Hebrews chapter 13, that's going to be kind of
toward the back part of your Bible. Hebrews chapter
13, verse 1. It's a lot of good instruction there
at the end of Hebrews chapter 13. The author
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
of being satisfied. But we're just going to look
at one verse tonight in Hebrews chapter 13, verse
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
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
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
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.