Christian
16:56 prisoners who are in prison they've
16:58 gotten saved now they want to live for
17:01 the Lord are you praying for ministries
17:03 that help these prisoners you see it's
17:05 practical brotherly love is not just
17:09 some ethereal feeling that we generate
17:11 know if there's brotherly love we work
17:13 and pay our bills we mind our own
17:15 business we don't meddle in other
17:19 people's affairs we show honor to one
17:22 another we share in encouragement and
17:26 hospitality we lay aside the wicked
17:30 things of life and we live to please God
17:33 because we have brotherly love this
17:35 brotherly love ought to abound and get
17:38 deeper and deeper finally he tells us in
17:41 verses 11 and 12 of 1st Thessalonians
17:45 chapter 4 that we should have love to
17:48 those outside the fellowship outside of
17:50 waat outside of Christ
17:53 that you might walk properly toward
17:56 those who are outside outside of the
17:59 life of God outside of the light outside
18:03 of the hope these who have no hope back
18:06 in chapter 4 verse 13 but I do not want
18:07 you to be ignorant brethren concerning
18:09 those who have fallen asleep
18:12 lest you sorrow as others who have no
18:15 hope these others are the outsiders
18:19 outside of salvation what he's saying is
18:22 simply this we need to love lost souls
18:25 if we love God we're gonna love the
18:27 Brethren if we love the Brethren we
18:29 ought to reach out and love those on the
18:32 outside how do you show your love for
18:35 people outside of Christ well by leading
18:39 a quiet life not being a troublemaker by
18:42 minding our own business by working with
18:44 our own hands you don't go to work my
18:47 friend to be a preacher you go to work
18:49 to do your job now you can best preach
18:52 by doing your job and doing it well and
18:54 if you're making life difficult for
18:56 other people who work with you you're
18:58 not acting like a good Christian
19:01 brotherly love means I love lost souls
19:04 and I'm going to do everything I can to
19:06 influence them and if that means working
19:09 hard on my job I'm gonna work hard on my
19:13 job they're three problems Christians
19:16 have to watch out for restlessness
19:19 meddlesome Ness and idleness Paul has a
19:21 lot to say about that in 2nd
19:24 Thessalonians he warns them don't be so
19:27 restless yes Jesus is coming back but
19:29 the best way for you to be ready for him
19:32 is doing your job don't be sitting
19:34 around gossiping don't be putting on
19:36 white robes and climbing up a mountain
19:38 waiting for the Lord to come back get
19:41 busy mind your own business do your work
19:46 as we commanded you walk properly walk
19:49 with beauty and and with good dedication
19:53 toward those who are outside because
19:56 they're watching you you say Oh God's
19:58 gonna take care of our needs well he
20:00 says that you may lack nothing if you're
20:02 not doing your work God can't take care
20:03 of your needs
20:05 now if you can't get a job that's
20:07 another story God has promised to meet
20:09 every need but he's talking here to
20:11 people who were working and he says the
20:14 best testimony you can be is a testimony
20:17 of faithful work for the Lord
20:21 first Timothy 5:8 Paul wrote and said if
20:23 a man doesn't provide for his own
20:25 household he's worse than an unbeliever
20:29 what a tragedy it is when the Christian
20:32 in the office is the worst worker when
20:34 the Christian in the shop does the
20:37 poorest job that's a poor testimony
20:39 spend all your time witnessing
20:41 quote/unquote trying to get people's
20:44 lives straightened out when you ought to
20:46 be perfecting your typing and your
20:49 filing and running that machine and
20:52 driving that car Paul makes the
20:54 Christian life very practical he says
20:58 brotherly love is important walk in love
21:02 first of all your love to God God is
21:06 teaching us day by day to love him and
21:09 to love one another now the love of God
21:11 has been shed abroad in our hearts
21:13 poured into our hearts by the Holy
21:16 Spirit we've been to Calvary we've
21:18 tasted the love of God now let that
21:23 river of love overflow to the Brethren
21:25 in the church to the Brethren in other
21:29 churches let it overflow to the unsaved
21:33 around us let's love people to the Lord
21:37 Jesus Christ let brotherly love continue
21:40 let's make every church and every
21:44 community Philadelphia brotherly love
21:47 father thank you for this letter that
21:49 Paul wrote thank you for the Holy Spirit
21:53 who inspired this letter and now I pray
21:55 as we have studied it and reviewed it
21:58 help us to practice it help us to live
22:01 in the future tense to spend our money
22:03 and our time and our energy and to live
22:06 our lives in the light of the coming of
22:07 Jesus Christ
22:11 for I pray this in his name and for his sake
22:12 sake amen
22:17 thanks for being a part of our back to
22:20 the Bible listening family so be sure to
22:22 come back again for more wisdom from
22:24 God's Word back to the Bible leading you
22:27 forward in your relationship with Jesus
22:29 Christ that's all we have time for today
22:31 please join us again tomorrow for more
22:33 back to the Bible radio [Music]
