In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of spending time with God and seeking Him earnestly. He encourages listeners to prioritize their relationship with God over worldly pursuits and to seek His guidance and wisdom. The speaker also urges believers to actively participate in their church community and to bridge the generation gap by becoming involved and supportive. Additionally, he highlights the significance of developing a deep and meaningful relationship with God through reading and meditating on His Word, as well as spending dedicated time alone with Him. The sermon concludes with a reminder to pray and fast, as these practices help to align the heart with God's will.

Hello, this is Brother Denny. Welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold. You are welcome to make copies for your friends and neighbors. If you would like additional messages, please go to our website for a complete listing at www.charityministries.org. If you would like a catalog of other sermons, please call 1-800-227-7902 or write to Charity Ministries, 400 West Main Street, Suite 1, EFRA PA 17522. These messages are offered to all without charge by the free will offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. Greetings in Jesus' name, young people. What a privilege is mine. What a privilege is mine. To have this opportunity to stand before you all. God bless your sincere hearts, your earnest desires to do right and to learn. A couple of thoughts about some of Dean's closing words. I've meditated upon those scriptures that he gave there in the book of Revelation. Just give you these thoughts. I've challenged already a few Christians who said it's okay to be in the army. I've challenged them. Would you be in the army of the Antichrist? Now, that stops them real fast. Because obviously, all of them would say, well, no. And you see, in those days, those two kingdoms will be very clearly divided. You won't have to try to figure them out. It will be the kingdom of the Antichrist and the kingdom of God. So, why be in that other kingdom now? Or in those other armies now? Alright. Let's work on our verses, huh? Let's see. On the young men's side, Anthony and all the Anthonys. Anthony Zimmerman, why don't you give us the verses? And if you can, take it from the top. Amen. Got some preaching in him. Okay. Joy Weaver. You want to give just the three verses that we said we're going to hear. You want to stand and give that a try, Joy? Alright. Who's the next Joy in here? Let's see the Joys in this room. Let me see your hands. Alright. I saw one little timid hand stick out of the crowd back there. You can stand and try. Good. God bless you, Joy. And God bless all of you who allow me to call on you, so you get a little bit of suffering and humiliation. So that all of us can be accountable and keep on going over those verses again and again. God bless you for submitting yourself to those things. May the Lord reward you for it. Let's pray. Ah, Lord, we love you. We love your word. It's precious to us, Father. Every word so pregnant with wisdom and life and strength and vision. Every word, Lord. Just like you. Every word is pregnant with life and wisdom and vision. Oh, Lord, open up unto us your holy word again this morning. Make it practical, Father, that we might be changed and sanctified and conform into the image of your dear Son. We ask this, God, in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, the title of the message this morning, again, covering these words, By Faith Possess Patience, Godliness, and Love. When I put that title down, I was hoping to put those two together. But there's no way. These words are so deep. We will just cover patience, godliness, and brotherly kindness today. Proverbs 16.32 says these words, He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirits is better than he that taketh a city. Now, if you consider what that word is saying there, what God is saying through that is, if you are one of those who have learned to develop self-control or temperance in your life, God sees you as one greater than he who takes a whole city. God puts a high value on this quality of self-government. But as you are exercising self-control or self-government, now you are ready to begin to develop patience. Now that you are beginning to learn how to bring your appetites under control and keep your being in subjection, you are ready to begin to develop patience in your life. And with this word, we are moving into some of the deeper disciplines of these words. A special school designed by God is waiting for you in this word, patience. Let me say it again. A special school designed by God is waiting for you in this word called patience. The word patience means a cheerful, hopeful endurance, or a cheerful, hopeful perseverance, as Brother Dean said. It is a gentle, enduring spirit in the midst of difficulties and persecution. God wants to develop a gentle and enduring spirit in you that you may be able to maintain that gentle enduringness in the midst of difficulties and persecutions. The most literal definition of this word is basically to stay under. In other words, God allows some circumstances to come into your life and there you stay under those circumstances, or you submit yourself to those circumstances. There is an element of submission in this word, patience. Christians get shaky when they hear the word patience, because the Bible says, what about patience? Tribulation worketh patience. I have heard Christians say already, a bit in their ignorance, they said, I fell on my knees a week ago and began to ask God for patience. Forgetting the verse in the Bible that God wrought patience through tribulation and their whole world was turned upside down because of their sincere prayers for patience. But, the fact of the matter is, if God does not develop this quality of gentle, sweet perseverance in the midst of difficulties, you are going to have a hard time in life, because life is real, young people, and it rolls a lot of difficulties out upon you. We must learn to deal with them. Tribulation worketh patience, and it does, but as we learn to develop a holy resignation to all the will of God, many deep and wonderful things begin to change inside of us, which make us like Jesus in the midst of this world. And I cannot explain all of that to you, but I know that it's so. There is a mysterious work, a mysterious rotting of the character and the life of Jesus inside of your heart when you patiently endure the difficulties, when you come under and submit yourself to the difficulties that come down your life. The words were given to us already this morning, but we must give them in the context of developing this character of patience in us in Romans 8.28. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to His purpose, for whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. And by the way, that's in the context of the verses that Brother Dean closed with. Trials and difficulties and persecutions, those things are ordered by God, and with very clear purposes. And what is His purpose? Little Christ's walking around upon this earth, young people. That's what God is after. And He's going to bring circumstances into our lives to rot the very spirit and character of Christ in us and change who we are. And we have been predestinated, foreordained, planned by God before the foundation of the world to conform us into the image of His dear Son. Are you ready for that? It's coming. It's coming. And for some of you, you may already know. God's divine power and promises have given unto us all we need to gently, submissively endure trials and troubles in our life. Think of the Christ who dwelleth in you. Do you know that Christ dwells in you? Think of Christ. He went home and submitted to His parents from the age of twelve to the age of thirty. Try that on for a while, young men. He suffered many temptations. All of those years of three and a half years of ministry and wilderness, He suffered many, many temptations. And He sweetly, gently, submissively endured them all. He bore with His carnal disciples continually. Imagine where He was at in His walk with His Father. And He bore with those carnal disciples and some of the dumb things that they did. He received many accusations. He hath a devil. His tribulation in Pilate's hall. Think about it. Look at what He endured there in Pilate's hall and the mockery and how they slapped Him and beat Him and they spit in His face and He gently, submissively endured it all. This Christ, young people, dwells in you. He endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself and the grand finale, He endured the cross, despising the shame. And because of that, He is set down at the right hand of the Majesty on high even this very moment. Young people, it will be worth it all for you to develop this character of patience in your life. Patience is a serene meekness and resignation that does not fight back or fight against God's ordering of my life. Patience is a serene meekness and resignation that does not fight back or fight against God's ordering in my life. And you, young people, you are beginning to come to grips with the fact that God orders your life. Like we've said a few times already, you are becoming your own person. And you realize you have your own mind. And you're developing your own convictions. And not everything happens just because mom and dad say. But while you may think of that, oh boy, I'm on my own now, don't forget you're not on your own. There is a God, the God of the universe, who is hovering over your life and He's beginning to order your steps and some of them don't go the way you would like them to go. And God wants to develop this character in your hearts that you sweetly can submit to those things and not fight back. And I'm afraid that many times that fighting back is fighting against human authorities, grumbling and complaining instead of simply saying, God, wrought endurance and sweet perseverance in my life. And frankly, sometimes us parents can be a bit tribulating. I'll acknowledge it. We don't always know exactly what to do. And we can make life difficult, not because we want to, but because we're made out of human flesh just like you. But don't fight against it. God has a higher purpose in it all. Thank God for that, says all the parents. A sovereign God comes into view when we seek to develop patience in our life. We have to look beyond the circumstances or you will never develop this character in your life. You must look beyond those circumstances. They're not going to go away. They're still going to be there. But you must look beyond them. You need to see a sovereign God sitting on the throne, ruling over all things and ordering all things in your life after the counsel of His own will with His good purposes in mind. We must begin to see that, young people, in order to develop this in our life. Like the song says, God moves in mysterious ways His wonders to perform. And what looks like the greatest tragedy that you have ever seen, behind that frowning providence you'll find a smiling face. Do you believe that, young people? I know you've already had your share of difficulties and trials. But my challenge to you today is have you bore them sweetly, patiently? Or have you fought and fussed and murmured and complained? And, you know, we don't get much out of it when it's that way. And I speak that from my own failures. Trials and troubles come in many forms. They come through people. They come through job changes. They come through setbacks in our lives. They come through sickness. They come through disappointments, something that we set our heart on, and all of a sudden the whole thing is changed on us. They come sometimes from a clear act of God, like an accident, or the loss of a loved one. They come in all of these varied forms. But in every one of them, I assure you, every dark cloud has a rainbow on the other side of it. Every cloudy providence has the smiling face of God on its other side. We must see that, young people. If we can begin to see that, we will begin to grow. God will begin to conform the image of His Son down in the depths of our being. God will begin to write the beautiful image of Jesus Christ on the fleshly tables of our heart. And we will become like Jesus. And that's what you want, young people. And that's what God is after. God wants us to learn to look up, to trust, to wait patiently, to seek to learn all we can when difficulties come our way. James 1, if you want to turn there just for a minute, has such a beautiful description of what we're talking about. And James gives us a good word of encouragement in this. James 1 and verse 2 and following says this, My brethren, my sisters, my dear young people this morning, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations. Why? Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. It begins to rot that sweet, submissive endurance in your life. But, and our little warning comes from James to us, but let patience have her perfect work. Let patience complete her work in you. Why? That ye may be perfect and entire and wanting nothing. Now that's what God is after. And that's really what we're after, isn't it? You know, I've often said it to my own heart before the Lord, but I've said it to many people at times in sermons. I prayed myself into this mess. And you have too. At those sweet times in the presence of God, alone in your closet, when your heart was so free, and you said to God out of all deep sincerity, Oh Lord, I love You. Make me like Your Son, Lord. Work in my life. Grow me up. Bring me to maturity. Deal with the needs in my life. You prayed those prayers. Guess what? God doesn't just dump those things in us, but rather He orders circumstances and difficulties and trials and persecutions and unfair things and who knows what else to make us perfect and entire and wanting nothing. Oh, that's beautiful, isn't it? Young people, you want this Christ-like character in you. You want this. It hath great reward. Paul prayed for the Colossians that they would be strengthened with all might according to His glorious power unto patience and longsuffering with joyfulness. That was one of his prayers. God, fill them with the Holy Ghost in such a way that you bring them into this sweet, submissive, enduring character. As the end draws nigh, it will be one of the most valuable qualities that you can have. And I was sitting there listening to Brother Dean and some of the things that he was saying about non-resistance and the theology of suffering and martyrdom. I'm adding the word suffering in there because they go hand in hand. Not everybody dies for their faith. But the early church suffered and they loved suffering. There was a theology of that. As the time draws near to the end, this quality will become very valuable. It will be the difference whether you make it on the other side or whether you deny the faith. It's interesting to me. I was reading a book some time ago by Brother Andrews who, since he no longer can sneak into getting behind the Iron Curtain and smuggle Bibles in and things like that, now he goes to countries where persecution breaks out as soon as the persecution breaks out that he might be an encouragement to the brethren there. And he said these words. In those countries where he goes, where persecution was not, and then all of a sudden it breaks out. He noticed two-thirds of the professing church denies the faith. Two-thirds! Brother, sister, two-thirds! It will probably be worse than that here in America because most of those countries are poor countries. This one is rich. I believe the percentages would be way, way higher than that. Oh Lord, I want to be in that number that endures to the end. So as you are being exercised in this quality of patience by faith, you also want to possess godliness. And this word godliness gets me very excited. I did so find my heart in this word as I began to study it. In the past, I have said godliness is godlikeness. That is not what godliness is. As I have spent hours on this word, it is not so. Godliness is god-wordness. And there is a big difference. Godlikeness, okay, yes. The patience is godlikeness. The virtue is godlikeness. You know, all of these are godlikeness. But godliness is god-wordness. Thus, the meaning of the word godliness, the literal definition is piety. Piety. Now that word piety has been made a bad word in many of the plain churches. And it's because of some abuses of it. But the word piety is a good word. It is a god-word life. A god-wordness in my life. We are to develop a god-word disposition in all things or in every area of our life. Godliness in its general meaning is a reverence and awe toward God. I like that. A reverence and awe toward God that goes with me through my whole life. Now this just obliterates the whole idea of a compartmentalized Christianity. You know, now I'm in the business world, I'm going to act like a businessman. Now I'm over here on the volleyball court and I'm going to act like a volleyball man who's going to win the game. This knocks that whole compartmental Christianity right off of the wall. A reverence and an awe toward God in all areas and every part, all parts of my life. It goes back to that holiness of God that Brother Dean spoke about. You know, you're trying to develop your activities. Well, what am I going to do? I've got two hours of free time. What am I going to do? How does what you're going to do fit into a reverential awe, a God-wardness toward God? The Old Testament counterpart of godliness, which is a New Testament word, is the fear of the Lord. And we know the fear of the Lord. If a person has the fear of the Lord, it is a person who has developed that awareness, that conscious moment-by-moment awareness that God is watching me. Like one preacher said one time, he was driving down the road and he saw a man park his car across the street from one of these pornography places. And he got out of his car and he looked this way to see if anybody who might know him was around. And he looked this way to see if anybody was around. And when he realized that, no, there wasn't anybody around, he started to walk toward this filthy place. And the preacher pulled up and shouted out of the car door, Thy God seeth thee! And the man stopped in his tracks, turned around, got in his car and drove away. Hallelujah! A God-fearing light, a God-wardness in my heart, a reverential God-wardness toward God. That's what this word Godliness means. David said these words, I have set the Lord always before my face. Isn't that a precious verse? It is a state of mind that is toward God. That's Godliness. Peter said it this way, Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready also to give an answer of the hope that lieth within you. Now, what do you think he meant by that? Do you think he meant, well, if someone drops in to talk to you just after you got out of your quiet time, you'll be able to answer them because you sanctified the Lord in your heart in your quiet time? Or does he mean, keep the Lord sanctified in your heart as you go through your life so that you will be ready to give an answer of the hope that lieth within you if anyone comes and says, what do you have? And how can I get it? A truly pious man or woman will make his accountability to God the law of his life. A pious man or woman will make his accountability to God the law of his life. Paul said it this way in 2 Corinthians 5, Wherefore, we labor that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him. Paul had a Godward life. We must have a worshipful disposition toward God, a true veneration of Him and of His character. We are admonished to continue to develop an inward life of love, reverence and sobriety toward God. Now, brothers and sisters, dear young people, this is a 24-7 standard that God is laying on us. There's no compartmentalizing in this. It's a 24-7 thing. And I take the challenge in my own heart. I'm not just preaching to you this morning. It's a 24-7 thing. This godliness, this Godwardness, this inward life of love and reverence and sobriety toward God. Remember Cornelius? It says of him, he was a devout man and one that feared God. There was godliness there. And oh, girls, remember Mary. Remember Mary? Who desired that better thing which cannot be taken away? That's true piety. Mary is a beautiful example of true piety. Brother John spoke, I believe it was on Monday, Brother John spoke about this cook named Brother Lawrence who wrote a little book which has become a very famous book. And I'm sure he had no idea how God would use it, but he was just a cook in a monastery somewhere before the Gospel was coming clearly to the hearts of men and women. In 1400 somewhere. And he was in a monastery and all of a sudden, the desire to develop a Godward life in everything that he did came to his heart and he began to practice the presence of God. And as he practiced the presence of God, he began to realize I can have God's presence with me in everything that I do. I can be worshiping and reverencing God while I'm scrubbing those old pots. And eventually he wrote all of his thoughts down on a piece of paper. And for 500 years, God's people have read that little book and looked into the life, the Godward life of this cook saying, I'd love to have that kind of a life. This is a Godward life. This is piety, young people. There are many other examples. I think of Andrew Murray who walked the streets, who pastored a church in Cape Town, South Africa, and walked the streets of his city. He was a Godward man. He was a godly man. He was a pious man. The people of the city would often say, we're not sure if Mr. Murray is an angel or a human. It was because of his Godward life that he had that kind of a testimony. There was an atmosphere that went with that old man as he walked with God 24-7. What an example to us. Jesus Christ, the most Godward man that ever lived. He lived in a continual state of reverence and awe and communion with His Father. Did He not? And guess what? He lives in you. And it is God who lives in you. And it is God that worketh in you both the will and to do of His good pleasure. Dear young people, let God have His way. And He will produce Godwardness in your heart and your experience. Like the psalmist David wrote, this was Jesus' heart. Behold, as the eyes of the servant look under the hand of the Master, so the eyes of our heart wait upon the Lord our God till He have mercy upon us. That's the way that Jesus lived. He went through His life with the eyes of His heart upon His Father and the eyes in His head upon the world around Him. What a beautiful example of godliness. Oh, to be like Thee. Oh, to be like Thee, precious Redeemer. How do I cultivate a Godward life? And dear young people, you want to cultivate a Godward life. Many, many busy Christians full of activity in this land of ours, but very, very few who have developed a disposition of worship and reverence which goes with them all the time. It seems to me that many times the good has become the enemy of the best. How can I develop and cultivate this Godward life? Number one, slow down! Slow down! America is running! My, we're the fastest paced country in the whole world! But I'm afraid many times we're like those hamsters, you know, that get on the wheel and just run and run and run and run and run and go nowhere spiritually. Slow down! It takes time. It takes quality time to develop a Godward life and we Americans are way too busy. That's all I'm going to say about it, because I don't have time. Number two, get up early and have quiet time. That's time before the phones ring and before all the trucks are roaring, before the horns are honking, before the children are crying and on and on it may be. Quiet time! In order to have quiet time in the morning, go to bed! How many young people have told me, Brother Denny, how in the world? I cannot master this getting up early in the morning. And, I mean, they all say the same thing. They say, well, what time do you go to bed? Well, you can't do it! You can't do it! I can't do it! Go to bed! Hear the Word of the Lord out of the heart of the prophet Isaiah. Hear the heart of God. Hear what God says. Can you hear God's voice in these words? Oh, everyone that's thirsty... and He's not talking about a drink of water. Everyone that's thirsty. Are you thirsty? Come! Come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye buy and eat. Yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Would you like some spiritual wine and milk? It's free. You don't have to have any money. But by the way, it's not really free. It takes time. But guess what? You have as much of that as everybody else. God gives us all a million dollars every morning. He says, how are you going to spend it? How are you going to spend it? It does cost time. Wherefore, God says, why are you spending money for that which is not bread? And why are you spending your labor for that which satisfieth not? God says, hearken diligently unto Me and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear and come unto Me here, and your soul shall live. Can we hear the heart of God? Number three, earnestly seek God in the morning. I told you to get up early. Now, earnestly seek God in the morning. Don't just sit down there and say, okay, I've got to put my time in. No! Get serious! Earnestly seek God in the morning. Number four, develop a relationship with God in His Word. What I mean by that is, don't just sit down and put your time in, read your three chapters and go your way, but develop a relationship with God through His Word. Read the Word with meaning. Read the Word for your own heart. Commune with God through His Word. Talk to God about His Word. And your life as you read it, develop a relationship with God through His Word. I've got to run. Number five, at times, spend a season alone with God. A season. A day or two days. I did a tape on that years ago. Get it! A season alone with God. I plan out your whole day in that tape. Spend a season alone with God. Number six, pray. Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord. Pray. Number seven, fast. It causes the heart to look up to God. When the belly is empty, the heart begins to look up. Fast! Number eight, sing to God. You're all enjoying the singing here this week and how you know how it lifts your heart to God and how it seems that God inhabits the praises of His people. You know the joy and the blessings that you're experiencing as your free and clear heart is singing songs to God. Do it in your closet! And dear young people, when you get in your car, don't just put that CD in and play music. Leave the CD out once in a while and sing! These things develop God-wardness in your heart and your life. Number nine, keep your conscience clear. That probably should have been number one. Keep your conscience clear. A clear conscience is a conscience where God is settled down upon it. When the conscience is clear, God is just a prayer away! Keep your conscience clear. Number ten, cut out all the jokes, the silliness and all the idle chatter. It's quiet in here. Cut out all the jokes and the silliness and the idle chatter. I'm telling you, young people, you are chasing the presence of God away from your life. And you do not realize what you're doing. I know you don't realize it. I'm not rebuking you. I'm imploring you. You do not know what you're doing. Cut out the jokes. Leave the jokes and all the nonsense and the laughter. Leave it for the world. Somebody said here sometime these last two or three days, Christian comedian. That is just as much a misnomer as Christian beer. Christian comedian? Where? How far have we fallen? And now, don't get me wrong, I'm not against natural humor. I have no problem with that. No problem at all. But let's just cut out all the nonsense and the silliness and the jokes. You know what? You might be surprised a reverence for God would settle down upon your heart and stay there. Instead, let the joy of the Lord be your portion. And there's a big difference between those two. Amen? And number 12, lastly, again I say it, study the attributes of God. As we discern and understand and gain a knowledge of the character of God, it develops a Godward look in our heart. Study the attributes of God. And here's the end result. The end result of this Godliness, this Godwardness, is real simple. A Spirit-filled, Spirit-led life. That's the end result. A consistent walk with God. You will develop a life of being led by God's Spirit. Like Paul says there in Romans 8, to them that are in the Spirit, to them who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Those who walk after the promptings of the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Or, they are God's mature sons and daughters. See? That's the end result. And we all want that, right? A Spirit-filled life. Here, grace and power begin to flow in our lives on a consistent basis. As you're developing this Godwardness, by faith possess also brotherly kindness. As you are cultivating a Godward life, move into the realm of brotherly kindness. Don't just stay hid away enjoying communion with God, but live in the midst of a brotherhood, a church, a communion of believers. Notice how God balances that thing so beautifully. And there have been some who have taken these things to extremes and thought, oh, this Godward life is so sweet and wonderful, I'm just going to go live on the top of a mountain away from everybody else. No! You've got it all wrong! That's only half the Christian life. The other half has to do with people. Amen? Love God with all your heart! Amen! But love your neighbor as yourself. You can't do that living on the top of a mountain like a hermit in a hut. So move into the realm of brotherly kindness. Develop brotherly kindness. It's interesting to me that the last three, this Godliness, this brotherly kindness, and charity, look at them, it's the whole Christian life in a nutshell in these three. Be continually, increasingly loving God, and be continually, increasingly loving your neighbor. That's really the bottom line of these last three words. Remember, young people, this is not about you. This is about glorifying God. It is about ministering and representing Him in the midst of a world who does not know Him. As we develop a Godward life, the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. But this flow of love is not just for us. It must flow out in a life of living for others. If it doesn't, it's not truly a Godward life. So again, you see how they build upon each other. I mean, you have the choice, every one of you. You can be the Sea of Galilee, or you can be the Dead Sea. The Sea of Galilee is a freshwater sea. The water flows in. The water flows out. The water flows in, and the water flows out. And that's the true balance of an effective, Spirit-filled Christian life. The water flows in, but the water flows out. But the Dead Sea is not that way. The water flows in, and it doesn't flow out. And what happens is then the water evaporates, and it evaporates, and it evaporates, and all you have in the Dead Sea is a bunch of salt. And nothing can live in the Dead Sea. In fact, they say you can just go lay on the top of it. It's got so much salt in it, you'll just float. It's that thick with salt. Which one do you want to be? I vote for the Sea of Galilee. How about you, young people? So, as you're developing godliness, put on also brotherly kindness. Each one of us, as we look back to our moment, our times of despair, our sin, our lostness, when we were without hope and without God in the world, God brought us in repentance to turn to Christ and to be born again and to be washed in the blood and adopted by our Father in Heaven. But as soon as that happened, and you know it so, and especially for someone like me who didn't grow up in a Christian home, it was so, I quickly realized that I was in a family and I had brothers and sisters that I had no idea how much wonderful meaning they would have to me. We are all blood-washed. And that puts us in the same family. We are all adopted by our Father in Heaven. That makes us brothers and sisters in the same family. And thus, brotherly kindness. The Greek word for brotherly kindness, though it's two words, in the English, it is Philadelphia. Phileo, love, and Delphios, brethren. Love the brethren. God tells us to grow in grace, to grow and mature in order that we might be established. In order to do that, we must develop a practical, meaningful love of the brethren. This is part of our Christian life. And if we do not grow in this grace, we will not develop as a proper and a balanced Christian. We must develop a practical and meaningful love of the faithful, or a love of the household of faith. And by the way, God starts with the easy, not the hard. This is really not too hard, if you think about it. We're in the same family. We're washed in the same blood. We have the same Father. We have so much in common. There is this mysterious bond of the Spirit of Christ, which is in you and which is also in me. And all those things come together to aid us to develop this love of the brethren or love of the faithful. God gives us the easy one first. The reason why it's easy is we have dozens of relating points from the very first day that we've been born again. So God lets us start on the easy one so that we can eventually develop our love to the deeper levels, which is more difficult, which we will get to tomorrow. Love of the brethren is an affectionate love. It is a family and friendship love. God does also enjoin us to agape love or sacrificial love, even to the brethren. But brotherly love or brotherly affection is not the agape love. The love of the brethren is a tender affectionate love. An example of that would be there where Paul the Apostle gathered the elders from Ephesus together and he preached to them. Remember, he preached all night or until early in the morning and all of that. And then it was time for him to depart. And that beautiful one verse there that explains their parting is a beautiful example of the tender, affectionate love of the brethren. They fell on his neck and kissed him. And they all wept together as they prayed together and said goodbye. That is a beautiful example of this brotherly affection that the Scripture admonishes us to develop in our life. I'm going to Africa in two weeks. While I'm there, I will see my two sons. While it is true that I would lay down my life for those two boys, that's agape love, when I see them, my heart will flow out in phileo or tender affection for my boys. I'm trying to help you to see the difference between these two loves. There are actions in these tender affections. So we're not just talking about feelings here. There are actions, but those actions are moved and motivated by feelings of affection. When we get there, after we fall on each other's necks and kiss each other and smile and bless each other, we will sit down and we will talk. I will give them time. I will want to be with them. I will rejoice with them in the victories that they share with me. And I will weep with them when they share the hurts and the difficulties that they've been through. And the whole time that I'll be with them will flow and be full of tender affections. That's brotherly kindness. This brotherly-sisterly love, this affection, is what makes our face light up with joy when we see one another. I thought about it this morning. I love Brother John, Brother John B. I don't get to see him a lot. When I saw him on Monday, my face just lit up as I saw him. And we went to each other and greeted one another and blessed each other and said how good it is to see each other. That's tender, brotherly affection. And God says, I want you to cultivate this tender, brotherly affection. It is a love that can be felt, brothers and sisters. It is a love that creates an atmosphere. And when you put a whole bunch of brothers and sisters together, i.e., in a church, it creates or should create a magnetic atmosphere that will draw the lost into your church. This tender affection is felt. It creates an atmosphere. It's good. And God wants us to develop it. And may I say, young people, maybe some of that's a little more difficult for you. I'm encouraging you, develop this character of brotherly kindness. A few quick applications. Number one, it's hard to develop brotherly, sisterly kindness, this tender affection, if you don't have a church. This makes no sense. You want knowledge? You open up your Bible. You want brotherly kindness? Get in a church. You understand? I mean, how nonsense it would be if I say, Lord, give me knowledge, give me knowledge, give me knowledge, but I never open up a Bible to get any. Guess what? I'm not going to get much. We can say to God, God, give me brotherly kindness, give me brotherly kindness, but if we don't get in a church, if we don't put ourselves in a place where it can be developed, guess what? You're not going to get much. I know that some of you have had a bad experience, but this is no reason to be alone. I mean, it's like saying, I ate food yesterday and got sick and therefore I'm not going to eat anymore. It's exactly the same thing. Oh, I had a bad experience in my church life back there and therefore I'm done with church. Guess what? You're going to get sick and maybe you'll die. You need the church. It's not a small issue not having a church. Multitudes of fathers, young men, hear this, multitudes of fathers will not give their daughters to marriage with a young man who won't put his daughter in a church. I know young men all over the country that are in their upper twenties and they're sitting there by themselves and they'd like to have a wife, but they don't have one. And this is the reason. No wise, caring father is going to lose his daughter to someone who's just going to have her sit there by herself for years. I mean, this is real practical this morning. Amen? Number two, you that are in a church, step in the water, brethren! Get off the back bench! Quit being a spectator and become a participator in your church! Do your part to close the generation gap in your church, young men, young ladies. Let's have enough of this youth clique in the church and become one of the brothers and the sisters in the church. When my son Daniel came back from Africa, six months in Africa, and his whole life was changed, he said, Papa, I want nothing to do with your business. It makes me sick to even think about it. All I want to do is give my life for the African people. What counsel do you have for me? I said three things. I said, Daniel, number one, God sends prepared people, so you better get to preparing. Number two, I said, I will not use my influence to send you there. And number three, I said, if the brotherhood sends you, I can bless it. And he jumped into the brotherhood with both feet. And guess what? The brotherhood said, God has a call on that young man's life sending him to Africa. It is through the church. It is through the church. Get in. Step in the water. Number three, the Bible says to greet one another with a kiss of tender affection. We believe that, young people. That is a holy commandment in the Word of God. To greet one another with a tender kiss of affection. And my personal belief is not on the lips, but on the cheek. But young people, we don't want to lose that. And there is a tendency for the next generation to say, that's, you know, we'll just hug. Let's just hug. Do you believe the Bible or not? Greet the brothers and the sisters with a kiss of tender affection, the Bible says. And lastly, develop this tender brotherly affection at home. Because brotherly affection also touches your home life. This quality begins at home and can grow at home if you will allow it. Your father, your mother, your sister, your brother, would be delighted to sense some of this brotherly affection. This heart that goes out to them. This heart that's delighted to see them. This heart that wants to communicate with them. This heart that is affectionate toward them. Mom, Dad, brother, sister, would love to see some of that at home. And I want to encourage you to develop it. By faith, possess brotherly affection, young people. And we'll look at charity tomorrow. God bless you. Thank you.