Let Us Continue in Brotherly Love

Hebrews chapter 13, that's going to be kind of

Hebrews 13 · chapter mention

toward the back part of your Bible. Hebrews chapter

Hebrews 13:1

13, verse 1. It's a lot of good instruction there

at the end of Hebrews chapter 13. The author

Hebrews 13 · chapter mention

of Hebrews there is concluding the book, and

this is kind of the last section with his final

thoughts, his final instructions to his audience.

We looked at one of these. It hadn't been too

long ago. Well, I always say that, and then Michelle

will be like, that was two years ago, and I'll

think it was like two months ago. But it really

hadn't been too long ago. We looked at a little

bit of Hebrews chapter 13, talked about the idea

Hebrews 13 · chapter mention

of being satisfied. But we're just going to look

at one verse tonight in Hebrews chapter 13, verse

Hebrews 13:1

1, and it says, let brotherly love continue.

Let's pray. God, we thank you for your word.

This is a short and a simple word, but there's

a lot of power in this, God, if we would just

live this scripture out. So I pray that you would

help us to do that in our life, dear Lord, that

we would live out your word. I pray that you'd

free us of the distractions and the worries and

the thoughts of this world tonight, dear Lord,

that we would just focus on you and grow in you.

And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

When we see the word love in English, we just

have one word for love. L -O -V -E is the only

English word we have. But when you read the Bible,

you see the word love quite often. It's a lot

of different Greek words. There are a lot of

different words for love in the Greek that describe

love in a different way. There's agape, which

is this sacrificial love. We think about maybe

Jesus when we think about that love that loves

somebody so much that they're willing to give

their life for somebody else. Greater love have

no one than this, that a man would lay down his

life for his friends, the scripture says. We

see eros is another word for love. That's kind

of the type of love that you would have between

a husband and a wife. Phileo or philia in different

forms is a word for love. And that's the word

that's used here. The word that's used here in

Hebrews chapter 13 is Philadelphia. So if we

Hebrews 13 · chapter mention

were going to read it literally, it would be

let Philadelphia continue. if you see this picture

here behind me some of you have probably seen

this before maybe in real life this is the famous

love statue that's in kennedy park in philadelphia

this statue was made in 1970 and it's interesting

that the city of philadelphia is called the city

of brotherly love and that comes from the word

Philadelphia, that's what the word means, is

brotherly love. So when we say Philadelphia is

the city of brotherly love, we're getting that

from the Greek word. But the sad part about that

is, is that even though the city is called the

city of brotherly love, it doesn't really appear

as though that there is as much love there as

should be. Because when you look at the list

of all the cities in the United States, over

19 ,000 of them, In many categories, Philadelphia

is at the top of the list for crimes and murders

and violent crimes against other people and thefts

and larceny and arson and all these things, all

these different crimes that people commit. And

these are not the things that we do if we love

people. And so even though they're called the

city of brotherly love, their actions would say

something different. Now, a place that's called

the city of brotherly love, you would think people

would be helping each other, that nobody would

have a need, that everybody would sacrifice for

the good of somebody else, that everyone would

support one another and encourage one another.

And so we know what it means to love, but the

question is, do we love? We know what it means

to love, but it's not always easy to love. That's

one of the hardest commands in Scripture, is

that we're supposed to love everybody, that we're

supposed to love our enemies. This is a hard

command, but yet this is the most important command.

In Matthew chapter 22, Jesus is asked by an expert

Matthew 22 · chapter mention

in the law who wants to test Jesus. He's trying

to trip him up. And he says to Jesus, he says,

what is the most important command? Now, I don't

know what the man was expecting Jesus to say.

Maybe he was expecting Jesus to say, do not murder,

do not commit adultery. I don't know what he

expected. But I suspect he was caught off guard

by what Jesus said. Maybe not, though. But Jesus

said the greatest command is this, to love the

Lord your God with all your mind, with all your

soul, with all your heart, with all your strength.

Everything you got, Jesus says, you need to love

the Lord your God. And then Jesus gave him a

bonus one too. Not only did he tell him the most

important command, and he said the second most

important is just like it, that you are to love

your neighbor as yourself. Now, that is a beautiful

scripture and one that we need to know and we

need to think about because if we know that scripture

and remember that scripture, it'll drive everything

we do. And as long as we follow those two things,

we'll be living in obedience to God. Because

those things sum up everything that we see in

the Ten Commandments. The first of the Ten Commandments

talk about our relationship with God and loving

God. And the rest of them talk about our relationship

with people. And that's really all of the law,

not just the Ten Commandments, but all of the

law. That what's most important to God is that

we would love Him more than anything, be obedient

to Him, and that the love that we have for Him

and the love we receive from Him, that we would

love others. That even though we are sinners

and undeserving of God's love, God loves us anyway.

And therefore he wants us to share that grace

to others that we encounter. To share that kind

of love to others that we encounter. And in Hebrews

Hebrews 13:1

chapter 13 verse 1, as the author of Hebrews

is preparing to close the book, he gives a simple

instruction. Simple words that every one of us

can have memorized before we leave this place.

Let brotherly love continue. So what about us

tonight? Are we any better than the city of Philadelphia?

Do we call ourselves a loving people, but yet

our actions show something otherwise? Our actions

will speak louder than our words. Nobody's fooled

by Philadelphia's big love sign. Just because

they've got it made out of aluminum and standing

up in the park, nobody's fooled with the crime

and the violence and the hatred and the murder

and all the things that go on there. And perhaps

we are guilty of the same shortcoming, the same

sin. That maybe we say we are those that love,

but maybe our actions say otherwise and our words

say otherwise sometimes. But what God calls us

to tonight is to love Him. Do you love God? Maybe

a better question, do you know that God loves

you tonight? He does. He loves you. He cares

for you. He sent Jesus Christ to die for you.

Do you love God? Well, if we answer yes to that

question, then our response should be that we

serve Him. Do we love other people? Then what

are some ways that we can serve? We need to pray

that God will help us to see those areas. God,

help me to see areas where I can serve others.

God, help me to see where I can love others.

God, just give me those opportunities. Put them

right in my path so that the people I encounter

in this world can see what love is. Our world

needs to see that. That is the only thing that

will change our world. is if the world sees what

love truly is. It's a powerful thing. And if

our world sees what love is, then it will change

our world. So let us be those tonight who strive

to let brotherly love continue in our life. Let's

pray. God, we thank you for your good word. I

pray that you just would help us to be able to

experience your love, dear Lord. God, that we

would know that you love us and that you would

help us to share that love with others. God,

that you would help us to love you with all of

our heart, that you would help us to love our

neighbor as ourself tonight. I pray, dear Lord,

that we would take those instructions to heart.

We thank you for these simple words, and I ask

these things in Jesus' name. Amen.