Are You Your Brother's Keeper?

Well, I certainly appreciated and enjoyed that special music. All the music today, I thought it was very uplifting and also certainly honored God. So thank you to all of you who participated in every aspect of today's services. I want to also thank Dan Hines, who I delegated some things to. Appreciate his help as well. And everyone else, again, who participated in making this as successful as it's been. So I'm interested in hearing more. I did make it to all six of the presentations and everything I heard was fine and outstanding, and I really didn't want to leave any of them.

Are you your brother's keeper? I personally have three brothers. I also have three sisters. As children, we grew up doing a lot together. We lived on a farm in Ohio out in the country. The closest town was four miles away, and that town only had 500 people. There was a time when the three oldest brothers were all young and they slept in a bed together, especially on cold, wintry nights when the snow would literally blow in our drafty upstairs windows. We fought like brothers. It was awesome.

But we also grew up looking out for each other. Now we could beat up on each other. We would get in fights from time to time, just mostly with the right attitude, for the most part. Not really wanting to hurt anyone, but just having a little fun wrestling together. But we sure didn't want anyone else beating up on our brothers or our sisters, for that matter. We really looked out for each other. We would always come to the rescue. We grew up understanding, at least to a point, what it meant to be our brother's keeper. A keeper is someone who looks after something or someone. Someone who keeps something safe, keeps it from harm. A keeper of sheep keeps the sheep safe and from harm it drives the wolves away. Oftentimes, a keeper will even risk his own life for whatever it is he's protecting. A security guard at a bank is the keeper of the bank. Sometimes his life is at risk. If some bad guys try to steal the money in the bank, it's his job to keep that from happening. A bodyguard is a keeper, and he will risk his life to keep his charge safe. So, what does the Bible say about being your brother's keeper? What does it mean to be your brother's keeper? And also, who is your brother? Let's go to Genesis 4, where this type of sermon often begins. Because there was an incident that happened very early in human history, and in fact, one of the people involved asked this very question of God. Genesis 4.

Verse 1, Now Adam knew his wife, Eve, and she conceived, and she bore Cain, and she said, I have acquired a man from the LORD. Then she bore again this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of the sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. Nothing wrong with being a tiller of the ground, certainly nothing wrong with being a keeper of the sheep. And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Eternal. Abel also brought of the firstborn of the flock and of their fat. And the Eternal respected Abel and his offering, but he did not respect Cain and his offering. There was something wrong with that offering. Perhaps he didn't bring the first fruits. Perhaps he didn't bring the very best. There was something wrong.

And Cain was very angry when he saw God's response. He was angry. His countenance fell, so the Eternal said to Cain in verse 6, Why are you angry? Why has your countenance fallen? Why do you look so angry?

Verse 7, If you do well, will you not be accepted? That's a good question. If you do well, will you not be accepted? If you do not do well, sin lies at the door. Sin is nearby. Sin is the transgression of God's holy and righteous law, and its desire is for you. Sin wants to overcome us. Satan is the author of sin, the first one who sinned.

He's the author of it, and he wants to overcome us through sin. His desire is for you, and you should rule over it. We must all learn to rule over it. We must be overcomers if we are to be in God's kingdom, and we can't take sin lightly. God doesn't take sin lightly. His son died because of sin. The one that he was with for all eternity he gave his life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. So when we take sin lightly, we take the death of our Savior Jesus Christ lightly, and that is not what God intends of any of us.

So we do need to be careful and not have a cavalier approach at all toward sin. We should learn to rule over it. Now Cain talked with Abel his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and he killed him. Then the eternal said to Cain, Where is Abel your brother? No doubt he knew exactly where. In fact, it tells us he knew what had happened.

He asked him very directly, Where is Abel your brother? Cain said, I do not know. A blatant lie. He knew exactly where his brother was. I do not know, am I my brother's keeper? He was trying to deflect things away from his guilt, away from his sin. So he asked the question, am I my brother's keeper? And God said, What have you done? What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground, a very grievous sin indeed.

So now your curse from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand, when you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength. To you, a fugitive and a vagabond, you shall be on the earth. God was not pleased at all. God was very unhappy. He was angry himself. He was wroth against Cain for what he had done.

Remember, a keeper is someone who looks after something, someone who keeps something safe, someone who protects. Cain did just the opposite. Shame on Cain. He killed his brother. They were the very first brothers, blood brothers from the same parents. You would think they would be pretty close to each other, since there weren't any others to be close to except the parents and maybe some younger siblings in time.

In some ways, I'm confident that they were close. But hatred, anger, jealousy, envy are powerful forces as well. Cain rose up and slew. He killed his brother because of hatred, because of anger, because of resentment, because of jealousy, because of envy. There is no indication in the Bible that Cain was truly remorseful and riddled with guilt. There may have been some guilt, but there's no indication that he was riddled with guilt for his murderous action against his own brother. This incident should tell us something about the human heart. It truly is desperately wicked. It is deceitful above all things, as Jeremiah 17 tells us. We must continually and constantly be on guard, lest hatred, anger, jealousy, resentment, lust overtake us and cloud our judgment.

We really do need to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh. That's what Cain was doing. He was walking in the flesh. Many of you have heard of Alex Haley, the author of a very popular TV series many years ago called Roots. Many of you saw that moving series. You remember Chicken George and Kuta Kinte. It was a series that dealt with the history of a black family that began when a man was enslaved in Africa and brought to America. Alex Haley thought a lot about the subject of hatred.

He said something very insightful about hatred in his own life. He said, hatred at its best will distort you. At its worst, it will destroy you, but it will always, always immobilize you.

Hatred and resentment is a deadly poison. Hatred and resentment can poison a friendship. Brotherly love is a gauge for the true Christian. Agape love, of course, even more so. Christ said his disciples would be known by their love for each other. How many of us have been immobilized to greater spiritual growth because we bear some hatred in the inner recesses of our hearts and minds? How many of us are having Mary's problems because of some root of bitterness, some hatred, some resentment that has not yet been removed? Things have not been dealt with. There has not been reconciliation. There has not been repentance. There has not been forgiveness. How many of us are holding a grudge against another person and have refused to forgive them? What does it mean to be your brother's keeper? Are you really expected to look out for the welfare of your brother? Again, are you your brother's keeper? Who is your brother?

First of all, let me ask the question again. Are you your brother's keeper? Yes, in that you and I are all created in God's image. I went to Mr. Baker's Bible study for a short time, and they were talking about this very thing. We are God's children, fashioned in His likeness, and we do have a responsibility toward one another. God does want and He does expect us to love each other and to look out for each other to be keepers of one another. Cain should have been Abel's keeper, looking out for him, certainly not rising up and killing him. He should have owned up to his frailty, to his weakness. He should not have taken it out on his brother. So we should again ask, who is your brother? In the broadest sense, every human being is your brother or sister. Every human being, because we all come from Adam and Eve. Eve was the mother of all living. And then Noah and his family, we all descend from them. They are our ancestors. We are all related. We are all brothers and sisters. In the broadest sense, every human being is your brother and sister. But the Bible does make a distinction between a blood brother, family, blood family, a spiritual brother or sister, and a human brother. There is a distinction. For example, in 1 Timothy chapter 5 verse 8, let's go there and let's consider some of the distinctions that we find in God's holy word. 1 Timothy chapter 5 and verse 8. 1 Timothy chapter 5 verse 8. But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith. So it's talking about people, first of all, people of your own household of the same blood have the same parents, brothers and sisters. If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his own household, he has denied the faith. That's what God says. He's denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. A lot of times unbelievers will take care of their families. If we don't take care of our own family, then we are worse than unbelievers. So there should be a closeness in your family. And you should try to do what you can do to reconcile in your family. If there's differences, if there are problems, your blood. Do the best that you can to make amends, to work things out. Don't just let things go. You have to deal with them as best you can. You are responsible to do that, or you are worse than an infidel. Mark 7 Let's go to Mark 7 and consider what the Scripture says here in this regard. Mark 7. We'll start reading in verse 5. Mark 7.

The Pharisees, the Sadducees, are once again involved. In verse 5, then the Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but they eat bread with unwashed hands? This was ceremonial cleansing. He answered and said to them, Well, did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites? You know, Christ was pretty blunt at times, wasn't He? It was pretty blunt at times, wasn't He? Read Matthew 23 if you don't think Christ was pretty blunt. He uses the word hypocrites quite a bit in that chapter. Well, did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites? As it is written, This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. We put a great deal of emphasis on the commandments of God in this church, and rightly so.

We are to follow God's commands. He is the lawgiver. We are His children. We should obey Him, follow Him, serve Him.

Verse 8, For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do. He said to them, All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your traditions. For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother, and he who curses father and mother, let him be put to death. That's one of the commandments, the fifth commandment. But you say, if a man says to his father or mother, he's talking to the religious leaders of the time, he says, But you say, if a man says to his father or mother, whatever prophet you might have received from me is Corbin, that is a gift to God, then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your traditions which you have handed down, and many such things you do. Christ was not happy with them, because the religious leaders were actually more concerned about their own personal profit, their own personal gain, and they were leading the people to neglect their own families. We are to take care of our families. We are to be there for them. We are to be their keepers.

Christ took them to task for that ungodly behavior. In Galatians 6, verse 10, again, I'm establishing some distinctions in regard to our brother. Family is, you know, they are our brothers. We are to keep our families. Galatians chapter 6, verse 10. This is very clear in the book of Galatians that there's a spiritual family that also we are to keep. Galatians chapter 6, and verse 10. Therefore, as we have opportunity, this is talking after, you know, he goes into whatever a man sows, that he shall also reap. A very important principle that we all need to understand. And not to grow weary in well-doing, but to follow God always. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all. So he's talking about all of mankind. Let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. Those of us in this room, we should take care of one another first. I mean, we take care of our blood families. Then we take care of those in this house, God's house. We take care of one another. That's why it is important to read the update from the food assistance program. We have people that benefit from the food assistance program. So if you want to donate to someone, perhaps you should consider taking care of the household of faith. We are all of the household of faith. We should have no problem taking care of our own people. We should have no problem. We are a large congregation. If we all take a moment to care for one another, that will no longer be a problem. We'll never see an announcement like this again. So if you haven't contributed, consider contributing to our food assistance program. Take care of the household of faith.

Luke chapter 10. Let's go there for a moment. Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10 verse 25.

And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, tested Christ, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? A very good question. He said to him, What is written in the law? What is your reading of it? How do you understand it? So he answered and said, You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, the first commandment, with promise. Well, that's not exactly how it's worded, but you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, the first and the great commandment. Love God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your strength, and with all of your mind, and the second great commandment, love your neighbor as yourself. And he said to him, You have answered rightly, do this, and you will live. So those two commandments, loving God with all of our heart, soul, and mind, and loving our neighbor as ourself, are at the very forefront of what we should be doing as true Christians.

So let's continue reading here. Verse 29. But he, wanting to justify himself, as humans often try to do, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor? Then Jesus answered, and said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves who stripped him of his clothing. No doubt this was a Jewish man coming down from Jerusalem. He stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. There were a lot of robbers back in those days, just as there are today. Now, by chance, a certain priest came down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. That's a true Christian thing to do, isn't it? Just ignore him. That's not my problem.

And he felt justified. I don't know how, but he didn't want to get involved. Maybe he thought he would be heard himself. I don't know his reasoning, but he did not reach out to his wounded brother. So he departed.

Okay, so the certain priest comes by in verse 31. He passed by, verse 32. Likewise, a Levite. Surely a Levite would stop. When he arrived at the place, he came and looked and passed by. On the other side, he did the same exact thing. He ignored him.

But a certain Samaritan. Now, Samaritans were considered dogs in the Jewish eyes, for the most part, and vice versa. They didn't like the Jews either. So this is quite remarkable. A certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. When he saw him, he saw the wounded man. He had compassion. Verse 34. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He said him on his own animal, brought him to the inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii. He gave them to the innkeeper and said to him, take care of him. And whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you. This was no doubt a very trusted Samaritan. The innkeeper knew this man. He trusted him. He was a man of integrity. He was a man of character.

He says, I will repay you. So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves? Was it the priest, the Levite, or the Samaritan?

And he said, he who showed mercy on him, then Jesus said to him, go and do likewise. If you want to be a true brother, show mercy on anyone who needs mercy. Be compassionate. Be caring. Realize that this is what Christ, your Savior, expects of you. He laid his life down for you.

He gave of his own blood. He shed his blood so that you might be forgiven your sins. So you are expected to do something because of that wonderful sacrifice of Christ. You are to be your brother's keeper.

Again, are you your brother's keeper? Yes, in that Christ's disciples, true Christians, are to be known by their love for one another. Let's go to John chapter 13. This verse makes it very clear what Christ expects of his disciples. John 13, verse 35.

By this, all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. It's not love to pass by on the other side. It's not love to ignore another person. It's not love to make fun of a child if you're a child or an adult either way. It's that's not the way God made you to live. You are to love one another. God is love, and we know that we're to become like him. That should be our number one goal in life, to become love, to produce the fruit of God's Holy Spirit, to be love. It is the very first fruit that's listed in Galatians 5 in regard to the fruit of God's Spirit. Just as God cannot lie, he also cannot murder.

Cain murdered his brother Abel. He had intent to hurt him, to kill him. Murder has to do with one's intent.

The sixth commandment prohibits murder. God has killed. We know God has killed. The Bible tells us that he's killed people, and he's going to kill again when Christ comes back. Many will die. It isn't that he is murdering them at all. God loves every son he chastens, everyone that he scourges he loves. It's all in God's plan. God will resurrect those who have not had an opportunity to understand the truth of God. There are some that he will cast into a lake of fire who are obstinate, who will not repent, who will not change, who do not overcome.

There are some, but probably relatively few, because God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to a knowledge of his truth. God does not give up easily on people. I would imagine you don't give up easily on people you love. You're not going to give up easily on your child, are you?

No way. God does not give up easily on his children. So it's going to have to be an obstinate choice that a person makes before God will cast them into the lake of fire. Hopefully, very, very few will do that.

Christ also said, love your enemies and pray for those who spitefully use and persecute you. Going way beyond what others have said and done, Christ said to pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you. Learn to love them. Lay your life down for them. Are you your brother's keeper? Yes, and that the second great commandment that we read just a moment ago is to love your neighbor as yourself and to help fulfill their needs and their godly desires, to be there for them, to help them, to be their keeper. Matthew 22 verse 39 says, love them as you want to be loved and as you love yourself. None of us like pain. None of us want to feel pain or be harmed. So love them. Love your neighbor as you want to be loved, as you would want someone to love you, and as you love yourself. Let's go to Mark chapter 11 and consider this verse. Mark chapter 11. Mark 11 verse 24. Mark chapter 11.

Mark chapter 11 verse 24.

Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you will receive them and you will have them. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, anything against anyone, this is what Christ says, if you have anything against anyone, he doesn't qualify. He says, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. So that's where we should be moving, that's what we should be moving toward. Learning to forgive anyone, anything they have done us, done to us. And it is difficult to hate someone you're praying for if you really mean it. If you pray for your enemies, pray for those who despitefully use you, if you're praying for them, it's going to be difficult to truly hate them. You may even learn to love them. As God says, you're to love them.

So are you your brother's keeper? Yes, and that Christ's disciples are called to judge righteous judgment. That's what the Scripture tells us. We are expected to judge righteous judgment. We are expected to help a brother or sister in the faith who is sinning or who is going astray. Mr. Snyder covered this in a Bible study that he had in Matthew 18. We'll just read a couple verses here. Matthew 18. And what I heard when I was in there was excellent. I wasn't there long, but there's a lot a lot to this learning to go to your brother in love. Matthew 18. Verse 15. Moreover, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more that by the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established. It is important to have some proof when you go before someone. You can go on yourself because the two of you know what the truth is. Generally, you know, but if he doesn't listen, then you need to establish that. You have to bring somebody else in on it. Hopefully, a person would respect that you came to them trying to help them. Trying to help them change, trying to help them see themselves, to help them repent of whatever it is they need to repent of.

So then, assuredly I say to you, whatever—that's not where I want to be—verse 7, if you refuse to hear him, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. Someone who is not turning toward God, who is not trying to follow and obey God. So there is instruction on how to deal with a brother. And hopefully we love each other and we'll be able to work through these issues. Go to your brother in love and accept your brother in love. So are you your brother's keeper?

Yes, but not in the sense that you are to condemn your brother or to push them away from you and or God's truth. Some people make that mistake. They think they're their brother's keeper, so that means they have to tell them every little thing they've ever done that was wrong.

That's not what the Scripture says at all.

So do not be condemning toward your brother. That's not love. Remember, treat them as you want to be treated. Forgive them as you want to be forgiven. Love them as you want to be loved. We won't go to 1 John 2 verses 9 through 12, but here it says, Hugh says he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness. We show that we hate someone by the way we treat them. We may not look at it that way, but if we're always picking away at someone, if we're always making them feel inferior, then we're actually hating them. That's not how we want to be treated. We want to be encouraged. We want to be lifted up. We want to know that we're loved. We don't need to have every single fault pointed out. That isn't what true love is all about. It's being merciful. It's being gracious. It's being forgiving. You cannot keep someone. You cannot protect someone. You cannot love someone if you will have nothing to do with them, or they will have nothing to do with you. Sometimes people will have nothing to do with you because they're tired of how you treat them. They're tired of how you go to them and pick away at them and make them feel inferior so they don't want any part of it. Love them and treat them as you would want to be treated. That's the golden rule, isn't it? Do unto others as you would have them do unto you and treat them as you want to be treated. Today we've talked about a lot about what it means to be your brother's keeper. I hope we all see the concept. I hope we all understand that we have a responsibility to be our brother's keeper. I hope we can see that it's biblical, that we should look out for one another. So in the spirit of that, I would like to introduce a new program that I will be instituting by the end of summer. And I'm going to call it the MBK program, My Brother's Keeper. Now, I would like to take credit for this, but if I'm honest, I can't. Back in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, back in the 90s, we had the MBK program. It was called My Brother's Keeper. And we had the whole city and the whole area geographically mapped out where we had smaller cells. I guess we can call them that. Smaller groups. We put a person in charge of that group to be the leader, to look after maybe a dozen people or several families. This is a large church. We had big churches back in the 90s, too. And it's difficult for a pastor to know what all's going on and how he can be of greater service. So what we're going to do is—and we've already started this. In fact, this is something I've been thinking about for a number of years. I think I'm ready. I believe I know I'm ready to implement this now, and I need your cooperation We want everyone to be a part of it.

And it's just simply having smaller areas, like a dozen or more people or adults. We don't have it all mapped out yet exactly how many people yet, but we're working on breaking the city down, doing the same thing to Sherman, to the Fort Worth area. We'll have everyone as a part of a smaller group. Now, we're all part of the larger group, and the emphasis won't be on the small group, but at the same time, the small group can be of benefit. I could envision maybe having five or six Bible studies going on the same night instead of one or two that we have now. I could envision being able to do more by having a small group like that. And also, the leader can let me know if something's going on in someone's life that maybe I haven't heard about, because they have a little more time to invest in those people. So I only want good leaders that will lead and serve God's people in their area. So we'll have a meeting with those we plan on selecting. And or we may, I may contact you first. You know, if you're not up to it, just tell me. If you're too busy, if you can't do it, we'll find someone else. But we want people who really, truly care, who love each other, and who will be willing to make that group a more cohesive group. And as a result, this large church, a more cohesive church. So it's called My Brother's Keeper. And we are all in this together. And so again, I hope we'll all be a part of it. I mean, it doesn't mean, I mean, you can be as involved as you want to be with the smaller group. You can, you can offer your services. You can look out for people in the way that you choose. You know, it says that pure religion is to visit the fathers and the fatherless and the widows. This will make, I think, it easier to take care of those who are in need. So my goal is just to serve all of you in the best way that I can. And I know I'm just one man who spread out, and I can't be there always. So I need your help. And I want everyone's help. I want all of us to, to really bond together as God's people and be one another's keepers.

So we are surely to be our brother's keeper, to love, to take care of one another. It begins with our blood relatives. We should take care of our family. It extends to our spiritual brothers and sisters. And then it extends to others around us. And we will have more outreaches to those around us. In the club, we've been talking about trying to do something for the homeless in the area, reaching out, trying to help them, trying to do as much as we can within reason. Now, we know we can only do so much. We know this is not God's kingdom. We're not trying to make it God's kingdom today, but we're trying to do the best we can to show that we love our brother.

So, brethren, we will have lots of opportunities to serve and to help each other in the future. Yes, you are your brother's keeper.