24,500 brothers there. There was a brotherhood around
UK basketball. They're not spiritual brethren.
They're not national brethren, but there's
a camaraderie there. We all like the Wildcats. We're
all happy when they win, you know, and they're undefeated
right now. I mean, it's awesome. And I had a bunch of brothers
in there. People were all happy together. We were happy, happy,
happy. In chapter nine, verse three,
Paul said, I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ
for my brethren. Now there, the word is used as
his national brothers, the Jews. I could wish that I were accursed
from Christ for my brethren. If the Lord would just save them,
I could wish that I myself were cut off from Christ. What a statement. But when he uses the word brethren
in chapter 10, verse one, it's a different kind of word. It's the same word, but he's
talking about spiritual brethren. When he says, brethren, my heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be
saved. These are my spiritual brothers
and sisters in Christ Jesus. They're called believers. They're
called Christians. They're called saints. They're
called the body of Christ. They're called bone of his bone
and flesh of his flesh. And they're called the brethren.
That's a sweet, powerful word, the brethren. I want to be one
of these people. In Hebrews chapter two, would
you turn with me there for a moment? I want you to look at this. I
quote this a lot. Hebrews chapter two, verse 11. For both he that sanctifieth
and they who are sanctified are all of one. Now, sanctification
is a word that means to take something common and ordinary
and set it apart for holy purposes and make it holy. That's what
the word means. The Lord Jesus is He that sanctifies. That's his work. And they who
are sanctified, that's every believer. He set me apart, he
made me holy. Now look what it says. Both he
that sanctified and they who are sanctified are all of one. They're not just close, they're
one. They're not glued together, they're
one. So that they cannot be separated. John put it this way in 1 John
4, 17, as he is, so are we in this world. I'm so one with him. Is he holy? I'm holy. Is he righteous? I'm righteous. Is he beautiful
to God? I am beautiful to God. Now that's what that means. Both
he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one
for the which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren. Jesus Christ points to every
believer and says, that's my brother. I'm not ashamed of him.
I'm proud of him. That's my sister. He's not ashamed
to call them brethren. When he was raised from the dead,
he told those women who were waiting for him, he said, you
go tell my brethren. And these are the men that had
forsaken him and fled. As a matter of fact, mentions
Peter's name, especially you tell Peter. Peter would have
thought I couldn't be his brother after what I'd done. But he said,
you go to my brethren and tell them I go to my father and your
father, to my God and your God. The Lord said, in as much as
you did it to the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me. Now that's how close this mystical
union is. He didn't say, it's as if you
did it to me. He said, when you did it to them,
you did it to me. The least of these, my brethren,
you did it to me. In Romans chapter eight, verse
29, we read, for whom he did foreknow. He didn't foreknow
everybody. Remember that crowd, he said,
depart from me ye that work iniquity. I never knew you. He didn't know
everybody, but whom he did foreknow. Foreknowledge is God's, it's
not God's being a time traveler and knowing what's going to happen
in the future. He didn't say what he foreknew,
he said whom he did foreknow. This is talking about the elect
of God. whom he did foreknow, then he also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be,
the Lord Jesus Christ might be the firstborn among many brethren. Now don't you want to be in this
group? I want to be in this group called the brethren. I want to
be in this fraternity, this brotherhood that the Lord Jesus Christ speaks
of. This brotherhood is called in
Philippians chapter 1 verse 14, brethren in the Lord, not brethren
of the Lord, but brethren in the Lord. Oh, that's where I
want to be, don't you? In Christ. They're called in
Colossians 1, 2, faithful brethren in Christ. Now, if you and I
are brethren, If Paul would call us brethren when he was writing
to the Romans and he said brethren, it would be because we are in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Of him are you in Christ Jesus. Now, somebody says, well, what's
it mean to be in Christ? Well, what did it mean to be
in the ark? If you were in the ark, you were safe from the wrath
of God. Everybody outside of the ark
was drowned. If you're in the ark, you're
safe. What did it mean to be in the house with the blood over
the door? If you were in the house with the blood over the
door, God said, when I see the blood, I will pass over you.
And if you weren't in a house with the blood over the door,
God's judgment fell upon you. Now I want to be in Christ, brethren
in Christ. I understand exactly what Paul
meant when he said, Oh, that I may win Christ and be found
in him. I want it to where when God sees
me, all he sees is Jesus Christ, the Lord. Second Thessalonians chapter
two, verse 13 says, but we're bound to thank God always for
you, brethren. That word is in the Bible so
much. Brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth. Hebrews 3.1 says, wherefore,
holy brethren, that's what God's people are called, holy brethren,
partakers of the heavenly calling. It's hard to say I'm holy, isn't
it? I'm holy. Well, if I'm a believer, I am,
though. Because I have God the Holy Spirit. I've got a holy
nature given to me in the new birth. Every believer is a holy
brethren. Partakers, the writer to the
Hebrew said, of the heavenly calling. What is that heavenly
calling? Paul said, you see your calling,
brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble are called, but God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise. God hath chosen the
weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.
And the base things of the world and the things which are despised
hath God chosen, yea, and the things which are not to bring
to naught the things that are that know flesh and glory in
his presence. Now that's his calling. And all
of these brethren know that in themselves they are foolish,
weak, based, despised, and nothing, and their entire identity is
simply being found in Christ. Is that your identity? That's
the only identity I know of. I'm nothing and Christ is all,
and I like it that way. I like simply being found in
Him. Now, brethren, brethren, isn't
that a powerful thought to be a part of this brotherhood? Brethren
have the same father. Our Lord taught us to pray, our
father, who art in heaven. Not my father, but our father.
God's not everybody's father. You'll remember the Lord said
to that one group of people, you're of your father, the devil,
and the lust of your father, you'll do. God wasn't their father.
But all the brethren have the same father. All the brethren have the same
mother. Paul tells us in Galatians 4
that we're sons of the free woman, the church. We have the same
birth. Being born again, same birth. John 1, 12, and 13 says,
As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons
of God, even to them which believe on His name, which were born,
which were birthed, not of blood, not of the will of the flesh,
not of the will of man, but of God. Same birth, this supernatural
birth of God, being born of the Spirit, partakers of the divine
nature. Now, all these brethren have
been saved the precise same way. Every one of them has been saved
by grace. Don't you say amen to that. If you're saved, don't
you know you were saved by the free grace of God, all together
without your works? You know that. I don't have to
convince you of that. All the brethren have the same
faith. They believe exactly like... Isaiah 52 verse 8 says they see
eye to eye. They believe exactly like every
brother does. Believers don't believe different
things because we've been taught by the same God. We've been saved
the same way. We have the same teacher. We
believe alike if we're believers. There's not conflict. We all
believe salvation's in the Lord. It's in Christ. It's by grace.
It's the gift of God. We all believe the precise same
thing. No difference in what believers
believe. They all believe the gospel. You know, Paul says there's
one faith. There's not two, there's only
one. There's one hope. Every believer has the precise
same hope. Here's my hope, is that Christ died for me. That's
my hope. That's why I hate that teaching
that says that Jesus Christ shed his blood for everybody and made
salvation available for everybody, but some of those people that
he died for will end up in hell because they didn't do what they
were supposed to do to make what he did work for them. I hate
that. You know why I hate it? Because
it takes away the only hope I have. The only hope I have is that
Jesus Christ paid for my sins and put them away. And if he
could die for me and I wind up in hell anyway, you've taken
away the only hope I have. My hope is that Christ died for
me. All believers have that same
hope. That's the only hope we have,
is that Christ died for me. Huh? We have the same peace. It's called the peace of the
brethren. He is our peace. Now I have peace. And you know
what my peace is? My peace is that he is my peace.
And that all God requires of me, he looks to his son, Jesus
Christ for. And that gives me peace. Nothing
else gives me peace. We all have the same peace. The
peace of the brethren is what it's called. We have the same
boldness, having boldness to enter into the holiest by the
blood of Jesus. That's our boldness to come into
God's presence. I have boldness to come into
his very presence and know I'm accepted and embraced and loved.
Why? Because of the blood of Jesus.
The new, freshly slaughtered, it's not old, and living as opposed
to dead, that new and living way. Oh, to be in this brotherhood,
the brethren. Turn with me for a moment to
Psalm 133. Verse 1. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren people who have the same father,
people who have been saved the same way by the grace of God. How good and how pleasant it
is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Is there any reason
for anything less than that? Brethren, children of God, dwelling
together in unity. Our Lord said, by this shall
all men know you're my disciples, by your love one to another. To be at odds with one who loves
Christ? How wrong. How wrong. How incongruent. Turn to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 10. Now I beseech you, brethren,
1 Corinthians 1, verse 10. Now I beseech you, brethren,
by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the
same thing. Now this is not talking about
Uniformity. Cookie cutter Christians, we
teach them all to say the same thing and look alike and be alike
and say that's not what that's talking about. You speak the
same thing because you believe the same thing. That's why you
speak the same thing. You really do believe him. Now he says, I beseech you, brethren,
by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the
same thing, that there be no divisions among you, but that
you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same
judgment. For it has been declared unto
you, unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house
of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Look in chapter three,
verse one. And I, brethren, I couldn't speak
unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto
babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with
meat, for hitherto you were not able to bear it, neither now
are you able, for you are yet carnal, he says to the Corinthians.
For whereas there is among you envying and strife and divisions,
are you not carnal and walk as men? Now this thing of love to
the brethren, when we talk about the brethren, you can't talk
about the brethren without speaking of love to the brethren. Love
to the brethren is the evidence of the new birth. Now did you
hear me? Love to the brethren is the evidence
that God has done something in my heart. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse
22 says, Seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth
through the Spirit, unto unfeigned, un-faked, non-hypocritical love
to the brethren. See that you love one another
with a pure heart, fervently, being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth
and abideth forever. First John 3.14 says we know
that we pass from death to life because we love the brethren,
He that saith he's in the light and hates his brother is in darkness
even until now. He that loveth not his brother
abideth, or he that loveth his brother abideth in the light,
and there is no reason of stumbling in him. And how this permeates
this thing I'm talking about, this thing of the brethren, how
this permeates our thinking. I love what the Lord said in
Matthew chapter 23, verse eight. He said, be ye not called rabbi. For one is your master, even
Christ. And we are all brethren. Every believer, we're just brothers. There's one master, Christ. And
every believer's on the same level. Brothers and sisters in
Christ. Our only identity is in Christ.
And we like it that way. And I don't, you know, like I,
don't call me Pastor Todd. I'm a pastor. It's a, it's a,
office, but it's not a title. I'm Todd. Todd. Reverend Todd? Oh, please don't say anything
like that. That's disgusting. Reverend Todd. Reverend? Are you to be revered? We're
all brethren. Brethren. This whole idea of
clergy laity is offensive. It's offensive to God. You know
that when the Lord said twice, I hate the doctrine of the Nicolaitans,
which I hate. The word Nicolaitan means above
the people. That's what it means. It's clergy laity and God hates
that. We are all brethren. Christ is all, we're nothing,
but our identity is in Christ and we like it that way. I like
being a nothing because only when I'm nothing, Christ is everything.
Oh, we love the brethren. We love, there's no hierarchy
in the kingdom of heaven. All these brethren have one singular
thing in common. The Lord said, who is my mother?
And who are my brethren? And then he stretched forth his
hand toward his disciples and he said, behold, my mother and
my brethren, for whosoever shall do the will of God. Whosoever shall do the will of
God. And remember what the Lord said
about that one crowd. He said, not everyone that saith
unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. What is this
thing of doing the will of God? It's believing the gospel. It's
not just being religious because he said to that same group, he
said, many shall say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have
we not preached in your name? In your name have we not cast
out devils? And in your name have we not done many wonderful
works? Then shall I confess to them
Depart from me, ye that work iniquity, I never knew you. It's
not just being religious that makes you do the will of God.
It's believing the gospel. It's trusting the Lord Jesus
Christ as all in your salvation. It's committing the entire salvation
of your soul to him. Have you done that? Have you
committed all your salvation That's what all of the brethren
do. They do the will of God. They all believe the gospel.
They all worship the Lord Jesus Christ. What a blessing of grace
it is to be in this fraternity, the brethren. And this is high
society. This is true high society, being
in this group, the brethren. This is being a little brother
of him who is the highest, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I'm so
interested in being in this group, the brethren. That's every believer.
That's all for whom Christ died. That's all who have been saved
by the grace of God. All the brethren. Don't you want
to be in this group, the brethren? I sure do. Now the Bible gives very specific
directions as how we are to treat our brethren. Now, this is very
important. The Bible does not tell you,
it doesn't tell others how to treat me. It tells me how to
treat them. That's a very important distinction.
Well, he's not treating me the way he ought to treat me. She's
not treating me the way she ought to treat me. I ought to be treated
like a believer. No, forget that kind of stuff. The Bible doesn't
Tell other people how to treat you. It tells you how to treat
them. May God brand that in our hearts. The Bible tells me how to treat
you, not you how to treat me. Don't worry about the way you're
treated. I spend so much time worrying
about the way I'm treated. They didn't treat me right. Peter says in first Peter, Chapter
3, verse 8, love as brethren. That's a powerful thought, isn't
it? Love as brethren. And then it says, be pitiful
and be courteous. Love as brethren, and here's
how you do it, being pitiful, being courteous. Now that word
pitiful, you're tender-hearted. You're not hard-hearted. You're
tender-hearted toward your brethren, and that courteous, it doesn't
simply mean be polite, although we should be polite, but it means
be humble. Be lowly. The only way you're
going to love the brethren is through humility. You esteem
that brother as better than yourself. Not just on the same level, but
actually better. Let each esteem the other as
better than themselves. That's so contrary to the way
the world thinks. But love his brethren, be pitiful,
be tenderhearted, Be courteous. Remember, in this thing of humility,
the wise man said, by pride only cometh contention. By pride only. Turn with me for
a moment to Proverbs chapter six. How am I to do, my brethren? Proverbs, the sixth chapter. Verse sixteen. These six things
doth the Lord hate. That gets my attention, doesn't
it get your attention? These six things doth the Lord hate. Yea, seven are an abomination
unto him. The first thing he mentions,
a proud look. A lying tongue. and hands that shed innocent
blood, and heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, thief that
be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh
lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren, he that seeks
to sow strife and set one brother against another. It says God
hates that person. God himself hates that person.
James chapter 5, turn with me there. I want you to look at
these things that were instructed in the scripture, how to do our
brother. Verse 9, James chapter 5, verse
9, I love this. Grudge not one against another,
brethren, lest you be condemned. Don't hold a grudge. Don't hold
something and hold on to it. I'm not going to let that go.
I'll remember that. That's so ugly. Grudge not one against
another, brethren. What an ugly thing it is to hold
a grudge. Romans chapter 14. Romans chapter fourteen. You
know everything I'm reading about I'm guilty of. Everything. And I pray for cleansing. I want to love his brother and
be courteous, don't you? Look at Romans chapter fourteen,
verse ten. But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set it not thy
brother? Now in this thing of judging,
he says, why would you judge your brother? For we shall all
stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Now does that mean
that if I see my brother participating in something that is contrary
to the scriptures and that's wrong, that I'm supposed to say,
I'm not gonna judge him. I mean, no, you have an opinion
about things. You have an opinion about what's right and what's
wrong from the scriptures, and well, you should. It doesn't
mean you say, well, if somebody breaks God's law, if somebody
sins against God, it's okay. You don't say that at all. You
don't say that at all. You know it's wrong. You don't
say it's okay, but you know this. You know this. that I judge my brother for,
I'm playing the hypocrite because I am guilty of being just as
bad as him. That's what this thing of not
judging means. Paul said, thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever
thou art that judges to another. For you, the judges, do the same
things. You do the same things. Anytime,
if I sit in judgment on you, in moral superiority over you,
you know what I'm being? I'm being a hypocrite. And if you
set in judgment on me as morally superior, you know what you're
being? A hypocrite. Our Lord said, why do you see the moat in your
brother's eye and you don't see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite. That's what the
Lord did. That's the language the Lord used. First pull the beam out
of your own eye, and then you'll be able to see clearly to pull
the moat out of your brother's eye. Now, have you got the beam
out of your eye yet? Paul said, let us not judge one
another anymore. And that doesn't mean we don't
have convictions regarding right and wrong and truth from the
scripture. Doesn't mean that at all. But it does mean that
we're not to judge, set in judgment upon our brother. What are we
supposed to do? Turn to Matthew chapter 18. This is how I am to be toward
my brother. Verse 21. Then came Peter to
him and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and
I forgive him? Till seven times. That's a lot. You know, once bitten, twice
shy. What about seven times? Seven times. How often shall
I forgive my brother till seven times? And how does the Lord
answer? Jesus saith unto him, I say unto
thee, not until seven times, but until 70 times. Seven. Now this thing of forgiveness
is a gospel issue. This is not just practical advice.
This is a gospel issue. The Lord taught us to pray. And
you think about this. He taught us to pray, forgive
us as we forgive those who sin against us. Forgive us in that
manner. We're taught to pray, Lord, forgive
me the way I forgive my brother. Someone says, well, that's impossible.
Well, the Lord said it, though. Lord said it. And if you see
how the Lord has forgiven you, how freely, how completely He's
blotted out your sins and saved you by His grace, and you see
the greatness of His forgiveness, you won't have a hard time forgiving
your brother. Seventy times seven. And that doesn't mean after 491
times you can quit doing it. Seventy times seven means forever.
It's completely. You know, what's the key to a
good marriage? Forgiveness. Forgiveness. Being able to forgive. What's
the key to a good relationship? Forgiveness. Forgiveness. Matthew chapter 5, while you're
in Matthew. Verse 23. Therefore, thou bring thy gift
to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against
you. Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way. First
be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."
If you bring a gift and remember your brother has something against
you, you've done him wrong. Leave your gift there. Don't
talk about communion with Christ. Don't talk about coming into
God's presence. You leave your gift there, and you be straightened
out with your brother first. be reconciled to your brother
if he's got something against you. Now listen, if your brother's
got something against you, don't be one of those people that can't
humble yourself to your brother and say, I'm sorry. Don't do
that. You think of the power true confession
of sin has before God if we confess our sin. He is faithful and just
to forgive us of our sin. Don't be one of these people
who can't be, I'm not gonna, no, no. If you know your brother
has something against you, you leave your gift. Don't even talk
about your relationship with God if you won't get this straightened
out. You go first be reconciled to
your brother and then come and offer thy gift. First Thessalonians
4.16, when Paul says, this is the will of God, even your sanctification,
you're being made holy, this is part of it, that no man go
beyond and defraud his brother in any manner. Now remember this,
Proverbs 18.19 says, a brother offended is harder to be won
than a strong city. Don't you know that's so? A brother
offended is harder to be won than a strong city. Now, I don't
want to be someone who just closes my eyes to this. If I've offended
my brother, I want to win him back. Even though he is harder
to be won than a strong city, I want to win him back, and I
want to humble myself to him. May God give us grace to do that. Be quick to apologize from your
heart. Not an insincere apology, but if you hold on to something,
if you hold on, and don't Lord said, don't bring your gift to
me, leave it there. Listen to this scripture. Proverbs
chapter 17, verse 17 says, a friend loveth at all times and a brother
is born for adversity. Now, I love thinking of my brothers
and sisters who've been born for adversity, but oh, the Lord
Jesus Christ, He's the one who is born for adversity. Aren't you thankful for that
friend that sticketh closer than a brother? There is a friend
that sticketh closer than a brother. I love the scripture. Proverbs
18, 24 says a man that would have friends must show himself
friendly. Somebody says, I don't have any
friends. Well, I can tell you why. If that's the case, it's because
I'm not showing myself friendly. He that would have friends must
show himself friendly, and there is a friend that sticketh closer
than a brother, that one who is called the sinner's friend. Aren't you thankful that the
Lord is the friend of public sins and sinners? What hope would
men you have if he wasn't the friend of sinners? What a friend
he showed himself to be when he became my surety. and guaranteed my salvation,
and came and lived for me, and kept the law for me, and died
for me, putting away my sin, and was raised for my justification,
who even right now is at the right hand of the Father as the
sinner's friend." Now what a glorious thing. I want to be like him,
don't you? He is that friend that sticketh
closer than a brother. And I want to remind you of the
scripture that I pretty much opened with in talking about
this thing of brethren. Both he that sanctifies and they
who are sanctified are all of one. For the which cause? Because I'm one with Christ,
every believer is one with Christ. When God looks at you, if you're
in Christ, all he sees is Jesus Christ. He sees one who is perfect. Both he that sanctifieth and
they who are sanctified are all of one, for the which cause he's
not ashamed to call them brethren." Now, may you and I truly be brothers
and sisters. And may I treat you the way God
says brothers are to treat one another. And God only tells me
how to treat you, and I hope you treat me good, too. But the point is, oh, to be in this
group called the brethren. Brethren. And what I'm going
to consider next week, Lord willing, is brethren. My heart's desire
and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.
Now, Paul says they're not saved. And my heart's desire and prayer
to God for Israel is that they would be saved. Now what does
it take for a sinner to be saved? What a question. That's what
we're going to try to deal with next week. Let's pray together.