Brotherly Love Series

D. L. Moody has related a tradition concerning the sight of

Solomon's temple. It seems that the land was occupied by two

brothers. One had a family and the other was unmarried. One

evening after harvesting the wheat, as they sat in their separate

dwellings, the elder brother said to his wife, "My younger brother is

unable to bear the burden and heat of the day. I will arise and put

my shocks with his." The younger brother said to himself, "My

brother has a family with greater need than I. I will arise and put

my shocks with his." They met in the night each with their arms

filled with shocks, and it was on that ground hallowed by such

brotherly love that the temple was erected. Brotherly love was a

great value in the Old Testament, and many of the Old Testament

saints would gladly pray with the poet:

If any lift of mine may ease

The burden of another,

God give me love and care and strength

To help my ailing brother.

There are great examples of brotherly love such as David and

Jonathan, or Ruth and Naomi. Let us remember that though the

word sounds very masculine it includes the female also.

Philadelphia is the Greek word that Peter uses, but this virtue is so

vital a part of New Testament Christianity that often the highest

word for love, which is agape, is also used to described brotherly

love. For example, Jesus in John 13:34 says, "A new commandment

I give unto you, that you love one another: as I have loved you, that

you also love one another." Jesus calls us to put brotherly love on

the same level as His love for us, which is agape love, and agape is

the Greek word used in that verse. Jesus also says that this is a new

commandment. The Old Testament could be summed up in the two

great commandments of loving God with our whole being and our

neighbor as ourselves. Now Jesus says He is adding a third

commandment of love, which is brotherly love, and distinct from

love of neighbor.

Peter has given us these three great commandments as the last

three in this series of essential weapons for Christian victory.

Godliness is love and loyalty to God. Love at the end of the list is

our love to all men; to our neighbor and even toward enemies. But

here in the middle of these two which sum up the whole Old

Testament is the new commandment of Christ to love one another.

This love is exclusively directed toward those who, by faith in

Christ, have become children of God and our brothers. We must

love all who are our brothers before we can love all others. We are

to do good to all men, says Paul, but especially to those who are of

the household of faith. The New Testament makes a great deal of

this brotherly love. So much so that the Apostle John says that if we

do not have it we are not truly Christians. If we say we love God but

hate some brother in Christ, we are liars and deceive ourselves.

Love of God and love of one's fellow Christians are so bound

together that they cannot exist separate from each other. Christians

are to demonstrate to the world that love can unite people of every

race, background, and personality.

The fact that it is made a commandment, and the fact that Peter

and all the Apostles urged Christians to add it to their lives clearly

indicates it is not just an automatic part of the Christian life.

Christians are not automatically lovable to each other. People come

to Christ out of every conceivable background and with every

conceivable personality. They have much that is not in common,

and so it is only as they concentrate on what they do have in

common, namely Jesus Christ, that they can love one another. So

many Christians have a hard time figuring out other Christians and

their values, or beliefs, and they don't know what to do about them.

The answer is as simple to state as the Department of Agriculture

stated it to a man with great pride in his lawn. He was fighting to

keep it free from dandelions, and after trying every known device to

get rid of them, he wrote to the government agency and told them all

he had done. He asked them, "What should I do now?" In due time

they replied, "We suggest you learn to love them."

That is the New Testament demand, and you are to learn to love

all who claim Jesus as Lord and Savior. Brotherly love is not a

matter of affection, but of duty to Christ, and commitment to His