Sunday, July 10, 2016 am
OTHERS (22)
We are Brethren
As
we continue our study of the Christian and others we now want to turn
our focus to the church. We
have addressed the importance of our example in every aspect of our
lives. We live in a world
where many do not care about God and His word.
Our goal in being a godly example is to win some and to bring
glory to God in our lives.
BUT, if truth be known, we need each other as brethren.
Our brethren are God’s support system as we seek to let our light
shine in this crooked and perverse generation.
So with this in mind we enter the next portion of our study about
others – our relationship to one another as brethren.
This will also be the most extensive part of this study.
In
this portion of our study we are going to address:
-
What it means to be
brethren
-
The blessings of
brotherhood
-
Why we need each other
-
What fellowship and
edification means and involve
-
There are more than 50
“one another” passages in the New Testament – we will devote
considerable time to these qualities that define how we are to behave as
brethren
-
How to approach each
other with problems and concerns
-
We will also notice the
purpose and proper implementation of discipline within the Lord’s church
a.
Church - The term
translated “church” in many of our English Bibles is the Greek,
ἐκκλησία, (ekklēsia) and is a word commonly associated with an assembly
or gathering. In scripture,
the term is used to designate its use in a sacred way as opposed to its
common meaning (see Acts 19:32, 39 & 41).
As we use the term “church” we mean the body or assembly of the saved.
b.
The term in scripture
can refer to the universal body of all who are saved (a spiritual
relationship determined by God Himself in heaven) (See Ephesians
1:22-23, Matthew 16:18).
When one obeys the gospel he is added to the body of the saved - Acts
2:47 (KJV, NKJV))
1 Corinthians 12:13 tells us that “by one Spirit we were all baptized
into one body.”
c.
The term can also refer
to a local church which is a community of believers in a given
location who join together to do the work God has given us to do
collectively – namely worship, evangelize, edifying the saints and
limited benevolence.
The term is found in passages such as 1 Corinthians 1:2, 11:18, 1 Thess.
1:1, etc.
It is also used to describe more than one local church (without removing
the autonomous distinction of each one) – Galatians 1:2, Acts 14:23 –
elders appointed in every church, Acts 9:31 churches throughout Judea,
Galilee and Samaria; 1 Corinthians 4:17 – “as I teach in every church”,
Romans 16:16, “the churches of Christ salute you”, etc.
d.
The church is NOT the
building or even the location where we meet.
The church is the people who are part of it (whether
universal or locally). That
is implied in the definition of the word - an assembly or gathering.
Acts 2:47 – the Lord added to the church (their number – NASB) daily the
saved
1 Corinthians 11:18, when you come together as a church
Ephesians 1:22-23 describes Christ as the head of the church, which is
His body. Ephesians 5:23-27
describes Christ as head of the church and savior of the body.
The church is subject to Him as a wife is subject to her husband.
In 1 Corinthians 12:27 he notes, “Now
you are the body of Christ, and members individually.”
a.
One of the descriptions
of the church is that of the family of God –
1 Timothy 3:15 Paul writes to Timothy, “but if I am delayed, I
write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the
house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and
ground of the truth.”
Galatians 6:10 – do
good…especially to those of “the household of faith.”
Mark 10:29-30 – Jesus promised those who would follow him, even at the
cost of losing family (cf. Matthew 10:37-38) would receive “a hundredfold now in this time – houses and brothers and sisters and
mothers and children and lands, with persecutions – and in the age to
come, eternal life.” I
am convinced here Jesus is speaking of our family relationship.
b.
God is our Father and we
are His children – Ephesians 3:14-15, Paul bowed his knee “to the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth
is named…” That “family” is
called by the name “Christian” (Acts 11:26).
John 1:12 we read, “But as many as
received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to
those who believe in His name:”
Galatians 4:4-7 describes how God sent His Son to redeems those under
the law, “that we might receive
the adoption as sons,”…therefore
we are sons and
heirs through Christ.
1 John 3:1, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should
be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because
it did not know Him.”
The FAMILY relationship ought to bring us together as His people.
c.
As to our relationship
to one another, we are referred to as brethren.
More than 200 times, the word brethren (and brother) are found in the
New Testament in reference to our fellow Christians.
Most New Testament writers made reference to our relationship as
brethren (Paul, James, John and even Luke)
Typically, when reference is made to brethren it includes all our fellow
Christians, whether within the local context or universal.
This would include our sisters in Christ as a few passages
indicate.
1 Corinthians 1:10-11, Paul pleaded with them as brethren for unity
1 Timothy 5:1-2 – treat each other like you would your own family –
brother, sister, father and mother
James 2:15, if a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food…
- notice the inclusion of our sisters in this text.
1 Peter 3:8, we are called upon to love as brothers
1 John 3:10-17, esp. 16-17 – as Christ laid down His life for us, we
ought to lay down our lives for the brethren; to see a brother in need
and shut up your heart, how does the love of God abide in you?
Romans 16:1, Phoebe is described as “our sister”
Hebrews 2:10-12 Our Lord is not ashamed to call us brethren because we
are all of one.
d.
We need to cherish our
relationship as brethren? It
ought to be fundamental in our lives. Jesus
Himself taught us that the world will know that we belong to Him by the
way we behave toward each other – John 13:35.
We will see this as we study various passages that address how we
are to treat each other.
a.
The term body is a
collective noun, meaning it is a noun that describes a collection of
something. In this case, a
body is a collection of parts.
b.
Paul used this analogy
to describe how we as brethren are to be working together.
In 1 Cor. 12:12-27, Paul clearly describes how as the body of
Christ we function as a human body with each part being important.
His emphasis is how we need to act like a properly functioning
body. Because we have been
addressing this in class, we will not notice this in great detail here.
When we are properly functioning as a body, “there is no schism
in the body.” That is our
goal.
c.
We have already noted
that we are the body of Christ.
He is the head and we are to the body (Eph. 1:22-23).
d.
Romans 12:4-5, in a more
brief description, Paul summarizes what he said in 1 Corinthians 12
here. “For as we have many members
in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we,
being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one
another.”
e.
Ephesians 4:12, 16 –
leaders are given so that we can function as the body of Christ in
unity. When every part does
its share it causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in
love.
f.
Ephesians 3:6 notes that
Gentiles should be fellow heirs (with the Jews) of the same body and
partakers of His promise in Christ.
g.
Colossians 3:15, “And
let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called
in one body; and be thankful.”
h.
We will not function as
a body if we do not understand what it means to be brethren and how to
treat each other.
When we want to convert someone to Christ we seek to turn them to the
Bible. Within its pages we
find the answer to the question, “What must I do to be saved?” (cf. Acts
16:30, etc.) There is much
to describe what is necessary to be saved.
But
there is even more addressing the question of what one needs to do to
STAY saved. The majority of
the New Testament is addressed to brethren instructing us to how to
maintain fellowship with God (1 John 1:3) and how to act like brethren.
We want to devote some time to remind ourselves of what God
expects of us as we realize that “we are brethren”.
May this study strengthen you in Him and draw us closer together.