2nd Peter and chapter 1 you you will realize if you've been with us for a while now that we've been going through a series entitled Christian Grow Up. And it's not in the plural, it is in the singular, primarily because it ought to be a matter that each one of us should be concerned about. Christian grow up. And what we've been doing in order to appreciate this is we've been making our way through 2 Peter and chapter one. And it's fairly clear that that is what Peter was concerned about. He was concerned that as believers, we may first of all know that which God has given us, just the fact that we are believers, we have it. And he speaks about the life precious faith that we have all received. But then he goes on to speak about what now we should do in order for us to grow. And that's where we are at the moment. When he says, beginning with verse 5, for this very reason, if we can turn there, verse 5, for this very reason, make every effort, and that's important. every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, steadfastness with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. And again, the point is that you can't just sit there and somehow expect you're growing. You must participate, you must participate actively. You must make every effort in order for you to make spiritual progress. Now we're coming towards the end of that list. We've looked last time at godliness and I was suggesting to you that what Peter was dealing with was like going up a mountain and now beginning to descend. So when he was saying that we should add virtue to faith and knowledge, to virtue and self-control, to knowledge and steadfastness, to self-control and finally godliness, to steadfastness, he was making his way up the ladder because ultimately it is godliness that we are aiming for, to be like God in every way, and therefore enjoy his fellowship on earth that we will indeed be looking forward to enjoying in heaven. And nobody who is not godly will find themselves there. To borrow the words that we find in scripture, without holiness, No one shall see the Lord. Don't hide behind justification by faith because that's only half of what God does in saving us. The other half is that he changes us from the inside out. Then we began to descend and in descending we've noticed that there are two virtues that are supposed to ooze out of us. One is brotherly affection and the other is love. We see that in verse seven. And godliness with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love. What we did last week, was we spent a bit of time, first of all, defining what brotherly love is. And we also went on to look at its roots. And it is something that is actually given to us at the point of our conversion, when we are united to Christ. We enter into a family, and just like any human family has those internal sympathies, in the same way, in the Christian faith, within your heart is born this sense of sympathy for other believers. They may not be your church members, perhaps they're believers, but you work in the same place with them. There is an immediate connectedness that you have with them that you don't have with anybody else. And then finally, we began to look at what this brotherly affection looks like. And that's where we were when we stopped and ran out of time. We saw that it involves forgiving one another, it involves helping others, it involves weeping with those who weep and rejoicing with those who rejoice. So what we're doing this morning is finishing off what it looks like and then going on to speak about how this growth is supposed to be realized, and then finally, what it will be like on the judgment day, whether we had brotherly affection or not. That's the lay of the land that we'll go through, and I hope we can manage that in the next 30 minutes. Okay, so we've already seen something of how this brotherly love looks like on the ground when it is walking on two feet. There is a readiness to overlook the wrongs that are being done to you for the sake of fellowship. There's a readiness to forgive. There is a deliberate effort to help others in their need. And then there is also the weeping and rejoicing with them. Now, three other areas, and then we must rush on. And all these three are still in the physical world. First of all, it makes you use whatever you have to bless other saints. to God's glory. It makes you use whatever you have. And so it's not simply a matter of keep warm, stay well, and so on. Your mind immediately goes into your home. It goes into your bank and it says, what do I have that I can use in order to make my brother's life easier, my sister's life easier? Because if you remember, we're saying it is doing things to ensure the joy of your fellow saints. In the previous book, which is 1 Peter 4, listen to the way Peter puts it. 1 Peter 4, and I'll begin reading from verse 8. It says there, above all, Keep loving one another earnestly. And I'm interested in that earnestly because it will come in a little later. Since love covers a multitude of sins, okay? So that's overlooking the faults of others and also forgiving them. Listen to verse nine. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. Verse 10, as each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. Whoever speaks as one who speaks oracles of God, whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies, in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. So the point there is in verse 10. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another. Whatever it is that the Lord has bestowed on you, Your love, this brotherly love and brotherly affection causes you to want to use it in order for others to be better because you are there. And then it also makes you sacrifice in very practical ways for the good of other saints. Notice what I've said here. Sacrifice in practical ways. Look at 1 John 3. We saw this when we were going through 1 John a few years ago. 1 John 3 and verse 16 to verse 18. The thing I want you to notice there is avoiding the tendency of simply speaking about love and not doing it. 1 John 3 verse 16 to verse 18, By this we know love, that he speaking about Jesus, laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. Now brethren, that's sacrifice. That's sacrifice. That's what Jesus did for us. He actually sacrificed. When we say he laid down his life for us, we know what he did. He actually went to the cross. He died in our place. That's the ultimate. And the Bible is saying, we must lay down our lives for the brothers. Now listen to this, but if anyone has this world's goods, and then sees his brother in need, and yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? So you have the means, and you know that in order to help, this will be a sacrifice. But he's saying that's what God did for you. So you ought to easily therefore move ahead and do it for one another. Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in love. So that's the second way in which this love manifests itself. It's not by what we can spare or what we can easily spare. It is that we are actually sacrificing for the needs of others. And a good example is the way in which it was manifested in the early church, which is my third point. So if we just quickly go to Acts 2 and Acts 4, I want you to notice how the brethren in the early church were actually selling their property. Can you imagine? Selling their property in order to look after those who were poor among them. a sacrifice, selling their property. And these are not their relatives. In fact, they didn't even sort of know upfront who they were helping. They simply sold and brought the funds to the church leaders and said, please help the brethren, help the brethren. Look at this, Acts 2 and verse 45. Acts 2 and verse 45, I begin from verse 44. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were sending their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. Chapter four, chapter four. I begin from verse 32. Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul. And no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Again, verse 34, there was not a needy person among them. For as many as were owners of lands or houses, sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet. And it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the Apostles Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the Apostles' feet. Why? That's brotherly affection. That's brotherly kindness. That's Philadelphia, as we saw last week. It is you saying, why should I be abundantly blessed? And then I'm among brethren who are struck in war. After all, what will happen when I die? As the member said, so I might as well make use of what I have in order for the brethren to be able to bless God on the final day, on the judgment day, because I lived, because I was blessed. So these are the physical ways that it's evident the New Testament church was carrying out brotherly affection. That it wasn't just people saying I love you with the love of the Lord. They were doing it in practice. They were using the things that God gave to them. But inevitably, because it is this brotherly sympathy, and because it is of a spiritual nature, it also flows into the spiritual world. And if you remember, we did an entire series on the one and others of the Bible. And you find that inevitably, these one and others are because of brotherly affection. For instance, when the Bible says, accept one another, what is it that's going to make you accept brothers and sisters? who tend to rub you the wrong way, who are not as complete as you are, for instance, in doctrine and practice. Well, it is because of brotherly affection that is what causes you to accept them. The Bible says, pray for one another. Again, what is it that's going to make you turn your church directory into a prayer guide? What's going to make you do that? because often we just pray for people we already know, those who already are friends. But what is it that's going to make, to move you to start praying for a Dick Banda or a John Warrior whom you don't even know and you say, well look, it's my brother, it's my sister. These are individuals who are in the Lord. Let me be able to specifically pray for them. Well, it's the brotherly affection. That's what moves you. That's what moves you. When you get news of individuals who have died, you remember they've got their spouses, they've got their children who are affected. You pray. You hear of news of brethren who are sick. Again, you pray for them. You think of those who are struggling with school fees, and consequently they've been kicked out of school and college, and you know you can't help financially. You at least know I can be on my knees praying that the Lord might be able to come through for them. And so on praying for those that have backslidden, you want the Lord to bring them back into a a spiritual walk with themselves, and you deliberately make them a martyr for prayer. The Bible says, encourage one another. It says, exhort one another. And all these one another's, again, it moves you into action. Because it's not just physical needs. They are believers who are going through difficult spiritual times. They are discouraged. And consequently, you deliberately go out of your house. You go to visit them in their home in order for you to speak a word of encouragement, to move them forward. That's the way life ought to be with us, with one another. So brotherly affection, what does it look like? It is in terms of you stepping out of your comfort zone to deliberately meet the needs of the saints because you want them to experience joy in the Lord. And therefore, you are up and about, doing the best that you can. Now, remember, this passage is about growing, okay? Christians grow up. So what does this growth look like? Well, it's about adding, first of all, isn't it? You are adding brotherly affection. But how do you add brotherly affection? There are at least three ways, and the Bible teaches that. First of all, it is in terms of quantity. In other words, doing more. And secondly, it's in terms of intensity. That is being fervent as you are doing this. And then lastly, it is in terms of sincerity. In other words, purity of motive. Let's quickly go through each one of them. Let's begin with quantity. 1 Thessalonians and chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians and chapter 4. Look at the way Paul puts it. And what I want you to notice, as we look at that in verse nine, is first of all, Paul takes it for granted that if you are a believer, you do have brotherly affection. Because at your conversion, the Spirit of God put it in you. But now, he wants to see more quantity. More quantity. Look at this. First Thessalonians of the four and verse nine. Now concerning brotherly love, you have no need for anyone to write to you. For you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another. So it's already happened. Are you a Christian? Well, one thing I can take for granted about you is that you do have brotherly love. You don't have it? Well, it's because you're not a Christian. Simple. But listen to this. For that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. So it's love that's going beyond the local church. It's spreading out to other churches in the province. There's a need there. You are doing something about it. Now listen to this. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more. None of us want to sit there saying, well, yeah, at least if I look back in the last month, in the last two months, in the last one year, I was able to help here and help there and so on. And then you sort of, Pat yourself on the back. I'm doing well. No, no, no. He's saying, stretch yourself further. Grow, grow, grow. And the way in which you grow is the way in which you are pushing yourself further in being a brother's keeper, both materially and spiritually. You are pushing yourself. You are pushing the boundaries. Let's grow. That's growth bravery. That's what it looks like. It is never being satisfied with the levels at which you are today being helpful, sympathetic to the bravery. We want to do this more and more. Secondly, it is in terms of earnestness. It is in terms of earnestness. Let's go back to 1 Peter. Let's go back to 1 Peter. And chapter 1, verse 22. Keep your finger there, because I want you to go back to chapter four, where we were previously. And I want you to notice this, because I mentioned it. Chapter four, verse eight, above all, keep loving one another, here's the phrase, earnestly, earnestly. We find the same in chapter one and verse 22. Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly. Love one another earnestly. Now brethren, you cannot miss where they zeal. You cannot miss where there's ferocity. You cannot miss when somebody really, really wants to help you. There's some people who are here hoping you'll turn them down. The moment they say, no, no, it's OK, OK. That was actually their prayer. That's not what Paul is talking about here. Rather, Peter is talking about here. Peter is talking about where you're still insisting, no, take. If you don't need it now, you may still need it one day. Here! And people cannot miss the fact that here is a person who is going the extra mile. There is energy, there is zeal, there is fervency in the expression of brotherly love, brotherly affection. If they're visiting the hospital, it won't just be one place they want to visit. They've just said this evening, we are visiting as many of the sick people that we know in there. And it will be word after word after word. Because they really want to visit those who are unwell. These are brethren unwell. They go out of their way. You can't miss it. their hearts are in it. And even when they are praying for the one who is unwell, you can't miss the fact that it's not just a shopping list. They're going through, you know, pray for this one, heal the other one, heal the other one. There's heart and soul and mind and everything that is in that prayer. That's how we grow. It's growing in earnestness, in fervency, in zeal with respect to the various needs of the brethren. And then thirdly, and lastly, it's in terms of sincerity. In fact, in this text, he says it twice, and there's no doubt that that's where his heart is. Having purified your souls. Why are you referring to the purity here? And he's referring to the purity that took place at conversion. As he says there, by your obedience to the truth, And then he says, for a sincere brotherly love. Sincere brotherly love. But it doesn't stop there. Listen to this. Love one another earnestly. And then he adds, from a pure heart. From a pure heart. In other words, the thing that is true of us in our early stages of the Christian faith is that we are still carrying so much worldliness that there's such a big mixture. When we are helping anybody, often it's because we want other people to know we are helping. Part of spiritual growth is whether the world knows or not, is the other part. Because you are moved by the family sympathy, the spiritual family sympathy. That's the one thing on your mind. And so you want to be of help. Have you noticed? Maybe you've never because you're very innocent. But have you noticed how, you know, once a beautiful young lady joins a church, how the young men become very helpful? Maybe you've never noticed. God bless you. But they really want to help with transport. You find at the young lady's home, four cars have arrived. They all want to ferry her to church. And they all promise after the church service, I'll take you back. I'll take you back. What do you need? And so on and so forth. We really just want to encourage you. Sending text messages to encourage. Very spiritual. Until she starts saying no to all of them. So what was the motive? Now of course if you challenge them at that point, no, no, no, we are concerned about the sister, we are very concerned. Until she said no. So where has the concern gone? That's why Peter is saying here, let love be sincere. Attention to one another without intention on any particular one. Remember that. Attention to one another without intention on any particular one. You grow in purity of heart. You grow insincerity. You genuinely want to help this person and that person. That's all there is. No alloy, no mixture whatsoever. You want to see them happy. Is that what's happening in your life? Are you making progress? Are you growing? Are you Can you look back to five years, 10 years ago, to the early years of your Christian life, and when you compare to now, in these areas, you are saying, yes, I have not yet arrived, I agree, but I can certainly see progress. There's less of me and more of others. As the Lord blesses me, I want to bless other people more and more and more. Oh, if only I had more time and more money and more this and more the other so that I could indeed spend and be spent even more. Is that what's going on? or have you sat back? And you're now just flowing with the rhythm. No real personal energy in you. Well, let's end with the judgment day. Matthew chapter 25. Here's one passage that evangelicals don't like. It's talking about the final day of judgment. And there's nothing there about did you receive me as a personal Lord and Savior. There's nothing there. Check if you please. Rather, entry into heaven is based on this. Did you do this for the little ones? The least of my brothers, did you do this? Let's read it, beginning with verse 31. When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. and he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the king will say to those on his right, come, you who are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. On what basis is he welcoming them in? Well, he answers, verse 35, four, listen to this, I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirst and give you drink? And when did we see you strange and welcome you, or naked and clothed you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the king will answer, truly, I said to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me. Then he will say to those on his left, depart from me, you cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Why? Because of adultery? Because of murder? Because of telling lies? Because of theft and fraud? None of those. Let's read the reasons he gives. Verse 42, for I was hungry. and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger. and you did not welcome me naked, and you did not clothe me sick and in prison, and you did not visit me. Then they also will answer saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you? Then you will answer them saying, truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, You did not do it to me. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. If this was written by an uninspired person, we would have all said, Harris seems to be teaching salvation by works. Harris. It was written by an inspired author, Matthew. More than that, he was an eyewitness of the one who actually said those words. And the one who said those words was Jesus. The very one who will be judging, by the way. And he's the one who was saying, On that day, I won't be asking about, was there a day when you answered the altar call? Was there a day when you repeated the sinner's prayer? Was there a day when you asked me to forgive you? Rather, I'll be looking at whether love was born in your heart. That's what I'll be looking for. Because those whom I have saved, I give them love for my other brothers and sisters. So let me put it like this to you. This matter we're talking about is a matter of eternal life and eternal death. Look at your last one week. Look at what you spent your time and energy and money on in the midst of a very needy world, where your brothers and sisters in Christ need you to pray for them, to encourage them, to exalt them. to help the material. What was happening? Was your life lived only for three people? Me, myself, and I? And then anyone else, it's by accident. It's because someone else reminded you that, yes, they were going to visit that brother or that sister, and, oh, yeah, let's go together. Or even then you probably said, no, I'm too busy. Life is very busy. I've got a house that I must build. I've got land that I must buy. I've got some money I need to make here also. It's money, money, money, money, money. Here's my plea. Don't think Jesus has saved you until he has changed your heart from being self-centered to being God-centered. And the proof of it is not the God you can't see. It is God's children whom you can see. That's the proof. It's not because you've been baptized in this food. It's not because you've been accepted as a church member at Kabwatha Baptist Church. Never. I hate to say it, but it is true that some Kabwatha Baptist Church members are going to hell. I just hope I'm not one of them. I hate to say it, but if the Bible is true, every church is a mixture. And we still do have too many people who just come to church, go through the process of worship, quickly jump into their cars, and gone until next week. There's no involvement whatsoever in the lives of God's people. Never, never, never, a thousand times never. And they can be here 10 years. Friends, that's the back door to hell, trust me. It doesn't lead you to heaven. Those whom Jesus has saved, he gives them his heart, the heart of love, God's love. And you can't miss it because you bump into them wherever you go. Ministering to the saints, you bump into them. They're spending time with the brethren. Spending time. Because they are affected by the needs of others. There is the sympathy. And they give what the Lord has blessed them with. In order that others may rejoice, may smile. I want to say again, search yourself Let me put it like this to you. The most dangerous place on earth is on a membership list of a church. Because it stops you from examining yourself. You start taking it too much for granted. After all, I was processed. I must be okay. And you go to spiritual sleep. And even when the Bible is searching you out. You are not putting yourself there. It's dangerous. It's dangerous. So I'm pleading with you. If you find that although you are a church member, that connectivity that wells up from inside automatically and drives you to love the saints. If you find it's missing, cry to Christ. Don't try and argue yourself out of that situation. Cry to Christ. Plead with Him. that his love may evidently be flowing through you. And then if you're a true believer, here's the point, that it might flow through you more and more. That to be able to look in the face of one another, And please, saying, brother, let me be your savior. Let me be like Christ to you. Allow me to be a blessing in your life. Please. I see your need. I want to help. Now, that's Christianity. That's Christianity. May that be your cry. Amen.