Brotherly Kindness and Agape Love – Evansville Bible Church

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2 Peter 1:5-8, Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, [6] and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, [7] and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. [8] For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Someone has described these seven qualities as the golden chain of the Christian life which begins with faith and ends with love. These are the spiritual qualities the Spirit of God will build into your life if you have repented of going your own way and put your faith in Christ alone to save you from your sin. You’ve been born again or regenerated and are now growing spiritually. The importance of these spiritual qualities can’t be overstated. Before we look at brotherly kindness and agape love, I want you to see the importance of building them into your life. In verses 8-15, Peter gives four reasons to make sure they are yours and are increasing in your spiritual life.

They make you useful and fruitful in your growth in Christ (vs. 8-9). If you’re not growing in these qualities, you have forgotten or been blinded to how God has saved you and changed your life in Christ.

2 Peter 1:8-9, For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. [9] For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.

They build your assurance and confidence in Christ and your salvation.

2 Peter 1:10, Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;

Peter reminds us that our salvation is purely of God’s sovereign grace. He puts our calling before God’s choosing us because that’s how our salvation came to us. He called us by the gospel and then we realize God in His grace and mercy He chose us to be His in the eternal ages. We love the doctrine of His choosing or sovereign election before there was even a universe.

They assure you of a glorious entrance into our Lord’s eternal kingdom.

2 Peter 1:11, for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.

In Pilgrim’s Progress when Christian and Hopeful finally made it to the celestial city after they crossed the river of death, they came to the gate, were transfigured, given clothes that shone like gold, and “all the bells in the city rang…for joy, and…it was said to them, ‘Enter ye into the joy of your Lord.” That’s what Peter is saying. As you diligently grow in grace, your entrance into Christ’s presence will be abundantly supplied! Can you imagine? “What a day that will be when our Jesus we shall see.” It will happen!

We need to call these things to mind until we arrive at our final destination.

2 Peter 1:15, And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind.

Peter could not have put a higher premium on these qualities so let’s be sure we’re building them into our spiritual lives in the power of God’s Spirit. Do you have a genuine faith in Christ, the one who came into this world to bear the wrath of God your sins deserved? That’s the foundation. To miss this is to miss everything. How’s your moral excellence? Are you committed to integrity and holiness of life? Are you growing in a greater understanding of God’s Word? How’s your self-control? Are you keeping your tongue, your time, your sensual desires, your finances under the control of God’s Spirit? What about your endurance? Are you seeing God in your trials and setbacks, living out Romans 8:28-29, hanging in there when things get tough? And are you aiming your life to please God, walking with God, holding God in highest reverence, knowing He loves you and you will give an account to Him? That’s godliness, devotion to God.

We all fall short in every one of these qualities but thank God when we sin and fail, we don’t fall all the way back to the bottom. We go to the cross and confess our sins to God and He is faithful and righteous to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9), and we keep on growing.

Now we come to the last two qualities of brotherly kindness (philadelphia) and agape love. And what a couple of golden qualities they are! God created us for relationship: Adam and Eve were to love God and love each other. No sooner had they sinned and Adam is blaming his wife, “The woman you gave me, she made me do it.” Where’s the love in that? Sin blasted love like a nuclear bomb, and we have hatred, murder, spite, revenge, perversion throughout history right down to today’s daily news. People lead a path of relational misery. Bitterness, grudges, rejection, abuse, rage, anger, and conflict litter the human landscape. Psychology, psychiatry, humanistic counseling, and secular education have miserably failed to solve the sin problem.

But when Jesus came, He said the greatest commandment is to love God with all you have and your neighbor as yourself, even if he’s an enemy. Then He went up on that cross to die and then rose from the grave to save us and empower us by His Spirit to actually obey His great commandment. Let’s dive into these last two beautiful spiritual qualities, brother kindness (or love) and agape love.

BROTHERLY LOVE (PHILADELPHIA)

Matthew Henry put it like this, “You are children of the same Father, servants of the same Master, members of the same family, travelers to the same country, and heirs of the same inheritance.” We’re going to live together forever. You’ve probably heard the ditty, “O to be there with the saints that we love, that will be glory. But to live here with the saints that we know, that’s a different story.” And the fact is, brotherly love isn’t all that easy with all our differences of opinions, quirks, and weirdness. Even Paul and Barnabas had a falling out over John Mark. Martin Luther refused to shake Zwingli’s hand over their different views of the Lord’s table. Wesley said some harsh things about Whitefield and his views on God’s sovereignty but then gave him high praise as he preached Whitefield’s memorial sermon in 1770. And we all know Sproul and MacArthur disagreed on numerous doctrines but they agreed on the gospel and were best friends.

God puts a premium on brotherly love and we’re to diligently pursue it. Peter connects brotherly love to our regeneration and obedience.

1 Peter 1:22, Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,

The author of Hebrews put it very succinctly.

Hebrews 13:1, Let love of the brethren continue.

Let it remain; don’t let it stop; keep it going. So what is brotherly love? It’s friendship glued together by our mutual faith in Christ. If you know the Lord you’re my brother or sister in Christ, and God calls us to practice brotherly love or kindness. That’s why the local church is so important. As you get to know other believers in the body of Christ, you have the privilege and responsibility to practice this friendship. We pray for one another, care for one another, encourage one another, assist one another, even reprove one another, but not scold one another. You’ll listen. You won’t have a selfish agenda trying to outdo others and constantly talk about yourself. You won’t always be in a teaching or correcting mode. You just genuinely care and your Christian friend knows it. We’re two soldiers on the battlefield fighting the same enemy, helping each other, covering for each other, and wanting the best for each other. This is where those “one another’s” come in.

Galatians 5:13 says we’re to serve one another in love. Jesus was willing to wash dirty feet. How about you?
Ephesians 4:32 says we’re to forgive one another and refuse to hold grudges or slander others. We’re part of a forgiving family and we all know we often offend and need Christ and His forgiveness.
Romans 12:10 says we’re to be devoted to one another.
Galatians 6:2 calls us to bear one another’s burdens. This is a plus about small groups where you get to know people. We appreciate Jim Riggs leading the Care Ministry and communicating the prayer requests.
Colossians 3:13 challenges us to bear with one another or put up with one another. We need a good set of spiritual shock absorbers in the church. We all have differences of opinion about stuff. Don’t wear your feelings on your sleeves. And don’t join the Church Spy Squad, always looking for specks in your brother’s eye when you may have a log or two sticking out of your own eye. However, if you know of bad (criminal) behavior in the church and have the receipts, not just hearsay, we need to deal with it.
1 Thessalonians 5:14 says we’re to encourage and admonish one another.
Romans 12:10 says we’re to honor one another. A true brother or sister in Christ is excited when good things happen to their siblings. They also grieve when siblings have to go through hurtful trials and suffering. There’s plenty of hardships and struggles to keep our prayer list full.

Let’s put it like this. Brotherly love is bringing your friends to Jesus. Those four friends in Mark 2:1-5 brought their buddy to Jesus. “Let’s get Howard to Jesus even if we have to unroof the roof and let him down on ropes. We need to get him to Jesus. Jesus can heal him.” And Jesus did. That’s brotherly love. Andrew went and found his brother Peter and brought him to Jesus. That’s brotherly love. Peter says “diligently” give brotherly love.

AGAPE LOVE

Agape love is the crowning quality. It is the most beautiful Christlike excellence of what Christ does in our lives. This is not the natural, human love. Agape love is a sacrificial, self-denying, Christlike love, the capstone of your Christian life. We can only love God’s way because He has shed His love abroad into our hearts through the gospel. We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).

God puts love as the main thing in the New Testament. In 1 Timothy 1:5, Paul says the goal of our preaching is love out of a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith. Galatians 5:22 says love is the vanguard and forefront of the fruit of the Spirit. All the other fruit unfolds from love. In Colossians 3:14 Paul puts love as the final wrap on all the other graces, “Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.” Jesus highlighted agape love three times.

John 13:34-35, A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. [35] By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Agape love is the opposite of selfishness. It’s a self-denying, sacrificial concern for the good of other people. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13). That’s agape, Christlike love. For God so loved the world that He gave.

Ephesians 5:1-2, Be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love, just as Christ loved you and gave Himself up for us.

Ephesians 5:25, Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.

So you practice agape love in your marriage. You give and serve and even die for your spouse. On September 27, 2017, Andrew Foster and his new bride Lucy from Wales were celebrating their first year of marriage at Yosemite National Park. While hiking near the massive rock formation called El Capitan, huge boulders began cascading down the mountain and Andrew dove on top of Lucy to save her life. But as he did he took the brunt of the impact and was fatally injured. That’s loving like Christ loved the church. Jay Adams tells about a couple who came to see their pastor to approve their divorce. “You see, Pastor, there’s just no love left in our marriage.” “Well, that is serious. If you don’t love one another, there’s only one thing left to do.” “Here it comes,” they thought, “Divorce!” But the Pastor replied, “You’ll have to learn how to love one another.” “But there’s no feelings at all,” they protested. The pastor went on, “Love isn’t a feeling first. Love is sacrificial action.” With that in mind, let’s finish in the classic passage on agape love.

THE CLASSIC PASSAGE ON AGAPE LOVE – 1 CORINTHIANS 13

Paul didn’t write 1 Corinthians 13 just to be read at weddings. Paul starts it off in verses 1-3 by assuring us we may know all the languages of the world, including the language of angels; we may know everything there is to know in the whole universe down to the subatomic quarks; we may have mountain-moving faith and give everything we own, even our own lives, but without love we’re nothing. We’re just a big spiritual zero.

And then Paul lays out those 15 marks of agape love, that more excellent way, and believe it or not, we’re going to apply each of them in my conclusion this morning.

Instead of lashing out You’re patient with others who irritate you.
Instead of being mean and critical You’re thoughtful of the needs of others.
Instead of being jealous You’re glad others have succeeded.
Instead of tooting your own horn You’re quiet about your own accomplishments.
Instead of feeling above others You’re quick to give credit to others.
Instead of being offensive in manners You act appropriately and thoughtful of others.
Instead of grabbing the best for yourself You’re willing to let others go first.
Instead of being easily angered You control yourself, not insisting on your way.
Instead of holding grudges You’re quick to forgive.
Instead of being glad when others fail You grieve for others in their troubles.
Instead of lying to get out of trouble You rejoice in telling the truth.
Instead of taking offenses personally You cover a multitude of sins against yourself.
Instead of distrusting others You give the benefit of the doubt.
Instead of giving up on others You hold out hope through the gospel.
Instead of quitting when pressured You endure the most severe opposition.

This is agape love, the crown of the golden qualities. It’s nothing less than the character of Christ. Peter says we need to apply all diligence and add them to our faith for the glory of God and the good of others. John MacArthur wrote, “We have no capacity to generate agape love on our own.” This selfless, sacrificial love is the fruit of the Spirit. God in His love for sinners sent His Son who loved us and gave Himself for us. Jesus came into this world to redeem sinners by His blood and to renew them by His Spirit and grow us believers to become like Christ.