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K = Kindness, B = Brotherly love
I. Kindness
Types of:
Extraordinary
"And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita. And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold. " - Acts 28:1,2.
Acquired
"So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity." - Colossians 3:12-14.
Developed
"She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness." - Proverbs 31:26.
Commended
"But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned" - 2 Corinthians 6:4-6.
Divine
"But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments, And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not. " - Nehemiah 9:16,17.
Gods; described as:
Everlasting
"For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee. " - Isaiah 54:6-10.
Not removable
"Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men! Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. Blessed be the LORD: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city. For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee. O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD." - Psalm 31:19-24.
Through Christ
"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." - Ephesians 2:4-10 .
The cause of salvation
"For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men." - Titus 3:3-8.
Manifestation of:
"And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley. And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly." - 1 Samuel 15:4-9.
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I. Brotherly love
Most Christians are firmiliar with the two "types" of love most often refered to in the New Testament. These are the "agape" and "phileo" type loves in the Greek. Phileo being a friendly type love and agape being the most often mentioned in the New Testament Greek.
However, there is another type of love mentioned in the New Testament, that is not mentioned in discussion quite as frequently, perhaps because it is only found in five verses, but nevertheless when we look at the Greek word and the verses where it is used we see it is a powerful and often overlooked subject matter.
The word is "Philadelphia" and it means "brotherly love"; of course this is how the city of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania got its nickname the city of brotherly love.
The five verses where we find the Greek word "philadelphia" in the KJV are: Romans 12:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:9; Hebrews 13:1; 1 Peter 1:22 and 2 Peter 1:7. As time permits, I'd like to briefly look at each of these verses in their context and highlight some of the importance.
First, let's look at one of the more simpler and direct ways in which it is used and that is the command of Hebrews 13:1:
"Let brotherly love continue." (Hebrews 13:1).
While this begins Hebrews 13, which is a great chapter, we must keep in mind when the Bible was originally written; it was not in chapters and verses; the translators did that. So lets back-up to the end of Hebrews 12 and we see that the context shows some very serious lessons given before we read of "philadelphia" in Hebrews 13:1; note the importance:
And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. - Hebrews 12:24.
See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: - Hebrews 12:25.
Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. - Hebrews 12:26.
And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. - Hebrews 12:27.
Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: - Hebrews 12:28.
For our God is a consuming fire. - Hebrews 12:29.
"Let brotherly love continue." (Hebrews 13:1).
Isn't it interesting that right after we are warned that our God is a consuming fire we are then told: "let brotherly love continue". ?
This points to the fact that we should love the brethren as ourselves.
Another verse of the five verses containg Philadelphia is found in that wonderful exhortation in Romans 12 which speaks of the abundant life and how it is a life of service. No comment needed regarding the exhortation in these verses, it is so wonderful it is apparent to all with spiritual eyes & ears:
"Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:10- 21).
A third place where Philadelphia is found is 2 Peter 1:7 which is in the context of growing in Christian virtue. There we read:
"Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 1:2-8).
A fourth place where we find the Greek word philadelphia is used is in that great chapter, 1 Thessalonians 4 which speaks about sanctification and love before going on to speak of the second coming of Christ, there the inspired Paul wrote:
"But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another." (1 Thessalonians 4:9).
There you have it.
The Bible instructs us that we should not really have to remind other Christians that we must love one another; we are taught this by God. God has written truth on the heart of each of His dear children, and this is truth that we are commanded to love one another and taught this by God. If one does not have brotherly love, yet claims to be in Christ, they may be hypocritical or mistaken in their thinking because without brotherly love it would appear from scripture that God really is not teaching them nor writing His commandments upon their heart, they still may be unsaved.
Now the fifth and verse I wanted to look at is found in 1 Peter 1:22. I saved this one for last because of the five, I would choose this one as my favorite:
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: - 1 Peter 1:22.
Here's the context:
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: 1 Peter 1:22.
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. - 1 Peter 1:23.
For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: -1 Peter 1:24.
But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. - 1 Peter 1:25.
Here Peter really gets to the meat or "philadelphia steak" of the word. Note the cry in verse 22: we love our brothers & sisters in Christ because our souls are purified and we obey the Holy Spirit unto brotherly love. We are to love each other "fervently" or "from the heart" (nas); then verse 23 of 1 Peter assures us that this is an evidence of salvation, brotherly love; a salvation and new birth that is imperishable! This week and every week, whenever you may read this, dear friend and reader, try and focus all the more as Hebrews 13:1 instructs us to, let brotherly love continue! A brotherly love that according to 1 Peter 1:22 is unhypocritical. Stay ever closer to God's Word and together let us love our brothers and sisters with a pure heart all the more, over and over:
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: 1 Peter 1:22.
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. - 1 Peter 1:23.
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