I'd like to ask you now to open your Bibles once more to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. We are gradually working our way through this book, and I hope that you are beginning to see the things that Paul desired in that early church. This is one of the earliest books written in the New Testament. very early on in the history of the church, probably somewhere in the early 50s AD, when Paul was there in Thessalonica, had left there. He's writing probably from Corinth after leaving there. And so this is early in the church. early in this particular church's history, and yet it's interesting, all of the doctrines and teaching that are clear that Paul had given them. He did not leave them orphans. One of the things we talk about with church planting and missions is that we need to have a right ecclesiology, that is, a right understanding of what is the church, because if we're going out to plant churches, we will plant churches like the one we came from. We don't know anything else. And so, when we go out and evangelize and hope to see God raise up churches, how will they be organized? How will they operate? What will they teach? What kind of doctrine will they have? All depends on where we came from. And so, Paul is giving them wonderful doctrine in this book, and the following book, 2 Thessalonians, And last week we talked at great length about the doctrine of sanctification and how important that is and how that is one of the things that is missing in the modern American church. There's no sanctification. There is no sense of need for holiness in our personal lives, in the way we behave. And just recently I was talking with a young lady that I met through other situation, and she was talking about how involved she was at her church, and how much she loved her church, and how good her church was to her. And then she proceeded to go on and talk about what she was going to do that evening with her friends. And it did not bear much resemblance to what she'd been talking about regarding her church. It was like there was this disconnect between, well, that's my church life, but this is my personal life. And so what we see in church history is that Real churches practiced church discipline. And that's one of the things that's missing. And what that does in a church when they begin to hold one another accountable is that there is some motivation toward holiness, some motivation to behave as a Christian ought. And so, Paul had given quite clear instruction about how they were to be acting toward one another, and especially regarding their own personal purity. And now we come to look at verse 8 of chapter 4. He says, consequently, he who rejects this is not rejecting man, but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you. And so a person who says, well, yeah, that's none of your business. I have my rights. I have a right to my happiness. I have a right to whatever. Which means, don't you dare judge me. Judge not. You'll hear that quite often, the one verse that all of the pagan world knows. And what they mean by that is, don't you dare tell me that anything I'm doing is sin. Don't you dare. And so, Paul says, a person who rejects that, rejects that teaching, is not rejecting man. It's not my opinion, God said it. And they're rejecting God. And so that's a very serious issue. And then he comes to this issue, he says now, as to the love of the brethren, You have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. This should be as natural a part of being a Christian as love for Christ. There should be a love for one another. And once again, that is something that is missing in the modern American church of a genuine love for the brethren. As a pastor, I can say one of the things that's such a struggle for a pastor is you want folks to, like we say, get it, to understand, to plug in, to be part. And there is, especially in our day, a very hard resistance to the idea of being committed to a local church. I used to know a fellow who attended here. And he said, well, I'm a member wherever I go. I'm a member of the universal body of Christ, and therefore I'm a member wherever I am. Well, that's nice, but you'll note that he's not here. And why is that? Well, as soon as he heard something he didn't agree with, boom! He was out the door. And why does that happen? Well, it is this mentality of our day of, I'm a free agent. I don't answer to anybody. The Word tells us to love one another. In order to love one another, you actually have to know them. You actually have to be involved with them. You have to have time with them. And so the person who kind of floats around and goes here and goes there, they never actually plug in. They're never actually involved in that one local body. And this permeates everything of Christianity. It's interesting that there are many, many, many passages about love for the brethren. And the Lord Jesus himself told the disciples, the way that the world will know that you love me is because you will what? Love one another. If you love me, you'll love one another. It's interesting that we see this from the very beginning in Christ's teaching. If you would turn with me to Matthew chapter 6. I don't know if you've ever noticed this or not. In Matthew chapter 6, The Lord Jesus is giving them instruction in how to pray. And no, He's not giving them some sort of magic prayer that they can say over things and it's, you know, say this so many times and this will happen or that. What He's giving us is an outline of how to pray. In fact, he tells us in chapter 6, verse 8, don't be like the Gentiles that think they're heard because they repeat themselves constantly. Don't be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Isn't that interesting? Why does God want us to pray if He already knows what we need? He's the sort that likes to be asked. What joy it is for a parent when the child actually comes and asks dad or mom for what it is they need. They're recognizing that all that they receive comes from dad and mom. And for us, everything we receive we know comes from God. And God loves His children to ask Him. And so look at that verse, in verse 9, he says, Pray then in this way, Our Father. What does that indicate? Our father. It's not my father, it's our father. We come together in prayer, we're saying our, and we're saying our father, that is a recognition that we are brothers. Does it not? If my brothers and I were to go to our dad and we would say, Dad, you're ours. What does that mean? We're brothers. We can come to Him and ask Him for things. Our Father. It's amazing to me in the American church that you'll even see books on prayer say, well, say it this way. Say, my Father. Make it personal. Unless you missed on grammar, our is a personal pronoun. Our Father. How important that is. And so, when we think about the church and the local church, it is all to be about loving one another. That's why churches come together. They come together for many reasons, but the only thing that will hold them together is love. You can come together for all kinds of reasons. But the only thing that will keep you there is love. I want you to look at that verse again of what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians. He says, As to love the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. What you find out as you read, especially in 1 John, is that this is one of the tests to find out if you're even a Christian. How can I know if I'm a believer? Well, how do you feel about the church? What is your relationship with your local church? If you have no relationship with your local church, you probably have no relationship with Christ either. There was a book some time back, they love Jesus but hate the church. They don't love Jesus either, don't kid yourself. They love a Jesus of their own imagination. And so we see here that this should be the natural outgrowing of the work of the Spirit of God. Look at this with me at 1 John chapter 3. It's interesting that John and Paul and Peter all repeat the same thing, and James is included as well. The writers of the New Testament understood that this was the hallmark of being a Christian. Look at 1 John 3, verse 14. In fact, start with verse 13. Do not marvel, brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Wow! That's a pretty strong statement, isn't it? You see, for the local church, what should be the hallmark of who they are, that witness to the world, is their love for one another. They care about one another. Now, there's churches that are known all over for, well, you know, they have the best band, they have the best music department. Well, we certainly don't, do we? They'll be known for, well, they have this great homeless outreach, or they have this great this or that. And down underneath, the only thing that God says that really matters is their love for one another inside. Yes, it's a good thing to care about poor people, it's a good thing to worship God enthusiastically, but unless there is genuine love between the brothers themselves, they're frauds. Look at this just a few verses farther. John says in 3.15, everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. One who hates his brother. And so, he's speaking to them as though they were all Christians, calling one another brother, and yet if there's hatred between them, there is a deep spiritual problem. I remember there's a local church right here in the valley. A number of years ago, they had a pastor who was teaching, well, frankly, heresy from the pulpit. It was rank heresy. He was teaching that Christ had already returned. If this is heaven, it stinks, is my reaction to that. But there was a meeting in the church. They were trying to sort this out and hold him to account. And one of the deacons that supported that pastor in his teaching challenged one of the deacons who opposed him to a fist fight in the parking lot. You can't make this stuff up. Now, I know maybe a Presbyterian would say that never would have happened there, but don't kid yourself if you ever read the history of Scotland. Anyway, they were hating one another. How does that happen? Well, frankly, what is going on there, a person who's behaving that way probably has no real relationship with Christ at all. He's a good, strong church man, but he knows not the love of Christ. And so, John goes on to say this, we know love by this that He lay down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. We see that and we don't really have a context for that. But in their time, To stand with brothers in Christ could cost you everything. All of your property and even your life. Could we stand for Christ then? Well, we don't know, do we? Until that comes. By this we know love, He laid down His life for us. Now let's go back and look at some other passages as well. Paul talks about this in the book of Romans. I'll warn you right now, you're going to exercise your Bible this morning. It may say church on the outside, but really we're a gymnasium here for exercising our Bibles. So, Romans 12. In Romans 12, Paul is talking about what it looks like to not be conformed to the world. and what it looks like for a church to be walking with Him. In verse 4 He says, as we have many members in one body, all the members do not have the same function. So we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members one of another. He talks about this in 1 Corinthians as well, that the very idea of one member of the human body saying to the other, I don't want you, There are strange medical conditions where a human body will begin to reject another part of the body. What follows is death. That can happen in a human body, but the reality is it's death. But in a Christian body, when one does not except that the other one is, it's already in trouble. Paul goes on to say in 12.6 in Romans, and since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us each exercise them accordingly. If prophecy according to the proportion of his faith, if service in his serving, he who teaches in his teaching, he who exhorts in his exhortation, he who gives with liberality, he who leads with diligence, he who shows mercy with cheerfulness. And so he's talking about that interaction of the body. One of the things that's hard for smaller churches is having enough help. Just having folks that you can rely on to carry on the work of the ministry. One of the great frustrations to me is I know people who are talented in various ways here in this town that would rather go to the big mega church because they can slip in unseen and leave unseen but enjoy the show. And yet if they were willing to serve in a small church, they could have great ministry to others. They may not be a good enough pianist, let's say, to play at the big church, but someone like us, we rejoice when we have folks who will play the piano. I've got nothing but respect for somebody that can do that. I can't. And so, he's talking about there in the church that each one serving. And then look at verse 9. Let love be without hypocrisy. It's interesting that word hypocrisy comes from a word that means two faces. in Greek theater, that you were a long way, it wasn't like you have the great big screen in your living room. They would be sitting a long ways away. So how do you know this person who's saying these lines, are they happy or sad? They had two masks that they would hold up. One smiling, one frowning. And so you knew that when they put that mask up, oh, this is happy. Oh, this is sad. It's kind of like the, The clap sign, if you go to a filming of a TV show, they'll tell them when to applaud. You ever wonder how they know that? There's a big sign that tells them to do so. And so, they knew when these lines are happy or sad. And it's that idea of, this is not the real me, this is this mask or that mask. The old joke by Abraham Lincoln, he was accused once of being two-faced, and he was very self-deprecating of his own looks, and he asked the crowd, this fellow he was debating accused him of being two-faced, and he said, if you had two faces, would you wear this one? But when we talk about hypocrisy, that's what hypocrisy is. We are showing one face, And underneath, it's a different face. And so he says, let love be without hypocrisy. Have you known folks like that? They pretend to be really nice to you until they can get that knife into your back? There are folks like that. How does Paul say to Hannah? Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. And then look at verse 10. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Give preference to one another in honor. This is what love of the brothers looks like, is I'm not always out trying to get the credit. Oh, look at me, look at me. I was in a church meeting one night where they were voting to remove their pastor. He had had the audacity of asking the music department to sing certain hymns one Sunday that fit with the sermon he was preaching, and they were offended because it offended their artistic expression. You can't make this stuff up. What was going on there? They were not being devoted to one another and giving preference to one another in honor. Bottom line in churches, what holds churches together is brotherly love. Now, I know that there have been people who made a big deal about the various words that the Greek language has for love. And there's basically four. Three of them appear in Scripture. But basically, there are four various ideas of love. The first Greek word for love that most people are familiar with through experience is eros. And that's the one that doesn't show up in scripture, interestingly enough. But it is that idea of romantic love and physical attraction. We have the word erotic, which relates to that. It's that attraction of the senses. And then there is another word in Greek called storge. And storge is that, how can I describe it? It's that love of a mother dog for the puppies. It's that cuddling and nurturing kind of love. The two words that we talk about most in scripture are phileo and agape. And there have been teachers that spent a long time really delineating between the two and saying, well, this one is this, and it's not really as strong a term as that one, for instance, phileo and agape. But I want to show you in a passage that the New Testament basically uses them synonymously. And so, don't get caught up in saying, well, that's brotherly love, and this one over here is God's love. Agape is that self-giving love, and phileo is that love between family, between brothers. The term Philadelphia, brotherly love, is one word. We have a city called Philadelphia. There's not much brotherly love there, but that's what the term means, is love for brothers. But I want to show you something in 1 Peter 1, verse 22. He says, since you have in obedience to the truth, purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren. Philadelphia, brotherly love. Fervently love, agape, one another from the heart. He is taking the two together and saying, here is what it means. To have brotherly love is to have agape love. As we had our opening call to worship, we were reading 1 Corinthians 13, and that passage over and over and over again reminds us of what love is. And in that case, Paul was using the term agape. But right alongside of it, he will give us these instructions on brotherly love. The two go hand in hand. Don't get caught up in separating, well that's this and that's that. We are to be loving one another and we're to be loving one another in a self-giving way. Let's turn back again to Romans chapter 12 to remind ourselves what Paul was talking about. Romans 12 verse 10, he says, Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Give preference to one another in honor. And so there you see that brotherly love and what does it look like? Oh, it looks like agape love in giving preference to one another in honor. Let's look at another passage in Hebrews chapter 13. In Hebrews 13, now, I know that various scholars have argued over who wrote Hebrews. I happen to belong to the camp that believes that it was written by Paul, but I wasn't there and his signature is not on it, so it's merely a guess. But Hebrews 13.1 says, let love of the brethren continue. This is a command. This is something that's hard for us in English. English does not have a real command form in our verbs. People will read this and say, let love of the brethren continue, and they read into that, permit. It's not what it means. This is a command. Love of the brethren is to continue. How do we get a command in English? We do it tonally in English. We raise our voice. We will say it louder. We will say it more firmly. But in most other languages, there's a verb form that helps us see that. English just doesn't have it. And so here, we use that term, let. It is, let this happen. This shall be. This shall happen. That love of the brethren continue. Turn a little further on to 1 Peter again. We looked at 1 Peter 1, now let's look at 1 Peter chapter 3. I want you to take away from this that this is the overwhelming teaching of Scripture of love of the brethren, who are my brothers. Well, in a family, you know who your brothers and sisters are. They grew up with you there. In a church, those who profess Christ are to be assumed to be your brothers unless they prove differently. Sometimes through various things that happen in church. Well, we'll look at that. In 1 Peter 3 verse 8, He says to sum up. Let all be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, that is, brotherly love, kind-hearted, and humble in spirit. Not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead, for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. How do we learn to love one another? Well, the local church is the best place. You get thrown in with a whole bunch of weird people like this one. And you begin to learn each other's quirks and maybe some of their annoying habits. And do you still... You don't have to answer this out loud. Do you have perhaps an uncle that is a little weird? Most families have one of those. Do you still love him? Why? He's related to you. Is it dad's brother or mom's brother? And you love one another in spite of the quirks. In spite of that. And in the church it's the same thing. We learn to love one another in the church and we come to rejoice in maybe some of those funny things people do. I know that we're all just really easy to get along with. I personally am a lovable little fuzzball. And we learn to love one another, and we learn to put up with those things that bug us. Why do we do that? Well, he says it there, let all be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kind-hearted, humble in spirit. One of the things to understand is that we are all growing bit by bit and piece by piece, and God is at work in us. And yeah, sometimes it takes a long, long time, doesn't it? Look at what Peter goes on to say, not returning evil for evil or insult for insult. I don't know about you, Have you ever wanted to tell somebody off? Pray you never have the opportunity. I have never had an experience where I finally, you know, I got to just unload the whole load. Have you ever done that? Just give them everything in the arsenal. Not a single time do they ever go, oh, if you'd only told me that, I would have behaved differently. No, what happens then is the fight's really on, isn't it? That's the reality of it. And the thing I love about Peter and Paul is he talks to these people as though they're real people. That there may be some danger of returning evil for evil or insult for insult. They're genuine people, they're walking with God, they're learning slowly, they're being sanctified, but it's a long, lifelong process. Be patient. Be patient with one another. giving a blessing instead, for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing." God is so good to us, and I find it interesting in Acts, it says that the Lord added to the church those who were being saved. And you can bet that there were some of those that were being added that there were others like, oh great, he saved Fred. I don't think we have any Freds here so I can pick on that name. Are there folks in your life that you actually hope the Lord never saves them so you don't have to put up with them in church? Wouldn't that be a horror? But yeah, that's a danger for us. These were real people that God was saving. And He was bringing together a Barnabas and a Paul. And later Silas and Paul. And these were men who were very different personalities. I get the feeling studying the New Testament that the Apostle Paul might have been one of those people that was a little difficult to live with on a day-to-day basis. Kind of pushy. Sort of that type A personality we talk about. And yet God places men like Paul and men like Barnabas, who's a son of encouragement, together in the ministry. Look at some other passages with me. Look at 2 Peter. In 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 7. Peter gives this list of things that should be appearing in our lives if we are walking with God, if we have become partakers of God's nature. Look at verse 5. Now for this reason also, applying all diligence in your faith supply moral excellence. He is talking about us walking by faith, walking in the Spirit, and actually seeking and being diligent that these things should be part of our lives. Maybe you've heard that statement, let go and let God. It is not scriptural. That may sound very holy and nice, but the reality is walking with Christ, focusing on Christ, learning from the Word is hard work. And if you're going to walk with God, you're going to have to buckle down and actually do it. And not just sit dreamily hoping for some mystic experience that somehow suddenly you'll be holy. It's not going to happen if you're not actually seeking for it. If you're not meditating on the Word of God. If you're not thinking about Christ-likeness. If you're not studying. Applying all diligence. In your faith, supply moral excellence. In your moral excellence, knowledge. We're to be growing in knowledge. In your knowledge, self-control. That covers a whole wide variety of things. In your self-control, perseverance. In your perseverance, godliness. In your godliness, brotherly kindness. And in your brotherly kindness, Christian love. Notice how you have brotherly love and agape love together that you can't separate the two. Look what Peter says, for if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Are these things going on in your life? How can you continue that way? He says, he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, look at what he says again, be all the more diligent to make certain about his calling and choosing you. King James says, make your calling and election sure. Make sure about that. How can I be sure that I am called of God? Now the whole question of election is not a question for before Christianity, before salvation, but afterwards it is a legitimate question, am I truly walking with God? Am I truly a child of God? Is this a reality in my life? Paul tells the Corinthian church two different times, examine yourself. I grew up in a church that told me that if I ever examined myself, I was doubting God and blaspheming. What nonsense! We ought to be looking introspectively. Why do we spend time, before we celebrate the Lord's table each time, examining ourselves? Is this a reality in my life? And so Peter says, Be more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you, for as long as you practice these things, you'll never stumble. How can I know that I'm walking with God? Well, there's going to be a desire for these things, of knowledge of God, of brotherly kindness, of loving the brethren. Interesting. Here's another passage. I just keep going on and on. Let's go back to Romans chapter 15. You understand I deliberately do this. I want you to know that Bible like the back of your hand. It should be your one place you go for everything you need to know. It needs to be so familiar to you that you can say, you know what? We just looked at this verse on Sunday. Romans 15.30 says this. Look at it with me. Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me. Here's one of the reasons we have brotherly love. It's that we would be striving in prayer for one another. How can I legitimately and intelligently pray for someone unless I actually know them? Why do we have this list of folks that we pray for when we talk about praying for the saints each Sunday? These are missionaries and missions that at least I know personally and have made you aware of. I remember years ago we would have a missions moment here and we'd pray for, you know, sister that or brother that, and we had no idea who these people were. How can you pray intelligently for them? But when you know these people, like Paul knew these believers, then you can begin to really strive in prayer for them. When you hear of a brother or a sister who is suffering in some way, then you can really devote yourself to prayer. Strive together with me in your prayers, in the love of the Spirit. Here's another. Let's look at 2 Corinthians chapter 13. Paul puts it this way in 2 Corinthians 13 verse 11. Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you. Notice how many times Paul and Peter and John talk about brothers, brothers, brothers, brothers. Why is that? Well, we are brothers in Christ. If we know Christ, if Christ is our Savior, as we were studying about the atonement, if He laid down His life for us, then we are one in Christ. We are co-heirs with Christ. Do you understand that in that sense, Christ is our brother as well? He's that great hero eldest brother. Isn't that wonderful? And so, in our love for one another, it's to be that kind of love. Look with me in another passage. In Galatians, just one book over. Galatians 5.13. He says, for you were called to freedom, brethren. Only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. What does brotherly love look like? Well, we serve one another. Oh, if I could just help you understand the kind of love that I long to see among us. And I know we love one another here. I'd love to see more. I'd love to see more people here that are loved in the same way. It has been so good for me, the trips into Latin America and meeting brothers there, and loving them and experiencing that kind of joy that we have. I'm going to a family reunion this week. Dear brothers in the faith that just rejoice to see you and you rejoice to see them, how wonderful that is. Look at Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians 6 verse 23. He says, Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with a love incorruptible. Look at Philippians chapter 4. We're just working through a whole bunch of passages here. Philippians 4-1. Therefore, my beloved brethren, whom I long to see, my joy and crown, so stand firm in the Lord, my beloved. These were brothers that he loved. Now let's go back to 1 Thessalonians again, and look at that passage now, thinking about what is Paul talking about when he says, now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. And he says, for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in old Macedonia, but we urge you, brethren, to excel still more. So he's not upbraiding them, he's not correcting them. He's saying, I know that you love one another. God has taught you to love one another. You're loving your neighbors there, the other brothers there in Macedonia. That would be like us caring for other brothers in the Grand Valley and maybe beyond. How is that going to play out in my life? It's interesting how he puts it. Excel still more and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life. and to attend to your own business, and work with your hands just as we commanded you." The brothers there were to be caring for one another, and how can I care for others? How can I do things for others? By sticking to my business. It's interesting that the entire, what they talk about, the Puritan work ethic, which is quickly disappearing in our country. But that idea of working for a living was that when the Reformation took place, that division between clergy and laity was destroyed. And yes, we have leaders in the church, we continue to do so because God has ordained such a thing, but the Roman church had laid this burden upon the church that the clergy were the spiritual ones and the laity were not. And so there were some who really walked with God and were like on the inside track, and everybody else, what you did in your daily life really didn't have anything to do with what went on in church. And why do we have the issues we have today in our churches today? It's that same dichotomy of saying, oh, that's my personal life. Don't you bother me about my personal life, and yet in the Reformation they came to understand that everything we do is to be in worship of God. Everything. Whatever my job is, whether I work at the construction company, or work down at the fast food place, or if I work like various ones here do, have various kinds of employment, all of that is to be done for the glory of God. It is an act of worship to do so. If I viewed my job that way, would I behave differently on the job? Would I be more dedicated? Would I be less troublesome an employee? Perhaps so. So Paul says, lead a quiet life. Attend to your own business. Man, have you ever been around folks that just want to stick their nose in yours all the time? Why is that? They're not busy enough elsewhere. Attend to your own business. Work with your hands as we commanded you. And look at why. So that you may behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need. How is the world going to know that we're Christians? Remember how Jesus said it? By your love for one another. Right? Why is it that so many churches have such a terrible reputation with the world around them? Well, part of that is that they're not very biblical churches in the first place. Many of those in those churches have no knowledge of Christ or the Word. But even in churches where the Word is taught and they have a high standard of what salvation means, How are we behaving? Are we leading a quiet life, attending to our own business, working with our hands, so that you may behave properly toward outsiders? The world is watching us. Don't kid yourself. Don't kid yourself. And, he says, and not be in any need. The church itself cared for one another. Now, I don't know about you, but here at the church, I get phone calls all the time. Somebody says, hey, I'm from out of town, I've run out of gas, I need help, I need blah, blah, blah. And they'll usually preface it, well, I'm a member of a church back home, okay? Of course, what I say is, could you give me the name of that church and the name of the pastor and their address? I'd like to contact them regarding you. Then the crickets start chirping. We're to care for one another. And don't get me wrong that I don't believe it's wrong to have like, for instance, a soup kitchen for the homeless. But don't kid yourself, that's not what the Bible is talking about, about serving our brothers. They may be fellow human beings, but first and foremost, we are to care for fellow Christians. That's what was going on in the early church. They were caring for each other. That's where that began. Now it spilled over and helped others as well, but that was not the focus of their ministry. And the very idea of going out and giving away food with the idea of luring people into church, it doesn't work. It doesn't. Because how are people saved? By the gospel or a sandwich? It would be a terrible thing if we sent the whole world to hell with full tummies, and without the gospel. We begin with the gospel, and we care for one another, and in our caring for one another, that will spill over into caring for our neighbors and outsiders as well. Look at now 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 3. Paul goes on in 2 Thessalonians. We'll be looking at this in a few weeks when we get there. We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater. Therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure." And how did they survive those persecutions and afflictions? They actually loved one another. And so I would say today, search your own heart. Do you have love for the brethren? Do you love the people of God? It's one of the evidences of genuine and saving faith. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you for putting Your love in our hearts, causing us to love one another. I pray, Lord, for this church, that You would build us up in more love for one another. Father, that You would send us more who love You, and that we can love back and forth, showing Your love to this dark and broken world. Oh, Heavenly Father, please be at work in Your people. In Jesus' name, amen.