wrote that song, Robert Murray
McShane was only 29 years old when he died. But what a life
of blessing he was enabled to have when he lived here. He was
a Scottish preacher. Turn back to Hebrews chapter
13. The title of the message is Let
Brotherly Love Continue. Now, this is a commandment. It is spoken in the imperative. It's a commandment that you and
I need to hear. Let brotherly love continue. Paul said in 1 Thessalonians
4 and 9, but it's touching brotherly love You need not that I write
unto you, for you yourselves are taught of God to love one
another. And indeed, you do. It comes
natural to love your brethren, doesn't it? People who love Christ,
people who love the gospel, you love them. It comes natural. And it's also true That we need
to be taught to let brotherly love continue, and we need to
be commanded to let brotherly love continue. Turn to 1 John
chapter 3. Verse 23, And this is his commandment,
that we should believe on the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,
and love one another, as he gave us commandment. Look in 1 John
chapter 4, verse 20. If a man say, I love God, and
hateth his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother
whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth
God love his brother also." It comes natural to love our
brethren. And it's also true because of
this thing called the flesh, this thing called self love. We have to be commanded and taught
to love our brethren. Brotherly love. You know, the
city of Philadelphia means the city of brotherly love. That's the Greek word. Brotherly
love. The love of the brethren. The
first thing that I need to understand, for me to understand this thing
of love to the brethren, is who are the brethren? Who are the
brethren? Well, they're members of the
family of God. They have the same father. They
are His children. You know, I love those passages
of scripture when the Lord speaks to his disciples and he calls
the Heavenly Father, your Heavenly Father. I love that. Your Heavenly
Father. They are children of the Father
and they have the same elder brother. He called us bone of
his bone and flesh of his flesh. Truly, the Lord Jesus Christ
is that brother. who's born for adversity. He is our elder brother. He is the brother that loveth
at all times. He is the friend that sticketh
closer than a brother. In Hebrews chapter 2, I'd like
you to look at this with me. Hebrews chapter 2. This is speaking of the Lord
Jesus. And he says, for both he that sanctifyeth, Hebrews
chapter 2, verse 11, for both he that sanctifyeth and they
who are sanctified are all of one. Now, what that means is
everybody who he has sanctified is one with him. Not merely close,
but one with him, united to him. so closely that whoever he is,
that's who I am. As he is, John said, so are we
in this world. Is he the son of the Father?
So am I. Is he beloved of the Father?
So am I. Is he perfectly righteous? So
am I. That's how close this union is. Now, if you want to understand
the Old Testament, turn to Genesis chapter 37. Now, remember, all of these stories
in the Old Testament are given to illustrate the gospel in some
form or fashion. They're not just histories or
stories. They're given to illustrate the
gospel. The Lord said the scriptures testify concerning me. Every
one of them. Now look in chapter 37, verse
one. And Jacob dwelt in the land where
in his father was a stranger. in the land of Canaan. These
are the generations, plural, of Jacob, Joseph. And notice it doesn't
say Reuben and Judah and all those other fellows. These are
the generations of Jacob, Joseph. And Joseph is a type of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Jacob is a type of God the Father
here, and Joseph is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now these
are the generations of Jacob. One man is mentioned, Joseph. There's not a more beautiful
type of Christ in all of the Bible than Joseph. being 17 years old, when feeding
the flock with his brethren, and the lad was with the sons
of Vila and the sons of Zilpha, his father's wives, and Joseph
brought unto his father their evil report." Now, if there's,
you know, I don't know of a blight against his character, except
maybe right here when he ratted on his brothers. He did do that. He brought to his father the
evil report of his brothers. You ought not to rat on people.
You just ought not. That's good advice. Joseph did here. He ratted on
his brothers. And that might be one of the
reasons why they hated him. But here's why they really hated
him. Verse 3. Now Israel loved Joseph. more than all his children, because
he was the son of his old age, and he made him a coat of many
colors. Joseph, the favorite of Jacob. He loved Joseph more than he
loved Reuben, and more than he loved Judah, and more than he
loved Issachar, and whoever, name all the twelve patriarchs.
Joseph was his favorite. Is the Lord Jesus Christ the
favorite of the Father? No doubt about that. Now Israel
loved Joseph more than all his children because he was the son
of his old age. And he made him a coat of many
colors. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him
more than all his brethren, they hated him and could not speak
peaceably unto him. And Joseph dreamed a dream, and
he told it to his brethren, and they hated him yet the more.
And he said unto them, Here, I pray you, this dream which
I have dreamed. For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the
field, and, lo, my sheep arose, and also stood upright. And,
behold, your sheep stood round about, and made obeisance to
my sheep. You worship me. And his brethren
said unto him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us, or shalt thou
indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet more for
his dreams and for his words. And he dreamed yet another dream
and told his brethren, and said, Behold, I dream to dream more.
And behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance
to me. And he told it to his father
and to his brethren. And his father rebuked him and said unto
him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and
thy mother and thy brethren be come to bow down ourselves to
thee, to the earth? And his brethren envied him.
Father observed the saying. Now you know the story of Joseph.
His brethren were jealous of him. They hated him because he
was the father's favorite. Now you that have brothers and
sisters, what if your parents gave preference to one of your
siblings over you? You would be upset. Well, they
were. And what they did, they sold
him into slavery. You know the story. They took
him and sold him into slavery. They took his coat and they killed
a goat or a sheep or something and put blood on it and brought
it back to his father and said, you know, he's been killed. He's
sold into slavery and through an amazing course of events,
he goes into prison, out of prison, and he ends up being the top
man in all of Egypt. And if you're going to get food,
you had to come to him for it. Isn't that amazing? I mean, the
top man in all of Egypt. And if you were going to have
anything to eat, you had to come to him for it. Now, his brothers,
come to him. They don't know who he is. He
knows who they are, but they do not know who he is. Now turn
to Genesis chapter 45. This is when he makes himself
known to his brethren. And Joseph, verse 3, well, let's
start reading verse 1. Then Joseph could not refrain
himself before all them that stood by him, and he cried, Cause
every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him,
while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And he wept
aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard, and
Joseph said unto his brethren, Remember, both he that sanctified
And they who are sanctified are all of one, for the which cause
he's not ashamed to call them brethren. He's not ashamed to
call me. That's my brother. I'm not ashamed
of him. And the reason he's not ashamed
of me is I'm one with him. Now, if I wasn't one with him,
he'd be ashamed of me. He wouldn't own me. But because
I'm one with him, he's not ashamed to call me. That's my brother.
Let's go on reading. Verse 3, And Joseph said unto
his brethren, I am Joseph, that my father yet liveth. And his
brethren couldn't answer him, for they were troubled in his
presence. They remembered, we sold him into slavery. And all
our sins have come back on us when they're here to haunt us.
They thought they were in trouble. They were scared to death when
they found out. This is Joseph. This is our little brother that
we sold some sixteen years ago. And now we're in his hands. They
were troubled. They couldn't even speak. Verse
4, And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you.
And they came near, and he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom
you sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved,
nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me hither, for God did
send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath
the famine been the land, and yet there are five years in which
there shall neither be earring nor harvest. And God sent me
before you to preserve you of posterity in the earth, and to
save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent
me hither, but God. And he hath made me a father
to Pharaoh, and a lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout
all the land of Egypt. Now, there's my big brother. And I'm his little brother. And
he's not ashamed to own me as his own, because I'm one with
him. He spoke to his brethren. Oh, how truly he is our brother. Now, who are the brothers, the
brethren? We're told to let brotherly love continue. Well, brothers
are the ones who have the same nature. being born of God. If I'm of Christ and you're of
Christ, we share the same nature. God the Holy Spirit birthed us,
and we have the same nature. Truly, we are brethren. And we have a union that is so
close that he says, inasmuch as you've done it to the least
of these my brethren, you've done it to me. Notice he didn't
say, inasmuch you did it to the least of these my brethren, it's
just as if you did it to me. No. He said, inasmuch as you've
done to the least of these my brethren, you've done it to me. Paul said, when you sin against
the brethren and wound their weak conscience, you sin against
Christ. Who are the brethren? They're
the ones God foreknew. Listen to the scripture. Romans
8, 29, for whom he did foreknow. Then he also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his son. This is what predestination
is. Understand this. Somebody says,
well, God predestinated everything. If I fall off this thing that
God predestined, well, that's in his control. I wouldn't deny
that. That's not what predestination is. Predestination is being conformed,
is being determined to be exactly like Jesus Christ. That's what
predestination is. For whom he did foreknow, then
he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
Son, that he might be the firstborn. How does the rest of the verse
go? Among many brethren. A whole lot of them. Who are
the brethren? They are the elect of God. Paul
said, knowing, brethren beloved, in 1 Thessalonians 1.4. Knowing,
brethren beloved, your election of God. Who are the brethren? They're the ones God has called.
Wherefore, Hebrews 3, 1, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly
calling. Who are the brethren? They're
the ones who do His will. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
12. You know, the Lord said twice
in the New Testament, why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not
the things that I say. The brethren are those who do
his will. Look in verse 46 of Matthew chapter
12. While he yet talked to the people,
behold, his mother and his brethren, his physical brethren, his siblings,
stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto
him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without desiring
to speak with thee. 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. For whosoever shall do the will
of my Father which is in heaven, the same as my brother, and sister
and mother. Those who do not do his will
are not his brethren. Now, Peter said, love the brotherhood. Love the brotherhood. And this
brotherhood is utterly unique. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
23. This is like no other brotherhood, and I'll show you why. Matthew
chapter 23. Verse 8, But be ye, be not ye called Rabbi,
for one is your Master, even Christ, and you are all brethren. There is no hierarchy in this
brotherhood. There is one Lord, one Master,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and you are all And called no man your
father upon the earth, for one is your father which is in heaven,
neither be ye called masters, for one is your master, even
Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant,
and whosoever shall exalt himself shall be embassed, and he that
humbles himself shall be exalted." Now this love to the brethren
or brotherly love that we're called upon to continue in is
the evidence of the new birth. Turn to 1 John 3. In this, the children of God
are manifest, and the children of the devil. Whosoever doeth
not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his
brother. For this is the message that
you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,
not as Cain, who was of that wicked one and slew his brother,
and wherefore slew he him because his own works were evil and his
brother's righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the
world hates you. We know that we've passed from
death to life. Now, that's a strong statement.
We know that we've been regenerated. We know we've gone from being
dead in sins to the life of God in our souls. Now how do we know
that? Look what he says. We know that we pass from death
into life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother
abides in death. Look in 1 John 4, verse 7. Beloved, let us love one another,
for love is of God, and every one that loveth And this is talking
about the love of the brethren. Now there are moms who love their
children who are not born of God. There are fathers who love
their children who are not born of God. There are couples married
and love one another that are not born of God. He's not talking
about that kind of love. He's talking about the love of
the brethren. Verse 7, Beloved, let us love one another for love
is of God and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not
God, for God is love. Turn back to 1 Peter 1. This
love of the brethren is the evidence of having faith. Verse 21. Who by him, by the Lord Jesus
Christ, do believe in God. You know your faith is the product
of him giving it to you, isn't it? You believe by him. He is
the author and the finisher of our faith. And you know what,
if you've got faith, you know that. You know if you have faith, it's
because He gave it to you. You're just sure of that. You understand
that about your faith. It's an exotic. It didn't come
from you. It came from Him. who by him do believe in God
that raised him up from the dead and gave him glory, that your
faith and hope might be in God, and seeing you have purified
your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned,
unfaked, genuine love of 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. The love of the brethren. Now,
question. What does brotherly love look
like? We see how important it is. It
is the evidence of salvation. It's the evidence of having faith.
It's the evidence of being born of God. What does brotherly love
look like? Well, it's not seen in the words,
I love you. Those are good words. I love it when people tell me
I love you. And they mean it. Those are good
words. The words that ought to be often
in our mouth. I love you. I love you. It's
a blessing to say it. But there are no more meaningless
and offensive words that I love you if there's not actions behind
it that prove that that love is real. Turn to 1 John 3. Verse
16. Hereby perceive we the love of
God, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to
lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good,
and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of
compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little
children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but
in deed and in truth. 13. Here's what love looks like. Verse three. Charity. Love. Sufferers long. It's patient. and it's kind. Charity doesn't envy. If I love
you, I don't envy you. I'm thankful for the blessings
you have. If I love you. Now, if I don't
love you, I may be envious of you. But if I love you, I won't
be envious. Charity vaunteth not itself. It doesn't boast. It doesn't
push itself, it takes the back seat. It's not puffed up, it's
not conceited. Verse five, it doesn't behave
itself unseemly, it's not rude. It seeketh not her own, it's
not self-seeking, it's not easily provoked, it's not touchy, it's
not easily angered. Well, I hate being around people
that are touchy, don't you? I mean, you've got to walk on
eggshells around them. That's the opposite of love. Love is
not easily provoked. Love. Thinketh no evil, it keeps no
records of wrongs. It rejoices not in iniquity,
it doesn't delight in evil, but it rejoices in the truth. Verse
seven, here's what love looks like. It bears all things. It always protects. It believes
all things. It always trusts. It hopes all
things. It always hopes. It endures all
things. It never quits. Charity never
fails. Now that's what real love looks
like. That's the love of the brethren. Turn to 1 Peter chapter 3. Isn't love beautiful? Isn't the
love of the brethren beautiful? 1 Peter chapter 3. This is a beautiful picture of
brotherly love. And this is the brotherly love
we're called upon to continue in. And this is the brotherly
love we're called upon to treat every brother and sister in Christ.
Now look in 1 Peter chapter 3, verse 8. Finally, be ye all of
one mind Having compassion one of another. Be sympathetic is
what that means. Be understanding. Don't be a
hard nose. Be understanding. Be merciful. Be compassionate. Love as brethren. Be pitiful. That same word is
translated tender hearted in Ephesians 4.32 when it says be
kind, tender hearted. Forgiving one another. As God,
for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you, be courteous. That word
means a humble-minded courteousness. Romans chapter 12. I know I'm
asking you to look at a lot of scriptures, but I think we need
to see it. Romans chapter 12, verse 10. Verse 9, let love be without
hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil, cleave
to that which is good, be kindly. Now listen to this. Be kindly
affection one to another with brotherly love in order preferring
one another. That means highly esteeming one
another. Viewing each other as precious,
preferring one another, taking the lead in showing deference
to one another. Taking the lowest seat in the
house and truly in your heart esteeming your brother as better
than yourself. Brotherly love. It's love we're
talking about here. Let brotherly love continue.
It's not to judge his brother. What do I mean by that? Turn
to Romans 14. You're there in Romans. Turn
to Romans 14. Verse 10. Paul says, why dost thou judge
thy brother? Or why dost thou set it not thy
brother? Let me ask myself this question. Do I have the reason to feel
morally superior to my brother on any level? Do I have the reason to judge,
to sit in judgment of my brother? He says, in verse 10, for we
shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. I'm going to
stand before the judgment seat of Christ, so is my brother.
That brother I'm judging, he's going to stand before the judgment
seat of Christ and be accepted. And I'm going to sit in judgment
on him. God's able to make him stand. Verse 11, for as it's
written, as I live, sayeth the Lord, every knee shall bow to
me and every tongue shall confess to God, so that every one of
us shall give an account of himself to God. You're not going to give
account of your brother. You're going to give account
of yourself. Let us therefore judge one another. Let us not
therefore judge one another anymore, but judge this rather that no
man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's
way. Now, does that mean? that we
are indifferent toward and even accepting of our brother's wrong
behavior. You know what that means? Our
brother can act in a way that's contrary to the gospel and just
hateful and wicked and evil and so on. Your brother can do that.
So can you. So can you. Believers don't act
that way. Show me one that doesn't. And
I'm not making an excuse. I'm just talking about the way
it is. There's something called the flesh. And you can act this way, I can
act this way, and I hope we'll forgive one another when we do.
That's brotherly love, isn't it? Be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving
one another. You know, as long as you know
me, you're going to have to forgive me. I mean, there's just going to
be the more you're around me, the more you'll see. That's true.
And it's the same thing with you. It's the same thing with
you. I've talked about that. And somebody says, oh, you're
you're you're a nice guy. Well, yeah, I hope I am, you
know, but you'd be around me enough. You'll you'll find out
the same way with you. I sure would want you to know
what goes on my heart. If you ever found out, I hope
you forgive me. Forgiveness is wonderful, isn't
it? Now, that doesn't mean that we Except our brother's wrong
behavior. As a matter of fact, turn to
2 Thessalonians 3. It may be you have to withdraw
yourself from your brother. Verse 14. Verse 13, but ye brethren. Be not weary in well doing, and
if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man. and had no company with him.
You withdraw yourself from that brother, that he may be ashamed,
yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. Somebody you love. Now, isn't
that judging your brother? No, it's not. You judge your
brother when you look down at your nose at your brother and
think, I wouldn't have done that. Yes, you would. All God's got
to do is take away the restraints, and there's nothing you won't
do. Realize that. Don't look down your nose at
your brother in moral superiority. Now, that doesn't mean you accept
his wrong behavior and say that you may have to withdraw yourself
from your brother. He says to do that. He says, withdraw yourself. Note that, but count him as a
brother. Now, remember this about your
brother. Don't judge him in the sense of saying, I wouldn't do
it. Don't in any way feel morally superior to him. He's going to
stand on Judgment Day. You just make sure that you're
not a stumbling block to him. Do not be so much concerned about
his attitude toward you as your attitude toward him. Now here's
what brotherly love looks like. Turn to 1 Corinthians 8. And look what Paul says. Would
to God that you and I Would get ahold of this. Verse 13. Wherefore, if meat make my brother
to offend, he's talking about eat meat that he could eat that
had been offered to idle. He said earlier in this chapter,
there's nothing wrong with eating that meat. There's no sin in
it. Tastes good. I mean, they had filet mignon
back then. They had T-bone steak. They had porterhouse steak. I
mean, the food was good, and they'd sacrifice those animals.
They'd put them up in the shambles in the meat market, and you could
buy them and eat them. Nothing wrong with it. I love
meat. I mean, that's my favorite food,
meat. You know, I'd hate to think I couldn't eat meat. If it's
not a meal, there's no meat. I mean, you ask Lynn, what would
happen for dinner? If there's no meat in it, I ain't
going to get it. We have to have meat. They go and buy meat. Now, what
would you think if your brother said, why, that meat's been sacrificed
to idols. You ought not eat that. Well,
I could say, well, you're an idiot. There's nothing wrong
with that. I mean, it's just meat. What does Paul say? He says, wherefore, if meat make
my brother defend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth. lest I make my brother to offend."
Now there's brotherly love. You'll give up your rights, you'll
give up the things that you enjoy, for Christ's sake, for your brother's
sake. Now this is something that I
wish that all of us, by the grace of God, would cultivate. Your personal happiness in this
world is not important. You believe that? Your personal happiness is not
important. And if you seek to be happy,
you're just going to be miserable, and you're gonna make everybody
else miserable. You can just write that down. Your personal
happiness, for Christ's sake, for Christ's sake, do what you
do. And give up whatever needs to
be given up in order to keep from offending your brother.
Now that's That's the love of brethren. That's miraculous,
isn't it? That's the work of God's grace
in a man's heart. Brotherly love. That's what it looks like. And
in our text, it says, let brotherly love continue. I like that word
continue. Don't let it stop. Don't let
it go into hibernation. Let it persevere. The Lord said,
if you continue in my word, there's the same thing. Then you'll be
my disciples. Indeed. Now, this word continue
is translated by six other words in the New Testament. Abide. Let brotherly love abide. If you abide, that means you
don't move. You stay in the same place. Don't
leave brotherly love. This is the greatest thing. Make love your aim. You want
a golden life? Make brotherly love your aim,
your agenda, your purpose. Let it abide. It's also translated
dwell. Let brotherly love be your dwelling
place. That's where we live. Not just
while we're in church. But this is our life, where we
live. It's translated, endure. Let
brotherly love endure. Now, when you endure something,
that means it's not easy. It's not easy. You know, there's some
people, I'm probably one of them, but there's some people, they're
harder to love than other people, aren't they? I mean, there's
some people that are just difficult to love. And what do you do?
You love them. Let brotherly love endure. despite
all the hardships that may be involved. This word is also translated
remain. Let brotherly love remain. Let it still be there when everything
else is gone. I love that passage of Scripture
in 1 Corinthians 13, 13, where Paul said, now abideth, now remaineth,
faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is
what? Love. You see, by faith is one day
going to be turned into sight. I won't need faith anymore. And
that which I hope for, I have a hope to be just like Christ,
but that hope is going to be turned into experience. I won't
have that anymore, but I'll still have love. It abides forever. It means stand or translate stand,
let brotherly love remain stationary. And it's also translated, Terry,
let brotherly love, Terry, you carry in a place where you enjoy
being, don't you like to carry there? One final scripture that
shows the power of brotherly love. And I mean, it's going
to take me four or five minutes to read it, but turn to Acts
chapter seven. Acts chapter seven. Verse 58, this is when Stephen is being
stoned. And they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And
the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet
whose name was Saul. Chapter 8, verse 1, And Saul
was consenting unto his death. Chapter 9, and Saul, yet breathing
out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the
Lord, went unto the high priest and desired of him letters to
Damascus, to the synagogues, that if he found any of this
way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound
unto Jerusalem. Now, Saul was the enemy of the
church. That's evident, isn't it? He
despised Jesus Christ, and he despised everybody who loved
Jesus Christ. He wanted to be killed. He wanted
him put to death. He wanted him in prison. Now,
why did he have such an attitude toward Christ? I mean, he was
different than other folks, wasn't he? Well, here's my theory. It's
a theory. Can't prove it. It's a theory.
I believe the Apostle Paul was the rich young ruler. Now, the
reason I believe that is because in Mark chapter 10, it says the
Lord loved him. If the Lord loved him, he saved
him. The rich young ruler? And Paul
are the only two people in the scriptures who claimed to keep
the law perfectly. Remember the rich young ruler?
When the Lord said, keep the commandments, he said, all these
if I can't, from my youth up. Paul said in Philippians chapter
3, touching the righteousness which is in the law, I'm blameless.
And Paul and the rich young ruler had this in common. What was
the rich young ruler's problem? Covetousness. What was Paul's problem? Covetousness. He was eaten up with covetousness.
He went away from the Lord. He went away grieved. He went
away sad because he had great possessions. And I believe at
that time he made up his mind, I'm going to prove that Jesus
Christ is an imposter. That's just my speculation. But
it's interesting. It may not be so. And Saul, yet
breeding out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples
of the Lord, went unto the high priest and desired of him letters
to Damascus, to the synagogues, that if he found any of this
way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them brown
unto Jerusalem." Now, you know what happened. Verse 10, same
chapter. And there was a certain disciple
of Damascus named Ananias. And to him said the Lord in a
vision, Ananias, and he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. And
the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which
is called straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one
called Saul of Tarsus. For behold, he prayeth. And he hath seen in a vision
a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him,
that he might receive his sight. Then Ananias answered, Lord,
I have heard by many of this man. How much evil he hath done
to thy saints at Jerusalem! And here he hath authority from
the chief priest to bind all that call on the name of the
Lord. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way, for he is a
chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles,
and kings, and children of Israel. For I will show him how great
things he must suffer for my name's sake. And Ananias went
his way. and entered into the house, and
putting his hands on him, remember, he's blind at this time, and
he said, Brother Saul. Now, there's the love of the
brethren. Brother Saul. The Lord, even
Jesus, that appeared to be in the way, as thou camest, hath
sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight. and be filled with
the Holy Ghost, brother soul. Let brotherly love continue. Let's pray.